1. History

2. Culture and tradition

3. Structure
    Houses  Facilities  Sport  Extra-curricular activities 

4. Staff

5. Notable alumni

6. See also

7. References

8. External links

Normanhurst Boys' High School (colloquially known as Normo) is an academically selective, high school for boys, located at 54-72 Pennant Hills Road, Normanhurst, on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is known for its academic excellence, ranking 13th in the state of NSW in 2017.

Established in 1958, the school currently caters for around 730 students from Years 7 to 12.^[2] The school's students are one of the most socio-economically advantaged in Sydney, placing the school higher than many of Sydney's most prestigious private schools in terms of the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage score.

History

In 1957, five schools made up the Hornsby School site, located on the Pacific Highway: a boys' primary school and a boys' junior technical school on the eastern side, and an infants school, a girls’ primary school, and a girls’ domestic science school on the western side.^[3] On 30 November 1957, the three western schools were destroyed by bushfires.^[3] Over the 1957-58 Christmas holidays, the three schools were relocated into the facilities of the boys' technical school, and the three year groups of boys were moved to a newly built but unopened school at Normanhurst.^[3]

From the opening in 1958 until 1993, Normanhurst Boys High School operated as a comprehensive school.^[3] In 1993, the Government of New South Wales marked Normanhurst as one of several high schools allowed to select students by academic achievement.^[3] The first intake of "selective" students was made up of those starting Year Seven in 1994, with a new intake of Year Sevens each year, until the school became fully selective in 1999.^[3] As of 2010, Normanhurst is one of 17 fully selective schools in New South Wales.^[4]

Culture and tradition

Due to its success in the sport of rugby, the school adopted a rally cry which consists of an individual shouting "rally" to which a group replies "hurst." This is repeated three times.

The school is run in the traditions of private schools, with strict uniform standards and behavioral discipline, to uphold its favourable standing amongst the local community.

Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison has said of The Honourable Justice Peter McClellan, both of whom attended the school together, that, "the school was instrumental in assisting your Honour to overcome adolescent difficulties you had with low esteem, lack of confidence and self doubt."

The school publishes a weekly newsletter called the "Normanhurst News," as well as an annual yearbook, "Phoenix," published since 1962.

The school, affectionately known as "Normo," celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2018.

Structure

Normanhurst Boys High School is an academically selective high school and accepts a relatively small intake of 120 students in Year Seven who have sat the Selective High Schools Examination in Year Six. The school's high academic performance is reflected in challenging entry standards and a highly competitive entry process. ^[5] Some students may be accepted into Years Eight to Eleven, through direct application to the school.^[6]

Houses

The school has four houses, the names of which are based on figures in the Aboriginal Dreamtime. Pupils compete under their respective house in sport and academics. The houses are:

• Bukkandi
• Dinewan
• Warrigul
• Wayamba

Facilities

The school has an area of 6.3 hectares, and is within five minutes walk of Normanhurst railway station.^[7] Facilities includes a sporting field, two tennis courts and basketball courts as well as a large quadrangle where students congregate during breaks. Each classroom is equipped with a digital projector and each student has a laptop with wireless internet access.

Sport

Normanhurst Boys High School comes under the North West Metropolitan Sports Association. The sporting year is divided into summer and winter, and boys are able to select sports they wish to play throughout the semester.^[8] Boys can play grade sport, representing the school in inter-school competitions, or social sport, not competing against other schools.^[8] The school also holds annual swimming and athletics carnivals,^[8] as well as an annual cross-country event.

Extra-curricular activities

The school offers numerous clubs and societies to students. These include a debating and public speaking society,^[9][10] a chess club,^[11] a concert band, a stage band, a jazz ensemble, a vocal ensemble, and a string ensemble.^[12] Normanhurst Boys also participates in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme,^[13] as well as running a secondary school army cadet unit.

Normanhurst Boys runs an annual school excursion for Year Seven students to Jenolan Caves and the Central West of New South Wales. The excursion has been running for 55 years.^[14]

Normanhurst Boys is not far from its "sister" school, Hornsby Girls' High School, with joint curriculum and extra-curricular activities held.{{citation needed|date=February 2010}}

Staff

• Headmaster: Mr M. Anderson
• Deputy Headmaster: Mrs A. Harman

Notable alumni

Politics, public service and the law

• Peter Andren AM, former Independent Member for Calare in the Parliament of Australia (1996–2007)^[15][25]
• The Honourable Peter Baldwin, former Labor Member for Sydney in the Parliament of Australia (1983–1998), former Minister for Employment and Education Services (1990), former Minister for Higher Education and Employment Services (1990–1993), former Minister for Social Security (1993–1996)^[25][16][17]
• The Honourable Justice Ian Harrison, Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (since 2007)^[18]
• The Honourable Justice Peter McClellan, Chief Judge at Common Law of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (since 2005), former Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales (2003–2005), former Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (2001–2003), former Chairman of the Sydney Water Inquiry (1998)^[19] and head of the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.^[20][21]
• Phillip Brooks, Chief Inspector of the NSW Police Force
• John Goh, renowned educator
• Dr David Elliott, Head of ACT Medical Institutions & Hospitals
• Warwick Jones, Australian Army officer and aide-de-camp to the Governor-General
• Michael Burrow, Supervisor of the NSW Ambulance Helicopter Paramedics at Bankstown
• Dr David Elliott, Head of ACT Medical Institutions & Hospitals
• Geoff Fox, RAAF Officer and Fighter Pilot.
• Paul Gibbeson, National winner of Lions Youth of the Year 1969

Science, medicine and academia

• Dr Philip Bohle, Professor at the University of New South Wales (1999-2008), University of Sydney (2008+);^[22]
• Dr Geoffrey Kiel, Professor of Management at Queensland University;^[23]
• Professor Ian Plimer, geologist and academic^[24]
• Professor Philip Mitchell AM, Scientia Professor of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales.^[25]
• Professor Ian Williamson AM, Professor of Geomatics, University of Melbourne.^[25]
• Dr Jordan Nguyen, biomedical engineer and inventor
• Cameron Barr, Professor of Environmental Science in University of SA (1984)

Business and industry

• David Hill, Chairman and CEO of Fox Sports, creator of the Sky Sports channel, former chairman of Fox Broadcasting^[26]
• Graham John Bradley, Chairman Infrastructure NSW; current and former director of numerous companies including Stockland Group and HSBC Bank Australia; former national managing partner of Blake Dawson Waldron.^[25]
• Andrew Bray, IGA executive

Entertainment, media and the arts

• Rowan Cahill, historian, author, journalist, teacher, trade unionist
• Simon Main, past actor and convicted drug trafficker^[27]
• Peter M. Reeve, International Designer, NIDA Graduate and Director of NIDA Foundation. Honeywell-Bull Arts Fellow, Trustee of The Peggy Glanville Hicks Trust, Board Member Pacific Opera, Sydney Committee Opera Australia, MCA and Sydney Dance Company.
• Jamie Brooks, British hairdresser.
• Dr Richard Strauss, professional comedian and renowned professor of History. {{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

Sport

• Murray Barnes (1954-2011), Socceroos player and captain (1978–81).
• Tod Woobridge, retired Australian professional tennis player and current sports broadcaster.
• Roger Davis, professional golfer^[28]
• Neil Maxwell, former NSW and Australia A cricketer.^[28]
• Richard Pybus, cricketer and former Pakistan cricket coach^[29]
• Robert Wheatley, former Socceroo (1981 to 1990)^[28]
• Sean Barnes, Olympic Trialist for Triple Jump (2008)
• Brent Tonisson, Hearthstone professional competing in the Asia Pacific qualifiers. ^[30]
• David Brown, former Sydney Swans player.
• Neil Maxwell, professional cricketer and founder of the Big Bash League.
• Toby Seeto, futsal player

See also

• Selective school (New South Wales)
• List of Government schools in New South Wales
• List of selective high schools in New South Wales

References

External links

• {{commons category-inline}}
• Normanhurst Boys High School website
• NSW Department of Education and Training: Normanhurst Boys High School
• North West Metropolitan Sports Association
• [https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/absolute-prize-why-selective-schools-are-eclipsing-private-schools-20180713-p4zrf8.html]

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