Hurlstone Agricultural High School

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Hurlstone Agricultural High School (abbreviated HAHS) is an agricultural and selective, co-educational, public high school, located in Glenfield, a south-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest government boarding school in New South Wales (NSW).^[1]

Hurlstone is unique in that it is the state's only public selective and agricultural school that also includes a coeducational boarding school. The 112 hectare campus includes an operational farm, sporting facilities and student accommodation.

Hurlstone has been named the Macarthur region's best academic school, ranking 27th in the NSW top 200 list for the 2007 academic year. The school had 148 distinguished achievers, 13 on the state's top achievers' list, eight on the all-rounders' list and three students who topped the state in a course.

History

Manual training class, 1913

Hurlstone was established as a boys-only school in 1907 in Hurlstone Park, approximately ten kilometres south west of Sydney, at the present site of Trinity Grammar School. The original owner of the land was a teacher, John Kinloch, one of the first graduates of the University of Sydney. He named the land 'Hurlstone Estate', after his mother's maiden name, with the aim of setting up his own school on it. ^[2]

In those days most students completed their schooling after primary school and students at 'Hurlstone Agricultural Continuation School' (as it was known at the time) studied there for only two years. In 1926 the school moved to its present site in Glenfield, approximately 42 km south-west of Sydney (between Liverpool and Campbelltown) and serviced by the Main Southern Railway. By then its student numbers had grown from 30 in 1907, to 148. ^[2] The school supported government policy to promote productivity in the agricultural sector through the training of boys in all aspects of agricultural sciences and farm management.

For a brief period in the 1940s it was known as 'Macarthur Agricultural High School' in honour of woolgrower John Macarthur, but it soon reverted to its previous name.

Hurlstone was a boys' school until 1979, when the decision was made to become co-educational.^[2]

Principals

Collectable School Cigarette card featuring the Hurlstone colours & crest, c. 1910s

Hurlstone has had 10 Principals:

Population

The boarding school at sunset. Several dormitories, a kitchen, and dining room are visible.

Enrolment at the school is dependent on examinations of Year 6 students from across the state. New students coming in later grades have to sit a similar exam.

The student population of about 960 is divided between boarder students (who reside on the school grounds and originate mainly from country NSW), and day students (who commute mostly from the south western Sydney region). The boarder-day student ratio is roughly 1:3. For sporting and accommodation purposes the school is divided into four houses: Farrer (red), Macarthur (yellow), Wentworth (blue) and Macquarie (green).

Campus

The school maintains a dairy with 42 head of cattle.

Hurlstone Agricultural High School is located on a single campus, covering the area from Glenfield railway station, along Roy Watts Road and extending to sections of Quarter Sessions Road near the Hume Highway. The school is serviced by the East Hills, South and Cumberland train lines.

Hurlstone features a fully functional farm and a commercial dairy. Livestock on the farm include: Beef and dairy cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, boer goats, alpacas and peacocks.

The school's swimming pool is located next to the boarding school, and is used for swimming carnivals, school sports and recreational purposes.

Clarke House is a heritage listed building which houses a Hurlstone memorabilia museum.^{[citation needed]}

On Roy Watts Road past the boarding school there is a memorial forest with trees planted in the shape of a cross. The memorial forest is where the Anzac Day and Remembrance day ceremonies are held.

As part of the 2008 mini-budget, the New South Wales Government declared 140 hectares of the school to be surplus to educational needs and the land will be sold in 2011.^[3]

Extracurricular activities

The school provides opportunities for students to engage in both co-curricular and extracurricular activities. Students may participate in certain clubs which promote these activities. Some groups are fairly unique to public schools within the district, such as the Cadet corps, Interact and Rural Youth. Sport is an important part of extracurricular life at Hurlstone.

Notable alumni

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Academic

• Dr Lester Hiatt - Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard 1990-91;^[4]
• Professor Ross Street - Personal Chair in Mathematics at Macquarie University;
• Roy Watts, AO - Former Director-General NSW Agriculture
• Gareth White - featured on Nerds FC series 2 and represented Australia in the 2002 International Mathematics Olympiad

Entertainment, media and the arts

• Toby Allen - Singer for band Human Nature
• Phil Burton - Singer for band Human Nature
• Michael Tierney - Singer for band Human Nature
• Andrew Tierney - Singer for band Human Nature
• Ania Stepien - Actress on Cybergirl
• Peter Moore - Author
• Dan O'Connor - Top 12 of 2004 Australian Idol and actor
• Kate Ritchie - Actress and Radio Personality
• Margaret Tierney - Former Miss Australia (1995)
• Subby Valentine - Comedian
• Amanda Yeo - Youngest ever Short and Sweet Wildcard winner 2007

Military

• Mark Binskin ^[5] - Currently Air Vice Marshal and to be Chief of the Air Force and Air Marshal on 4 July 2008
• John Hurst Edmondson VC - Soldier in World War II; the Hurlstone school hall is named in his honour^[6]
• Sir William Keys Kt AC MC - National Secretary of RSL^[7]
• Andrew Sims - Brigadier General, served in Pakistan and East Timor

Politics, public service and the law

• John Kerin - Politician, former Treasurer of Australia
• Mark Latham - Politician, former Leader of the Australian Labor Party^[8]
• Jim Lees - Former Commissioner of the New South Wales Police

Sport

• David Lyons - rugby union player, Wallabies^[9]
• Melanie Wells - Hockey player and the co-captain of Olympic team, Hockeyroos

References

See also

• List of Government schools in New South Wales
• List of selective high schools in New South Wales
• List of boarding schools
• List of Victoria Crosses by School

External links

• Hurlstone Agricultural High School website
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School Alumni website
• NSW Department of Education and Training: Hurlstone Agricultural High School

Coordinates: 33°58′14″S 150°53′29″E / 33.970516°S 150.891455°E / -33.970516; 150.891455