North Sydney Girls High School

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North Sydney Girls High School
Latin: Ad Altiora ("Towards Higher Things")
Established	1914
School type	Public, Selective, Single-sex, Secondary, Day school
Principal	Ms. Meredith Ash
Location	Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°49′49″S 151°12′12″E / 33.83028°S 151.20333°E / -33.83028; 151.20333Coordinates: 33°49′49″S 151°12′12″E / 33.83028°S 151.20333°E / -33.83028; 151.20333
Campus	Urban
Enrolment	~923 (7–12)[1]
School colours	Navy Blue, Green and White
Homepage	www.northsydgi-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
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North Sydney Girls High School (NSGHS) is an academically selective, Public high school for girls, located at Crows Nest, on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1914, the school currently caters for approximately 930 students from Years 7 to 12. Admission is based entirely on academic results through the Selective High Schools Test undertaken by students in Year 6.

In 2001, The Sun-Herald ranked North Sydney Girls High School seventh in Australia's top ten girls' schools, based on the number of its alumni mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia (a listing of notable Australians).^[2][a]

History

North Sydney Girls High School prior to opening, January 1914

North Sydney Girls High School was officially founded in 1914 with an enrolment of 194 students. The school was originally located on the corner of Hazelbank Road and Pacific Highway. By the 1980s, it was felt that the site could no longer meet the needs of the school, and years of intense lobbying for improved facilities followed. When the New South Wales Government decided to close Crows Nest Boys' High, the facility was transferred to North Sydney Girls. In December 1993, North Sydney Girls High officially moved to its new accommodation.^[3]

Campus

In 1994, North Sydney Girls High School moved to its present location, the former site of Crows Nest Boy's High School, (Crows Nest), following a $6 million building and renovations project.^[4]

Current facilities include a newly renovated library, including five sound-proof innovations rooms which aren't actually soundproof, multi-purpose hall, large gymnasium, but not as big as NSBs gym, language laboratory, music studio, five computer laboratories, science laboratories, art rooms, darkroom, workshops, textiles and food technology rooms, drama and music rooms and netball, basketball and tennis courts which are all the same courts.

Students

North Sydney Girls is an academically selective high school; admission to North Sydney Girls in Year 7 is by a government examination, the Selective High Schools Test, which is open to all Year 6 students in NSW. A small number of students from other high schools are accepted into years 8 to 11, with application made directly to the school.

Curriculum

North Sydney Girls High School is registered and accredited with the New South Wales Board of Studies, and therefore follows the mandated curriculum for all years.

In Years 7 and 8, NSGHS students complete studies in Mathematics (Advanced), English, Science, History, Geography, Music, Visual Arts, Technological & Applied Studies (TAS), Languages (French, German, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin), and Personal Development/Health/Physical Education and a subject unique to NSGHS called Innovations. Students in Year 7 complete one language each term, therefore missing out on one language and in Year 8 must select their preferred language to complete throughout the year.^[5]

Year 9 and 10 students are prepared for the School Certificate exam that is undertaken upon the completion of Year 10 studies. At this stage, Mathematics (Advanced), Science, English, History and Geography are mandatory subjects according to the New South Wales Syllabus. Students must also choose three electives from Music, Dance, Visual Arts, Photographic and Digital Media, Languages (French, German, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin), Drama, Design and Technology, Food Technology, Textiles and Design, Information Software and Technology, Information Processes and Technology, Commerce, Philosophy, International Studies, Elective History, and Elective Geography.^[6]

The focus of Year 11 and 12 studies is the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) exam that is undertaken upon the completion of Year 12. The only mandatory subject at this stage is English (Advanced)., and students may then choose up to 13 units from a comprehensive list of elective subjects.^[7]

Academic results

The school performs well in public examinations, and in recent years has been placed as the leading girls' school in New South Wales in the Higher School Certificate Examination. Annually, at least 30% of Year 12 students achieve places in the top 1% of this exam.^[8]

Co-curriculum

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NSGHS offers a diverse range of extra-curricular activities.

Music and drama:

• Advanced String Ensemble- a highly select ensemble.
• Stage (Jazz) Band, Jazz Ensemble, Concert Band, Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Beginner Band, Choir and Camerata (junior string group) - each musical ensemble embarks on at least one tour every year for one week.
• School choir - Year 7 Junior and Intermediate Choir, Combined (NSGHS & NSBHS) Choir, Senior Vocal, A Cappella group
• Combined Annual Musical with North Sydney Boys High School
• Theater Sports
• Year 10 Drama Night and various clubs

Sport and outdoor activity:

• Sports including Basketball, Skiing, Hockey, Cricket, Badminton, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Rowing, Kayaking, Touch Football, Waterpolo, Fencing, Netball, Tennis and Lacrosse
• Chess
• Cheerleading squad
• Dance - dance ensembles, annual participation in festivals such as the School Spectacular
• Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
• Cadet program at Marist College North Shore

Charity and community:

• Amnesty International Group
• Animal Welfare Group
• Generation Earth - the school environment club
• Charities Council - made up of students from years 7 to 11, oversees all charity-related activities and runs various fundraisers (most notably 'Charities Day' at the end of Term 2).
• Shout!, a student run group, working with organisations that aim to raise awareness of and alleviate poverty
• ISCF (Inter-School Christian Fellowship) with North Sydney Boys High School

Leadership and public speaking:

• Mock Trial
• State and National Constitutional Convention
• Debating
• Peer Mediation and the NSW Law Society Peer Mediation SCRAM Competition
• SRC (Student Representative Council)
• Model United Nations Club
• Peer Support Program between Year 11 and Year 7 students
• Prefecture in Year 12
• Business competitions including the Young Achievement Australia Program in which students develop a company of 6 months and the Australian Business Week program
• Australian Stock Exchange Schools Share Market Game

North Sydney Girls High School also holds annual Junior and Senior dances with North Sydney Boys High School.

Notable alumnae

Academic

• Valerie Beral - FRS, Professor of Epidemiology at Oxford
• Yvonne Cossart - Professor of Infectious Diseases at Sydney
• Anna Katherine Donald - Rhodes Scholar (1989)^[9]
• Dorothy Hoddinott - High school Principal^{[citation needed]}
• Phyllis Mary Nicol - Lecturer and demonstrator in physics^[10]
• Judith O'Neil - Professor of German at Harvard ^[11]
• Jeni Whalan - Rhodes Scholar (2005)^[9]
• Josephine Rees - Japanese Astronaut
• Nicole Kuepper - Winner of two Australian Museum Eureka Prizes in 2008 and among Sydney Morning Herald's list of 100 top young Australians

Entertainment, media and the arts

• Benita Collings - Play School presenter^{[citation needed]}
• Amelia Lester, in 2009, at age 26 and following Harvard graduation, appointed Managing Editor of The New Yorker.
• Ruth Cracknell - Actress^[12]
• Thea Gumbert - Actress^{[citation needed]}
• Nathalie Kelley - Actress^[13]
• Nicole Kidman - Actress^[14]
• Naomi Watts - Actress
• Catherine Martin - Production designer (wife of film director, Baz Luhrmann, notable for Romeo and Juliet and others)
• Eve Pownall - Author; Namesake of the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books^[15]
• Margaret Throsby - ABC Classic FM presenter^{[citation needed]}
• Samantha Lang - Film and Theatre Director^[16]

Politics, public service and the law

• Verity Firth - Current Minister for Education and Training, Member for NSW Legislative Assembly seat of Balmain, Former Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, Former Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Former Minister for Women, Former Minister for Science and Medical ResearchALP
• Shelley Hancock - Teacher and Parliamentarian; elected as a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for South Coast (Liberal Party)^[17]
• Marjorie Gertrude Eleanor Propsting - Former Mayor of Lane Cove, member of the New South Wales executive of the Liberal Party, and librarian^[18]
• Nancy Grace Augusta Wake - Resistance fighter; known to the Germans as 'the White Mouse'^[19]
• Nicola Wakefield Evans - Managing Partner International, Mallesons Stephen Jaques^[20]

Sport

• Renée Kirby - World Championship winning rower^[21]

Notes

• ^{^}  Who's Who of girls' school rankings:

1. PLC Melbourne
2. SCEGGS Darlinghurst
3. MLC Melbourne
4. PLC Sydney
5. Melbourne Girls Grammar School
6. Mac.Robertson Girls' High School
7. North Sydney Girls High School
8. Sydney Girls High School
9. MLC Sydney
10. University High School, Melbourne

See also

• List of Government schools in New South Wales
• List of selective high schools in New South Wales
• North Sydney Boys High School

References

External links

• North Sydney Girls High School
• NSW Department of Education and Training: North Sydney Girls High School