Epping Boys High School

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Location
Epping Boys High School
http://www.education.net.au/logo/%5B3817%5Deppingboys1.gif
Strive to Achieve
Marsfield Sydney New South Wales
Information
Established	1957
Principal	Peter Garrard
Staff	~76
Enrollment	~1100
Website	http://www.eppingboys.nsw.edu.au/

Epping Boys High School is a government high school located at Marsfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1957. Peter Garrard is the principal.

1 History
- 1.1 1957: first years
2 Achievements
3 School style
4 Houses
5 Alumni
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links

History

The establishment of Epping Boys' High in 1957 was part of a massive development that was to change the nature of secondary education in NSW. Since 1913 the Education Department, in common with most systems throughout the western world, had operated a two-tiered system of education - Selective High Schools such as Fort Street for those in the academic stream and Junior Technical Schools for those who did not do so well in primary school. While the selective high schools remained, the new area high schools that mushroomed in the '50s and '60s became, in effect, comprehensive high schools catering for the whole ability range of a particular area.

Naturally, many local families were skeptical about the academic standing of the new school at Epping and many preferred to send their sons to the more prestigious selective high schools. Teachers and students of the pioneer class responded to this pressure and the fine results achieved in the school's first Leaving Certificate class established the school as an academically worthy alternative. Epping Boys' High School is now recognised as, and consistently demonstrates, that it is one of the top comprehensive high schools in NSW.

From its beginnings, the School has enjoyed keen community support. The first headmaster, Mr McGregor, co-operated with the Parents and Citizens to double the area of the school to twenty-two acres and to landscape the grounds. Today we enjoy the facilities provided by the foresight of those who struggled to provide us with such a fine site. The P&C Association and Ladies' Auxiliary currently provide significant financial support to the School and more importantly, an active forum for parent opinion.

In 2007 Epping Boys' High School celebrated its 50th Anniversary. The Prime Minister of the day, Mr John Howard, opened the newly refurbished library and laid down a time capsule to be raised fifty years hence. The school hosted many old boys to an evening of reminiscing and fireworks. This was followed the next day by football matches - soccer and rugby. The school held musical items, debates and visual displays.

Epping Boys' High School has a current enrolment of 1074 students. Enquiries exceed capacity and there is a keen interest in the School from overseas students. Retention rates are high in the senior school. While Epping Boys' High School has a strong academic emphasis, the School also caters for other special educational and pre-vocational needs. ^[1]

1957: first years

Epping Boys High School opened in 1957. While there were girls at the school that year, the school was not in fact a co-educational school. Cheltenham Girls' High School also opened in 1957 but as its buildings were not ready the girls were accommodated on the Epping boys’ High School site, with their own Principal. In the following year the female students were transferred to the newly established Cheltenham Girls' High School site. Since then the school has continued to operate as a male only school. The school flag was sewn by the female students.

The interests of the school reflected the optimism and prosperity of the period. Sport was the only leisure activity to have class time allocated to it and the curriculum was academically oriented.

However, the school responded enthusiastically to the demands of the Wyndham Scheme which was introduced in 1962. The Scheme, which can also be seen as a response to the rapid growth in secondary education, provided for a wider range of student abilities and placed emphasis on interest electives. A greater range of manual subjects was developed and more emphasis placed on art and music. The creative arts began to flourish alongside sporting and academic pursuits, eventually providing a balanced education for the sons of the Epping-Eastwood community.

From its beginnings the school has enjoyed keen community support. The first headmaster, Mr McGregor, cooperated with the Parents and Citizens' to double the area of the school to double the area of the school to twenty-two acres and to landscape the grounds. Over the years the school and the community have forged a close relationship which augers well for the greater community involvement. ^[2]

Achievements

The Epping Boys High School Wind Ensemble traveled to Hawaii to participate in the 22nd annual Pacific Basin Music Festival and was awarded a Gold Award and entry to the Command Performance - the first for any Australian Band in the Festival.

School style

The school traditionally uses gold and green, which are the national colours of Australia, in its logo and student uniforms. The school tie for junior year students consists of gold stripes on green, while for senior year students consists of gold school logo printed on a pure green background. Likewise for sporting uniform it has gold stripes printed green fabric.

Houses

The school has four houses, which are based upon prominent figures in the Epping-Eastwood area. Pupils competing in sport, academic and other various events earn points for their houses. At the end of the year, the house with the most points win the house cup. The houses are named after the people who built farms in the Marsfield area. The houses are: