Parramatta High School

Parramatta High School (abbreviated as PHS) is a government-funded co-educational dual modality partially academically selective and comprehensive secondary day school, located on the Great Western Highway in the central business district of Parramatta, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Parramatta High School
Location
Great Western Highway, Parramatta,
Western Sydney, New South Wales

Australia
Coordinates33°49′03″S 150°59′51″E
Information
TypeGovernment-funded co-educational dual modality partially academically selective and comprehensive secondary day school
MottoLatin: Fax Mentis Incendium Gloriae
(The torch of the mind lights the path to glory)
Established1913 (1913)
School districtParramatta; Sydney metropolitan South
Educational authorityNew South Wales Department of Education
PrincipalDominique Splatt
Enrolment~930
CampusUrban
Colour(s)Royal blue, sky blue, grey, white
    
NewspaperPhoenix
Websiteparramatta-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Established in 1913, the school was the first co-educational school in the Sydney metropolitan area and was previously a fully selective high school. Since 2013, it has been partially selective in the Parramatta region with a high multicultural student base.[1] The school is operated by the New South Wales Department of Education and has over 1000 students from Year 7 to Year 12. In 2019 the school has ranked 140th overall in the state for the NSW Higher School Certificate.

House system

At the beginning of Year 7, all Parramatta High students are placed in one of the following four houses:

HouseColourNamed afterOrigin
Batman   John BatmanAdventurer who explored the Port Phillip Bay district of Victoria in 1835, discovering the Yarra River stating “This will be a place for a village”. This village was to become Melbourne.
Brisbane Sir Thomas BrisbaneFair-minded Governor of NSW from 1821 to 1825 – most famous for allowing the first newspaper in the colony The Sydney Gazette to be free from government censorship.
Fitzroy Charles Augustus FitzroyGovernor of NSW from 1846, responsible for encouraging the rapid expansion of settlement until the gold era.
Marsden Rev'd Samuel MarsdenThe first chaplain of NSW – an astute businessman who contributed greatly to the colony’s economic expansion.

Every year, there are two sporting carnivals which include athletics and swimming. There are two advanced carnivals, including zone and/or regional by which students compete to earn their house points. The winning house of each carnival and overall championship is announced each year.

History

At a cost of A£13,000, Parramatta High School was officially opened by Ambrose Carmichael, the Minister for Public Instruction, on Monday, 22 February 1913.[2] In 2013 Parramatta High School celebrated its centenary, marking 100 years since its establishment on 28 January 1913. Class of 2018, the 100th cohort to enrol at Parramatta High School, acknowledged this by implementing the Phoenix on the back of their year 12 jerseys. The Phoenix is a well-known symbol of Parramatta High, which derived from the 1940s Phoenix Magazine, and is celebrated through the annual PHS Phoenix Week.

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. "Parrmatta High School" (PDF). DE Education International. New South Wales Department of Education. n.d. Retrieved 25 June 2019. The school is proud of its strong multicultural population and our students currently come from 56 different cultural backgrounds.
  2. "Parramatta High School". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 23 February 1913. p. 11. Retrieved 25 June 2019 – via Trove, National Library of Australia.
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