South Sydney High School

South Sydney High School is a public school located in Maroubra, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1953 as a boys high school, it is today a co-educational high school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education for students from years 7 through 12. It primarily serves those coming from South-Eastern Sydney and the Eastern Suburbs regions.

South Sydney High School
Address
O'Sullivan Avenue Maroubra , New South Wales , 2035 Australia
Coordinates	33°56′40.42″S 151°14′7.00″E
Information
Type	Public, co-educational, secondary school
Motto	Latin: Spectemur agendo (Let us be known by our deeds)
Established	January 1953[1]
Principal	Janice Neilsen
Enrolment	700 - 800 (7–12)[2]
Campus	Paine Street
Colour(s)	Green and red
Yearbook	The Southerner
Website	South Sydney High School

History

Following the Second World War, it was determined that the Maroubra Junction Technical School would be crowded out of its premises on Anzac Parade. A site for a new school, bounded by Paine Street in the north, and Walsh and O'Sullivan Avenue in the south, had been selected in 1945. This area was originally taken over by the Commonwealth Government for defence purposes. It was cleared as early as 1948 and preparations made for what was to be known as South Sydney Technical School. The building foundations were laid on 27 May 1950 by then Minister for Education, Bob Heffron.

Due to long delays the first portion of the school was not ready until July 1952, with the school not being occupied until February 1953. On 5 April 1954, South Sydney Junior Technical High School was officially opened by the Governor of New South Wales, Lieutenant-General Sir John Northcott.

At the beginning of 1959 it was decided that South Sydney Junior Technical High School would be renamed South Sydney Boys' High School, with the name taken from the reconstituted Maroubra Bay High School nearby.[3] The end of 1961 saw the retirement of the school's first principal, William Dutton. In his place Thomas Tasker, who was headmaster of Northmead High School, was appointed.[4] In 1962 the annual school magazine, "Southerner", was published for the first time.[5] That same year, in honour of the contribution made to the school by Heffron, the library was named the "R. J. Heffron Library".

In August 1980, the Minister for Education, Paul Landa, announced that South Sydney Boys' High School and Maroubra Junction Girls High would be partly co-educational in 1981 and fully co-educational in 1983 to become South Sydney High School and Maroubra High School respectively.

Principals

Term	SSJTHS
1953–1959	William Dutton[6]
Term	SSBHS
1959–1961	William Dutton
1962–1969	Thomas Tasker M.Sc. Dip.Ed.
1969–1973	Ray Cocking B.A. L.T.C.L.
1973–1975	E. Barnett
1976–1977	J. Frederick
1978	A. Moore
1979–1983	D. Brown
Term	SSHS
1983–1986	D. Brown
1987–1996	T. Edwards
1997–2005	Lindy Taylor
2006–2013	Ross Fitzpatrick
2013–2018	Robyn Matthews
2019-date	Janice Neilson

Houses

A House system was established by the early 1960s, dividing all students into four houses named after one representative from four main educational disciplines:

• Banks   – Science – named after botanist, Sir Joseph Banks.
• Dutton   – Education – named after the first headmaster, William Dutton.
• Lawson   – Literature – named after poet, Henry Lawson.
• Northcott   – Defence – named after the NSW Governor who opened the school, Sir John Northcott.

Notable alumni

• Professor John Boyages AM – 1975 DUX, Professor of Breast Oncology and Director of ALERT (Australian Lymphoedema Education Research and Treatment), Macquarie University.[7]
• Tolu Latu – rugby union player and current Waratah.
• Adam Liberman – 1969 School Captain, General Counsel for the CSIRO and Visiting Professorial Fellow of the UNSW Faculty of Law.[8]
• Col Loughnan – former member of The Delltones, and Ayers Rock, and lecturer in saxophone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music since 1978.[9]
• Alex Perry – fashion designer.[10]
• Tiana Penitani – rugby union player
• John Sutton – rugby league player for South Sydney Rabbitohs.[11]
• Michael Whitney – former Australian Test Cricketer and television personality.[12]
• Scott Wilson – rugby league player

References

1. "South Sydney High - Cumberland". History of New South Wales government schools. NSW Department of Education. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
2. "South Sydney High School". School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
3. "South Sydney Boys' Junior High School (1) (1955-1956) South Sydney Boys' High School (1) (1957- 1958) Maroubra Bay High School 1959 - 1990". Agency Records. NSW State Archives and Records. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
4. "School visit". The Cumberland Argus. New South Wales, Australia. 20 June 1962. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
5. South Sydney High School; South Sydney Boys' High School (1962–2018), Southerner : Magazine of South Sydney Boys' High School, The School, retrieved 18 September 2018
6. "PERSONAL". Narrandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser. 76 (35). New South Wales, Australia. 7 May 1953. p. 2. Retrieved 18 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Macquarie University's Professor John Boyages receives Order of Australia". Macquarie University Newsroom. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
8. "Adam Liberman". UNSW Faculty of Law. UNSW Sydney. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
9. Kimball, Duncan. "Ayers Rock". MilesAgo: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975. Ray Burton (contributor), Col Loughnan (contributor). ICE productions. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
10. "Smart Alex". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
11. Glenn Jackson. "Sutton hasn't looked back since turnaround at Souths". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
12. "Ambassadors - DEC International". NSW Department of Education. Retrieved 10 November 2013.

External links

• South Sydney High School website
• New South Wales Department of Education - South Sydney High School
• South Sydney High School Facebook page