Homebush Boys High School
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| Homebush Boys High School |
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| Motto | Recte et Fortiter, With Courage and Integrity |
| Established | 1936 |
| Type | Secondary Comprehensive, All Male |
| Headmaster | Dr. Ian Paterson |
| Students | 1200 |
| Grades | 7–12 |
| Location | Sydney, NSW Australia |
| Mascot | Owl |
| Website | [http://www.homebushbo-h.schools.nsw.edu.au |
Homebush Boys High School, founded in 1936, is a comprehensive public high school located in Homebush, an Inner West suburb of Sydney, Australia. Homebush Boys is generally regarded as one of the academically best-performing comprehensive schools, and has, in the past, been ranked above selective schools on the Higher School Certificate results. As is the common practice among single-gender schools, Homebush Boys has a "sister-school" relationship with the near-by Strathfield Girls High School.
It has an enrolment of some 1200 students, drawn from a variety of ethnicities, including Tamil, Chinese, Korean, Turkish and Lebanese. A large proportion of the student body are recently arrived migrants, who are attracted by the school's academic record. Although most students live in the surrounding communities of Homebush, Lidcombe, Strathfield, Bankstown and Auburn, a fair proportion live outside the area.
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Curriculum
Homebush Boys High school has been recogonised with high achievements for a State High School and is known to work very closely with the surrounding communities of Homebush, Lidcombe, Bankstown, Strathfield and Auburn.
The school has nine faculties, being English, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, History, Music, Languages, Art, industrial art, and PD/H/PE. Together they offer a large variety of subjects with a range of difficulty levels.
The 2003 Fellowship report noted that students at the school had much higher rates of literacy than the average in the state, and that the proportion of students in the upper achievement bands increased with each year of attendance. It described this as "a remarkable achievement for a school where 85% of the boys come from a non-English-speaking background." [1]
School Certificate
The School Certifiate curriculum is designed for Years 7 to 10.
Compulsory subjects at Homebush Boys High for Year 7 to 8 to meet the requirements of School Certificate are:
| English | Mathematics | Science | Geography | History |
| Languages | Physical Education | Music | Design and Technology | Visual Arts |
For Years 9 to 10, students are to elect two electives of their choice, and only have to do the first five subjects of above. Electives that are offered at Homebush Boys High as of 2006 are as follows:
| Aborginal Studies | Chinese | Commerce | Electronics | Food Technology |
| Graphics Technology | History Extension | Industrial Technology | Information and Software Technology | Photography |
| Physical Activity and Sports Studies | Visual Arts |
Higher School Certificate
For Years 11 to 12, students must choose English plus at least eight other units as part of the Higher School Certificate. All subjects are worth two units unless stated. The following subjects are offered at Homebush Boys High as of 2007:
| English Fundamentals [1 Unit] | English as Second Language (ESL) | English Standard | English Extension 1 [1 Unit] | English Extension 2 [1 Unit] | |
| General Mathematics | Mathematics | Mathematics Extension 1 [1 Unit] | Mathematics Extension 2 [1 Unit] | - | |
| Ancient History | Modern History | Biology | Chemistry | Physics | |
| Business Studies | Economics | Legal Studies | Chinese | French | |
| Engineering Studies | Information Processes and Technology | Information and Technology (VET) | Photo Video Digital [1 Unit] | Software Design and Development | |
| Hospitality | Industrial Technology Multimedia | Industrial Technology Timber | Music | Visual Arts | |
| Sport Life and Recreation [1 Unit] | Studies of Religion I [1 Unit] |
Extra Curricular Activities
- Drum Corps - The drum corps participates in the annual Burwood march, the ANZAC march through the streets of Sydney City and the Sandakan service at Burwood.
- Chess Team - The school offers senior, intermediate and junior chess teams which participate every Friday afternoon against other schools in the area.
- Debate Team
- Mock UN
- Public Speaking - The school offers various opportunities for students to hone their public speaking skills. Examples include the Toastmasters challenge that the school participates in annually.
- Tournament of the Minds
Sporting Achievements and Opportunities
The school has always been a stronghold of the rugby codes with many former pupils going on to play at senior levels. In 1965 the school won the NSW state rugby union schools knockout championship the Waratah Shield.
In 2006, the cricket team were runners up in the inaugural state-wide Davidson Shield tournament, being narrowly defeated in the final.
The table tennis team in 2006 were the undefeated champions in the state knockout competition, defeating James Ruse Agricultural High School, 4-0, in the finals. They also went on to represent NSW at the Australian Schools Table Tennis Championships in Melbourne. They were undefeated in the open teams category and finished 2nd in the mixed school category.
Notable alumni
Homebush Boys Alumni have achieved public prominence in various fields of endeavour. These include:
Politics and Law
- Bob Debus - NSW politician; State Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment.
- Roderick Howie - lawyer and jurist; Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
- Jim Lloyd - politician; Federal minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads (from 2004)
Sport
- Gordon Bray AM - sports commentator, journalist and writer
- Tony Ford - Rugby League player; nominated by Don Clarke as the new "Boot", subsequently first grade fullback with Western Suburbs DRLFC
- Arthur Summons - Rugby League player; former captain Western Suburbs DRLFC and Australian Rugby League teams
- Rodney Blake - Rugby union player; playing in the Australia and the Queensland Reds teams.
Business
- John D Coates AO LLB - lawyer and businessman; president of the Australian Olympic Committee, member of the International Olympic Committee
- John Symonds - businessman; chief executive "Aussie Home Loans", naming rights sponsor of the Sydney Football Stadium
The Arts
- Neil Armfield - theatre, film and opera director
- Paul Furness - prominent Australian jazz musician.
Science and Education
- Stephen Leeder - medical scientist; professor of public health and community medicine at the University of Sydney, and co-director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy
- Alan Pettigrew - scientist; from 2006 Vice-Chancellor of The University of New England, formerly (to 2005) Chief Executive Officer of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
- Danny Stiel AM - gastro-intestinal oncologist; member of AOC Medical Commission and formerly Chief Medical Officer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics
Misc
- Roger Rogerson - controversial former member of the NSW Police
- Andrew Chan - convicted drug trafficker, a member of the "Bali 9", Chan was at Homebush Boys High School till year 10.
Notable staff
Pedagogues who have served at the school include:
- Darrel Chapman - academic, former captain South Sydney DRLFC and member Australian Rugby league teams
- Jack "Pug" Mason - sports master and rugby coach in the 1950 and 1960s - coached Waratah Shield winning side (1965). Father of 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics silver medalist, Michelle Mason Brown.
