Canberra Grammar School

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Canberra Grammar School
Canberra Grammar School crest. Source: www.cgs.act.edu.au (Canberra Grammar School website)
Deo Ecclesiae Patriae
Established 1929
School Type Independent, Single-sex, Day & Boarding
Denomination Anglican
Key People Mr. A. Simon Murray (Principal)
Mr. Mark Baker (Chairman)
Revd Christopher Welsh (Chaplain)
School Fees AU$9,680 - AU$15,510 p.a (Day)
AU$30,720 - AU$31,430 p.a (Boarding)[1]
Location Red Hill, Australian Capital Territory, Australia Flag of Australia
Coordinates 35°19′51″S 149°7′31″E / -35.33083, 149.12528Coordinates: 35°19′51″S 149°7′31″E / -35.33083, 149.12528
Enrolment ~1,570 (ELC-12)[2]
Revenue AU$24,798,519 (2006)[3]
Colours Navy Blue & Sky Blue         
Homepage www.cgs.act.edu.au

Canberra Grammar School (CGS) is an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located in Red Hill, a suburb of Canberra, the capital of Australia.

The school is affiliated with the Anglican Church of Australia and provides an education from Pre-school to Year 2 for boys and girls, and from Year 3 to 12 for boys only.

The school was founded in 1929, the foundation stone being laid on 4 December 1928 by Prime Minister of Australia Stanley Bruce. Initially it was attended by only 63 students, but has grown sharply since the early 1950s to a total of 1,571 students in attendance as of February 2006.[2]


Contents

[edit] Curriculum

Unlike other schools in the Australian Capital Territory, Canberra Grammar School subscribes to the New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC) System. The curriculum in Years 11 and 12 is thus based on New South Wales HSC courses. As such, English is the one course which is compulsory up to and including Year 12. Canberra Grammar School leans towards a focus on Academic courses (as opposed to Vocational courses). Mathematics and English can both be studied at Extension 2 (4-unit) level, and many other subjects are taught at 3-unit level. These include History, Music and Languages.

[edit] Co-curriculum

The school offers many activities outside of school hours. These include sport, music and other activities.

  • Junior School: Athletics, Ball games, Basketball, Chess, Cricket, Cross Country Running, Drama, European Handball, Gardening, Golf, Indoor Soccer, Mini Volleyball, Multimedia, Orienteering, Rugby, Art, Swimming, Tae Kwon Do, Tennis, Triathlon.
  • Senior School: Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Chess, Community Service, Cricket, Cross Country, Debating, Dragon Boats, Drama, Duke of Edinburgh awards, Football (soccer), Golf, Hockey, Karting, Mountain Biking, Orienteering, Outdoor Education, Rowing, Rugby, Sailing, Snowsports, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tae Kwon Do, Tennis, Triathlon, Track Cycling, Venture Group, Water Polo.
  • Junior School Music: Junior School Chorale, Junior Choir, Senior Choir, String Orchestra, Concert Band, canberra Grammar School Stage Band.
  • Senior School Music: Canberra Grammar School Choir, Chapel Choir, Guitar Ensemble, Horn Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Saxophone Ensemble.
  • Combined Canberra Grammar School and Canberra Girls' Grammar School Ensembles: Clarinet Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Flute Ensemble, Lloyd (Elementary) Concert Band, Hultgren (Beginner) Concert Band, Stanhope (Intermediate) Concert band, Grainger (advanced) concert band, Junior Big Band, Senior Big Band, String Orchestra, Symphony orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Motet Choir, Senior Percussion Ensemble, Intermediate Percussion Enemble, Symphonic Wind Band

[edit] Education technology

Canberra Grammar School uses the Studywiz[4] learning portal system as well as Microsoft Exchange for email. The school mostly uses Apple iMac computers with Boot Camp so students have a choice from using Mac OS X version 10.5 “Leopard” and Microsoft Windows XP. The school's library has an online catalogue[1] that allows students to search the entire library as well as check what books he has on loan, reserved or overdue.

The school's Main Oval and Breezeway
The school's Main Oval and Breezeway

[edit] Year 12 Centre

The CGS Year 12 centre is the central commune for Year 12 students. It is located next to the gallery in the school quadrangle.

[edit] Houses

Grounds and buildings of Canberra Grammar School viewed from Red Hill
Grounds and buildings of Canberra Grammar School viewed from Red Hill

As with most Australian schools, Canberra Grammar utilises a house system. The school currently has eight houses:

  • Burgmann (Gold)
  • Monaro (Green/Red)
  • Blaxland
  • Jones
  • Garran (Purple)
  • Garnsey (Sky Blue)
  • Eddison (Dark Blue)
  • Hay (Black)
  • Sheaffe (White)
  • Edwards (Maroon)

Also two year seven houses:

  • Clements
  • Burgess

After spending year seven in either of these two houses, boys then make the transition into their allocated senior houses (one of the eight mentioned above). The senior houses provide a nurturing environment, where life long friends and associates are made, as well as encouraging friendly competition between the houses. House competitions include the swimming carnival, the athletics carnival, the cross country carnival, and house music, consisting of house rock, house instrumental, the 'house shout' and the 4-20 voices section. There are also several, non-official house competitions organised by the boys, including house cricket, and house soccer and house basketball.

The Junior School also includes 4 sporting houses:

  • Radford (Red)
  • Garnsey (Blue)
  • C.J. Shakespeare (Yellow)
  • Edwards (Green)

[edit] Headmasters

Name Term
Rev Canon W.J. Edwards 1929-1946
Rev A.E. Gardner 1947
Rev Canon D.A Garnsey 1948-1958
Mr. P.J McKeown A.M 1959-1985
Mr. T.C. Murray 1986-1998
Mr A.S. Murray (no relation to above) 1998-Present

[edit] Notable alumni

Academic
Business
Media, entertainment and the arts
Politics, public service and the law
Sport
Other

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fee Schedule 2008 (PDF). Enrolments. Canberra Grammar School. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  2. ^ a b Australian School Choice- Canberra Grammar School (accessed:20-06-2007)
  3. ^ Canberra Grammar School Annual Report 2006 (accessed:20-06-2007)
  4. ^ Studywiz Schools list (March 25, 2008).
  5. ^ "NSW Rhodes Scholars"University of Sydney list, (retrieved 16 April 2007)
  6. ^ Chip off the old block. Fairfax Digital (December 31, 2005).
  7. ^ National Museum of Australia: Gough Whitlam (accessed:02-08-2007)

[edit] Further reading

  • McKeown, P.J., Editor (1979). Deo, Ecclesiae, Patriae; Fifty Years of Canberra Grammar School. Australian National University Press. ISBN 0-7081-1591-8. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links