Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School
Farrer crest. Source: http://www.farreragri-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/ (Farrer website)
Ad Aspera Virtus
(Latin:"Strength in Adversity")[1]
Established 1939[2]
School type Selective, Single-sex, Public, Day and Boarding
Principal/
Headmaster		 Mr. Steve Cavanagh
Location Calala, New South Wales, Australia Flag of Australia
Campus 191 hectares (472 acres) (Rural)[3]
Enrolment ~610 (7–12)[3]
School colours Green, Gold and Rust[1]             
Homepage www.farreragri-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School is an academically selective, day and boarding, Public high school for boys, located at Calala, a small suburb of Tamworth, in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is the only public agricultural high school for boys in Australia.[4]

Established in 1939, Farrer is unique in Australian education, being one of the few agricultural secondary schools catering for both boarding and day students. The school currently enrols approximately 610 students from Years 7 to 12, including 360 boarders,[1] making it the third largest boarding school in the State.[2] Being a public high School, tuition is free, and the school charges the lowest boarding fees in New South Wales.[3]

While an emphasis is placed on the agricultural curriculum, but a broad curriculum is also on offer for students from rural NSW who do not wish to return to the land or gain employment in an agricultural field. Other areas of emphasis at Farrer include sport and student welfare.[5]

Farrer embodies a conservative culture. School uniform is compulsory and is traditional in style, including blazer, tie and wide-brimmed hat. The school marches each week as part of the school assembly, and a prefect system is in place, playing an important role in the welfare and supervision of students.[5]

Contents

[edit] History

Farrer Memorial High School was founded in 1939 as an agricultural high school for boarders, particularly those who are isolated and day students from the Tamworth region.[2]

The school was named in memory of William James Farrer (1845–1906), a leading Australian agronomist and wheat breeder, best known for developing the "Federation" breed of wheat. His work led to significant increases in the Australian wheat crop for decades to come, and economic prosperity for the wheat industry.[6][7]

[edit] Campus

The Farrer campus is 140 hectares (346 acres) in size, and is located on the outskirts of rural Tamworth, on prime Peel Valley farmland.[2]

The schools facilities include computer rooms, TAS workshops, a 200 seat auditorium, Old Boys museum and multiple facilities to teach practical agriculture,[2] such as a 170 hectares (420 acres) farm, horticultural centre and piggery.[8] The Dairy Cattle, White Suffolk Flock and Angus stud are run as profitable business ventures, turning over in excess of AUD$140,000 at the Bull Sale in 2005.[2]

The school's sporting facilities include a gymnasium, swimming pool, weights room, tennis courts, basketball courts, football fields and a cricket oval with practice nets. The school also makes use of the city's sporting facilities, including the synthetic hockey surface and athletics track.[6]

[edit] Curriculum

Students at Farrer have the opportunity to undertake study in a number of areas from their School Certificate in Years 9 and 10, through to their Higher School Certificate (HSC) in Years 11 and 12. Some of these subject areas on offer include: Industrial Tech Metal, Industrial Tech Wood, Electronics, Information and Software Technology, Art, Music, Drama, Software Design and Development, Beef production, Sheep production, sport science and Journalism.[9]

Agricultural opportunities include Beef cattle, Sheep, Dairy cattle, Wool husbandry, Horticulture, Pig Production, Egg Growing, Dry land and Irrigated cropping.[2]

[edit] Notable alumni

Alumni of Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School are known as Old Boys, and may elect to join the school's alumni association, the Farrer Old Boys' Association. The Old Boys network totals approximately 4000 members across NSW, Australia and the world.[2] Some notable Farrer Old Boys include:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Academic
Business
  • David Rodney Mazitelli – Principal of Mazitelli Pty Ltd; Commissioner, Tourism Western Australia; Board Member, Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre; Board Member, Perth Convention Bureau; Former Chairman of Australian Tourism Export Council; Former Executive Director of the Federal Department for Tourism[13]
  • Richard McPhail – Director of Gresham Partners Ltd; Former Director of The Franked Income Fund; Former Associate Director of Rothschild Australia Ltd; Former Treasurer of the Tattersalls Club (Sydney)[14]
  • Geoffrey Lee Miller AO – Principal of GCM Strategic Services Pty Limited; Chair of Farmshed Ventures Pty Ltd, and Beeline Technologies Inc. (USA); Chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (Washington DC); Director of Agrilink, Agsystems Pty Ltd, and JEM Bonds Ltd; Chair of Value Added Wheat CRC Ltd[15]
Entertainment, media and the arts
  • Arthur Blanch – Golden Guitar winning Country music singer; Inducted into the Country Music Roll of Renown[16]
  • Pixie Jenkins – Musician; Golden Guitar winning fiddler[17]
  • Stuart Maunder – Director of Opera Australia[18]
Medicine and science
Politics, public service and the law
Sport

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c 2007 Handbook (PDF). School Information. Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Farrer Old Boys' Association 2006 Newsletter (PDF). Old Boys. Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School (2006). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  3. ^ a b c Farrer Memorial Agricultural High Schools. New South Wales Schools. Australian Boarding Schools Association (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  4. ^ Principal's Welcome Message. About Farrer. Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  5. ^ a b Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School. School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  6. ^ a b Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School (PDF). Accommodation Guide. National Association for Rural Student Accommodation Inc (2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  7. ^ Wrigley, C.W. (1981). "Farrer, William James (1845 - 1906)". Australian Dictionary of Biography (Online) 8. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp.471-473. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 
  8. ^ The Farm. Farm. Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  9. ^ Subject Selection. School Information. Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  10. ^ "CRIPPS Allan William". Who's Who in Australia Live!. (2006-11-17). Ed. Suzannah Pearce. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  11. ^ NSW Rhodes Scholars 1904 - 2007. Rhodes Scholarships. The University of Sydney (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
  12. ^ "SMITH Robert Henry Tufrey". Who's Who in Australia Live!. (2006-11-17). Ed. Suzannah Pearce. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  13. ^ "MAZITELLI David Rodney". Who's Who in Australia Live!. (2006-11-17). Ed. Suzannah Pearce. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  14. ^ "McPHAIL Richard". Who's Who in Australia Live!. (2006-11-17). Ed. Suzannah Pearce. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  15. ^ "MILLER (Geoff) Geoffrey Lee". Who's Who in Australia Live!. (2006-11-17). Ed. Suzannah Pearce. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-10-10. 
  16. ^ Arthur Blanch. Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown. Australian Country Music Foundation (2001). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  17. ^ Three Questions: Pixie Jenkins. "Sydney can turn on the waterworks". Sydney Morning Herald (2008-01-21). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  18. ^ Maunder, Stuart. "Not quite saving the Queen", News, Analysis and Comment, Arts Hub Australia, 2006-06-16. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. 
  19. ^ Mark Coulton. Meet the Federal Team. The Nationals (2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  20. ^ Peter Worsley. Sporting Hall of Fame. Orange City Council. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Selective Schools of New South Wales, Australia
Fully Selective
Partially Selective
Selective Agricultural