Canberra Grammar School

School in Red Hill, Australian Capital Territory, Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canberra Grammar School

Canberra Grammar School is a co-educational, independent, day and boarding school located in Red Hill, a suburb of Canberra, the capital of Australia.

Quick Facts Location, Coordinates ...
Canberra Grammar School (CGS)
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Location
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,
Coordinates35°19′51″S 149°7′31″E
Information
Typeindependent, co-educational, day and boarding
MottoLatin: Deo Ecclesiae Patriae
(For God, for Church, for Country)
DenominationAnglican
Established1929
ChairmanJames Willson[1]
Head of schoolJustin Garrick
ChaplainAndrew Robinson, Father James
Staff554[2]
Teaching staff191[3]
Enrolment2,028 (ELC to 12)[2]
CampusesRed Hill Campus (junior and senior),
Northside Campus (PK to 2),
Southside Campus (PK to 2)
Colour(s)Navy blue, sky blue & gold
   
SloganReady for the world
RevenueA$57,200,000[2]
AffiliationAssociated Southern Colleges
Websitecgs.act.edu.au
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The school is affiliated with the Anglican Church of Australia and provides an education from preschool to Year 12 for boys and girls. In October 2015, the school announced that it would extend co-education to all years, commencing in 2016 with an intake of girls in Years 3 and 4. By 2018, the school became fully co-educational.[4]

The school was founded in 1929 when the existing Monaro Grammar School was relocated to Canberra from Cooma.[5] The foundation stone was laid on 4 December 1928 by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce.[6] Initially, it was attended by only 63 students, but the school has grown considerably since the early 1950s to a total attendance of 1,749 students as of June 2015.[7]

The school has educated one Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, and has a long list of notable alumni.

The school consists of 5 main campuses: Red Hill Southside, Red Hill Primary, Red Hill Senior, the Early Learning Center (ELC) and Northside Campbell.

Curriculum

In the primary school, the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework requirements are incorporated through International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme.[8]

In the senior school, from years 7 to 10, the school follows the Australia Curriculum and the ACT Every chance to learn curriculum framework.[9] Unlike other schools in the Australian Capital Territory, Canberra Grammar School does not follow the ACT Year 12 Curriculum. Instead, it is the only school in the ACT where students in years 11 and 12 have the option to study either the New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC) or the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.[10] In 2012, Canberra Grammar became an International Baccalaureate World School.[11]

Co-curricular

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Perspective

Canberra Grammar School is a member of the Associated Southern Colleges (ASC). The school offers many activities outside school hours. These include sport, music and other activities.[12]

  • Junior School: athletics, adventure club, 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 and triathlon.
  • Senior School: athletics club, alternate reality club (ARC), badminton, basketball, CGS Academy (Yr 11 & 12 tutoring for younger students), chess, Code Cadets,[13] community service, cricket, cross country, Cru (Christian Group), debating, dragon boating, drama, Duke of Edinburgh awards, Equestrian Club, football (soccer), golf, hockey, mountain biking, netball, orienteering, outdoor education, rowing, rugby, sailing, snowsports, strength and conditioning, STEM Club, Sustainable CGS,[14] swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, Thucydides club and water polo.
  • Junior School Music: Junior School Chorale, Junior Choir, Senior Choir, String Orchestra, Concert Band and the Canberra Grammar School Stage Band.
  • Senior School Music is made up of two streams of performance groups:
    • The Advanced Musicians Program consists of a senior (higher level) concert band, Chamber Orchestra, senior jazz band, senior percussion ensemble, brass ensemble and Motet. These students have high level performance opportunities.
    • The large ensemble program provides larger ensemble-based experiences, including two concert bands, junior (lower level) jazz band, two string ensembles, a choir, an electric guitar ensemble, junior percussion ensemble and a piano ensemble.

Many of the Senior School ensembles have done numerous tours overseas over the years.

The school also holds a major musical every two years. Previous productions have included: Grease (2021), Chess (2020-cancelled due to Covid), The Pirates of Penzance (2018) Barnum (2015) and Guys and Dolls (2013).

Houses

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

List of houses

As with most Australian schools, Canberra Grammar utilises a house system. The Senior School consists of ten houses:[15]

More information House, Colour(s) ...
HouseColour(s)Mascot
Burgmann Lion rampant
BlaxlandSwan
Garran Bull
GarnseyDove with olive branch
Eddison Eagle
Hay Murray cod
Jones Dragon
Sheaffe Pegasus
EdwardsKookaburra
MiddletonStag
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The school also has three Year 7 houses:

More information House, Mascot ...
HouseMascot
ClementsAgnus Dei (lamb)
BurgessKangaroo
Snow Horse
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The Junior School has six houses introduced in 2022. These houses were named after local flora and fauna using the traditional Indigenous language of the Ngunnawal people:

More information House, Colour ...
HouseColourFlora / Fauna
DhiriwiriIronbark
BuruKangaroo
GuginyalKookaburra
NamarangWattle
MulleunWedge-tailed Eagle
BarinyStringybark
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The Junior School's original four houses, in place till 2021:

More information House, Colour ...
HouseColourMascot
EdwardsGreenDragon
RadfordRedLion
GarnseyBlueEagle
CJ ShakespeareGoldTiger
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Most of these houses are in the upper years.

Inter-house competitions

Houses form the basis of much of the inter-school competition that occurs throughout the academic calendar. Currently, the three prizes ‘\awarded annually to houses are: the Manaro House Shield, the Captain's Cup, and the Sportsmaster's Cup.

Manaro House Shield

Events:

The House Shield is currently held by Garnsey House.

Captains' Cup

The exact events of the Captains' Cup are at the discretion of the captains and vice-captains of the school, and thus vary on a year-to-year basis. The events for 2024/25 are, in no particular order:

Typically, a "CGS All Star" team is selected from players in the competition to compete against the champion house in each event.

The Captains' Cup is currently held by Jones House.

Sportsmaster's Cup

The Sportsmaster's Cup is determined by:

  • Spirit
  • Attendance
  • Participation

The Sportsmaster's Cup is currently held by Garran House.

Heads of school

More information Name, Term ...
NameTerm
W.J. Edwards1929–1946
A.E. Gardner1947
David A. Garnsey1948–1958
Paul J. McKeown, AM1959–1985
Timothy C. Murray1986–1998
A. Simon Murray, OAM1998–2010
Christopher Welsh2010
Justin Garrick2011–present
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Notable alumni

Academia
Business
  • Kerry Packer, publishing, media and gaming tycoon[21]
  • Nectarios (Nicky) Efkarpidis, architect and property developer[22][23][24]
  • Rowan Dean, advertising executive[25]
  • Terry Snow, Executive Director of the Canberra Airport Group,[26] Australian businessman (trained accountant), entrepreneur, and philanthropist
Media, entertainment and the arts
Politics, public service and the law
Sport
Other

Scandals

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian government announced a $130 billion [56] subsidy to help employers to be able to keep paying their employees and to support the survival of businesses and jobs impacted by the pandemic. Canberra Grammar School took $7,108,500 [57] in JobKeeper funds. Dr Garrick, head of the school, responded by saying "that as a private school, Canberra Grammar has an obligation to their community to maintain an operating surplus to ensure their economic viability into the future."[58]

See also

References

Further reading

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