Sydney Grammar School is a non-denominational independent private school for boys located in Sydney, Australia.
One of the oldest and most famous schools in Australia, it claims to offer the "classic" or "grammar" type of education thought of as a liberal, humane, pre-vocational education (according to its prospectus).
The school has a particular emphasis on music with many different performing groups formed from among the boys.
Established by an Act of Parliament in 1854, and opened in 1857, it has produced many of New South Wales's leading citizens in Law, Medicine, Business, Politics and Art. The school is situated on College Street, Sydney, on the former site of the Sydney University.
Ex students of the school - known as "Old Sydneians" - include Prime Ministers Edmund Barton and William McMahon, High Court Judges including Chief Justice Sir Anthony Mason, author Banjo Paterson, Academy Award-winning cameraman Andrew Lesnie (Lord of the Rings 2002), Film editor Richard Francis-Bruce (Harry Potter 2001), Julian McMahon, an actor and son of Prime Minister McMahon and former lawyer and merchant banker Malcolm Turnbull, who has recently been elected as the federal parliament member for Wentworth.
Sydney Grammar is the most selective-entry school in Australia, as measured by the scholarship entry examination results produced by the Australian Council of Educational Research.
At over $18000 per annum, the school fees are amongst the highest of any secondary school in Australia.
Located near the heart of the Sydney central business district, SGS is excellently situated with regard to all City amenities. The grounds are, as one might expect, small in land area. The campus consists entirely of multi-storey buildings in a concrete landscape setting.
Sport
Sydney Grammar School is one of eight Sydney schools known collectively as the GPS Schools. GPS, or "Great Public Schools" sporting events are contested keenly, as are other disciplines, such as debating. Competition in rowing culminates in the Riverview Gold Cup (for Junior Crews) and the Head of the River for Senior Crews. Grammar participates in the Tri-Grammar Cup (Cricket) in which Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne Grammar Schools each send a cricket team to compete for the title. Sydney Grammar School and Melbourne Grammar School compete for a "bat" in the same competition. The Sydney-Melbourne match dates back to 1876.
In 2001, a new rowing competition - the Tri-Grammar Series - was begun. A rowing regatta between Sydney Grammar School, Melbourne Grammar and Brisbane Grammar held in each city in rotation. To ensure a friendly atmosphere and spirit, each member of the host crew offers accommodation to their counterpart from a rival crew.
The school's main sport field is Weigall, named after former Headmaster A.B. Weigall, which is located in Edgecliff, in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. It contains two rugby fields, one soccer field, six tennis courts and four cricket nets. It is routinely used for Saturday sports matches, Physical Education and as a recreational area for Grammar's Edgecliff Preparatory School.
Other sports, notably Rugby, Soccer and Fencing are played.
Structure
Sydney Grammar has a total enrolment of 1840 boys across Years K-12. The main High School campus is located on College Street, Darlinghurst and has an enrolment of 1100 boys in Years 7-12. Sydney Grammar also has two primary-level Preparatory Schools: Edgecliff Prep. in the Eastern Suburbs, which has 300 boys, and St. Ives Prep. in the Northern Suburbs, which has 440. Each year, approximately two-thirds of the incoming Year 7 at College St. are from the two Preparatory Schools, and the rest are from various other schools around Sydney. Edgecliff Preparatory neighbours Weigall, the school's main playing field.
Evaluation
Relative to all the other traditional GPS schools, Grammar has a stronger emphasis on academic performance, and has usually been the top-performing school in the Higher School Certificate. Supporters of the school would suggest that it provides a truly intellectual grounding. Detractors would argue that the school provides a "spoon-fed" education without true independence of thought, and that its high examination results are merely a reflection of the extraordinary quality of the intake. Irrespective of which camp is correct, there is no doubt that Sydney Grammar is the most extreme example of its type of school in Australia.
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