North Sydney Girls High School

North Sydney Girls' High School
North Sydney Girls' High School
	A building at the school
Location
	Crows Nest, Sydney, New South Wales; Australia
Coordinates	33°49′49″S 151°12′12″E / 33.83028°S 151.20333°E
Information
Type	Government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school
Motto	Latin: Ad Altiora; (Towards Higher Things)
Established	1914; 110 years ago
Oversight	New South Wales Department of Education
Principal	Megan Connors
Years	7–12
Gender	Girls
Enrolment	c. 923 (2008)
Campus	Suburban
Colour(s)	Navy blue, green and white
Website	northsydgi-h.schools.nsw.gov.au

North Sydney Girls' High School (abbreviated as NSGHS, more commonly known as NSG) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for girls, located in Crows Nest, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1914,^[2] the school caters for approximately 910 students from Year 7 to Year 12. Admission to the school is based entirely on academic results through the Selective High Schools Test undertaken by students in Year 6.

In 2001, The Sun-Herald ranked North Sydney Girls High School first in Australia's top ten girls' schools, based on the number of its alumnae mentioned in the Who's Who in Australia.^[3] In 2022, North Sydney Girls High School ranked as the fourth high school in the state, based on the percentage of exams sat that achieved a Distinguished Achievers (DA).^[4].

History[edit]

North Sydney Girls' High School prior to opening, January 1914

North Sydney Girls' High School was officially founded in 1914 with an enrolment of 194 students. The school was originally located on the corner of Hazelbank Road and the Pacific Highway (where Cammeraygal High School (junior campus) is now situated). By the 1980s, it was felt that the site could no longer meet the needs of the school, and years of intense lobbying for improved facilities followed. When the New South Wales Government decided to close Crows Nest Boys High School, the facility was transferred to North Sydney Girls. In December 1993, North Sydney Girls High officially moved to its current location, following a $6 million building and renovations project.^[5]

Academics[edit]

Enrolments[edit]

North Sydney Girls is an academically selective high school; admission to the school for Year 7 is determined by results in the Selective High Schools test, which is open to all Year 6 students in NSW. A small number of students from other high schools are accepted into years 8 to 12, with applications made to the school to sit for an entrance exam.

Award system[edit]

At North Sydney Girls High School, awards are given based on academic performance in the senior school only.

Academic results[edit]

The school performs well in public examinations, and in recent years has been placed as the leading girls' school in New South Wales in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations. Annually, at least 30% of Year 12 students achieve places in the top 1% of the HSC.^[6]

Curriculum[edit]

North Sydney Girls High School is registered and accredited with the New South Wales Board of Studies, and therefore follows the mandated curriculum for all years.

Co- and extracurricular activities[edit]

NSGHS offers a diverse range of extracurricular activities.

Music and drama[edit]

NSGHS has a theatresports troupe, junior drama ensemble, Year 10 drama night, and various clubs available to seniors.

Instrumental ensembles and bands include the advanced string ensemble, stage (jazz) band, jazz ensemble, concert band, symphony orchestra, wind orchestra, wind ensemble, and beginner band. Choirs and vocal ensembles include Year 7 choir, junior choir, intermediate choir, combined (NSGHS & NSBHS) choir, senior vocal, and the a capella group.

Sport and outdoor activity[edit]

Co-curricular sports include basketball, skiing, hockey, cricket, badminton, table tennis, taekwondo, rowing, kayaking, touch football, water polo, fencing, netball, tennis, and volleyball. NSGHS also has a chess club, dance ensembles, and a cadet program at Marist Catholic College North Shore, and has had students participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Notable alumnae[edit]

Academic[edit]

Dame Valerie Beral – breast cancer epidemiologist
Anna Katherine Donald – Rhodes Scholar (1989)^[7]
Dame Janet Ritterman – former director of the Royal College of Music in London, from 1993 to 2005.

Entertainment, media and the arts[edit]

Benita Collings – Play School presenter^{[citation needed]}
Ruth Cracknell – actress
Ceridwen Dovey – author
Jill Hellyer – author and poet
Nathalie Kelley – actress
Nicole Kidman – actress^[8]
Samantha Lang – film and theatre director^[9]
Amelia Lester – author, editor^[10]
Catherine Martin – production designer
Lucy Maunder – cabaret and theatre performer
Janet Patterson – costume designer and production designer
Cassandra Pybus – historian and author
Margaret Throsby – ABC Classic FM presenter^{[citation needed]}
Naomi Watts – actress
Wengie – YouTube personality, singer, voice actress
Nina Oyama – comedian, writer, actor, and director

Politics, public service and the law[edit]

Shelley Hancock – teacher and parliamentarian; elected as a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for South Coast (Liberal Party)^[11]
Justice Lucy McCallum – Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW^[12]
Nancy Grace Augusta Wake – resistance fighter known to the Germans as "the White Mouse"; the most decorated woman of World War Two^[13]

Sport[edit]

Elise Simone Ashton (née Norwood) – Olympic water polo player^[14]

Principals[edit]

The school principals have been:^[15]

Years	Principal
1914–1923	Janette Grossman
1924–1937	Ida Slack
1938–1941	Lilian Geer
1942–1949	Vera Howard
1950–1955	Elizabeth Booth
1956–1958	Edith Kane
1959–1962	Jessie Simons
1963–1968	Dorothy Dey
1969–1976	Joan Morris
1976–1982	Shirley Hokin
1982–1986	Joan Whittaker
1987–1990	Betty Anderson
1990–1996	Isobel Seivl
1997–2005	Louise Robert-Smith
2006–2012	Meredith Ash
2012–2018	David Tomlin
2019–present	Megan Connors

References[edit]

^ "North Sydney Girls High School". School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
^ As the school historian pointed out in History of NSGHS, the correct year of commencement was in fact 1912 when classes were temporarily formed at North Sydney Superior Public School in Miller Street
^ Walker, Frank (22 July 2001). "The ties that bind". Sunday Life. The Sun-Herald. p. 16. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
^ "HSC School Ranking - 2022". Better Education. 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
^ "History of NSGHS". North Sydney Girls High School. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
^ "Academic Excellence". North Sydney Girls High School. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
^ "NSW Rhodes Scholars" Archived 24 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine—University of Sydney list, (retrieved 16 April 2007)
^ "Nicole Kidman". Hollywood Pulse. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
^ "Samantha LANG" (PDF). Cherub Pictures. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
^ Clare Morgan (29 August 2009). "New York magazine's Sydney star". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
^ Alafaci, Annette (2006). "Hancock, Shelley (1951 - )". Australian Women Biographical Entry. National Foundation for Australian Women. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
^ "Swearing-in ceremony of the Honourable Justice Lucy McCallum" (PDF). Supreme Court of NSW. 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
^ "Wake, Nancy Grace Augusta (1912-)". Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Australia. National Centre for Australian Studies. 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2007.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Elise Norwood
^ This table was copied from a display plaque in the school office.

External links[edit]

North Sydney Girls High School

[SchoolLocator-1] "North Sydney Girls High School". School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved 22 February 2008.

[2] As the school historian pointed out in History of NSGHS, the correct year of commencement was in fact 1912 when classes were temporarily formed at North Sydney Superior Public School in Miller Street

[WhosWho-3] Walker, Frank (22 July 2001). "The ties that bind". Sunday Life. The Sun-Herald. p. 16. Retrieved 12 September 2007.

[4] "HSC School Ranking - 2022". Better Education. 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.

[History-5] "History of NSGHS". North Sydney Girls High School. Retrieved 28 August 2008.

[Academic-6] "Academic Excellence". North Sydney Girls High School. Retrieved 13 September 2007.

[NSW_Rhodes_Scholars-7] "NSW Rhodes Scholars" Archived 24 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine—University of Sydney list, (retrieved 16 April 2007)

[Kidman-8] "Nicole Kidman". Hollywood Pulse. Retrieved 13 September 2007.

[Lang-9] "Samantha LANG" (PDF). Cherub Pictures. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.

[Lester-10] Clare Morgan (29 August 2009). "New York magazine's Sydney star". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 October 2023.

[Hancock-11] Alafaci, Annette (2006). "Hancock, Shelley (1951 - )". Australian Women Biographical Entry. National Foundation for Australian Women. Retrieved 13 September 2007.

[Swearing_in-12] "Swearing-in ceremony of the Honourable Justice Lucy McCallum" (PDF). Supreme Court of NSW. 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2017.

[Wake-13] "Wake, Nancy Grace Augusta (1912-)". Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Australia. National Centre for Australian Studies. 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2007.^{[permanent dead link]}

[14] Elise Norwood

[15] This table was copied from a display plaque in the school office.

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[note a]

v t e Selective and specialist high schools of New South Wales, Australia
Fully selective high schools	Baulkham Hills Caringbah Fort Street Girraween Gosford Hornsby Girls' James Ruse Agricultural Merewether Normanhurst Boys' North Sydney Boys' North Sydney Girls' Northern Beaches: Manly Campus Penrith Selective Smith's Hill St George Girls' Sydney Boys' Sydney Girls' Sydney Tech
Partially selective high schools	Alexandria Park Blacktown Boys' Blacktown Girls' Chatswood Elizabeth Macarthur Grafton Gorokan Karabar Kooringal Macquarie Fields Moorebank Parramatta Peel Prairiewood Rose Bay Secondary Ryde Secondary Sefton St Marys Senior Sydney Secondary Tempe
Selective agricultural high schools	Farrer Memorial Hurlstone James Ruse Yanco
Selective creative and performing arts primary^{[note a]} and high schools	Australian Performing Arts Grammar School Brent Street Academy Campbelltown Performing Arts High School Conservatorium High School Granville South High School Hunter School of the Performing Arts^{[note a]} Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School Ku-ring-gai High School The McDonald College^{[note a]} Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School Newtown High School of the Performing Arts Village Nation College Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts
Specialist sports high schools	Endeavour Sports Hills Sports Hunter Sports Illawarra Sports Matraville Sports Narrabeen Sports Westfields Sports
List of selective high schools in New South Wales Selective schools of New South Wales Schools portal New South Wales portal ^a : Year 3 to Year 12