Hurlstone Agricultural High School

Hurlstone Agricultural High School
Standort
Glenfield , NSW Australien
Information
School type	Public partially selective co-educational secondary day/boarding school
Motto	Pro Patria (Latin for "For the Fatherland")
Established	April 1 1907
Gründer	John Kinlock
Direktorin	John Norris
Grades	7-12
Enrollment	961
Campus size	112 hectares (1.2 km²)
Colour(s)	Blue, Yellow, Red
Website	hurlstone.com.au

Hurlstone Agricultural High School (abbreviated HAHS) is a partially selective agricultural secondary school for students from years 7 to 12 in Glenfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest government boarding school in New South Wales (NSW).

As of 2004, the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET) regards the school as "partially selective". The school was previously regarded as selective. The school is unique in that it is the state's only public partially selective and agricultural school that also includes a coeducational boarding school. It was also the first public boarding school in NSW. The 1.2 km² campus is dominated by its operational farm and includes sporting facilities and student accommodation. As it is a NSW public school, it is also participates in sporting events, in particular, Rugby Union and Hockey.

The school has a good academic record, but has attracted controversy in recent years over allegations of financial mismanagement and bullying of staff.

History

The school maintains a dairy with 42 head of cattle.

Hurlstone was established as a boys-only school in 1907 in Hurlstone Park, approximately ten kilometres south west of Sydney, at the present site of Trinity Grammar School. Girls weren't accepted until around the 1970s. The original owner of the land was a teacher, John Kinloch, one of the first graduates of the University of Sydney. He named the land 'Hurlstone Estate', after his mother's maiden name, with the aim of setting up his own school on it.

In those days, most students completed their schooling after primary school and students at 'Hurlstone Agricultural Continuation School' (as it was known at the time) studied there for only two years. In 1926, the school moved to its present site in Glenfield, approximately 42 km south west of Sydney (between Liverpool and Campbelltown) and serviced by the Main Southern Railway. By then, its student numbers had grown from 30 (in 1907) to 148. The school supported government policy to promote productivity in the agricultural sector through the training of boys in all aspects of agricultural sciences and farm management.

For a brief period in the 1940s, it was known as 'Macarthur Agricultural High School', in honour of woolgrower John Macarthur. However, the school soon reverted to its previous name.

The school was a boys' school till 1979, when it became co-educational.

Principals

Hurlstone has had 12 principals:

Name	From	To
Mr F. McMullen	1907	1916
Mr George Longmuir	1917	1938
Mr P. Hindmarsh	1939	1945
Mr J. Mc. E. King	1946	1953
Mr C. G. James	1954	1967
Mr R. W. Clarke	1968	1978
Mr J. F. White	1979	1982
Mr G. K. Wilson	1983	1987
Mr R. M. Kidd	1988	mid-2003
Mr J. Norris	mid-2003	May 2006
Mr O. Kenny	May 2006	Dec 2006
Mr J. Norris	March 2007	present

George Longmuir, the school's longest serving principal, was, as cited by former principal Michael Kidd, "undoubtedly [the school's] most colourful". In the 1931 Harvester, he stated in his editorial that: "Team spirit counts. The team before the player; that is the thing. The school before the pupil, the state before the citizen." Similarly, he later stated in the 1934 Harvester that "Not till we have imbibed the spirit of the school, not till the ideas behind our school motto—Work and Service—has become the driving force of our daily activities are we really ourselves."

Population

Enrolment in the school is dependent on examinations of Year 6 students from across the state. New students coming in later grades have to sit a similar exam.

The student population of about 960 is divided between boarder students (who reside on the school grounds and originate mainly from country NSW), and day students (who commute mostly from the south western Sydney region). The boarder-day student ratio is roughly 1:3. For sporting and accommodation purposes the school is divided into four houses: Farrer (red), Macarthur (yellow), Wentworth (blue) and [Lachlan] Macquarie (green).

Campus

The boarding school at sunset. Several dormitories, a kitchen, and dining room are visible.

The Hurlstone Campus covers the area from Glenfield railway station, along Roy Watts Road and extends to sections of Quarter Sessions Road near the Hume Highway. Some of the day students travel by train to their homes. The main entrance to the school is located on Roy Watts Road, although many students enter from the Horne Park gate at Glenfield station. The school is serviced by the East Hills, South and Cumberland train lines.

Hurlstone features a fully functional farm and a commercial dairy. Livestock on the farm include: Beef and dairy cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, Boer Goats, alpacas and peacocks.

The school's swimming pool is located next to the boarding school, and is used for swimming carnivals, school sports and recreational purposes.

Clarke House is a heritage listed building which houses a Hurlstone memorabilia museum.

On Roy Watts Road past the boarding school there is a memorial forest with trees planted in the shape of a cross. The memorial forest is where the Anzac Day and Remembrance day ceremonies are held.

Traditions

The school motto is Pro Patria, a latin phrase which can be translated variously as For Country, For Fatherland, or For Native Land. The school organises an annual Country Fair on the last Saturday in August, involving student families across the state. There is also a school warcry and an annual rugby match between the Year 12 boarders and day students, and old Boys and First Grade Rugby. Another Tradition includes 'detagging' the new year sevens. Students from higher grades will atempt to tear off the tag on the back of the tie from the winter uniform. Although only known by Hurlstonians, it is widely practised inside the schools.

Extracurricular activities

The school allows students to engage in both co-curricular and extracurricular activities. Students can join certain clubs which promote these activities. Some groups are fairly unique to public schools within the district. These include the Cadet corps, Interact and Rural Youth. Sport is an important part of extracurricular life at Hurlstone.

Controversies and media attention

Death of Hamidur Rahman

In March 2002, a 13-year old Hurlstone student Hamidur Rahman died at Yanco Agricultural High School during a school excusion. The investigation revealed that he had died from an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts after participating in a challenge to be fastest to eat a spoonful of peanut butter. His mother Rokeya Rahman told the court that she had previously warned a Hurlstone teacher about her son's dietary needs. His father claimed that the boy didn't want to go on the excusion, and the parents didn't want to send him either. But, they allowed him to go, after Hamidur Rahman was informed that he would lose 15% of his marks if he didn't go to the excusion.

Academic performance

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the school just managed to beat the state average in an HSC English course in 2004, although it is the "second most popular selective school" in Sydney. Its overall English results in the previous year were the highest among five other partially selective schools in the state. When compared with the other partially selective schools, it ranked first across all English courses. The school also had a high student dropout rate in science subjects, despite enrolling bright students.

In 2001, an investigation by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET) found that half of the school students in 2001 who elected to study an HSC science subject had dropped it by year 12. Many more students changed from physics, chemistry and biology to easier subjects. The DET report raised concerns about the course change phenomenon in the science faculty.

Allegations of financial mismanagement

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on May 26 2006, that the school's principal, John Norris, had admitted to selling school furniture on eBay. He had raised about $2000 for the school from the sale of surplus industrial arts work benches. Many of the 11 items were sold for cash, and receipts had been provided only when specifically requested. The profits gained from the sales of these desks were intended to fund 45 new school computers to improve school facilities. John Norris was relieved of his duties after the DET ordered an investigation into school finances.

In 2007, John Norris was fired over allegations of financial mismanagement and spending public funds without approval. Norris then took legal action against DET, claiming that he was wrongly axed. The Government and Related Employees Tribunal of New South Wales upheld most of the allegations against Norris, but ordered DET to reinstate him, imposing a $5000 fine on him, and placing him on a performance improvement program.

In September 2007, some angry parents and former teachers raised serious allegations of financial mismanagement in the school. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the school was facing a shortfall of more than $500,000 according to the finance committee records, and $150,000 dollars had gone missing from accounts. The accuracy of the records was disputed by the principal, John Norris. He also dismissed a 44% increase in the school's night security budget as an "accounting error". The parents raised concerns about the school's deputy principal Mark Sargeant employing his family members as the night security staff, but Norris defended the decision, saying that there was "nothing sinister or inappropriate" in their employment.

Allegations of bullying

In 2004, the school staff alleged that the school had serious discipline problems, and a number of newer teachers had "broken" or had "given up". A defamatory site called "Throwstones", hosted at Yahoo! GeoCities, defamed teachers with accusations of molestation, pedophilia and theft. The police termed the accusations as dubious, but said they were obliged to investigate the allegations. The website also had racist remarks, and recommended that two teachers be executed. A second short-lived hate site, Throwstonesagriculturalhs.com, also came into existence, and was seen as "highly visible manifestation of the problems" at the school by some parents and teachers. As a result, Andrew Cappie-Wood, the Director-General of DET, ordered an rare "comprehensive review" into the school.

The review found that the school had "a culture of covering up bad student behaviour to protect its reputation". It also found that the school maintained "traditions of bullying and preferencing", and the senior students claimed privileges over younger ones. Supervising teachers were found to have ignored alcohol abuse and possession of pornographic material by the boarders. Some parents had removed their children due to the school's inadequate response to their complaints.

In September 2007, a group of angry parents and former teachers alleged that the "culture of bullying of staff" had continued unchcked in the school. Four staff members made allegations of "psychological intimidation, bullying and harassment" by the school management. DET removed them from the school for their protection.

Notable alumni

Academic

• Dr Lester Hiatt, Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard 1990-91; (p. 727 Who's Who in Australia 1995)
• Professor Ross Street, Personal Chair in Mathematics at Macquarie University;
• Roy Watts, AO - Former Director-General NSW Agriculture
• Gareth White - featured on Nerds FC series 2 and represented Australia in the 2002 International Mathematics Olympiad
• Elle Wenban - State debator 2006

Politics and law

• John Kerin - politician, former Treasurer of Australia
• Mark Latham - politician, former Leader of Australian Labor Party
• Jim Lees - former Commissioner of the New South Wales Police

Military

• Sir William Keys Kt AC MC, National Secretary of RSL; (p. 619 Who's Who in Australia 1977)
• John Hurst Edmondson VC - soldier in World War II; the Hurlstone school hall is named in his honour.
• Andrew Sims - Brigadier General, served in Pakistan and East Timor.

Arts and Media

• Toby Allen - singer
• Phil Burton - singer
• Peter Moore - author
• Kate Ritchie - actress
• Andrew Tierney - singer
• Michael Tierney - singer
• Subby Valentine - comedian
• Andrew Spalding - featured on Australian Idol and X Factor
• Dan O'Connor - Top 12 of 2004 Australian Idol and actor
• Margaret Tierney - former Miss Australia (1995)
• Som Guan - featured on Nerds FC series 1

Sport

• David Lyons - rugby union player, Wallabies

See also

• List of Government schools in New South Wales
• List of selective high schools in New South Wales
• List of boarding schools

External links

• Hurlstone Agricultural High School website
• Hurlstone Agricultural High School Alumni website
• NSW Department of Education and Training: Hurlstone Agricultural High School
• [1] Hurlstone Classrooms-Wikimapia