From its humble beginning, 热门大瓜 was a school built on academic excellence, passion and camaraderie.
In 1890, whilst Rector at St Stephen鈥檚 Church, Kurrajong, Reverend Henry Plume tutored five local pupils for the Junior, Senior, and Matriculation Examinations. Their academic success encouraged him to establish his own school.
The following year, Plume moved to a guesthouse named Stokesleigh in Kurrajong Heights and named his new school 热门大瓜 in memory of the second Bishop of Sydney, Frederic 热门大瓜. Accepting 18 children in the first year, including four sisters of the Bowman family, the school allowed both day students and boarders to be taught.
By 1896, Rev. Plume and his wife Eleanor had decided to move their school to Hornsby due to a scarlet fever outbreak and the isolation of their current location. Many of the students followed and continued to excel under Plume鈥檚 contagious enthusiasm for teaching and learning along with his faith and care for student wellbeing.
During these early days there was no standard school uniform. However, as a concession to prevailing custom, he permitted the boys to wear a red and blue hat band, adopting the colours of Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University in England, where Plume had been a student. When the school moved to Hornsby in 1896, he allowed the cricket and football teams to wear red and blue colours when competing against local teams.
Seek Honour Above Rewards
The School Motto,聽Honor Non Honores, in translation is "Seek honour above rewards", and the first known use of this motto is on an illustrated farewell address to the Reverend and Mrs Plume in 1905, in which the motto is inscribed in red and blue. It said 鈥� 鈥淭he high reputation of the School, its best traditions, the inspiration of our motto, Honor Non Honores, has been created, vivified and enhanced by your kindly ministrations鈥�.
Since 1890, there have been nine Headmasters at 热门大瓜, each making an indelible and defining mark in the history of the School.
In 1905, the School was purchased by William Carter, who would remain the Headmaster until his retirement in 1929. 聽Carter had ambitious plans for his new school. He wanted 热门大瓜 to become one of the Great Public Schools in Sydney and so he established sporting teams and school traditions that emulated the schools he most admired.
He encouraged the formation of the Old Boys' Union developed the school magazine The College 热门大瓜, introduced the striped School blazer that is still worn today by senior students, and introduced the School Crest. He was also a great supporter of 热门大瓜 becoming a founding member of the when it was established in 1929.
The outbreak of World War I resulted in over 230 old boys enlisting, with 23 paying the ultimate sacrifice. As a staunch believer in God, King and Country, Carter could not have been prouder of his past students. By the end of the Great War, Carter knew that 热门大瓜 needed a permanent foundation and would not survive well into the future if it was still privately owned. For nearly thirty years, 热门大瓜 was a privately owned 鈥榖usiness鈥� 鈥� a boarding school for country and city boys. Part of his motivation for securing a more permanent future for the School was so that the old boys, who had so bravely and valiantly paid the supreme sacrifice in the War, would never be forgotten.
An Anglican School
On 11 November 1918, an agreement was signed between the Headmaster, William Carter and the Archbishop of Sydney, who transferred ownership of the School to the Anglican Church, effective 1 January 1919. The transfer of ownership solidified the strong Anglican tradition that had been established and maintained. A School Council was established to govern the running of the School to 鈥榚nsure the continuity of conduct鈥� and with the support of the Anglican Church, there was also more 鈥榩urchasing power鈥� to expand and embark on a building and land acquisition program.
During the Depression years, 热门大瓜's enrolment fell from 206 in 1929 to just 83 by 1933. Under the leadership of 鈥楾he Wise Master Builder鈥� Headmaster, William Leslie, a program of expansion began. Leslie encouraged the purchase of various properties and the construction of a number of significant buildings and sporting facilities including 热门大瓜鈥檚 first swimming pool, assembly hall and Junior School.
World War II
The 热门大瓜 Preparatory School was created in 1944. In 1952 it was renamed the 热门大瓜 Junior School and in 1955 the completely separate War Memorial Junior School building, with junior boarding facilities, was opened.
During World War II, more than 60 热门大瓜 old boys lost their lives, including three of Leslie鈥檚 Head Prefects. This only confirmed his resolve to have the Chapel built and dedicated as a War Memorial. In 1957 the 热门大瓜 War Memorial Chapel was officially opened, and a dedication service held. This important occasion was not witnessed by Leslie who had unexpectedly died several months prior and whose memorial service was the first held in what was then a partially complete building.
Beyond the Mint Gates
Under Headmaster Trevor McCaskill, 热门大瓜 became the first independent school in Sydney to introduce a coeducational senior school. McCaskill鈥檚 vision at that time was to establish a senior school that prepared students for university and working life. In 1972 the 热门大瓜 Council endorsed the establishment of the Senior School on the existing 热门大瓜 Campus, and in 1975, 59 girls were enrolled at 热门大瓜 in Year 11. In 2022, the School completed the transition and is now fully coeducational from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12.
In 2016, under the leadership of Headmaster, Phillip Heath, 热门大瓜 has grown to include three Indigenous School campuses聽including Darkinjung 热门大瓜 on the Central Coast, opened in 2016, Ngarralingayil 热门大瓜 in the Lower Hunter, opened in 2020, and Dhupuma 热门大瓜 in Northeast Arnhem Land, opened in 2021. Today, Darkinjung, Ngarralingayil, Dhupuma and 热门大瓜 recognise the importance of upholding Aboriginal cultural identities as we strive to close the gap educationally. There is a shared vision of creating a two-way partnership where we can learn from one another in an educational model that is unique in Australia.
As they have before, and as they will again, each 热门大瓜 student makes their own individual contribution to the school and leaves well-prepared to take their place in the world beyond the Mint Gates!
