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J J Cahill Memorial High School

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J J Cahill Memorial High School
Location
Map
Sutherland Street, Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales

Australia
Coordinates33°55′40″S 151°12′06″E / 33.92778°S 151.20167°E / -33.92778; 151.20167
Information
TypePublic co-educational secondary day school
MottoLatin: Virtutis Gratia Virtus
(Do what is right, because it is right)
Established1 January 1961; 63 years ago (1961-01-01)[1]
Educational authorityNSW Department of Education
PrincipalRalph David
Years7–12
Enrolment~387[2] (2011)
Colour(s)Navy and sky blue   
Websitejjcahill-h.schools.nsw.gov.au
Map

J J Cahill Memorial High School (abbreviated as JJCMHS; colloquially known as JJ) is a public co-educational secondary day school, located on Sutherland Street in Mascot, an inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is operated by the NSW Department of Education with students from Year 7 to Year 12. Established in 1961 as a comprehensive high school, the school was named in honour of John Joseph Cahill, the local member of parliament and the Premier of New South Wales from 1952 to his death in 1959. The school is one of four NSW state schools with "memorial" in its name, alongside Sir Henry Parkes Memorial Public School in Tenterfield, Hay War Memorial High School, and Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in Tamworth.

History

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In the late 1950s, as a result of lobbying from the local council, residents and the local member for Cook's River and premier, John Joseph (J. J.) Cahill, it was decided to establish a high school in Mascot. Owing to delays in construction, the school was not finished until 1961 at a cost of £324,641, two years after Cahill's death in office in October 1959.[3][4] With the school establishment coinciding with the landmark 'Wyndham Report' and the Public Education Act 1961 that reformed NSW Education system, and the school being one of the first six co-education comprehensive high schools in the state, the school's first principal, Landolf (Len) George Schmidt, took a decidedly modern approach to the new school: regimentation and corporal punishment were to be kept to a minimum, and the classes were structured on a basis of the subject, rather than the Form, requiring students to move between classes, rather than teachers.[5][6][7][8] A school uniform was designed with a unique blue-based tartan, that was known as "J. J. Cahill tartan".[9]

At the time of the school's establishment, the first few intakes of the new high school were housed at Gardeners Road Public School. When the school site was ready for use, the students carried their books and furniture to the new school site down the road, an event which was commemorated at the school's 50th anniversary in 2011.[3] In memory of Cahill's efforts to bring public education to the local area, the school decided that it was to be named in his honour.[10] Accordingly, "J J Cahill Memorial High School" was officially opened by his widow, Esmey Cahill, on 24 March 1961, with a guard of honour from the school's cadet unit inspected by the Premier and local member of parliament, Bob Heffron.[3][11] The official opening was also attended by the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Hugh Gough, the Mayor of Botany, John Samuel Elphick, the federal Member of Parliament for Kingsford Smith, Dan Curtin, the Director of Secondary Education, Albert William Stephens, the Chairman of the Public Service Board, John Goodsell, and the Commander of the 2nd Cadet Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Hutchison.[12] The school army cadet unit was later presented with its unit colour and the national flag (donated by Botany and Mascot RSL associations) from the Governor-General of Australia, Viscount De L'Isle on 12 April 1962.[13][14]

In 1969, the school was profiled by Evan Williams in the Sydney Morning Herald, who looked at the approach to modern education taken by the school:

Behind the high Cyclone fence that encloses the square, flat grounds are the liver-brick cottages and red-tiled roofs of lower middle-class suburbia. Apart from the windows and the playground, there is little in the brick and steel-framed concrete buildings to distinguish them from the factories nearby. I walked around the back to the lunch area, a sheltered square in the centre of the main building—the tuckshop on one side, rows of bubblers and dustbins on the other, the concrete floor crowded with wooden benches and Globite cases. A Pan American Boeing swept low across the sky, the sound of jets drowning for a moment the shrilling and yelping in the playground.[15]

Following a financial contribution of $3 million from the Sydney Ports Corporation as part of the Port Botany Development Project, the school built a new gymnasium, which was officially opened on 7 May 2010 by Premier Kristina Keneally in the presence of the principal Robyn Cowin and the Minister for Ports and Waterways, Paul McLeay.[16]

Principals

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Years Principal[17]
1961–1975 Len Schmidt B.A.[18]
1975–1979 Keith Cohen B.A. A.S.T.C.[19]
1980–1985 John Nolan B.A.
1986–1989 Tom Symonds B.A. M.Ed. M.Ed.Admin. Dip.P.E.
1990–1998 Evan MacKenzie
1999–2005 Jim Linton
2006–2016 Robyn Cowin
2017–date Ralph David

Notable alumni and staff

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Staff
  • Bob Outterside AO – National rugby union player and teacher.[26]
  • Anne Slattery OAM – Head Teacher History and Languages, Councillor of the City of Botany Bay (1989–2012).[27][28][29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "JJ Cahill Memorial High". Government Schools of New South Wales from 1848. NSW Education and Communities. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  2. ^ "JJ Cahill Memorial High School". School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  3. ^ a b c "Sydney school honours Irish Australian namesake". Irish Echo Australia. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Cahill School". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 March 1961. p. 4. Mrs J. J. Cahill, pictured with the Premier, Mr R. J. Heffron, opens a new High school at Mascot yesterday in memory of her husband, the former Premier of New South Wales. The school, which will be known as the J. J. Cahill Memorial High School, incorporates Gardener's Road Junior Technical and Gardener's Road Home Science School. The new co-education school, which cost £324,641, is equipped with modern posture furniture and rooms have been specially designed for typing, science, art, geography and music. A fourth-year course has been introduced and a fifth-year course will be added next year.
  5. ^ Hughes, John (28 May 2021). "The Wyndham Scheme New South Wales, 1957-1965". Dictionary of Educational History in Australia and New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Readin', ritin', 'rithmetic revolution". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 29, no. 2. Australia. 14 June 1961. p. 7 (Teenagers' Weekly). Retrieved 9 March 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "First Year of the Wyndham Reform (III) - Need to Break Down Rigidity of Schools". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 November 1962. p. 2.
  8. ^ "School Reverses Classroom Allocation". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 January 1963. p. 6.
  9. ^ Gambie, Graham (19 March 1961). "His memorial: a new-style school". The Sun-Herald. p. 69.
  10. ^ "School History". JJCMHS. Archived from the original on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  11. ^ Mench, P. A. (June 1961). "A CUO's 1960 Annual Camp Impressions". The Cadet Journal: Journal of the Australian Cadet Corps (12). National Library of Australia (Trove): 30. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  12. ^ "J.J. Cahill Memorial High - 25 Years Educating the Community". The Messenger (Newsletter of J.J. Cahill Memorial High). 6 August 1986. p. 11.
  13. ^ "Eastern Command - 2 Cadet Brigade Notes". The Cadet Journal: Journal of the Australian Cadet Corps (13). National Library of Australia (Trove): 27, 30–31. 1 October 1962. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  14. ^ "VICE-REGAL". The Canberra Times. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 April 1962. p. 2. Retrieved 23 October 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ Williams, Evan (10 November 1969). "Portraits of Five Schools - The J. J. Cahill Memorial High - One-way road to maturity". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 9.
  16. ^ "Port Botany Expansion Program Support for Community Facilities – Opening of the J.J. Cahill Memorial High School Gymnasium". Sydney Ports Corporation. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  17. ^ "Our School History". J J Cahill Memorial High School. NSW Department of Education. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  18. ^ "School staff changes". Wellington Times. New South Wales, Australia. 4 February 1954. p. 5. Retrieved 16 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Secondary Promotions/Transfers 1979". Education: Journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation. 59 (17). N.S.W. Teachers' Federation and New South Wales Public School Teachers' Federation: 382. 11 October 1978. ISSN 0013-1156. Retrieved 16 July 2020. K. Cohen (T) From J. J. Cahill To Sylvania
  20. ^ "Councillor Stan Kondilios of the City of Botany Bay". City of Botany Bay. Archived from the original on 16 November 1999. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  21. ^ Mezrani, Leanne (20 January 2015). "Ex-Maddocks senior partner returns to large law". Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Jacqueline Milledge". Australian Women Lawyers as ACTIVE CITIZENS. Australian Women's Register. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  23. ^ Gibson, Joel (3 December 2010). "Newsmaker Jacqueline Milledge". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  24. ^ Wallace, Natasha (7 December 2013). "See you in court". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  25. ^ Glenn Jackson (26 July 2013). "Sutton hasn't looked back since turnaround at Souths". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  26. ^ "Outterside Left Out of City R.U.". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 1961. p. 12.
  27. ^ "Anne Slattery OAM". City of Botany Bay. 22 July 2015. Archived from the original (Media Release) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  28. ^ "Ms Anne-Maria SLATTERY - Medal of the Order of Australia". It's an Honour database. Australian Government. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2019. QB 2015: For service to the community of Botany Bay, and to social welfare groups.
  29. ^ "Congratulations Anne-Maria Slattery OAM". Ron Hoenig MP - Member for Heffron. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
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