GRC Hurstville 90th Anniversary Celebration

Georges River College Hurstville Boys Campus (formerly Hurstville Boys High School) will celebrate its 90th Anniversary in 2019. An open invitation to visit the school has been offered to former teachers, students and the wider community. On the 18th of May, 2019, the school will open its gates to those who wish to explore the school grounds and buildings, to meet the teachers and students and to allow the chance to relive fond memories. Throughout the night, a presentation and dinner will be held in the school hall.

In 1929, in the south of Sydney, Hurstville Central Technical School (later Georges River College Hurstville Boys Campus) was established, with 530 students and 21 staff members. With a large industrial technology workshop that had been used for developing trade skills, the school offered a hands-on approach to secondary education. The school functioned with the help of devoted staff, including Mr Percy Franks, who worked with the school for over 50 years.

Over the following decades, the school grew around the central A-Block building, as did the school population. The character, humour and wit of the boys endured steadfast through multiple wars and depressions, evidenced partly by the words, drawings and photographs published in the school magazines, which were preserved with great care to this day. During the early years, the Depression meant that the students had to “manufacture the badges [for the Prefects] from sheet brass, have them engraved and chrome plated” (former student, Ray Emmerson, 1987). Emmerson also recalls the teachers helping pay the £2 he needed to attend the school football trip.

Later additions were made to the school with B, C, D and F-Block, as well as the library, gymnasium, workshops, computer rooms, music rooms and break-out spaces. The large connecting field separating Hurstville Boys from Hurstville Public served to give the boys a great training and sporting ground. Due to the efforts of a tenacious principal A. J. Clark, the school also acquired a priceless Italian statue (‘The Boxer’), after submissions to the NSW Government in the 1970s. In the early 1980s a large fire caused significant damage to the upper floor of A-Block, which was later repaired.

As the school transitioned into the 21st century, so too did it transition from a 7-12 school to part of the Georges River College Campus. It would become one of the three middle schools offering years 7-10, before the boys would join Penshurst Girls and Peakhurst High to finish year 11 and 12 at Oatley Senior Campus. Developments in accessibility, technology and facilities became a major priority and large-scale renovations led to the addition of J-Block, walkways and elevators, basketball courts, and projectors installed in many classrooms across the school.

Over the past 90 years, Hurstville Boys has educated tens of thousands of young men, producing great academics, sporting legends and distinguished citizens. Hurstville Boys have proudly contributed to a spectrum of fields; including medicine, politics, education, engineering, business, the arts and the trades. A fraternal bond was forged for countless men, who remember their time fondly, and proudly refer to themselves as Hurstville Boys.