Hurlstone Agricultural High School

Hurlstone Agricultural High School
Location
Glenfield, Sydney, Macarthur region, New South Wales

Australia
Coordinates33°58′14″S 150°53′29″E / 33.97056°S 150.89139°E / -33.97056; 150.89139
Information
TypeGovernment-funded co-educational academically selective and specialist secondary day and boarding school
MottoLatin: Pro Patria
(For my country)
Established1 April 1907 (1907-04-01)
FounderJohn Kinloch
Educational authorityNSW Department of Education
SpecialistAgricultural school
PrincipalChristine Castle
Teaching staffc. 50
Years7–12
Enrolmentc. 1,080
CampusSuburban
Campus size112 hectares (280 acres)
ColoursBlue, red and gold    
Websitehurlstone-h.schools.nsw.gov.au

Hurlstone Agricultural High School (HAHS, colloquially as Hurlstone Ag) is a government-funded co-educational academically selective and specialist secondary day and boarding school, located in Glenfield, a south-western suburb of Sydney, in the Macarthur region of New South Wales, Australia. HAHS is the oldest government boarding school in New South Wales.[1]

Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School, Yanco Agricultural High School and Hurlstone Agricultural High School are the state's only public selective and agricultural schools that also include a co-educational boarding school. The 112-hectare (277-acre) Hurlstone Agricultural campus includes classroom blocks, an operational farm, sporting facilities and student accommodation.[2]

History

Manual training class, 1913

Hurlstone was established as a boys-only school in 1907 in Hurlstone Park, approximately ten kilometres southwest of Sydney, at the present site of Trinity Grammar School. The land used to be owned by a Pitt St. Minister, Reverend John Graharn, and when he wished to return home to England in 1874, he sold the land to John Kinloch, a teacher and one of the first graduates of the University of Sydney. He named the land Hurlstone Estate, after his mother's maiden name and set up his own school on it in 1878 which he called the Hurlstone School and College.[3]

Four acres (approximately 1.6 hectares) of land were turned into a house, school, cricket and gymnastics ground, and sixteen acres (approximately 6.5 hectares) of land were for recreation and a pony run.

Some of the original subjects at Hurlstone included:[4]

  • English Grammar and Composition
  • Reading Aloud
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Bookkeeping
  • Gymnastics
  • Surveying
  • French

Resident boarders originally paid 150 pounds per year (not adjusted to inflation).[4]

Hurlstone Agricultural Continuation School

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 southwest of Sydney (between Liverpool and Campbelltown) and adjacent to Glenfield railway station. By then its student numbers had grown from 30 in 1907, to 148.[3] 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.

Macarthur Agricultural High School; co-educational enrolment

For a brief period in the early 1940s, it was known as Macarthur Agricultural High School in honour of wool-grower John Macarthur, but it soon reverted to its previous name.

Hurlstone was a boys' school until 1979, when the decision was made to become co-educational.[3]

Sale of school farmland

In 2008, the New South Wales Government declared 140 hectares of Hurlstone's farmland "surplus" and proposed the sale of the land, leaving the school with just 20 hectares.[5] The announcement was met with immediate public protest[6] and the formation of a local community group Save Hurlstone Educational and Agricultural Property (SHEAP)[7] eventuating in a government inquiry into the proposed sale and proceeds of the sale.[8] There was further pressure against the plans when the National Trust heritage listed the school in late 2009.[9] The government inquiry resulted in a recommendation of the sale of a small parcel of school land with the proceeds intended to help upgrade school facilities.[8]

On 18 November 2015, there was another proposal to sell the land the school and its farm operated on.[10]

Principals

Collectable school cigarette card featuring the Hurlstone colours & crest, c. 1910s

The following individuals have served as principal of the Hurlstone Agricultural High School:

Ordinal Officeholder Term start Term end Time in office Notes
1 Frank McMullen 1907 1916 8–9 years
2 George Longmuir 1917 1938 20–21 years
3 Percival Hindmarsh 1939 1945 5–6 years
4 James McEwan King 1946 1953 6–7 years
5 Clarence G. James 1954 1967 12–13 years
6 Reginald W. Clarke 1968 1978 9–10 years
7 James F. White 1979 1982 2–3 years
8 G. K. Wilson 1983 1987 3–4 years
9 R. M. Kidd 1988 2003 14–15 years
10 John Norris 2003 2010 6–7 years
11 Kerrie Wratten 2011 2013 1–2 years
12 Daryl Currie 2014 2018 3–4 years
13 Christine Castle 2018 2025 7–8 years

Population

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

Enrolment at the school is dependent on selective examinations of Year 6 students from across the state. New students coming in later grades have to sit a similar exam.[11]

As of 2026, 934 students are enrolled at HAHS.

Campus

The school maintains a dairy with a milking herd of 38-45 cows and approximately 60 heifers, dry cows and calves.

Hurlstone features a fully functional farm and a commercial dairy. Animals on the farm include: beef and dairy cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and chickens.[12] Clarke House is a heritage listed building which houses Hurlstone's memorabilia museum.[13]

The school also hosts a memorial forest and cairn on Roy Watts Road, past the boarding school. Established in 1950, it is believed to be Australia's first living war memorial, with a gum tree dedicated to each of the 600 students from the school who served in WWI and II.[14] Currently, ANZAC and Remembrance Day ceremonies are held at the memorial forest.

As part of the 2008 mini-budget, the New South Wales Government declared 140 hectares of the school to be surplus to educational needs and the land will be sold in 2011.[5] However, due to a strong public protest against this action,[6] an inquiry was led into process of selling approximately seven-eighths of the school.[8] As a result, Mal Peters, the Inquiry Chair, recommended the school's agricultural sector to be upgraded in order to reflect current industry practice and standards due to it being an economic, wise and important public investment for the people of NSW as it supplies young scientists with the knowledge for the ever declining, but demanding agricultural sector of the world.[15]

In 2020 a new school called Hurlstone Agricultural High School was to open at Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury.[16] The existing school in Glenfield would be renamed Roy Watts High School (after Hurlstone alumnus Roy Watts) and would remain fully selective but would no longer be an agricultural school.[17] However, this decision was cancelled in December 2019. The farm land would have been converted to a new public school as well as housing and a shopping centre.[18]

Academics

NAPLAN Results

2023
Subject Year 7 Year 9
Reading 670 670
Writing 627 682
Spelling 655 677
Grammar 684 689
Numeracy 714 744
2024
Suject Year 7 Year 9
Reading 662 (-8) 679 (+9)
Writing 645 (+18) 672 (-10)
Spelling 655 (+0) 676 (-1)
Grammar 682 (-2) 703 (+14)
Numeracy 715 (+1) 734 (-10)
2025
Subject Year 7 Year 9
Reading 662 (+0) 684 (+5)
Writing 647 (+2) 682 (+10)
Spelling 665 (+10) 682 (+6)
Grammar 696 (+14) 713 (+10)
Numeracy 720 (+5) 753 (+19)

HSC Results

Year State Rank Success Rate
2009 17th 38.87%
2010 21st 38%
2011 26th 33.33%
2012 20th 37.25%
2013 24th 33.8%
2014 24th 36.6%
2015 23rd 35.5%
2016 34th 30.22%
2017 44th 29.09%
2018 31st 30.1%
2019 26th 35.48%
2020 33rd 30.98%
2021 40th 29.65%
2022 43rd 27.63%
2023 39th 29.19%
2024 44th 28.56%
2025 43rd 29.39%

Subjects

Year 7

All subjects are mandatory.[4]

  • Agriculture
  • English
  • Geography
  • History
  • Mathematics
  • Music
  • PDHPE
  • Science
  • Technology Mandatory
  • Visual Arts
  • Wellbeing

Year 8

All subjects are mandatory.[4]

  • Agriculture
  • English
  • Geograpy
  • History
  • Japanese
  • Mathematics
  • Music
  • PDHPE
  • Science
  • Technology Mandatory
  • Visual Arts

Year 9

All subjects are mandatory unless stated otherwise.[4]

  • Agriculture
  • Commerce (Elective)
  • Computer Technology (Elective)
  • English
  • Food Technology (Elective)
  • Geography
  • History
  • Elective History
  • Industrial Technology (Elective)
  • Japanese (Elective)
  • Mathematics
  • Elective Music
  • PDHPE
  • PASS (Elective)
  • Photographic and Digital Media (Elective)
  • Psychology (Elective)
  • Science
  • Textiles Technology (Elective)
  • Visual Arts (Elective)

Year 10

All subjects are mandatory unless stated otherwise.[4]

  • Agriculture
  • Commerce (Elective)
  • English
  • Food Technology (Elective)
  • Geography
  • History
  • Hospitality (Elective)
  • Industrial Technology (Elective)
  • Computer Technology (Elective)
  • Japanese (Elective)
  • Mathematics
  • Music (Elective)
  • PDHPE
  • PASS (Elective)
  • Photographic and Digital Media (Elective)
  • Science
  • Textiles Technology (Elective)
  • Visual Arts (Elective)

Year 11 (Preliminary)

Everything is an elective except English.[4]

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Biology
  • Business Studies
  • Ceramics
  • Chemistry
  • Economics
  • Engineering Studies
  • English
  • Enterprise Computing
  • Geography
  • Health and Movement Science
  • Hospitality
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Legal Studies
  • Mathematics
  • Modern History
  • Music
  • Photography, Video and Digital Imaging
  • Physics
  • SLR
  • Society & Culture
  • Studies of Religion
  • Visual Arts

Year 12 (HSC)

Everything is an elective except English.[4]

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Biology
  • Busienss Studies
  • Chemistry
  • Economics
  • Engineering Studies
  • English
  • Enterprise Computing
  • Extension History
  • Geography
  • Health and Movement Science
  • Legal Studies
  • Investigating Science and Extension Science
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Mathematics
  • Modern History
  • Music
  • Physics
  • Studies of Religion
  • Visual Arts

Demographics

At Hurlstone, as of 2026, only 1% of students have a Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. At Hurlstone, as of 2026, 9 out of 10 students have a language background other than English. At Hurlstone, as of 2026, 59% of students are boys and 41% are girls. At Hurlstone, as of 2026, more than half the students are at the top quarter of socio-economic advantage in Australia.[19]

Houses

Hurlstone has four houses: Farrer (red), Lachlan [Macquarie] (green), Macarthur (Yellow) and Wentworth (Blue).[4]

Co-curricular Activities

Some examples of co-curricular activities at Hurlstone are:[4]

  • Cadets
  • Environment Committee
  • Interact
  • Rural Youth
  • Orchestra
  • Instrument Tutorials
  • Events Management Team

Notable alumni

  • Phil Burton – Australian musician, member of the Australian pop vocal band Human Nature
  • Alan O. Trounson (1958–1962) – biologist, stem cell researcher and IVF pioneer[20]

Military

Politics, public service and the law

  • John Kerin – Australian Labor Party politician, former Federal Treasurer (1991), Minister for Transport and Communications (1991), Minister for Primary Industries and Energy (1983-1991) and Member for Werriwa
  • Mark Latham – politician, former Leader of the Australian Labor Party[24]
  • Dick Klugman – Member for the federal seat of Prospect 1969–1990, Co-founder of NSW Council for Civil Liberties;[25]

Sport

  • David Lyons – rugby union player, Wallabies[26]
  • Charles Melton – winemaker[27]

See also

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

References

  1. ^ Patty, Anna (29 September 2007). "Parents demand answers over top school's finances". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. ^ "Hurlstone Agricultural High School · Roy Watts Rd, Glenfield NSW 2167, Australia".
  3. ^ a b c Hurlstone Agricultural High School. School History Archived 28 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j https://assets.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/h/hurlstone-h/Documents/Info%20Booklet%20-%20Feb%202026%20(1).pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Andrew Stoner – Media – Media Releases – Labor Must Abandon Plans to Sell Hurlstone Agricultural High School's Land". Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009. NSW Government Mini-Budget - Andrew Stoner
  6. ^ a b "Liverpool news, sport and weather | Liverpool City Champion | Liverpool, NSW".
  7. ^ Diamond, Jenny (29 March 2010). "Hurlstone inquiry's key finding welcomed". Education. 91 (3). Surry Hills: 8. ProQuest 392273425.
  8. ^ a b c http://www.hurlstoneinquiry.nsw.gov.au Archived 9 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ McDougall, Bruce (2009). "Hurlstone School's farm sale put into National Trust". The Daily Telegraph (published 9 October 2009). Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Principal's letter to HAHS alumna" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  11. ^ Enrolment section of: http://www.hurlstone.com.au/
  12. ^ Farm section of: http://www.hurlstone.com.au/
  13. ^ "HAHS Clarke House". 28 June 2007.
  14. ^ "Hurlstone Agricultural College Memorial Forest | Monument Australia". monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ "New Hurlstone Agricultural HS - NSW Department of Education". www.dec.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015.
  17. ^ ‘Ironic’ twist in Hurlstone saga Wollondilly Advertiser 13 October 2017
  18. ^ "Glenfield Educational Precinct - NSW Department of Education". www.dec.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015.
  19. ^ https://myschool.edu.au/school/41554. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ p. 45 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Hurlstone Inquiry.
  21. ^ Flying high – Local News – News – General – Campbelltown – Macarthur Advertiser Deprecated link archived 7 July 2012 at archive.today
  22. ^ Grant, Ian (1996). "John Hurst Edmondson (1914–1941)". Edmondson, John Hurst (1914 - 1941). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 14 (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. p. 80. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  23. ^ p. 619 Who's Who in Australia 1977
  24. ^ Burke, Kelly (10 February 2004). "One of the old school". TV & Radio. The Age. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
  25. ^ Obituary in Sydney Morning Herald 14 March 2011
  26. ^ Patty, Anna (26 May 2006). From the principal's desk: furniture sale means I've been carpeted Sydney Morning Herald.
  27. ^ "Charles Melton". Barons of the Barossa. 20 October 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
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