# Canberra Grammar School

Canberra Grammar School is a co-educational, independent, day and boarding school located in Red Hill, a suburb of Canberra, the capital of Australia.
The school is affiliated with the Anglican Church of Australia and provides an education from preschool to Year 12 for boys and girls. In October 2015, the school announced that it would extend co-education to all years, commencing in 2016 with an intake of girls in Years 3 and 4. By 2018, the school became fully co-educational.
The school was founded in 1929 when the existing Monaro Grammar School was relocated to Canberra from Cooma. The foundation stone was laid on 4 December 1928 by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce. Initially, it was attended by only 63 students, but the school has grown considerably since the early 1950s to a total attendance of 1,749 students as of June 2015.
The school has educated one Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, and has a long list of notable alumni.
The school consists of 5 main campuses: Red Hill Southside, Red Hill Primary, Red Hill Senior, the Early Learning Center (ELC) and Northside Campbell.

## Curriculum

In the primary school, the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework requirements are incorporated through International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme.
In the senior school, from years 7 to 10, the school follows the Australia Curriculum and the ACT Every chance to learn curriculum framework. Unlike other schools in the Australian Capital Territory, Canberra Grammar School does not follow the ACT Year 12 Curriculum. Instead, it is the only school in the ACT where students in years 11 and 12 have the option to study either the New South Wales Higher School Certificate (HSC) or the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. In 2012, Canberra Grammar became an International Baccalaureate World School.

## Co-curricular

Canberra Grammar School is a member of the Associated Southern Colleges (ASC). The school offers many activities outside school hours. These include sport, music and other activities.
* Junior School: athletics, adventure club, ball games, basketball, chess, cricket, cross country running, drama, European handball, gardening, golf, indoor soccer, mini volleyball, multimedia, orienteering, rugby, art, swimming, tae kwon do, tennis and triathlon.
* Senior School: athletics club, alternate reality club (ARC), badminton, basketball, CGS Academy (Yr 11 & 12 tutoring for younger students), chess, Code Cadets, community service, cricket, cross country, Cru (Christian Group), debating, dragon boating, drama, Duke of Edinburgh awards, Equestrian Club, football (soccer), golf, hockey, mountain biking, netball, orienteering, outdoor education, rowing, rugby, sailing, snowsports, strength and conditioning, STEM Club, Sustainable CGS, swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, Thucydides club and water polo.
* Junior School Music: Junior School Chorale, Junior Choir, Senior Choir, String Orchestra, Concert Band and the Canberra Grammar School Stage Band.
* Senior School Music is made up of two streams of performance groups:
** The Advanced Musicians Program consists of a senior (higher level) concert band, Chamber Orchestra, senior jazz band, senior percussion ensemble, brass ensemble and Motet. These students have high level performance opportunities.
** The large ensemble program provides larger ensemble-based experiences, including two concert bands, junior (lower level) jazz band, two string ensembles, a choir, an electric guitar ensemble, junior percussion ensemble and a piano ensemble.
Many of the Senior School ensembles have done numerous tours overseas over the years.
The school also holds a major musical every two years. Previous productions have included: Grease (2021), Chess (2020-cancelled due to Covid), The Pirates of Penzance (2018) Barnum (2015) and Guys and Dolls (2013).

## Houses
### List of houses

As with most Australian schools, Canberra Grammar utilises a house system. The Senior School consists of ten houses:
| House | Mascot |
| Burgmann | Lion rampant |
| Blaxland | Swan |
| Garran | Bull |
| Garnsey | Dove with olive branch |
| Eddison | Eagle |
| Hay | Murray cod |
| Jones | Dragon |
| Sheaffe | Pegasus |
| Edwards | Kookaburra |
| Middleton | Stag |
The school also has three Year 7 houses:
| House | Mascot |
| Clements | Agnus Dei (lamb) |
| Burgess | Kangaroo |
| Snow | Horse |
The Junior School has six houses introduced in 2022. These houses were named after local flora and fauna using the traditional Indigenous language of the Ngunnawal people:
| House | Flora / Fauna |
| Dhiriwiri | Ironbark |
| Buru | Kangaroo |
| Guginyal | Kookaburra |
| Namarang | Wattle |
| Mulleun | Wedge-tailed Eagle |
| Bariny | Stringybark |
The Junior School's original four houses, in place till 2021:
| House | Colour | Mascot |
| Edwards | Green | Dragon |
| Radford | Red | Lion |
| Garnsey | Blue | Eagle |
| CJ Shakespeare | Gold | Tiger |
Most of these houses are in the upper years.

### Inter-house competitions

Houses form the basis of much of the inter-school competition that occurs throughout the academic calendar. Currently, the three prizes ‘\awarded annually to houses are: the Manaro House Shield, the Captain's Cup, and the Sportsmaster's Cup.

#### Manaro House Shield

Events:
* Swimming
* Cross country
* Athletics
* Athletics Standards
* House music (shout, rock, 4–20 voices (a capella) and instrumental)
* Effort grades
The House Shield is currently held by Garnsey House.

#### Captains' Cup

The exact events of the Captains' Cup are at the discretion of the captains and vice-captains of the school, and thus vary on a year-to-year basis. The events for 2024/25 are, in no particular order:
* Soccer
* Netball (since 2018)
* MasterChef
* Basketball
Typically, a "CGS All Star" team is selected from players in the competition to compete against the champion house in each event.
The Captains' Cup is currently held by Jones House.

#### Sportsmaster's Cup

The Sportsmaster's Cup is determined by:
* Spirit
* Attendance
* Participation
The Sportsmaster's Cup is currently held by Garran House.

## Heads of school

| Name | Term |
| W.J. Edwards | 1929–1946 |
| A.E. Gardner | 1947 |
| David A. Garnsey | 1948–1958 |
| Paul J. McKeown, AM | 1959–1985 |
| Timothy C. Murray | 1986–1998 |
| A. Simon Murray, OAM | 1998–2010 |
| Christopher Welsh | 2010 |
| Justin Garrick | 2011–present |

## Notable alumni
### Academia

* Peter David Arthur Garnsey (1961)
* Professor Geoffrey Garrett, political scientist
* Professor Malcolm Gillies, vice-chancellor and president, City University, London; vice-chancellor, London Metropolitan University
* Professor Jeffrey Grey, Australian military historian
* Professor Toby Miller, sociologist

### Business

* Kerry Packer, publishing, media and gaming tycoon
* Nectarios (Nicky) Efkarpidis, architect and property developer
* Rowan Dean, advertising executive
* Terry Snow, Executive Director of the Canberra Airport Group, Australian businessman (trained accountant), entrepreneur, and philanthropist

### Media, entertainment and the arts

* Richard Glover, author, journalist, ABC radio presenter
* Alister Grierson, film director and scriptwriter
* Francis James, RAF pilot and POW during WWII, journalist and publisher, activist against the Vietnam War
* Peter Leonard, former WIN News Canberra reader
* James O'Loghlin, ABC Sydney presenter
* Dan O'Malley, author of The Rook
* Fred Smith, musician, writer and diplomat
* Bill Birtles, ABC journalist

### Politics, public service and the law

* Henry Pike, Liberal National Party of Queensland Federal member for Bowman, Queensland
* Wal Fife, Liberal Party of Australia Federal member for Hume, New South Wales
* Robert Piper, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary General
* Shane Rattenbury, Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2008–present and Speaker
* Andrew Refshauge, deputy premier of New South Wales 1995–2005
* Richard Refshauge, ACT Supreme Court Justice
* Jon Richardson, former Australian High Commissioner to Ghana (2004–08) and Nigeria (2013–15)
* Peter Webb, New South Wales State member for Monaro 1999–2003
* Gough Whitlam (Dux three years running), Prime Minister of Australia, 1972–1975
* Andrew Constance, New South Wales State member for Bega 2003-2021

### Sport

* Edward Bissaker, Junior World Champion cyclist
* Bob Brown, former Wallabies rugby union player
* Josh Bruce, St Kilda, Australian rules football player
* Andy Friend, ACT Brumbies former head coach
* David Gallop, former chairman of the National Rugby League (NRL)
* Charlie Hancock, Western Force rugby union player
* Rod Kafer, Wallabies rugby union player
* Peter Kimlin, Wallabies rugby union player
* Michael Milton, world and Australian record holder, Winter Paralympic gold medalist
* Nick McDonald-Crowley, Olympic rower
* Cody Meakin, Australian wheelchair rugby paralympian
* Fergus Pragnell, Australian representative rower
* Guy Shepherdson, Wallabies rugby union player
* Ben Treffers, Junior World Champion swimmer
* Richard Freedman, Horse trainer and media personality

### Other

* David Eastman, former Dux found not guilty of murder on 22 November 2018, after a retrial on a quashed murder conviction
* Dr James Muecke AM, Australian of the Year 2020 Class of 1981

## Scandals

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian government announced a $130 billion subsidy to help employers to be able to keep paying their employees and to support the survival of businesses and jobs impacted by the pandemic. Canberra Grammar School took $7,108,500 in JobKeeper funds. Dr Garrick, head of the school, responded by saying "that as a private school, Canberra Grammar has an obligation to their community to maintain an operating surplus to ensure their economic viability into the future."