Fort Street Public School

Fort Street Public School (abbreviated as FSPS) is a government co-educational primary school located in Millers Point, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1849, it is one of the oldest government schools in Australia, and is operated by the New South Wales Department of Education.

This article is about the primary school. For the secondary school, see Fort Street High School.
Fort Street Public School
Fort Street Public School crest
Address
Upper Fort Street

Millers Point
,
New South Wales

Australia
Coordinates33°51′38″S 151°12′18″E
Information
TypePublic, co-educational, primary, day school
MottoSuccess Through Diligence
Established1849 (1849)[1]
PrincipalMichele Peel-Yates[2]
Enrolment86 (2011)
123 (2014)
220 (2018)
Campus typeUrban
Colour(s)Maroon, navy
  
Websitefortstreet-p.schools.nsw.gov.au

History

Fort Street Public School descends from Fort Street Model School, established in 1849 and the first government model school in the colony of New South Wales. The school is one of the oldest public schools in Australia.

The history of public education in Australia began when the Governor of New South Wales Charles FitzRoy established a Board of National Education on 8 January 1848 to implement a national system of education throughout the colony. The board decided to create two model schools, one for boys and one for girls. The site of Fort Street Model School was chosen as the old Military Hospital at Fort Phillip, on Sydney's Observatory Hill.[1] This school was not only intended to educate boys and girls, but also to serve as a model for other schools in the colony. The school's name is derived from the name of a street which ran into the grounds of the hospital and became part of the playground during its reconstruction.[1]

From the 1850s the Model School offered both primary and secondary education, and was associated with Fort Street Training School, which trained all public school teachers in the colony. The school became Fort Street Superior Public School in 1881.

Ann Fawcett Story was employed to introduce cookery as a subject in 1889. She was promoted each year and in 1891 she was supervising the teaching and specifying the cookery curriculum. In the following year the school began to train new teachers buying portable cookery facilities. She resigned in 1896 after a dispute when she was visiting twelve different locations. The teaching of cookery that she had created continued managed by district inspectors.[3]

In 1911, the school separated into a primary school, Fort Street Public School, and two high schools, Fort Street Boys' and Fort Street Girls'. The Public School has remained on Observatory Hill near the Model School's original building, which now houses the National Trust of Australia.[1]

The secondary section's girls' school and boys' school moved at different times to Petersham, where they amalgamated to become Fort Street High School. There is now no direct relationship between the primary and secondary schools.

On 24 November 2016, Queen Rania of Jordan visited the school as part of a state visit with her husband, King Abdullah II of Jordan.[4]

On Day 1 Term 4, 2020, the school relocated to temporary structures in Wentworth Park to facilitate an upgrade of the school site at Observatory Hill.[5][6] The upgrade is expected to be completed in July 2023.[7]

Enrolments

In 2011, the school had an enrolment number of 86 students.[8] The number of students grew significantly since then, as in 2014 the enrolment was 123 students.[9][note 1] In 2018 the school reported an enrolment of 220 students.[11]

FSPS view to south 2014

School traditions

Student leadership

At the end of each year, a Year 5 student is elected School Captain for the next year by the student body, and another as Vice Captain. At the beginning of each year, House Captains are elected by the student body.[12]

School building, seen from Upper Fort Street looking north.

Houses

As with most Australian schools, FSPS utilizes a house system. Students are allocated to a house when they enter the school. There are four different houses which students compete under in sports Carnivals and other activities:

  • Argyle (Red)
  • Cumberland (Green)
  • Kent (Blue)
  • Watson (Yellow)

All of the houses are named after streets in The Rocks, Sydney.[12]

Alumni

Some early alumni (such as Edmund Barton) were educated at the school prior to its separation into a primary and two secondary schools, and are counted as alumni by both the Public School and the High School: see List of Fortians for these.

Some other notable Fort Street Public School alumni include:

Australian politicians

See also

Notes
  1. The enrolment figures[10] for 2010 (89) and 2014 (162) shows an increase of 82%.

References
  1. "History". Fort Street High School. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. Official school web site – Staff page (accessed 29 July 2019)
  3. Tilse, Sheila, "Story, Ann Fawcett (1846–1911)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 5 September 2023
  4. "Why Queen Rania is 'the most listened-to woman in the Middle East'". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  5. "Fort Street Public School – Project update" (PDF). NSW Department of Education – School Infrastructure. March 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  6. "Upgrade - Fort Street Public School upgrade". NSW Department of Education – School Infrastructure. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  7. "Home". Fort Street Public School. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  8. NSW Department of Education School Locator – Fort Street Public School (accessed 16 May 2011)
  9. NSW Department of Education School Locator – Fort Street Public School (accessed 17 February 2014)
  10. "Population boom State caught unprepared". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 September 2014.
  11. FSPS Annual Report 2018 (accessed 25 December 2019)
  12. Official school website - Page "Student Leadership" (accessed 2014-12-18)
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