Matraville Sports High School


Matraville Sports High School is a government co-educational comprehensive and specialist secondary school, with speciality in sports, located on Anzac Parade, Chifley, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Established in 1960 as Matraville High School, the school became a specialist high school in December 2001 and caters for approximately 479 students from Year 7 to Year 12. The school is operated by the Department [of Education (New South Wales)|New South Wales Department of Education]; the principal is Nerida Walker. Its alumni include Bob Carr and a number of professional sportsmen and women, with its tradition in producing prominent rugby league and rugby union players earning the school the description as a "great rugby nursery". Matraville Sports High School is a member of the NSW Sports High Schools Association.

History

In the years consequent upon the Second World War, the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney saw increasing population growth and, as a result, increasing demands for infrastructure to assist that growth. At the time, the closest high schools in the area were South [Sydney High School|South Sydney Boys' High School] and Maroubra Junction Girls' High School. As a result, the local member and Minister for Education, Bob Heffron, made the decision to establish a new high school in Matraville. The site on the corner of Anzac Parade and Franklin Street in southern Matraville was secured by the Department of Education and Training|Department of Education] in 1957. The original school site was covered in virgin Banksia scrub growing on low sand hills bordered by houses on Mitchell Street. The southern part of Matraville became the suburb of Chifley in 1964.
At Heffron's instigation, the new school would be co-educational, in a period when the vast majority of NSW secondary schools were sex segregated. Prior to 1960, Robert E. Mobbs, a former Second World War army officer who had also helped establish Fairfield Boys' High and Arthur Phillip High, was appointed as the school's first headmaster. However, a lack of funding restricted the start of construction and it was not until well after the first 200 students had been accepted in 1960 that building began. Therefore, the first students were housed at Daceyville Public School and the 1961 intake of students were sent to Gardeners Road Public School. Designed by the New South Wales Government Architect, in February 1961 the NSW Department of Public Works awarded the contract of £247,740 to build stages I and II of the school to Monier Builders Pty Ltd of Villawood. Construction was finished by early 1962, which allowed the students to finally move in, and was officially opened by the local Member of Parliament for Maroubra and NSW Premier, Bob Heffron, on 27 September 1963.
The school soon generated a reputation for excellence in sports, with a particular emphasis on rugby that was developed by sports master and coach, Geoff Mould. The Waratah Shield, the state knockout competition for Rugby Union, was won by Matraville in 1972, 1976, 1977, 1983 and 2007 and the ARL Schoolboy Cup was also won in 2007. In recognition of the school's excellence in this area, in December 2001, Matraville High was re-established as a specialist sports high, thus becoming "Matraville Sports High School".

School details

In 2024, there were 479 students enrolled in the school from Years 7 through to Year 12. Of these, 179 students were girls and 309 were boys. The school has an enrolment of 28% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and 36% of students have a language background other than English. There were approximately 43 teaching staff at the school.

Notable alumni