High's house competition

Few rivalries at Sydney High stir as much spirit as the intra-school house competitions — McKay versus Rubie in the pool, Fairland versus Torrington on the track, Eedy versus Saxby on the courts. The House system remains one of the great threads linking every generation of Sydney High. 

The houses (and their colours) are:

• Eedy (sky blue)
• Fairland (red)
• McKay (yellow - or gold)
• Rubie (white)
• Saxby (green)
• Torrington (navy blue)

Origins: 1928

The house sporting competition was introduced by the School Union in 1928 after adopting a motion moved by Mr L G Eddy (Staff: 1927-1930). It replaced the old system of intra-school class competitions. The Record of June 1929 explained:

In previous years we have been faced with the problem of providing sport for boys, particularly junior boys, who could not gain places in grade teams. We tried to meet this difficulty by organising class competitions. These, however, were not altogether satisfactory, as there was insufficient competition among the different years: to arrange matches between first and second year teams, for example, meant giving older boys too great an advantage; again even this scheme did not provide sport for all boys. In coming to our new school a new scheme was evolved. The school was divided into four equal portions according to an alphabetical classification. … Thus senior and junior boys were included in one house, often in one team. In awarding points, a win in a junior match brought as many points, and therefore was equally as important as one in a senior match: and all boys being included in some house took part in some sport. A marked all-round improvement has resulted.

The school was, therefore, divided into four houses according to alphabetical order: A-E, F-L, M-R, S-Z. This allocation later led to unevenness in house numbers and occasional reallocations were necessary (for example, in 1955 the allocation in-coming first year boys was changed to A-D, E-K, L-R, S-Z). This alphabetic system was gradually replaced when each first year roll class was allocated one of the house names beginning in 1971.

The houses were originally named after “great Australian statesmen”. The House Committee, in 1928, proposed Barton, Forrest, Parkes and Wentworth, however, the Union decided to replace Barton and Forrest with Gordon and Reid. 

• Gordon was named after Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833-1870) a “national poet” whose reputation peaked in the 1930s. 
• Parkes was named after Sir Henry Parkes (1815-1896) a Premier of NSW often referred to as the “Father of Federation”. 
• Reid was named after Sir George Reid (1845-1918) a Premier of NSW and Prime Minister of Australia, who was the Minister for Public Instruction at the foundation of Sydney High and was sometimes an honoured guest at subsequent school speech days. 
• Wentworth was named after William Charles Wentworth (1790-1872) a politician and advocate for NSW self-government. 

Each house not only had a house master and house captain, but also had a committee consisting of 3 seniors and 2 juniors and, in some cases, a secretary and treasurer.

In 1928, the competition included rugby, athletics, tennis, cricket, rifle shooting, swimming, rowing and debating.

The Headmaster presented the G C Saxby Sports Shield for the champion House at sport. This was presented to the champion House at the annual Speech Night until 2012.

There was also a Cleary Shield for the champion House at studies. It was presented by Old Boy William James Cleary (1902) and was awarded from 1928-1935. It does not appear to have continued as an award.

A conservative revolution: K J Andrews and the 1955 renaming

In 1955, a headmaster with a strong respect for tradition decided it was time for change.

In the Centenary History (1983), K J Andrews (Headmaster: 1955–1963) recalled how the new names came to be:

I think my attitude to tradition may fairly be described as a conservative one. Traditions are valuable because they provide an inspiration and a goal for this generation, and, at the same time, by providing a link with the past, give the School a sense of historical continuity…

One of these was related to the House System. I soon realised that, owing largely to the efforts of Mr Alan Jessep as Sportsmaster, the School Houses had become the basis on which all internal sporting activities were organised.

…I felt that in this new situation the old House names were without significance. Accordingly, after consulting a number of ‘elder statesmen’, I suggested to the School Union Committee that the old House names, Gordon, Parkes, Reid and Wentworth, be replaced by Eedy, Fairland, McKay and Saxby.

The idea caught on and the new House names were announced on Speech Day, 1955.

The new names perpetuated the memory of four men with a “fine record of service to High”:

• Eedy was named after Arthur Malcolm Eedy (1886) 
• Fairland was named after Charles Adnam Fairland (1893) 
• McKay was named after Robert Thomas McKay (1884)
• Saxby was named after George Campbell Saxby (1887) 

The expansion to six: Rubie and Torrington

Increased enrolments and the introduction of two new Year 7 classes, led to the addition of two new houses. At speech night, in December 1991, the Headmaster, Robert Outterside, announced that the new houses would be named Rubie and Torrington in honour of “two of the school's stalwarts who fought for its selectivity and enrolments”:

• Rubie was named after Cecil Edward Henning Rubie (1928), a president and secretary of the Old Boys’ Union who was remembered for his lifelong dedication to school sport and the OBU. 
• Torrington was named after Judge Kenneth Frederick Erskine Torrington (1935), also a former president of the Old Boys’ Union, who was a long-time member of the School Council and played a key role in establishing the Centenary Building Fund which led to the construction of the first stage of the School’s Abbotsford Complex.

A living link with the past

When Andrews renamed the houses in 1955, he wrote that traditions “provide a link with the past, [and] give the School a sense of historical continuity.” Seventy years later, that link is stronger than ever.

Each carnival, relay, and chant connects generations of High boys — from Eedy’s 1880s pioneers to Torrington’s 1970s stalwarts. The houses are more than administrative groupings; they are living memorials to the people who built the school, taught its boys, and kept its spirit alive.

Each house’s banner tells a piece of High’s story — the first students who opened the gates, the headmasters who shaped the culture, the Old Boys who kept the union strong. Together, they represent the living continuity of Sydney High, where every generation competes fiercely, sings loudly, and remembers those who came before.