Fort Street High School

Fort Street High School
The Wilkins building of the present Fort Street High School, and the first building to be constructed on the current site.
Location

Australia
Coordinates33°53′24″S 151°9′10″E / 33.89000°S 151.15278°E / -33.89000; 151.15278
Information
Other nameFort Street High School, Petersham
Former nameFort Street Model School
TypeGovernment-funded co-educational academically selective secondary day school
MottoLatin: Faber est suae quisque fortunae
(Each person is the maker of their own fortune)
Established1849 (1849)
Sister schoolSuginami Sogo High School, Tokyo, Japan
Educational authorityNew South Wales Department of Education
School code8504
PrincipalJuliette McMurray
Deputy Principals
  • Rebecca Cameron
  • Joel Morrison
  • David Sherwin (relieving)
  • Carolyn Mattick (relieving)
Staff13 (non-teaching)
Teaching staff63
Years712
Enrolment912 (2021)
Campus typeSuburban
Colour(s)Maroon and white   
AlumniFortians
Websitefortstreet-h.schools.nsw.gov.au

Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a New South Wales government run, co-educational, academically selective, secondary day school, located in Petersham, an Inner Western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Its forerunner, Fort Street Model School, was established in Fort Street, Observatory Hill, Sydney, in 1849, the first government high school in Australia and, notably, the first school not founded by parents and community, as a private business or by a religious organisation. Today, it remains a state school operated by New South Wales Department of Education. As an academically selective secondary school, it draws students from a wide area across greater metropolitan Sydney.

To avoid confusion arising from the school's history of separation, amalgamation, and relocation, the present school is designated Fort Street High School, Petersham for official government purposes.

The school's Latin motto is Faber est suae quisque fortunae, translated as "Each person is the maker of his own fortune", a phrase attributed to the ancient Roman Appius Claudius Caecus.

Fort Street High School has a sister school, Suginami Sogo High School, in Tokyo, Japan.

In 2010, The Age reported that, historically, Fort Street High School ranked equal fourth among Australian schools, based on the number of alumni who had been honoured as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).[note a]