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People today may say that the
‘The Tech’ is history, yet its effect on the State
of South Australia and beyond and on individuals continues
to this day. The School was created originally to improve
the educational standard of young men who planned to study
at the School of Mines and Industries. The courses began in
1898 with twenty-seven students.
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A second stage began in 1903 when these classes amalgamated
with the Agricultural School and The Preparatory School of
the South Australian School of Mines and Industries was created.
The Head of the Agricultural School, Mr Andrew Ferguson, became
the Head of the new Prep. School.. This school was located
on the top floor of the new Brookman Building. The courses
were developed and the school became very popular necessitating
the holding of Entrance Exams to limit the numbers. In 1914
it was suggested that the name be changed to Junior Technical
School.
Additional staff were appointed including
Mr. Sidney Moyle and others who were to remain at the School
for many decades. In 1918 the name was changed finally to
Adelaide Technical High School and in 1920 Mr Moyle was appointed
as Headmaster. He remained in this position until retirement
in 1957. It was Sidney Moyle who gave the school its distinctive
character and ethos.
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| Originally catering only for boys
a Commercial Course, mainly for girls, was added so the school
became co-educational. So through its history there were the
two streams, Technical and Commercial. Partly because of accommodation
constraints and partly to maintain academic excellence entry
was restricted to high achievement in the Qualifying Certificate
at the end of primary school or to an Entrance Examination.
At times as many potential students were denied entry as were
successful in doing so. For most of its history the Course was
basically for three years with the Intermediate Examination
being attempted after two years and the Leaving Examination
after three years. |
This demanded a great effort on the part of most students though
there were those, because of the selection process who found
little difficulty with the academic demand. Most students identified
well with the motto of the school, ‘Labor Omnia Vincit’,
“Work conquers all’. |
However there was time for sport and many of the teams playing
Football, Netball, Cricket, Tennis and later Baseball excelled
in competitions with other larger schools. For many years there
were annual swimming days and a school picnic at Longwood. Exchange
visits took place with educational institutions in Melbourne
and there were sometimes educational tours to places of interest.
Good success was achieved academically with students consistently
receiving awards in the Public Examinations. |
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A unique feature of the school was the Junior Teacher programme.
Because the school was not part of the State educational system
a source of teaching staff was needed. This was achieved through
offering to suitable students the opportunity to begin teaching
at ‘The Tech’ whilst participating in teaching courses
on offer at the Teachers’ Training College. |
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One of these was Cedric Cannell whose career
culminated in appointment as Headmaster in 1958 in which position
he remained until 1963.
In this year the school was taken over by
the State Education Department and transferred to a new and
much larger campus at Glenunga.
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In 1973 the name was changed to
Glenunga High School (the word International was added later)
which has continued the high academic standard of the original
school.
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Graduates of ‘The Tech’
have achieved success in many spheres, in commerce, industry,
science, education, medicine, dentistry, law, politics, the
church, etc., both in Australia and overseas. |
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