Barker College

In 1890, Henry Plume took up the position of Rector at St Stephen's Church, Kurrajong. It was at the church that he tutored five local pupils for the Junior, Senior and Matriculation Examinations. Their academic success encouraged Plume to establish his own school. In 1891, Plume selected Stokesleigh, a guest house in Kurrajong Heights, as the site for this school. The name Barker College was chosen in memory of Frederic Barker, the second Bishop of Sydney whom Plume had met soon after his arrival in Australia. An outbreak of scarlet fever in 1894 convinced Plume that the School was too isolated and would be better located nearer to Sydney. Thus the School moved to its present site in Hornsby in 1896, and in 1919 its ownership transferred to the Church of England.[12]

Cigarette card featuring the Barker colours and crest, c. 1910s

Barker College "Mint" entrance gates, Pacific Highway, Hornsby, New South Wales

The following men have served as Headmasters of Barker College:

The school motto, Honor non Honores, is derived from the Latin meaning "Honour not Rewards". The earliest record of the motto is on an illuminated address presented to Rev and Mrs Plume on their departure from the School in 1905.[23]

Barker College is situated on a 44-hectare (110-acre) campus in suburban Hornsby,[24] 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the north of Sydney, with additional facilities located in the Blue Mountains, and The Grange, located at Mount Victoria. The Junior School, shares the Hornsby campus with the Middle and Senior schools.[24]

In 2016 the school opened an Indigenous campus , Darkinjung Barker, at Yarramalong on the NSW Central Coast, for students in Kindergarten to Year 6.[25] In 2020 the school opened a second K-6 Indigenous campus, in the old Wollombi Public School building, called Ngarralingayil Barker; Ngarralingayil means "a place where learning happens" in the Wonnarua language. 15 students were enrolled in 2020, and 22 are expected in 2021. A third campus in Alice Springs is scheduled to open in 2021.[26]

The current facilities of the school include:

• A library; an information technology centre ; the McCaskill Music Centre;
• Three drama performance spaces: two theatres with raked seating – The Rhodes Theatre and The BCMA Theatre - and the Leslie Hall;
• The Centenary Design Centre with provision for individual studios and whole-class teaching in design and technology and visual arts;
• The Barker Foundation Science Centre;
• Boarding houses;
• Six sporting fields, together with 11 tennis courts, indoor courts for netball, basketball and volleyball, an artificial surface for hockey, football, softball and other games;[27]
• The R. E. Kefford Building, equipped with classrooms, smaller group learning spaces, and two theatres which seat 302 and 215 respectively.
• The Junior School is an International Baccalaureate Candidate School and aims to become a registered IB school.[28]
• The purpose-built Kurrajong Building for Pre-K – Year 2 students opened in 2018 within the Junior School campus.[28]

As with most Australian schools, Barker College utilises a house system for students in years K-12. Each house has a teacher in charge, called a Head of House. The Junior School has 6 six Houses that were named after explorers of Australia and Antarctica: Byrd, Flinders, Hillary, Mawson, Scott & Tasman. The Middle and Senior School has 16 sixteen houses, named after influential people in the School's history, such as alumni or School Council members.[29]

Junior school houses

The houses are named after explorers of Australia and Antarctica: Byrd, Flinders, Hillary, Mawson, Scott and Tasman

Houses	House Crest	Colour	Motto
Byrd		Green	Latin: Acta Non Verba 'Action not Words'
Flinders	House of the Barker College, Junior School	White	Latin: Omnia Parati 'Ready for Anything'
Hillary	House of the Barker College, Junior School	Yellow	Latin: Vincite Vestros Montes ;'Conquer Your Mountains'
Mawson	House of the Barker College, Junior School	Dark blue	Latin: NumQuam Cedite 'Never Give Up'
Scott	House of the Barker College, Junior School	Red	Latin: Celeriter Et Fortiter 'Swift and Determined'
Tasman	House of the Barker College, Junior School	Light blue	Latin: Con Spirito 'With Spriit'

Middle and Senior School Houses

House Shield No. 2 Barker College Middle School

The Middle and Senior School Houses are named after influential figures in the School's history, with eight male and eight female namesakes.[30] In July 2018 the College announced they would be changing the pastoral care system for the middle and senior school following the introduction of coeducation. The existing Houses are all named after influential males from the school's rich history, and after the introduction of coeducation, another eight new Houses were announced, after important women in the School's past. These new houses are Bowman, Fear (1980), Hill, Mackenzie, May, Stevens, Sthalekar and Stone, adding to the list of existing houses; Andrew, Boyce, Butters, Holt, Pain, Wade, Wailes and Wilson. Both male and female students will be allocated to one of the 16 houses, regardless of gender.[29]

Houses	Colour	Motto	Founded
Andrew	Black	Latin: Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat 'Fortune follows the brave'	1965
Bowman	Dark purple	'From one to all'	2019
Boyce	Light blue	Latin: Aspiro 'Simply Aspire'	1959
Butters	Grey	Latin: Diriget Deus 'God will direct'	1959
Fear	Orange	'Courageous Soul'	2019
Hill	Magenta	'Strength lies in difference'	2019
Holt	Dark green	Latin: Is Fidelis Vincit 'Faith brings luck'	1979
Mackenzie	Lime green	'Together we are one'	2019
May	Olive green	'Dare to know'	2019
Pain	White	Latin: Vive Et Vivat 'Live and let live'	1965
Stevens	Pale purple	'To act justly'	2019
Sthalekar	Gold	'Our best always'	2019
Stone	Teal	'The truth never perishes'	2019
Wade	Royal blue	Latin: Labor in Unum 'Work together'	1959
Wailes	Yellow	Latin: Per Laborem Ad Victoriam 'From hard work comes victory'	1971
Wilson	Maroon	Latin: Deus Est Meum Scutum 'God is my Shield'	1979

• List of non-government schools in New South Wales
• List of boarding schools in Australia
• List of Anglican schools in New South Wales
• Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

• Barker College website
• Google maps aerial view