Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham (also known as CBHS Lewisham), is a private

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

comprehensive single-sex secondary day school for boys, located in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1891 by the Christian Brothers, the school has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,350 boys from

Year 5 Year 5 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the fifth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between nine and eleven. Australia In Austr ...

Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth or thirteenth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-comp ...

. The school is the oldest of the Christian Brothers schools operating in Sydney.

Principals

The following individuals have served as Principal of Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham:

Crest and motto

The school

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

''Conanti Corona'', translates as "A crown to the one who strives", which is used as an expression to help students to try their best in all aspects of life. The school crest is adapted from the Christian Brothers’ crest, highlighting the

Celtic Cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

and the Irish heritage of the Christian Brothers. The crest also contains the two symbols for the first and last letters of the Latin alphabet, symbolising learning and knowledge.Christian Brothers' High School: Crest and Motto
(accessed:16-08-2007)

Notable alumni

Alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham are traditionally known as the "Old Boys".

Arts and letters

Ron Blair Ronald Edward Blair (born September 16, 1948) is an American musician notable for being the bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was originally the band's bassist from 1976 to 1981. In 2002, he returned to the group after a 20-year hi ...

, playwright * Gordon Elliott, journalist and producer *

Leo Schofield Leo George Schofield (born 6 May 1935) had a notable career as an advertising professional, journalist, creative arts festival director, and trustee of arts and cultural organisations. After many years in other states of Australia he now live ...

, journalist and food critic *

Greg Sheridan Gregory Paul Sheridan (born 1956) is an Australian foreign affairs journalist, author and commentator. He has written a number of books on politics, religion and international affairs and has been the foreign editor of ''The Australian'' newsp ...

, journalist * Francis Webb, poet *

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in ' ...

, actor

Medicine and science

* Victor Chang , heart surgeon

Military

* John Bernard MacKey (1936), military man given the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

's highest honour for bravery

Politics, public service and the law

* The Hon John Aquilina , politician, a former Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly, and a former Minister for Education and Member for Blacktown and Riverstone; *

George Brandis George Henry Brandis (born 22 June 1957) is an Australian former politician. He was a Australian Senate, Senator for Queensland from 2000 to 2018, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, and was a Cabinet (Australia), cabin ...

, former

Attorney-General of Australia The attorney-general of Australia (AG), also known as the Commonwealth attorney-general, is the minister of state and chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing federal legal affairs and public security as the ...

and Leader of the Government in the Senate * Steve Doszpot , politician, and Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly * Brian McGowan, politician, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Sir Edward McTiernan Judge of High Court of Australia * Justice Kevin Frederick O'Leary , the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory; * The Hon

Terry Sheahan Terence William "Terry" Sheahan, (born 18 August 1947) is an Australian judge and former politician. He was the Labor member for Burrinjuck in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1988, and held various ministerial portfolios ...

, a former NSW Attorney General and Member for Burrinjuck. *The Hon Harry Woods, Member Federal House of Representatives, Member NSW Legislative Assembly, Minister Local Government, Regional development, Rural Affairs.

Sport

* Paul Akkary,

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, New South Wales, Newtown, a suburb of Inner West (Sydney), Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after t ...

rugby league player *

Raphael Bove Raphael Bove (born 5 March 1977) is an Italian Australian former professional footballer who represented Australia at international level. Career Bove was born in Cassino, Italy, and moved to Australia at a young age. He played his early foot ...

, footballer * Jeremy Bray, an Irish cricketer * Steve Gearin,

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer * Roger Hartigan, Test cricket player * Solomon Haumono, rugby league footballer and professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

* Brett Holman, footballer * Andrew Koczka, footballer * Andrew Lomu, rugby league footballer * Martin Mulligan, tennis player *

Paul Osborne Paul Anthony Osborne (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, administrator and politician. He played first-grade rugby league for the St George Dragons and Canberra Raiders before serving as a me ...

, a professional rugby league footballer; politician, Schoolboy Player of the Year Award 1984 * Kurtis Patterson, test cricket player. * Nathan Peats, rugby league footballer for the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

Tim Pickup Timothy Alexander Pickup (6 October 1948 – 7 June 2021) was an Australian Rugby League footballer for the North Sydney Bears, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, New South Wales and Australian national side in the 1970s, playing his First Test f ...

, rugby league footballer and test representative. * Joe Reaiche, rugby league footballer * Shane Rigon, rugby league footballerShane Rigon player profile
/ref> * Michael Speechley,

footballer * Greg Stafford, an AFL player for

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

and Richmond Tigers * Marco Tilio, footballer for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and the Australian national team

References

External links

CBHS Lewisham Website
{{Authority control Catholic secondary schools in Sydney Catholic primary schools in Sydney Congregation of Christian Brothers secondary schools in Australia Boys' schools in New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1891 Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools Metropolitan Catholic Colleges Sports Association 1891 establishments in Australia Lewisham, New South Wales Congregation of Christian Brothers primary schools in Australia