| James Cook Boys Technology High School | |
| Motto: | Ignotum Quarite (Seek the Unknown) |
| Streetaddress: | 800 Princess Highway |
| Coordinates: | -33.9661°N 151.1372°W |
| Established: | 1956 |
| Closed: | 2026 (planned merger with Moorefield Girls High School) |
| Principal: | Mark Marciniak |
| Grades: | 7–12 |
| Website: | jamescookb-h.schools.nsw.gov.au |
James Cook Boys Technology High School is a boys' secondary school situated on Princes Highway in Kogarah, Australia. The school is named after Captain James Cook, who was the first recorded European to contact the eastern coastline of Australia.
James Cook Boys Technology High School was founded in 1956 after Moorefield racecourse was demolished. The site of the racecourse was divided to provide space for three schools (Moorefield Girls High School, James Cook Boys Technology High School, and St George School for students with disabilities) as well as the St George TAFE. The rest of the site was allocated for residential development.
Originally named Moorefield Boys High School, the school was renamed several times before adopting its current name in 1990 when it chose to become a technology-focused high school.
Queen Elizabeth II visited the school on 29 April 1970, the bicentennial year of James Cook's arrival in Australia, along with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Anne, Princess Royal.
In 2026, James Cook Boys Technology High School is set to merge with Moorefield Girls High School to form a new co-educational high school serving students in the Kogarah-Rockdale area. The decision followed extensive consultations in 2023 with the local community, revealing strong support for co-educational options, particularly among parents of primary school children. Approximately 65% of surveyed families indicated a preference for a co-educational school model.[1]
The new school will cater to students from Years 7 to 12 and aims to provide a broader range of subjects and extracurricular opportunities. Planned upgrades include improvements to IT infrastructure, administration systems, signage, and student amenities. An experienced principal will be appointed to oversee the transition, starting their role in early 2025.[2]
| Teaching staff | 34 | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time equivalent teaching staff | 29.3 | |
| Non-teaching staff | 7 | |
| Full-time equivalent non-teaching staff | 6.6 |
| Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School ICSEA value | 974 | ||||||||||||||||
| Average ICSEA value | 1000 | ||||||||||||||||
| Data source | Parent information | ||||||||||||||||
| Distribution of students < | -- The table reports student background information that is available for the reported year. For some schools, information cannot be displayed for privacy reasons or because there is an insufficient proportion of data records. --> | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Percentages are rounded and may not add to 100. | |||||||||||||||||
| Total enrolment | 262 | |
|---|---|---|
| Girls | 0 | |
| Boys | 262 | |
| Full-time equivalent enrolment | 262 | |
| Indigenous students | 1% | |
| Language background other than English | 88% |
| Vocational education and training (VET) | ||
|---|---|---|
| VET enrolment | 46 | |
| School-based apprenticeships and traineeships | 1 |
| Year 12 results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior secondary certificate awarded | 68 | ||
| Completed senior secondary school | 72 | ||
James Cook Boys has teams in various sports, including:
Regular summer sports: cricket, basketball, baseball, squash, table tennis, touch football, volleyball, and mini soccer
Regular winter sports: baseball, rugby league, soccer, softball, table tennis, tennis, and Australian rules football
Non-grade activities: fitness, senior recreation, and action sports (including soccer, basketball, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, and touch football)
Moorefield Girls High School has long been considered the female counterpart to James Cook Boys Technology High School. The two schools have collaborated on various initiatives, including multicultural days and joint classes in senior years (Years 11 & 12). They also participated in "Crossroads," a mandatory personal development and health course for Years 11 and 12 as part of the HSC.