people, separate from religion. The influence of the Fort Street Model School was substantial, forming the basis for education throughout the colonies: At the same time at the Fort Street National School in Sydney William Wilkins was teaching pupil-teachers how to lead the children of New South Wales out of darkness into the light. He was holding out to them that bright prospect of the day when every locality however remote and every family however humble was supplied with the ameliorating influences of an education, which would teach every man, woman and child in the colony to form the habits of regularity, cleanliness, orderly behaviour, and regard for the rights of both public and private property, as well as the habit of obedience to the law, and respect for duly constituted authority. In Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart his counterparts were preaching the same gospel of humanity marching forward, reaching upward for the light. – Manning Clark, A History of Australia, Vol. 4, The Earth Abideth Forever 1851–1888 In 1881, the school was raised to the status of Superior Public School. Formation of Fort Street Public, Boys' High, and Girls' High Schools In 1911, the school was split into one primary and two secondary schools: Fort Street Public School, Fort Street Boys' High School and Fort Street Girls' High School. Due to space limitations at Observatory Hill, in 1916, the Boys' school was moved to the school's present site, on Taverner's Hill, Petersham. The Girls' school remained at Observatory Hill until 1975, when the two schools were amalgamated to form the current co-educational school at Petersham. During that time, its grounds continued to be consumed by the growing city; for example, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which opened in 1932, took most of the playground. Fort Street Public School remains at Observatory Hill. For many years from 1912 George Mackaness was the English master and deputy headmaster at Fort Street Boys' High School. He published Inspirational Teaching (1928) on his teaching techniques.<ref>Martha Rutledge and Bruce Mitchell, Mackaness, George (1882–1968), Australian Dictionary of Biography, adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 22 April 2022.</ref> Recent The school celebrated its sesquicentenary in 1999. Its student population is now a diverse one; students come from over 100 suburbs in Sydney, from places as far as Hornsby, the Blue Mountains, Cabramatta, Fairfield and Canterbury, and a range of cultural backgrounds. Students past and present are referred to as "Fortians". Ronald Horan