York
The House
The House system at St Andrew's was inaugurated in 1953 with just three Houses. York was one of the original Houses, the other two being Canterbury and Salisbury. York has won the Dean Pitt Shield on numerous occasions. York House is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
The Cathedral
York House has its origins from York Minster in the city of York, situated north of London. The Christian origins of the city are unclear but it is known that by 306AD when Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor in York a small Christian community lived in the district. This community disappeared during the pagan invasions that followed the Roman withdrawal in the 5th century after which there was considerable instability during the times of Viking and Danish incursions.
When Christianity returned to York in 625 Bishop Paulinus accompanied Ethelburga, a Christian princess from Kent in southern England, who came north to marry Edwin, the pagan king of Northumbria. Edwin accepted Christianity two years later and was baptised, along with his court, by Paulinus in a church built especially for the occasion - this building is traditionally regarded as the first York Cathedral.
The Middle Ages saw the cathedral building completed in the 15th century. Its classical design makes York Minster one of the most famous Gothic Cathedrals in England. Political and religious conflict during the 15-17th centuries did not break the Cathedral's teaching and ministry programme although progressive building deterioration required a 20 year long restoration programme from 1802. In the modern era York Minster's history is largely a struggle to preserve the Cathedral's architecture and infrastructure in the face of constantly increasing operating costs, a fact common to many heritage buildings around the world.
The Cathedral's serious deterioration was highlighted in a 1967 report that indicated the building was in danger of total collapse. This startling report triggered a resurgence of unabated restoration work to retain the architectural quality of this most significant English cathedral. In 1972 York Minster celebrated the completion of the restoration work during the 500th anniversary of the original completion of the building.
In many ways St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney is a smaller representation of York Minster.
Minster Song School
The Minster Song School associated with York Minster was originally founded by Paulinus in 627AD, the first Archbishop of York, to educate the choristers. The current school buildings date from 1832. Since 1987 the school has been a coeducational preparatory school for around 190 children. The school's music department is one of the most flourishing in Britain.
House News
The students of York House recognise how important it is to give back to a community that has given us so much. For this reason the House has taken an active responsibility to support a number of significant charities during 2006/7.
World Vision
We began sponsoring a child from Guatemala called Dario Garcia Sanchez. He is 7 years old and we regularly send money to help Dario and his family. Dario lives with his family in a rural area. His father is self-employed, but his earnings are not enough to care for his family. Our sponsorship helps Dario to attain self-reliance. This year we have raised almost $1000 in sponsorship.
This year, in order to help us raise funds for World Vision, we had our first ever York House Party. The York community banded together in the MC Newth auditorium, decorated by our keen band of parents. Students, teachers, parents, old Andreans, and Friends of York had a night of frivolity with trivia, karaoke, games, modelling, music, art and drama over the long weekend in June. Special moments included our York Idol of 2005, Harry Milas, performing his magic tricks with the able assistance of Mr Phillip Heath, the magnificent cake supplied by the Hamilton family, Mark Thomas in a dress, Brett Matthews and Kylar Loussikian's hosting of the trivia and the fantastic York band. Entry fee was $10 each and the night was a huge success, raising over $1,000 for World Vision. We are hoping to have our House party now as an annual event.
For further information on this charity's work go to: www.worldvision.com.au
Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW
Another charity we support is the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW. We felt it was important to embrace a charity that perhaps is not popular in the wider community and is often misunderstood.
This year we continued to support Sunflower week, selling merchandise in May to raise funds for this worthwhile charity. We managed to raise over $500 to help increase awareness for mental health issues. Students also received certificates from the association for their efforts as we are one of the few schools in the State to support this cause.
For further information on this charity's work go to: www.sfnsw.org.au
Assistance Dogs Scheme
Another of our charities is the Assistance Dogs Scheme. Richard Lord, CEO of Assistance Dogs, came and spoke to the assembly about this great charity and brought with him Olympic Athlete Louise Saavage and puppy India. Louise spoke about how the assistance dogs scheme has brought hope to many disabled people and India showed us a few tricks of the trade! They were both a terrific hit on assembly and York is proud to support Assistance Dogs as one of its many charity groups.
We then set out to sell toy assistance dogs to raise money for the association. Well done to all our wonderful York students who supported this cause and sold our toy puppies within and outside of the school. You're all champions in my eyes!
For further information on this charity's work go to: www.assistancedogs.org.au
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Our final charity at this point is SIDS. We support the prevention of SIDS through Red Nose Day with many students selling items on the day. This year we managed to sell 30 boxes to support this valuable charity, raising almost $3,500. Red Nose Day provides more than 80% of the SIDS organisation's total funding and we were happy to be part of something so significant.
For further information on this charity's work go to: www.sidsaustralia.org.au
York House continues to lead the way and we hope to launch the York newsletter, York Karaoke Competition and Christmas Fundraiser by the end of the year. With already over $6,000 raised for charities this year and another year of taking out the Dean Pitt Shield, it is indeed a House to be proud of.
