Alumni Network
Welcome to the Killarney Heights High School Alumni Network!
We are proud of our alumni and the impact they continue to make in their communities and across the globe. This page is dedicated to staying connected with our graduates, offering resources, and celebrating the achievements of our alumni. Whether you're looking to network, give back, or simply catch up on the latest news, you’ve come to the right place!
To get started can you please complete the below Alumni Registration Form and we will be in contact with you:
Our History
The Story of The First School Crest - 1967
The symbols on our first school crest are Irish in origin:
- Ross Castle tower symbolises strong foundations
- The Irish Harp symbolises harmony
- The shamrock symbolises some of the values and beliefs both for Ireland and our school
The Story of the school motto "sylle aefter faerelde"
The school motto on this crest has been an item of some discussion and debate over the years. It is particularly unique because it is old English or ‘Anglo Saxon' which was in common use in England before the 1066 A.D. Norman Conquest. The choice of an Anglo Saxon motto in 1967 was unusual at a time when most NSW school mottos were in Latin or more recently in modern English. This is also curious, given that all of the imagery associated with the school is Irish or Celtic because of the name Killarney, an Irish county in Eire, The Republic of Ireland.
Mrs Sheila Segal who worked with our first principal, Mr A. M. Meyers, was able to inform Ms Jackson, the present principal, that the original interpretation of " Sylle aefter faerelde" was ‘To each according to his conduct'.
Ms Jackson has researched the background of the school motto with the aid of Professor Margaret Clunies Ross, Professor of Old English Studies at the University of Sydney. The school motto appears to be an abbreviated quote from the writings of a late Old English Abbott Aelfric of Eynsham, "a prolific writer of religious literature, including translations from the Bible, saints' lives and homilies. The standard edition of the text of this homily is by Peter Clemoes, Aelfric's Catholic Homilies: The First Series. Early English Texts Society. New Series 17 (Oxford: 1997). The text from which (our motto) is taken is on p.238, on line 184.
This reads as follows: Ic afandie manna heotan: & heora lendena. & aelcum sylle aefter his faerelde.& aefter his agenre afundennysse meaning "I will make trial of the hearts of men and of their loins, and to each I will give according to his {life} journey and according to his own invention [or discovery]".
The fact that the word ‘his' is missing from the motto is most likely explained by the fact that the school was coeducational and hence it was more appropriate that "To each according to his/her journey/conduct" was used.
The three words on their own in the school logo can be interpreted as "sylle" meaning foundation, "aefter" meaning after, and "faerelde" meaning journey.