Sport Houses at Dural Public School
The ancient Sumerians, and later the Greeks (as recorded by Ptolemy), established most of the northern constellations in international use today. When explorers mapped the stars of the southern skies, European and American astronomers proposed new constellations for that region, as well as ones to fill gaps between the traditional constellations. Not all of these proposals caught on, but in 1922, the International Astronomical Union adopted the modern list of 88 constellations.
And thus the sport houses of Dural Public School were born: Aquila, Columba, Dorado and Lepus.
Aquila is a constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and it represents the bird who carried Zeus/Jupiter's thunderbolts in Greco-Roman mythology.
Aquila lies astride the celestial equator. The alpha star, Altair, is a vertex of the Summer Triangle asterism. The constellation is best seen in the summer as it is located along the Milky Way. Because of this location along the line of our galaxy, many clusters and nebulae are found within its borders, but they are dim and there are few galaxies.
Columba is a small, faint constellation created in the late sixteenth century by Dutch astronomer Petrus Plancius. Its name is Latin for dove. It is located just south of Canis Major. Columba is thought to represent the dove released by Jason and the Argonauts at the Black Sea's mouth; it helped them navigate the dangerous Symplegades. Others believe it represents Noah's dove.
Dorado is a constellation in the southern sky. It was named in the late 16th century by Petrus Plancius and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish, which are known as dorado in Portuguese, although it sometimes is depicted as a swordfish.
Lepus is a constellation lying just south of the celestial equator, immediately south of Orion. Its name is Latin for hare. Although the hare does not represent any particular figure in Greek mythology, Lepus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. It is located below the constellation Orion (the hunter), and is sometimes represented as a hare being chased by Orion or, alternatively, by Orion's hunting dogs.
In Term 4 each year we elect new captains and vice-captains from current year 5 students.
The role of a sport captain and vice-captain is to:
- assist with sport within the school.
- champion and reinforce participation at sport and carnivals
- maintain, set-up and pack away equipment
- read the sport report at assemblies