Baulkham Hills High School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Motto	Persevere
Established	1971
School type	Government, Selective
Principal	Mr Tony Fugaccia
Location	Baulkham Hills, New South Wales
Enrollment	1130 Students
School colours	Green and Gold
Contact	Phone: (61) (02) 9639 8699 Fax: (61) (02) 9639 4999
Website	BHHS Homepage

Baulkham Hills High School is a public (government) selective high school in Baulkham Hills, a suburb in the north west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of Sydney's highest achieving schools, ranking 2nd in the number of students in honours list of the 2005 New South Wales Higher School Certificate.

1 History
2 Admissions and enrolment
3 Departments
4 Extracurricular activities
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

Baulkham Hills High School was established in 1971 as a non-selective public school. The school's first selective cohort was in 1990, with all grades being selective by 1995. Over time, the school's academic ranking has improved and in 2005 was ranked 2nd by the Sydney Morning Herald for total number of Distinguished Achievers (DA) for examinations resulting in over 90%.

**DA Ranking**
Year	Top School	Second	Third
2000	JRAHS (306)	NSGHS (176)	SBHS (146)
2001	JRAHS (585)	NSGHS (422)	BHHS (409)
2002	JRAHS (664)	NSGHS (555)	BHHS (515)
2003	JRAHS (740)	NSGHS (539)	BHHS (504)
2004	JRAHS (813)	NSGHS (587)	BHHS (570)
2005	JRAHS (760)	BHHS (606)	HGHS (368)

The school was built on the site of a former orange orchard, with the region having once been a major orange producing area of Sydney. This history is acknowledged by the use of an orange on the school crest. Acknowledgement of the agricultural history of the area is also reflected in the naming of the four intra-mural sports houses of the school, which are named after four prominent early European settlers in the area.

[edit] Admissions and enrolment

Total enrolment in junior years (7-10) is approximately 180 students, and around 200 in senior years (11-12). Total number of enrolments is 1130 students.

As a selective school, entry into the school in Year 7 is based upon results in a State-wide examination known as the Selective Schools Admissions Test. Entry into vacant places in later stages is based on a reserve list and other criteria.

The school also has a Special Education Unit through which students with intellectual disabilities receive extra support and lessons designed to equip them for active participation in the wider community upon graduation. These students are also encouraged to take part in all aspects of school life and are an integral part of the school community.

[edit] Departments

The school has twelve academic departments, each teaching one or a variety of related Board of Studies endorsed subjects. The departments are:

English (Subjects: English, Drama)
Mathematics (Subjects: Mathematics)
Science (Subjects: Science, Chemistry, Biology, Physics)
Creative Arts (Subjects: Visual Arts, Photography and Digital Design, Visual Design)
Music (Subjects: Music)
Social Sciences (Subjects: Social Science, Geography, Commerce, Business Studies, Legal Studies, Economics, Society and Culture)
Languages other than English (Subjects: French, German, Japanese, Latin)
Personal development (Subjects: Personal Development Health and Physical Education, Sports Science)
Industrial arts (Subjects: Design & Technology, Technical Drawing, Computer Studies, Engineering Studies, Software Design, IPT, Industrial Technology)
Home Economics (Subjects: Food Technology, Textiles and Design)
History (Subjects: History, Ancient History, Modern History, Elective History)
Careers (Subjects: Careers)
The Support Unit (Special education) is its own department.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

A range of sporting and other extra-curricular activities occur at the school, including Cadets, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, a Mah Jong Tournament, the Chess Club, the Scrabble Club, Tournament of the Minds, Run Fit, School Bands, Soul Purpose, Variety Night, the Shakespeare Festival, Mock Trial, Debating (includes History Debating) and a range of many others. There are also committees formed to make suggestions as to the running of the school, such as the Uniform Committee.