Winmalee High School is an Australian public school situated in the North of the suburb of Winmalee in the city of Blue Mountains, Australia. The School borders onto National Park which has been recently placed on the World Heritage List and surrounds the City.
It was established in 1985, and teaches students from year 7 to year 12. The school is famous for its Autumn Art Festival, which supports well-known local artists from throughout the region. Winmalee also has good results for students graduating from their Higher School Certificate studies in years 11 and 12. The school colours are yellow and maroon: the school's motto is "Strive to Achieve".
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The Autumn Art Festival, usually abbreviated to Autumn ArtFest is an annual event which attracts art collectors and the viewing public from throughout the Blue Mountains and surrounding areas. The event takes place to raise money for the school and showcases the work of well known artists from throughout the region such as multi-award-winning artist John Wilson, a member of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales, who featured in the 15th annual Artfest in 2006. Crafts and other goods are also sold at the event with musical items by school students.
There are approximately 1008 students enrolled at Winmalee High School (March 2011). Winmalee High subjects include drama, music, dance, business studies, legal studies, computing studies, technology and design, visual arts, photography, languages, food technology and physical education. There are also Higher School Certificate programs offered at rigorous levels of study such as 4 Unit Mathematics and 3 unit subjects such as English, Computing Studies, Physics and Chemistry.
Reflective of its location, the majority of students are Anglo-Saxon in origin, and the student and staff body is largely culturally homogeneous. This has changed slightly in recent years, and new arrivals to the school have enriched the school’s diversity.
In addition to their studies, students at Winmalee High School have the option to take part in on the job training in such specialities as building and construction, metals and engineering, industrial technology and hospitality which are usually unavailable at similar public high schools. Students also have the opportunity to link into joint TAFE courses as part of their HSC.
Students can also be involved in a sporting situation called mountain sports. This is a government funded organisation and allows children to be involved with sports directly through the school which is very helpful for the parents who work long hours. The organisation picks up children from the school and drops them off at sporting locations such as SummerHayes Park.
Being designed fairly recently in 1985 Winmalee High School is of architectural significance; the building is an example of Modern Architecture. It is one of the only High Schools in the Blue Mountains with wheel-chair access into a large percentage of the school which was added recently. The school has also recently built a performing arts hall at the rear of the main hall. The hall was designed to cater for drama and small performances as well as a rehearsal space and holding room for the large productions held every 2 years, it is fitted with the best sound and lighting technology there is to offer. The school has a wide range of rooms, including "learning spaces" science laboratories, specialty music rooms, textiles and food technology rooms, one of which has recently been refitted with new restaurant quality commercial equipment. A new proposal for improved wheel-chair access to more rooms on the upper floors has been approved.
Winmalee High School has a strong sporting culture that has resulted in success in a number of sports. Typically dominant amongst local High Schools, Winmalee has been represented strongly at State CHS level in Athletics, Basketball, Cross Country, Netball and a number of other sports.
In the late 1990s - early 2000s Winmalee High School achieved remarkable success in both Men's Basketball and Netball.
In 2002 the Winmalee Worms Men's Netball team won the State Netball Title.
Winmalee High School has also enjoyed a great deal of success in boy’s and girl’s water polo over the years. This success has continued in 2011 with the boy’s open team winning the Sydney West Championship again. The school has also provided 40% of the squad members of the Sydney West Representative side who will be competing in the State Championship in Alstonville in November 2011.