Carlingford High School

Template:Infobox Aust school Carlingford High School is a government high school located in Carlingford, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

History

The decision to build a new high school at North Carlingford was made in early 1967. Though the decision was originally not well received by the community, especially parents who lived in close proximity to Cumberland High School and whose children were already being sent by bus to Pennant Hills High School, building of the new school commenced in the Autumn. The contractor, A.V Jennings, was to complete sufficient of the building to enable the school to open on the first school day in 1968.

In October, the first Principal, Mr M. J. Maiden, met 165 students whom were in first form at Pennant Hills High School and who were destined for the new school, known officially at this stage as "Carlingford North High School". The students were dressed in school uniform designed by a committee of parents appointed by Mr R. Stacey, principal of Pennant Hills High School. A further meeting was held with the parents where a motion was carried that the Department of Education be asked to name the school "Carlingford High School".

Two more meetings were held with the committee prior to the beginning of the new school year. At these meetings, finalized arrangements for the first school day of 1968 were made, along with the establishment of a school badge and motto. Much thought went into the latter with a view to linking the badge with the name "Carlingford". From Mr H. Frater, former Headmaster of Carlingford Rural School, informed the committee that Carlingford was named after Carlingford in Ireland. Mr Maiden, wrote to the Embassy of Ireland in Canberra and received information about Irish Carlingford. It was then decided to design a badge and motto that would incorporate the "Venturegameness" of the Vikings and the idea that education should be an adventure. The design of the badge would be in keeping with the design of the school and with an Australian flavour, hence the square, sever line of the badge and the boomerang on which the motto appears. Several different designs were worked on by artists at "Perfection Plate" and indeed the Maiden family also worked on the design. The committee finally reached a decision with the agreed motto "Adventure In Learning" put forward by the appointed Deputy Principal Mr. N. Leeder and the badge design created by Mr Maidens wife.

As late as the Thursday before school was to resume it was by no means certain that the school would be open due to inclement weather. Fortunately though the weather cleared and concrete was poured on the Friday and the school was officially opened on Tuesday 31 January 1968.

This school is currently located on North Rocks Road between two primary schools, Roselea Public School and St Gerard's Primary Catholic School. Lately a new library has been constructed and many of the blocks have been refurbished, this year is the 41st anniversary of Carlingford High School.

As of today more than 1,200 students attend this school.

What the school provides

Carlingford High School provides a comprehensive learning environment. they utilize technology and traditional teaching methods and outcome the best results. specialties: IST- information software technology, Dance, Drama, Sports, Music. This school features a block dedicated for technology education. This school features 2 kitchens, 2 metal work rooms, 2 woodwork rooms and 3 art rooms. The school also has 8 science laboratories, which were refurbished in mid 2008.

Music

The school has a numerous number of musical ensembles. They are:

• Concert Band 1
• Concert Band 2
• Stage Band 1
• Stage Band 2
• String Ensemble
• Vocal Ensemble
• Jazz Vocal

Staff

There are over 100 staff members at Carlingford High School. Some of the most important ones include:

• Mr R. Clarke, Principal
• Ms J. Reeves, Deputy Principal
• Mr P. Myers, Deputy Principal
• Mr P. Nesbitt, English Head Teacher
• Mr G. Fardouly, Maths Head Teacher
• Mr D. Hopley, Science Head Teacher
• Mr K. Chan, Head Teacher for Languages Other Than English(LOTE)
• Mrs M. Owens, Head teacher for History
• Mr J. Hain, Head Teacher for Social Science
• Mr R. Long, Head Teacher for Performing and Creative Arts
• Ms D. Halloran, Head Teacher for Student Welfare
• Ms T. Leigh, Head Teacher for TAS
• Mr Meehan, Head Teacher for Computing Studies
• Mr R. Ryan, Head Teacher for Personal Development
• Mrs R. McGregor, Head of Teaching and Learning

The are year advisors for every single year. These year advisors do counselling and also organises now the grade is run. The year advisors are:

• Year 7: Ms F. Davidson
• Year 8: Mr B. Cooper
• Year 9: Mr P. Hind
• Year 10: Mr B. Welch
• Year 11: Ms E. Cobden
• Year 12: Mrs L. Wilkes

Reward System

There is a rewarding system throughout the whole school. This rewarding system applies to all students from year 7 to year 12. There are Teacher's Awards, School Service Awards, Executive Awards, Year Adviser's Awards and Principal's Awards.

• 3 Teacher's Awards of the same subject or 2 School Service Awards will get you one Executive Award
• 4 Executive Awards of at least 2 different subjects will get you one Year Adviser's Award
• 5 Year Advisers Awards will get you one Principal's Award.

If a student does get one Year Advisers Awards, they will be able participate in the Rewards Day Out Excursion, at the end of the year, which is usually at Jamberoo or Luna Park

Student government

Carlingford High students participate in a peer support program, and student representative council, which was the first to be established in Sydney. It also provides a comprehensive welfare program focusing on peer support/mentoring and conflict resolution, anti-bullying and anti-racism.

Housing System

There are four houses in Carlingford High School, they are named after the Viking gods. They are:

• Aegir,
• Freya,
• Odin,
• Thor

The houses were re-introduced in late 2007 after many meetings on whether it should exist or not. There are also house colours for each of these houses, Aegir is Red; Freya is Yellow; Odin is Blue; and Thor is Green.

Security

In 2007, the school underwent major security changes, namely installing a new security 6000 volts electric fence which is about 2.5 metres high, with spikes up the top.

Notable teachers

• Mr Peter Thompson Crawford, Member of the Legislative Assembly in NSW

Notable alumni

• Jason Smith, Australian Actor, Starred in Home and Away
• Amanda Keller, Australian journalist, radio presenter, and media personality.
• Tim Brunero, "Big Brother"(Aust.) contestant 2005, writes for "The Chaser", also a regular appearance on "Big Mouth"

External links

• Official website
• Carlingford High School Intranet