Narrabundah College

Narrabundah College is a government college that teaches the last two years of secondary education in the Australian Capital Territory. It was the first school in Australia to offer the International Baccalaureate, starting the programme in February of 1978. Despite attempts to close the college in the late 70s due to falling enrollments, the school now has full enrollment and an extensive waiting list. It has earned a reputation for academic excellence in the ACT, attracting 63% of its students from out of area including New South Wales.

History

Narrabundah College was formed as a result of the ACT developing its own education system in 1974. The new system meant that public high schools would only teach from grade 7 to 10, and that grades 11 and 12 would be completed at a separate college. The pre-existing Narrabundah High School was re-formed as Narrabundah College.

Due to low enrolments, the ACT Schools' Authority threatened to close the school in 1978. This prompted the community into seeking backing for the IB programme. The Australian Minister for Education approved the commencement of the programme in 1979, ensuring the survival of the school. It has prospered in the years since.

Campus

The college campus is located in the suburb of Narrabundah, Canberra. It consists of several buildings including the large "S Block" which was originally the segregated senior building for years 11 and 12 prior to the school becoming a secondary college. In addition to a quadrangle and a canteen, the college also has spacious playing fields on which students may spend their free time and is close to golf courses, public ovals and the local shops.

Today

In 2006, 918 students were enrolled at Narrabundah College, which has a capacity of 912 students. 86% of college-aged students in the college's priority enrollment area attend Narrabundah, yet 63% of students enrolled in the school do not live in the priority enrollment area.

In 2007, Narrabundah College was the best performing government-run college in the ACT, with a higher average UAI and a greater number of students achieving a UAI of 65 or over than any other state college. In addition to this, Narrabundah College also awarded more Tertiary Entrance Statements, and more Year 12 Certificates than any other college in the ACT.

A very high percentage of Narrabundah College students who graduate with a Year 12 Certificate also obtain a UAI and go on to study at university. In 2007 of the 418 students awarded a Year 12 certificate, 77% were awarded Tertiary Education Statements. In 2007, the median UAI gained by students of Narrabundah College was 85 compared with the average of students from all across ACT colleges of 79. Over 87% of students from the college who were awarded Tertiary Education Statements in 2007 scored over 65 for their UAI compared with 79% of all ACT students. 80 students were awarded a vocational certificate in 2007 and 166 students were awarded a vocational statement of attainment.

Curriculum

Narrabundah College is able to offer a wide range of courses at Tertiary (T) and Accredited (A) levels, in addition to vocational courses and "R" units which are recreation/registered units.

Narrabundah College is notable for its community of students and teachers who hail from a diverse range of nationalities. The languages available for study at Narrabundah College are:

• Chinese
• French
• German
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Spanish

All of these languages are offered at three levels: beginning, continuing and advanced levels, and the level at which the language is studied depends on the student's prior knowledge. There is also the opportunity to study Latin through the college.

The school also offers the French Baccalaureate.

Notable alumni

• Youth Group, indie rock band.
• Bill Stefaniak, ACT Politician.
• Tim Ferguson, comedian and television presenter.
• Rominder Grove, Indian intellectual.
• Young and Restless, post-punk band.
• Oliver Hunter, artist.
• Linda Scott, politician.

External links

- Narrabundah College Official Website

- Annual ACT Governmennt Schools Report 2006: Narrabundundah College