Penrith High School

Penrith High School
File:Phslgocolour.png Altiora Peto Striving For The Highest
Address
158-240 High St Penrith, New South Wales Australia
Coordinates
Information
Type	Selective, Public, Co-educational
Established	1951
Principal	Kristine MacPhail (acting)
Enrolment	905 students,(7-12)
Campus	Suburban
Colour(s)	Sky Blue, Grey, Yellow, Black, White, Royal Blue
Website	penrithhighschool.nsw.edu.au

Penrith High School (abbreviated to PHS) is an academically selective, public, co-educational secondary school located in Penrith, a Western Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1950 and operated by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, the school currently caters for approximately 900 students from Years 7 to 12.

Penrith High School has a demonstrated history of academic success particularly in the Higher School Certificate. In 2013 over 90 students received an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of over 90.

History

Penrith High School began as an intermediate school in the 1930s, occupying the land adjacent to the school's current location (the present day Penrith Public School). During that time, the land that Penrith High School currently occupies was the site of a mansion known by locals as 'The Towers'. During the 1940s, the mansion and the land it occupied was sold to the Department of Education, who subsequently demolished the mansion and built Penrith High School.

Two of the original foundations of the mansion have been preserved and remain in the school grounds. Additionally, the original plaque commemorating the opening of Penrith Intermediate School has been transferred into the present school grounds, where it currently resides in the school hall. In commemoration of 'The Towers' mansion, the in-school debating and public speaking competitions go by the same name.

Enrolment

The students of Penrith High School come from an area extending from the Blue Mountains to North Sydney, from the Hawkesbury District to Luddenham. In recent years the school has seen a substantial increase in its intake from the City of Blacktown.

Year 7

All Year 7 enrolments are managed by the Selective Schools Unit, NSW Department of Education. In October each year, application forms for the selective high schools test are available from government primary schools and from the Selective Schools Unit for Year 6 students and are due to be returned in November of that year.

Years 8-12

Applications for entry into Years 8-12 are managed by the school, in line with Selective Schools Unit guidelines. Only a small number of places are available each year, vacancies only occur when a current student leaves the school. Application packages become available from the school or the Selective Schools Unit in Term 2 each year and are usually due to be returned to the school, along with supporting documentation, by the end of July. The deadline date for application each year is determined by the Selective Schools Unit and all applications must be received at the school by this date. The selection committee arranges the applications in order of academic merit based upon the evidence submitted. The committee considers material that provides evidence of high academic achievement and participation in extra curricular activities. Residential status requirements and family placement claims follow the Year 7 entry criteria. Students must be either born in Australia or have a permanent residents visa.

Facilities

The school has a gymnasium, a field with multi-sport goal posts (soccer and rugby) and another smaller field with portable hockey goals, as well as two basketball courts. In addition, the school has five computer labs, a considerable space for performing arts, and a school hall which is part of the original structure of Penrith High School, built in the early 1950s. The hall can accommodate approximately 400 seated guests, and is often used for official school functions, performing arts exhibitions and information evenings. The Penrith High School Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) operates a school canteen, from which all proceeds go towards improving the educational experience of Penrith students.

Courses offered

The courses available for study at Penrith High School depends on the year level of the student in question:

Years 7 and 8

All subjects in Year 7 and 8 are mandatory, however in Year 8 students are given the option of whether to study Italian or Japanese for the Languages Other than English (LOTE) course:

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• History (for one semester)
• Geography (for the opposite semester to History)
• Technology (students alternate between Woodwork, Metalwork, Textiles and Food Technology each term)
• Music
• Visual Arts
• LOTE (one semester of both Italian and Japanese in Year 7, choice of either language for entire year in Year 8)

Years 9 and 10

Before beginning Year 9, students are given the opportunity to choose three 200 hour elective courses which they will study over Year 9 and 10.

Mandatory courses

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• History (for one semester)
• Geography (for the opposite semester to History)
• Careers (Year 10 only)
• PDHPE

Elective courses

Students choose any three of the following courses:

• Commerce
• Drama
• Design and Technology
• Engineering Studies
• Food Technology
• Junior Elective Geography
• Junior Elective History
• Industrial Technology (Graphics)
• Industrial Technology (Metal)
• Industrial Technology (Wood)
• Information Software Technology
• Italian
• Japanese
• Music
• Physical Activity and Sports Studies
• Textiles Technology
• Visual Arts

Years 11 and 12

Course selection for the senior years is much more complex than in Years 9 and 10. The only mandatory course to be studied in the senior years is English Advanced.

Students in Year 11 are required to study at least 12 units while Year 12 are required to study at least ten units. Since English Advanced comprises two units and is mandatory for all students, senior students are required to study at least eight units worth of the following courses:

Course	Unit value
Ancient History	2
Aboriginal Studies	2
Biology	2
Business Studies	2
Community and Family Studies	2
Chemistry	2
Design and Technology^	2
Drama^	2
Economics	2
English Extension 1	1
English Extension 2^	1
Engineering Studies	2
Food Technology	2
General Mathematics	2
Geography	2
History Extension^	1
Information Processes and Technology	2
Industrial Technologies - Multimedia	2
Italian Beginners	2
Italian Continuers	2
Italian Extension	1
Japanese Beginners	2
Japanese Continuers	2
Japanese Extension	1
Legal Studies	2
Mathematics	2
Mathematics Extension 1	1
Mathematics Extension 2	1
Modern History	2
Music 1^	2
Music 2^	2
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education	2
Physics	2
Society and Culture^	2
Software Design and Development	2
Studies of Religion I	1
Visual Arts^	2

^ denotes a subject where a major work must be completed

Limits on what subjects can and cannot be studied together and the subject selection process are explained to all students at the beginning of Term 3 during Year 10.

Student extra-curricular involvement

Penrith High School students have the opportunity to participate in a vast range of extra-curricular activities in a number of interest areas, including:

• Academic Competitions
• Band
• Book Club
• Breakfast Club
• Carbon Neutral Committee
• Debating
• Public Speaking
• Maths Club
• Duke of Edinburgh's Award
• Environment Committee
• UMAT
• Hakusan and Chunxiao Student Exchanges
• Junior Representative Council(JRC)
• Mock Trial
• Penrith in Performance
• Student Leadership
• Streamwatch
• Sustainable Gardening
• Student Representative Council(SRC)
• Sport
• Variety Night
• Choir
• Chess Club
• Peer Tutoring
• Safe Schools
• Film Club
• Amnesty International

Student leadership

The main leadership positions offered to students in Penrith High School are those of School Captain, School Vice-Captain and Student Representative Council (SRC) President. Student leaders begin their term of office in Term 3 of any given year, finishing a year later at the end of Term 2.

Additional leadership positions available to students at Penrith High School include:

• House Captains
• House Vice-Captains
• Roll Representatives
• SRC Representatives
• JRC Representatives
• Faculty Student Leaders
• Club Leaders
• Peer Support Leaders

House system

At the beginning of Year 7, all Penrith students are placed in one of the following four houses, usually on the basis of their last name:

House	Colour
Blaxland
Lawson
Mitchell
Wentworth

Every year three sporting carnivals are held in which students compete to earn their house points. A winner of each carnival and of the overall house championship is announced each year.

Additionally, the houses are used to form the basis of roll call, which students attend every morning for up to 20 minutes. Each house consists of 8 roll calls, each with approximately 25 students.

Staff

As of 2015, the current staff at Penrith High School is as follows:

Senior Executive

• Principal - Kristine MacPhail (acting)
• Deputy Principal - Glenn Robertson
• Deputy Principal - Stephen Duclos

Notable alumni

• Richard Wilson - actor, The Proposition and Clubland
• Penelope Wensley - former governor of Queensland
• Grigor Taylor - actor, Matlock Police, Silent Number and Glenview High
• Kevin Crameri - former mayor of Penrith
• Linda Burney - Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Canterbury.

The PASHS Name

When John Elton became principal of the school in 2011, he began to make changes to improve the school's image as a selective high school. These changes included controversially changing the school's name to "Penrith Academically Selective High School". The name is used widely throughout the staff body in an attempt to boost the reputation of the school. The "Academically Selective" part is not used in any other selective high school in New South Wales, and thus its use gained a notable critical reception from the student body as being highly pretentious. The new name called for attempts to change the school emblem but this never gained popularity as it would also require a change of the uniform. To date, the only use of the new shield-shaped emblem is above the main entrance to the School Hall.

See also

• List of Government schools in New South Wales
• List of selective high schools in New South Wales

External links

• Penrith High School website
• NSW Department of Education and Communities: Penrith High School
• [1]