Killara High School
Encyclopedia
Killara High School is a co-educational public secondary school, located on Koola Avenue in East Killara, Sydney
. Established in 1970, Killara High School is one of the highest performing comprehensive non-selective public schools in the state. The academic success of the school in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) and its reputation are evident in extracurricular activities such as music, art, dance, sport, debating and strong participation in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award program makes the school highly desirable for middle to upper class parents who wish to have their children educated in a public school. Enrolment rose 21% from 2002 to a population of 1400 students in 2009. It now has over 1500 students (2011). Currently, accepted catchment areas include Roseville
, West Lindfield
, Lindfield
, East Lindfield
, West Killara
, Killara
, East Killara
, West Gordon, East Gordon
and St Ives
.
In the 1980s, Killara High purchased a house occupying a corner of the school area, which later became the language centre and is now commonly referred to as "The House".
The castle: A permanent place, shelter and reassurance, a means of maintaining that which is worthy of preservation, a storehouse of knowledge
The key: It is a symbol of progression, which opens doors of learning. It is also an emblem of growth and development into adulthood
The Escutcheon: Provide protection against the unskilled, a pivoted keyhole cover
The Motto: , symbolises preservation of the best of the past and continued development into the future
classes. Koola Oval across the road is often used for sport classes as Jubilee Oval is not big enough.
Capital works since 2003 have resulted in the installation of security fencing, and five COLAs (Covered Outdoor Learning Areas) built around the school, grounds enhancements, upgrades to science laboratories, classrooms and the construction of studios above the canteen. With enrolment rising at the school, the number of portable classrooms has increased from four to the current eighteen, with an extra two portable bathroom blocks also put in. This has led to complaints that the government isn't spending enough money on the school and that the school may have to resort to erecting tents as classrooms. There have been vandalism incidents at the school, the worst being an arson attack on the theatre leaving it unusable for six months and costing 1.5 million to repair. More recent capital works have included installing security fencing around the school, similar to those found at other public schools in Sydney, new landscaping to fit with the new fence and handrails installed for stairs.
Growth in enrolment and the predicted future growth of population in the region is expected to continue to place serious pressure on the school facilities and further capital works may be needed.
Killara HSC students 2008 achieved 214 Band 6 results which translates into 30% of the group obtaining a UAI of 90 or above compared with 16% of the state and nearly 50% receiving a UAI of over 80 compared with 32% of the state. These statistics mirror those from over the past few years, making consistency in academic excellence one of the hallmarks of this great school.
Killara High was the best-performing public comprehensive top non-selective government school in the state for years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 by HSC performance.
Senior Students from years 9 to 11 also participate in sport throughout the year. These years participate in the Ku-ring-gai Zone Secondary School Sports against other schools this is known as Grade or students may choose a recreation sport. These events are held on Thursday afternoons
The School also holds various carnivals during the year this includes:
Students may also compete in the Combined high schools (CHS) competition in various sports throughout the year
According to Ann Dixon a teacher at the school said in the Sydney Morning Herald Article (15 June 2002) "At Killara High School, we noticed that with the advent of the New HSC, our senior students were exhibiting signs of stress. The welfare team and the staff, as a whole, sought ways to help them."
words since the area in which the school sits in Ku-ring-gai is steeped in Aboriginal
tradition these include:
There is also a honours system at Killara High School where students collect honour points from participating in extracurricular activities and completing excellent work in class.
The more points you earn the higher in the system you go, this is how the system works:
An annual sports award ceremony and an annual award ceremony is held ever year to acknowlage the sporting and academic achievements of the students at the school.
The school has an enrolment policy which involves an area inclusive zone. Suburbs in the inclusive zone include Killara, East Killara, West Killara, Lindfield, West Lindfield, East Lindfield, Gordon, West Gordon, East Gordon, Part of St Ives and Part of Roseville, a detailed map of the local enrolment area and street names can be found on the school website.
Parents are also entitled to apply for enrolment of their children at Killara High School if they reside outside the designated local enrolment area but due to the high enrolment numbers, non local enrolment is difficult as the school is currently at full capacity.
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Established in 1970, Killara High School is one of the highest performing comprehensive non-selective public schools in the state. The academic success of the school in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) and its reputation are evident in extracurricular activities such as music, art, dance, sport, debating and strong participation in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award program makes the school highly desirable for middle to upper class parents who wish to have their children educated in a public school. Enrolment rose 21% from 2002 to a population of 1400 students in 2009. It now has over 1500 students (2011). Currently, accepted catchment areas include Roseville
Roseville, New South Wales
Roseville is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Roseville is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and sits across the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby...
, West Lindfield
West Lindfield, New South Wales
West Lindfield is a locality in the suburb of Lindfield, a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council.-Schools:The schools that cater the...
, Lindfield
Lindfield, New South Wales
Lindfield is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lindfield is 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council.- Location and history :...
, East Lindfield
East Lindfield, New South Wales
East Lindfield is a locality on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. East Lindfield is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council....
, West Killara
West Killara, New South Wales
West Killara is a locality in the suburb of Killara, a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located is located 14 kilometres north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council....
, Killara
Killara, New South Wales
Killara is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Killara is located north of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. East Killara is a separate suburb and West Killara is a locality within Killara.-...
, East Killara
East Killara, New South Wales
East Killara is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. East Killara is located 15 kilometres north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. Killara is a separate suburb to the south-west.East...
, West Gordon, East Gordon
East Gordon, New South Wales
East Gordon is a locality in the suburb of Gordon, a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council....
and St Ives
St Ives, New South Wales
St Ives is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Ives is located 18 kilometres north of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...
.
History
Killara High started to be built in 1968 and was completed in 1970. The school facilitated the growing demands of the community in the newly created East Killara. Most of the students that went to Killara were the eldest in their family as those who had older siblings went to their school, rather than the newly built Killara.In the 1980s, Killara High purchased a house occupying a corner of the school area, which later became the language centre and is now commonly referred to as "The House".
The crest and motto
The name: "Killara, an Aboriginal word meaning permanent"The castle: A permanent place, shelter and reassurance, a means of maintaining that which is worthy of preservation, a storehouse of knowledge
The key: It is a symbol of progression, which opens doors of learning. It is also an emblem of growth and development into adulthood
The Escutcheon: Provide protection against the unskilled, a pivoted keyhole cover
The Motto: , symbolises preservation of the best of the past and continued development into the future
Principals
Dr. Mark Carter, a local boy and former student of the school, won the principal of the year award in 2005.Media
- Killara High remains one of the highest performing public comprehensive high schools in the Sydney Morning Herald'sThe Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
state.
Campus
Killara High School is set on 3.8 hectares of prime bushland, half the area allocated to a typical high school in the region. The school comprises five blocks, (A, B, C, D, and E) with the school canteen located in C block, and the library being part of E block. Each block contains around the same amount of classrooms as found at other North Shore public high schools. The school has a library, named 'The Lion Library', 'The Kerrabee Centre', which is made up of a large hall capable of seating more than 1000 people and a 250-seat performance theatre with state-of-the-art sound and lighting, a small oval named Jubilee Oval, four multi-purpose courts, a large quadrangle, and a small residential building called 'The House', which contains school offices and classrooms for the LOTELote
Lote is a village in the municipality of Eid in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The population of Lote was 132. The village is located about southeast of Nordfjordeid and about northwest of Sandane in Gloppen municipality...
classes. Koola Oval across the road is often used for sport classes as Jubilee Oval is not big enough.
Capital works since 2003 have resulted in the installation of security fencing, and five COLAs (Covered Outdoor Learning Areas) built around the school, grounds enhancements, upgrades to science laboratories, classrooms and the construction of studios above the canteen. With enrolment rising at the school, the number of portable classrooms has increased from four to the current eighteen, with an extra two portable bathroom blocks also put in. This has led to complaints that the government isn't spending enough money on the school and that the school may have to resort to erecting tents as classrooms. There have been vandalism incidents at the school, the worst being an arson attack on the theatre leaving it unusable for six months and costing 1.5 million to repair. More recent capital works have included installing security fencing around the school, similar to those found at other public schools in Sydney, new landscaping to fit with the new fence and handrails installed for stairs.
Growth in enrolment and the predicted future growth of population in the region is expected to continue to place serious pressure on the school facilities and further capital works may be needed.
Achievements
Students at Killara High School produce outstanding results in the Higher School Certificate and Killara is consistently ranked as one of the highest-performing NSW high schools in this regard.Killara HSC students 2008 achieved 214 Band 6 results which translates into 30% of the group obtaining a UAI of 90 or above compared with 16% of the state and nearly 50% receiving a UAI of over 80 compared with 32% of the state. These statistics mirror those from over the past few years, making consistency in academic excellence one of the hallmarks of this great school.
Killara High was the best-performing public comprehensive top non-selective government school in the state for years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 by HSC performance.
Departments
Teaching at Killara High School is divided amongst 11 departments, each teaching a variety of related Board of Studies endorsed subjects. The departments are:- English studies (English including ESL and Drama)
- Mathematics
- Science
- Languages (LOTE) including Chinese, French, German, Hebrew and Japanese
- Social Sciences including Commerce, Aboriginal Studies and Geography
- History
- Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) including Music and Visual Arts
- Industrial Arts including Design and Technology, Metals and engineering and Automotive
- Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE)
- Computing Studies & IT
- Careers
Sport
Students in years 7 and 8 at Killara High participate in an integrated sport program coordinated and taught by PD.H.PE staff, and compete in a number of Sport Gala Days with other schools.Senior Students from years 9 to 11 also participate in sport throughout the year. These years participate in the Ku-ring-gai Zone Secondary School Sports against other schools this is known as Grade or students may choose a recreation sport. These events are held on Thursday afternoons
The School also holds various carnivals during the year this includes:
- Swimming Carnival
- Athletics Carnival
- Crosscountry Carnival
Students may also compete in the Combined high schools (CHS) competition in various sports throughout the year
Specialist welfare programs and camps
- Year 7 - Year 7 Orientation Camp with Year 11 Peer Support Leaders running the program "DOB" (Don't Obey Bullies) Program
- Year 8 - Resolution the Solution A whole day program focusing on strategies for managing conflict
- Year 9 - Year 9 Camp at Stanwell Tops (the 2009 camp was however held at Toukley): running the program, Talking Tolerance, focusing on acceptance of difference, generalizing and stereotyping
- Year 10 - It's Your Life and It's Your Training, This includes goal setting, motivation, skills development, personal defense, communication, student leadership training and peer support training.
- Year 11 - Jindabyne Camp: running the Crossroads program that focuses on personal challenges, teamwork and support: personal development, independence as well as discussions of issues related to drug and alcohol use.
According to Ann Dixon a teacher at the school said in the Sydney Morning Herald Article (15 June 2002) "At Killara High School, we noticed that with the advent of the New HSC, our senior students were exhibiting signs of stress. The welfare team and the staff, as a whole, sought ways to help them."
Student leadership
Killara High School offers many opportunities for students to engage in leadership within the school. There are currently 7 Leadership groups in the school with over 115 students engaged in improving the school and providing opportunities for the students. These include:- The Arts Council - Students selected by the Arts department to promote the Arts within the school.
- The Sports Council - Students selected by the Sport department to promote sporting activities within the school.
- The Student Representative Council (SRC) - Are a peer elected group of students from all years whom liaise with teachers and the principal, to represent their year group and help their school through such activities as Mufti Days and Barbecues.
- The Social Justice Committee (SJC) - Student body with representatives from all years elected to be the "conscience" of the school. They engage in awareness campaigns and charity fundraising. Recently, the committee has been involved in the Global Awareness Campaign, AIDS day (selling ribbons) and putting recycling bins in every classroom. In 2009, they hope to raise awareness about Fair Trade and to support a school in Tanzania called St. Judes.
- Prefects - Are a peer elected group of Year 11s whom liaise with teachers and the principal as well as being involved in the Red Cross Appeal and The Westmead Children's Hospital Teddy Bear's Picnic.
- Student Leaders Council - Made up of two representatives from each of the groups and the School Captains who chair the meetings. Its role is to organize the groups and provide a body for inter-council activities.
Student exchange
Many Killara High School Students in various Years participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange Australia sending them to many parts of the world.Enrichment and other
- Annual Yearbook Production named "The Greenyears" magazine. This magazine is designed mainly by a group of students under the supervision of a teacher
- ChessChessChess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Club - Debating
- Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
- Inter-School Christian Fellowship (ISCF)
- Public SpeakingPublic speakingPublic speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
- Law Society Mock TrialMock trialA Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
- Model United Nations Australia (MUNA)
- T.A.G Talk About God Christian talk group.
Parents and Citizens Association
Killara High School has an active Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) that contributes to the life of the school and the opportunities that are offered to students. Meetings are scheduled for the third or fourth Wednesday of every month except where this clashes with vacations or school activities.Dance
Killara High School’s various dance groups have performed at the Sydney North Dance Festival, State Dance Festival, Schools Spectacular, MacDonald Performing Arts Challenge, Rock Eisteddfod and at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Pacific School Games and Olympic Games.- Dance Groups
- Intermediate Dance Group
- Junior A Dance Group
- Junior B Dance Group
Music
- Concert Bands
- Concert Bands One and Two
- Stage Band
- Stage Bands One and Two
- String Ensemble
- Orchestra
- Choir
- Extension Choir for Choir members wishing to extend themselves
School traditions
There are four houses at Killara High School these houses are named after AboriginalAustralian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
words since the area in which the school sits in Ku-ring-gai is steeped in Aboriginal
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
tradition these include:
- Kimba (Fire): Red House
- Caringa (Light): Yellow House
- Mundara (Thunder): Green House
- Doongara (Lightning): Blue House
There is also a honours system at Killara High School where students collect honour points from participating in extracurricular activities and completing excellent work in class.
The more points you earn the higher in the system you go, this is how the system works:
- Letter Of Merit
- Inscription into Honour Book
- Honour badge
- Honour Pennant can be attained from getting at least 4 Honour Badges
- The Highest is a Honour blue which can be attained from gaining Honour Badges for all 6 years at Killara High School.
An annual sports award ceremony and an annual award ceremony is held ever year to acknowlage the sporting and academic achievements of the students at the school.
Enrolment
Enrolment at Killara High School has, since 2002 increased 21 percent making it one of the three largest government schools in the State. Local enrolment in year 7 now comprises 87 per cent of the cohort—up from 58 per cent in 2003—in an area with a number of excellent selective and private schools.The school has an enrolment policy which involves an area inclusive zone. Suburbs in the inclusive zone include Killara, East Killara, West Killara, Lindfield, West Lindfield, East Lindfield, Gordon, West Gordon, East Gordon, Part of St Ives and Part of Roseville, a detailed map of the local enrolment area and street names can be found on the school website.
Parents are also entitled to apply for enrolment of their children at Killara High School if they reside outside the designated local enrolment area but due to the high enrolment numbers, non local enrolment is difficult as the school is currently at full capacity.
Academic
- Wendy Naomi Erber - first female Rhodes Scholar in NSW (1982)
- Ian RamsayIan RamsayProfessor Ian Ramsay is Harold Ford Professor of Commercial Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Melbourne and director of their Center for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation in Melbourne, Australia...
- Law professor at Melbourne UniversityUniversity of MelbourneThe University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
Entertainment and the arts
- Elle MacPhersonElle MacphersonElle Macpherson is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s...
- Supermodel - Peta MurrayPeta MurrayPeta Murray is a playwright, dramaturg and teacher of writing at RMIT and the University of Melbourne. She graduated from Killara High School in 1975, the same year as current principal Mark Carter, then went to university and became a teacher. She currently resides in Melbourne.-Plays:Murray's...
- Playwright - Antonella Gambotto - Author, scriptwriter and journalist.
- LiorLiorLior is a male, independent Australian singer-songwriter based in Melbourne.-Career:In early 2005, Lior independently self-released his debut album Autumn Flow, certified gold by ARIA...
- Singer, Songwriter - Bernard CohenBernard CohenBernard Leonard Cohen born June 14, 1924 in Pittsburgh, is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Pittsburgh. Professor Cohen has been a staunch opponent to the so called Linear no-threshold model which postulates there exists no safe threshold for radiation exposure...
- Author
External links
- Killara High School website
- New South Wales Department of Education and Training - Killara High School