Toodyay District High School
Encyclopedia
Toodyay District High School is a co-educational state school located in Toodyay, Western Australia
Toodyay, Western Australia
Toodyay is a town located in the Wheatbelt region in the Avon Valley, 85 km north-east of Perth, Western Australia. Toodyay is connected to Perth via both rail and road.-History:...

. It caters for around 550 students from Kindergarten to Year 10, and services the town of Toodyay and surrunding agricultural areas.

History

The original Toodyay school, known as Newcastle, was built in 1885. This building is now the Uniting Church. The school was renamed Toodyay in 1910, and the school moved to its present site on the Avon River
Avon River (Western Australia)
The Avon River is a river in Western Australia. It is a tributary of the Swan River totalling 280 kilometres in length, with a catchment area of 125,000 square kilometres.-Catchment area:...

 in 1954. In 1967, it commenced offering Year 8–10 classes.

A fire in 1993 destroyed most of the existing buildings and a rebuilt school was opened on the same site eighteen months later. The Toodyay District High School Parents and Citizens Association raised a substantial amount of money to re-equip these new buildings.

The closest school for Year 11 and 12 students is Northam Senior High School
Northam Senior High School
Northam Senior High School is a comprehensive public high school located in Northam, a regional centre east of Perth, Western Australia.The school was established in 1921 and by 2009 had an enrolment of 533 students between Year 8 and Year 12, 64 of whom were Aboriginal.It is the oldest Senior...

.

Community work

The school works in strong partnership with its local community. Each year, the school embarks on a project involving students in their community. The restoration of Newcastle Park is the product of projects involving students. Students have also been actively involved in revegetation projects along local waterways. A highlight of 2004 was a year 10 student winning a public speaking competition to earn a place on the Premier's Anzac trip to Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...

.

Extra-curricular activities

Many opportunities are provided for students to participate in extra-curricular activities. Students and families have hosted annual visits by Japanese students. Students have also participated in school trips to Japan. Country Week, Cadets and an annual Ski Trip add to the opportunities available for students at Toodyay District High School.

Six From Borneo project

The Year 9 and 10 Drama students have recently been involved in recording an updated version of the play Six From Borneo, which was originally broadcast on ABC radio in 1947. The play tells the story of over 2000 prisoners of war, held by the Japanese in Sandakan
Sandakan
Sandakan is the second-largest city in Sabah, East Malaysia, on the north-eastern coast of Borneo. It is located on the east coast of the island and it is the administrative centre of Sandakan Division and was the former capital of British North Borneo...

, North Borneo during World War II. The play tells the story of the Sandakan Death Marches
Sandakan Death Marches
The Sandakan Death Marches were a series of forced marches in Borneo from Sandakan to Ranau which resulted in the deaths of more than 3,600 Indonesian civilian slave labourers and 2,400 Allied prisoners of war held captive by the Empire of Japan during the Pacific campaign of World War II at prison...

 that the prisoners were taken on, and how only six POW's, all of whom were Australian, survived by escaping. The story is relevant to Toodyay as four local men, including three brothers, were killed on the death marches. The play commenced recording in May 2011 with the help of the Toodyay community, including local radio station Toodyay Community Radio
Toodyay Community Radio
Jukebox Radio is the Callsign for Toodyay Community Radio. It is a community radio station broadcasting to Toodyay and the surrounding Wheatbelt area of Western Australia from studios in the suburb of Toodyay, Western Australia...

, Toodyay RSL and the Shire of Toodyay and is due to be locally broadcast by Toodyay Community Radio in late 2011.

See also

  • District High Schools in Rural Western Australia

External links

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