Macquarie Fields High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Macquarie Fields High School
motto = Loyalty, Sincerity and Generosity
established = 1981
type = Public, partially selective
principal = Mrs J Munday
enrolment = ~1,030
grades = 7–12
colours = Maroon, Green, White, Grey
School Houses = Flinstones (orange), Adams (Black), Jetsons (blue) and Simpsons (yellow)
city = Macquarie Fields
state = NSW
country = Australia
website = [http://www.macfields-h.schools.nsw.edu.au www.macfields-h.schools]

Macquarie Fields High School (MFHS) is a selective high school in Macquarie Fields, Sydney, Australia.

Macquarie Fields High School is a selective and comprehensive high school catering for grades seven to twelve, located in the south-west of Sydney. The school is administered by the New South Wales state government. The school has two avenues for admission and runs two streams of classes: "Selective", in which students are accepted after sitting a state-wide competitive entrance examination, and "Community", in which students are allowed to reside in the local community. Siblings of students currently attending the school may also study at the school under the latter.

School Motto: "Loyalty, Sincerity and Generosity"

The school motto, "Loyalty, Sincerity and Generosity", is the basis for strong welfare programs which encourage students to care for and respect others and to be socially responsible. Cooperative development, self discipline, trust, honesty, initiative, participation and a sense of responsibility are valued, fostered, encouraged and recognised.

History

The school began operating at the current site in 1981. It was originally set up as a temporary school in demountable accommodation, to provide for the growing number of students between James Meehan High School and Ingleburn High School during the 1980s. The parents fought hard to establish a permanent school on the site and eventually were successful in achieving their goal. The first Year 12 group was educated in demountables.

The first Principal was Mr. Don Harwin and his Deputy was Mr. Mike Wilson. Harwin began in 1981 with approximately fourteen staff members and was appointed to Menai High School in 1988. His term was considered a great success in terms of building strong community links and academic programs.

The permanent school building was completed in 1987 and the new buildings were fully occupied for one term before the end of that year. The hall/gymnasium is the oldest building at the present site.

During most of its early history, the school catered for students with a wide range of abilities and socio-economic backgrounds. The school was funded by the Disadvantaged Schools Program until the end of 1989. During 1988, the school was targeted to become one of a number of new Selective High Schools that were to be established the following year. The school was chosen because of its strategic location in relation to transport and also because the two other High Schools were in such close proximity. It was felt that the population explosion had largely passed and that the two neighboring schools would be able to cope with slightly increased enrollments resulting from our school being made a Selective High School.

Since 1989, the school has had a mixed mode intake of selective and community students. In 1994, in response to parents concerns about an imbalance between the number of selective and community students in Year 7 intakes the Department of School Education established a special committee of review to determine the future composition of the student body. The recommendation of the review committee was that the school would continue in the mixed mode for the foreseeable future. Each Year 7 intake is to have a maximum of 90 selective and 90 community students.

Extra curricular activities

* Sports
* Inter-School Debating
* Celebration Day
* Public Speaking
* Chess Club
* School Band and Choir
* Schools Spectacular
* Writers Competition
* Visual Arts Competition and Community Arts Project
* Variety Night
* Premier's Reading Challenge
* Inter-School Knock Out Sporting Competitions
* Regional and State Sporting Representative Competitions
* Annual Music and Drama Productions
* Duke of Edinburgh
* Social Justice Club

Alumni

*Brett Emerton
*Alyson Annan

External links

* [http://www.macfields-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/ Macquarie Fields High School website]
* [http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/schoolfind/locator/summaryschool.php?selectOption=8553 NSW Department of Education and Training: Macquarie Fields High School]