Kent Street Senior High School

Infobox Aust school
name = Kent Street Senior High School


motto = "Courage"
established = 1949
type = Public, Co-educational
principal = Rod Beresford
city = Kensington
state = W.A
country = Australia flag|Australia
campus = Suburban
enrolment = 768
colours = Red, blue & white

homepage = [http://www.kentst.wa.edu.au www.kentst.wa.edu.au]

Kent Street Senior High School originated as the first high school on the southern side of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia and is well known for its specialist courses and academic programs.

Kent Street is located convert|4|km|mi|0 southeast of Perth's central business district within the suburb of Kensington. Over 50 percent of students attending Kent Street live in neighbouring or other school districts. This due to he high prestige of Kent Street's specialist programs (Aeronautics, Cricket, Tennis, Fashion & Design).

History

Among the many proposals put to the WA State Parliament in the late 1920s was a request for a post-primary school "South of the River" - but a lack of funds, this time blamed on a most serious Depression, had cut capital spending. It was a period in which teachers' salaries were severely diminished and the Teachers' Training College was closed in order to afford grants for unemployment relief (the distribution of blankets, clothes and rabbit stew).

In 1932, the Director of Education, Mr. Wallace Clubb, ordered a survey, which showed that 410 post-primary pupils residing in Victoria Park and nearby South Perth were required to travel to Perth to receive their schooling. On June 22, a deputation of spokespersons representing local groups met the Minister for Education, the Hon. T.AL. Davy, to ask for a post -primary school in Victoria Park. This meeting resulted in an immediate negotiation for the release of a 15 acre site.

Six years later, in 1938, when resumption of a site of 15 acres was almost completed, opposition from the City Council resulted in the chosen site being reduced to 10 acres.

Approval for the building of a south suburban central school at a cost of 15,000 pounds was given on February 3, 1939. Plans show that the school comprised a single-storey brick building of eight classrooms, administrative area and toilets. Furthermore, while the work was in progress, approval was received in November of the same year, for an additional construction of domestic science and manual training centres at a cost of 3,550 pounds; caretaker quarters, 600 pounds; and installation of school equipment. and furniture, 746 pounds.

Kent Street Central School, the ninth metropolitan public secondary institution, began in February 1940, on the completion of the eight classrooms, with 354 pupils. The Domestic Science and manual training centres were completed on March 20, and the caretaker quarters were finished a week later.

Kent Street reached a milestone on its first intake of Fourth Year (Year Eleven) scholars in 1952. At once arrangements were put made the purchase of five prefabricated Bristol units of two classrooms each. These buildings, referred to as "silver city" because of the aluminium framework, were put on site and made ready for use for the sum of 19,700 pounds.

Headmaster Eric McGrath, after 14 years at Kent Street High School was at the helm during one of the school's roughest passages - through years of unbridled growth; frenetic building activities (amid some 27 temporary structures), and through profound changes in secondary education.

Kent Street High recorded an enrolment of 1,733 in 1957. The task of accommodating all those bodies fell to Headmaster George Lambert.

The 1970s added a library resource centre, a pool, changerooms, a pre-vocational centre, a further eight-room facility building and a hall/gymnasium with a seating capacity of 1,000. The hall was named after Headmaster Eric McGrath who had, in 1943, so earnestly pleaded for its existence.

On Kent Street Senior High School's fortieth birthday, McGrath Hall housed an exhibition of memorabilia. Its four decades were colour-coded thus:

*Green, for the useful forties.
*Red, for the vibrant fifties.
*Gold, for the golden sixties.
*Blue, for the royal seventies.

The "old pupils" were issued with ribbons indicative of the era of participation.

The 1980s began with the phasing out of Bentley Senior High School students north of Manning Road who had previously attended Bentley or Millen Primary Schools were redirected to Kent Street SHS in 1982. Other students living in the former Bentley SHS catchment area were redirected either to Cannington, Como, or Kent Street Senior High Schools according to newly-drawn school boundary lines. Transportable classrooms once again cluttered up the school grounds in a bid to overcome immediate accommodation requirements. Some of these were fitted out for use by commerce classes.

Kentian Society

The Kentian Society was the first government school ex-students association to be established in Western Australia.Fact|date=May 2007

Rotary Residential College

The Rotary Residential College is on land leased from Kent Street Senior High School. The idea of the college was generated by the constant requests to metropolitan Rotary clubs for accommodation for high school students wanting to study special courses only provided at city based high schools. With the help of Federal, State and Local Governments, the corporate sector and guided by some Individual Rotary Clubs, this project is now a reality and has been operating successfully since 1991.

Over the past twelve years some 450 boarders have availed themselves of the accommodation and they have come from nearly 100 country towns.

Campus

The School is based primarily on its 10 acre campus on Kent Street in East Victoria Park. The campus of the school is divided into three levels, because of its sloping hill it was positioned on. The school has no breaking in age groups except for a "Canteen Quad" for lower school children and a "UpperSchool Quad" of upperschool children.

Aviation Course

Aviation was first introduced into the school curriculum at Kent Street Senior High School in 1979. The single class comprised some twenty-seven year 11 students, many of whom had come from outside the school catchment area to attend this inaugural course.

In August 1982, the school purchased its first aircraft – a Cessna 152 training aircraft. This was the first aircraft bought and operated by a high school in Australia. VH-WIF was used for student flying and familiarization flights. Flight was introduced to the school curriculum in 1988.

Of the thirty-two Year 8 enrolments, most came from outside the school catchment area.

The school bought its second aircraft – another Cessna 152 training aircraft, VH-LBI, in March 1989. By 1990, Aviation Studies was taught in all five year levels and boasted some 140 enrolments.

In July 1990, aviation students at Kent Street Senior High School commenced work on building a Hughes Lightwing Aircraft. This project was the first of its kind in Australia. Taking nearly 4000 student hours to construct, this aircraft was unveiled in July 1992 and first flew in September 1992. The Lightwing was later sold to help off-set the purchase price of the school's second student built aircraft – a Vans RV6- A aircraft.

In 1994, the state Minister for Education officially opened the first purpose built Aviation Education Centre in the Southern Hemisphere. Comprising a lecture theatre, classroom, seminar room and aircraft workshop, the building can accommodate three classes simultaneously. Equipped to address the needs of all aviation students, the Aviation Education Centre is a world-class educational institution.

The school was fortunate in 1994 to obtain a large aircraft hangar. Designed to accommodate two corporate aircraft or four light aircraft, the hangar was donated to the school by Albany business woman, Ms Joan Terry. Today the hangar is erected at Jandakot Airport and houses the school's three aircraft.

In May 1999, the Aviation Department purchased a Cessna 172P four-place aircraft. The purchase of VH-HQL was considered essential to the continued development of the program. Not only did it allow the aviation staff to take students on air experience and navigation flights to the south-east of Perth, it also gave all aviation students the opportunity to undertake navigational training in an aircraft owned by the school at a greatly reduced rate.

On the 4th of September 2003, VH-SHS, the second student built aircraft from Kent Street took off minutes after the tower opened, flown by David Bryant, who led the students in building the aircraft. This Aircraft was not accessible to students until 2005, after the "Paperwork Outweighed the Aircraft" as they say. The Aircraft is mostly Aerobatic, and students can experience some basic aerobatic manoeuvres, such as 60° Turns, Stalls, and Incipient Spins.

In 2007, the School Completed its second Vans RV-6a, VH-UFS, built in conjunction with Tafe engineering Students. The School also Began building Their Vans RV-10, expected to be flying in 2010/11.

Notable Alumni

* Michael Dighton, Cricket, Western Warriors, Tasmanian Devils Football Club;
* His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC (Retd), former Governor General of Australia, and former Governor of Western Australia.
* Phillip O'Hara, Professor of Political Economy Curtin University;
* David Taylor, Cricket, Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Worcestershire County Cricket Club;
* Marcus North, Cricket, Western Warriors;
* Mitchell Patterson, Fashion, Melbourne, Victoria;
* Luke Pomersbach, Cricket, Western Warriors;
* Luke Ronchi, Cricket, Western Warriors;
* Ashley Thorpe, Cricket, Durham County Cricket Club;
* Duncan Spencer, Cricket, Kent County Cricket Club, Western Warriors;
* Shane Woewodin, AFL, Melbourne Football Club, Brownlow Medalist 2000, Collingwood Football Club;
* Chris Mayne, AFL, Fremantle Football Club

References

*History of Kent Street Senior High School, written by past staff in 1985
*Student Records located in the School Science Block
*Ex-Principal, Mr. Peter Klifunis
* [http://www.kentst.wa.edu.au/ School Website]