Bossley Park High School

Infobox School2
name = Bossley Park High School


motto = Focussing on Excellence and Success
established = 1988
type = Public, Secondary School. Partially Selective
affiliations =
head_name = Principal
head = Ian Parnaby
faculty =
students = 1432
grades = 7–12
school_colours = Black and White
city = Sydney
state = NSW
country = Australia
website = [http://www.bossleypk-h.schools.nsw.edu.au http://www.bossleypk-h.schools.nsw.edu.au]
Bossley Park High School (abbreviated as BPHS) is located in the Bossley Park, New South Wales, Australia. Bossley Park High School is a partially selective [cite web
title = ACER The Higher Ability Selection Test
publisher = ACER
url = http://www.acer.edu.au/hast/schools.html
accessdate = 2008-01-24 ] , coeducational comprehensive high school serving the rapidly developing suburbs of Bossley Park and Abbotsbury in western Sydney. The school is made up of over 1432 students [cite web
title = School Locator
publisher = New South Wales Department of Education and Training
url = http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/schoolfind/locator/?section=showRecord&code=8582
accessdate = 2007-06-28 ] , each from Years 7 to 12, and is one of the largest schools in the state. The school was established in 1988 and provides a functional and practical learning environment with access to facilities required for all facets of the curriculum.

History

Bossley Park High School is built on land that was formerly producing fruits, vegetables, flowers and poultry products, a site of almost seven hectares. [cite web
title = Bossley Park High School History
publisher = Bossley Park High School
url = http://www.bossleypk-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/history.html
accessdate = 2008-08-05 ] Planning for the new school began in 1985 and White Industries Pty Ltd, was the company in charge for the construction. The contract price for the construction was almost $8,000,000, but, including the costs of the land and the furnishing of the buildings the final cost came to approximately $10,000,000. [cite web
title = Bossley Park High School History
publisher = Bossley Park High School
url = http://www.bossleypk-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/history.html
accessdate = 2008-08-05 ] The school was established in 1988 with a small year 7 enrollment of 125 students. The first appointed principal was Mr Brian Jux and his successor by Ian Parnaby, who currently serves as Principal.

Facilities

As part of the school's ongoing asset acquisition program, the library, all computer rooms, the drama room and staff rooms are air conditioned. The school is acclaimed with a quick adaptation to new technologies, putting it up to 5 years ahead of other public schools. The food labs were upgraded to industry standards to facilitate the vocational education and training course hospitality operations. A concrete court was laid so that students with physical disabilities had an area where they could play sports such as wheelchair rugby. In mid 2007, a shelter was built in order to shelter it from rain.

Further Upgrades

In 2008 major renovations continued including three water tanks, holding 315,000 litres, buried on the school grounds to keep the oval in good condition. A shelter has been built over the basketball courts to catch the rain, which then flows into the tanks, to be used for irrigation. Project on a new performance center, to be completed by March 2009, would also be hooked up to the tanks.This is the start of the school's water and energy saving plans. The school aims to have solar power generators installed on the performance centre. It is estimated to cut down $3000 per month on water bills. [cite web
title = Well, naturally it runs
publisher = Champion
date= 2008-01-23
url = http://fairfield.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/well-naturally-it-runs/1167806.html
accessdate = 2008-01-24 ] Further upgrades are expected to continue into 2009.

Multiculturalism

Bossley Park High, as a secondary school in a multicultural community has high percentage of students from differing ethnicities. Approximately 68% of the student body come from a non-English speaking background. [ [http://www.swsahs.nsw.gov.au/healthser/frf/FRFSchools/FairfieldSchoolsDetail.asp?S_ID=1 SWSAHS Fairfield Area Health Service | Health With Schools | Fairfield Schools | Bossley Park HS ] ] They include: Arabic, Assyrian, Italian, Other Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Curriculum

Departments

* English
* Mathematics
* Science
* Home Economics
* Languages including Italian, Spanish and Japanese
* Social Science
* History
* Performing Arts (CAPA) including Music, Photography, Visual Arts, and Drama
* Industrial Arts (Design and Technology)
* Personal Development, Health, and Physical Education
* Careers

Extracurricular activities

The school offers extracurricular activities occur at the school, including:

*Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
*Tournament of the Minds
*Debating
*Formal Committee
*Soccer Program

Leadership

*Prefecture
*House Captains
*Captains and Vice Captains
*Students Representative Council
*Peer Mediation
*Peer Support Program with Year 7 and 11

References

ee also

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