- Marrickville High School
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Marrickville High School 
French: En AvantMoving ForwardLocation Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia 
Coordinates 33°54′21″S 151°9′21″E / 33.90583°S 151.15583°ECoordinates: 33°54′21″S 151°9′21″E / 33.90583°S 151.15583°E Information Type Public, Secondary, Co-educational, Day school Established 1974 Principal Rick Symons Years Offered 7-12 Enrolment ~348 Campus Suburban Colour(s) Navy Blue & Gold
Website marrickvil-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Marrickville High School is a co-educational, Public secondary School, located in Marrickville, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is administered by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training.
Established in 1974, Marrickville High School has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 348 students from years 7 to 12.
In addition to the mainstream, the school also provides education for intellectually disabled students in their Support Unit and there is on-site Intensive English Centre.
Marrickville Intensive English Centre was established originally in 1985 as the Wilkins Intensive English Centre in the campus of Wilkins Primary School in nearby Petersham.
The Intensive English Centre relocated in 1998 to the Marrickville High School campus.
Since 2002 the school has had a strong focus on Information Communication Technology and its implementation across the curriculum and with this came grants from the Department of Education to upgrade and update its technology facilities.
The student body has always been known to be very diverse and multicultural with approximately 92% of its students coming from a non-English speaking background.
The school's motto is "En Avant" which is French for "Moving Forward". It symbolises each and every student's continuous maturity and development, in every aspect as a person, a student and as a citizen of society.
The school is presently considered to be underutilized, and in 2011 a proposal was put forward to reduce the boundaries of Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and enlarge Marrickville High's drawing area into Stanmore.
Contents
School Identity
School Uniform
The junior students are recognisable from their light blue shirts, while the senior students are recognisable from their white shirts with embroidery. All students are required to wear dark navy blue pants and there is a blue pleated skirt option for girls. The school tie is dark blue and has a little golden school logo and though isn't compulsory, all students are encouraged to wear it.
Junior Uniform (Light Blue) & Senior Uniform (White & Embroided)
Multicultural Day
Multicultural Day is a signature event of Marrickville High School and is also one of the busiest events as well. It is a day where the entire school and community come together to acknowledge and celebrate the school's cultural diversity, with traditional foods, cultural music and dance and cultural artifacts displays.
History
Marrickville High School's Quadrangle in 1974Early History
In 1865 a block of land on Chapel Street in Marrickville was offered by Thomas Chalder to build Marrickville Public School. As the years progressed further extensions were made on the site: 22 November 1878 - saw Marrickville's old Council Chambers bought as an extension on the campus and converted into the teacher's residence, 1922 - Old Marrickville Town Hall located on Illawarra Road was bought as another extension and became Marrickville Junior Technical High School and on 1 January 1945 - the teacher's residence was turned into a girls' secondary school entitled Marrickville Girls' Intermediate High School.
Marrickville Girls' High School
In 1929, Marrickville Girls' Intermediate High School was established and it was until 1954 that it was renamed as Marrickville Girls' Junior High School and because of the large student population expanding, on 28 April 1969, the proposal to build a new secondary school on Sydenham Road was favoured. 1969 - Llewellyn, a two storey Victorian estate on Petersham Road (which was owned by Benjamin Yabsley), was demolished to make way for the new school and in 1970 - Sydenham Villa which was on the location of Marrickville High's bottom field (built in 1880 and purchased by Thomas Daley in 1920, he renamed the estate to Standsure) was demolished. The students of Marrickville Girls' Junior High School were transferred to the new school in 1974.
On 7 October 1977 Marrickville Girls' High School was officially opened by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Arthur Roden Cutler
Marrickville High School
On 7 December 1979 the school became coeducational because it could cater for more students and so give relief for Dulwich and Enmore High Schools. Marrickville Girls' High School and was renamed as Marrickville High School and it was only by 1984 that the student population completely co-educational. School commenced in the 1st term of 1979 with 860 students and 64 staff members and due to the high migrant student population, there were several E.S.L and remedial reading classes.
In March 2001 an amalgamation of Marrickville High and Dulwich High on the Dulwich High campus was proposed by the New South Wales State Government and therefore meant the closure of Marrickville High School. This led to persistent campaigning from the local community, the teachers, students and their families, in addition to establishing the 'Save Our School' site. A thousand strong community meeting was held at Marrickville High School' hall to discuss the matter. It was in May 2002 that the Education Minister John Watkins stated that "Dulwich Hill and Marrickville high schools are to remain open, in the best interest of public education"
Marrickville High School's Old Crest Pre 1996
Marrickville High School's New CrestPrincipals
Marrickville Girls Junior High School
Name Period Alice Preston 1954–1955 Grace Simons 1956–1960 Phyllis Wylie 1961–1963 Esther Small 1964–1971 Valda Stephens 1972 - cont. Marrickville Girls' High School
Valda Stephens cont. - 1974 Kenneth Oliver 1975 - cont. Marrickville High School
Kenneth Oliver cont. - 1979 Ronald Ashe 1980–1983 Kenneth Palmer 1984–1986 Andrew Powell 1987–1996 Sue Turner 1997–2000 Rick Symons 2001 - 
Marrickville High School's Library in 1974
Marrickville High School's Library in 2008Facilities
- Connected Classroom, incorporating an Interactive Whiteboard and advanced video conferencing equipment.
- Fully equipped air-conditioned computer rooms, covering both PC and Apple MAC platforms.
- Specialised science, visual art and music rooms.
- Two newly installed industry-standard TAS (Technological and Applied Studies) rooms.
- Two newly installed industrial standard hospitality kitchens.
- Visual Media Darkroom with a MAC computer lab.
- IT Skills Resource Center, for the training in the IT industry.
- Two level library.
- Extensive sporting fields and playgrounds.
- Covered quadrangle.
- Sporting facilities include a netball court, two basketball courts and four cricket practice nets.
- A multipurpose centre incorporating a gym and dance studio, an indoor basketball court and also acts as the schools assembly hall.
Support unit
Incorporated into the campus is one of many Support Units in high schools around NSW. A special education unit that has a modified curriculum and has specially trained teachers to cater for students with various degrees of intellectual disability and with learning difficulties.
Marrickville Intensive English Centre
Marrickville IEC LogoThe Intensive English Centre which moved onto the High School campus in 1998, provides for English language acquisition for new- arrivals of high school aged students from overseas. The students attend the IEC for approximately three to four terms in preparation for regular high schools.
The IEC curriculum follows the State Frameworks for ESL students documents and complies with the syllabus demands of the NSW Board of Studies across the major Key Learning Areas of Computing Studies, English, HSIE, Mathematics, Music, Numeracy, PD/H/PE, Science and Visual Arts.
Curriculum
Sketch of Janet Jackson, Done By Year 10 Art Class of 2008Under the administration of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, the school's curriculum is divided into three parts. In Stages 4 and 5, students study the five compulsory subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, and PDHPE (Physical Education).
Stage 4 - Years 7 & 8
In the first two years of secondary schooling at Marrickville High, the students go through a two week induction program to determine class placement. There is also a strong focus on Literacy, as students are exposed to enrichment programs like CARE (Comprehension And REading Skills), HomeR (Home Reading Program) and LAC (Literacy Across the Curriculum). Students also study mandatory ICT (Information & Communication Technology), Literacy, Music, Numeracy, Industrial Technology and Visual Arts, in addition to Indonesian and Greek.
Stage 5 - Years 9 & 10
During Stage 5 extensive preparation is made in the lead up to their School Certificate. Students also pick three electives, which can be: Commerce, Drama, Music, Visual Arts, Industrial Technology, IST (Information & Software Technology), Digital Media, PASS (Physical Activity and Sports Studies) and Food Technology.
Stage 6 - Years 11 & 12
Towards Stage 6 study goes towards the HSC (Higher School Certificate). In order to satisfy requirements for the HSC, each student must complete at least twelve units of study for the Preliminary course and at least ten units for the HSC.
The only compulsory subject is English and currently, Marrickville High now runs English Extension I and II. The school now offers Community and Family Studies, Engineering Studies, Modern Greek, Sports Lifestyle and Recreation Studies and Studies of Religion I, that have never been offered before.
Students also have the option of undergoing Vocational Education at TAFE or on campus, as the school offers courses in Construction, Retail, Business, Hospitality and Information Technology.
Faculties: English, Mathematics, Science, Technological Applied Science, Computing Studies, PDHPE, Visual Arts, Social Sciences and Support Unit.
Extra-Curriculars
Student Representative Council
The student council organises and runs different events throughout the school year and also take part in improving and enhancing the school
Year 12 leadership roles include:
- Two Captains
- Two Vice Captains
- Ten Prefects that specialise in a specific area:
- Arts and Recreation Prefects
- Environmental Prefects
- Marketing and Community Liaison Prefects
- Social Justice Prefects
- Student Learning and Curriculum Prefects
- The Student Representative Council is made up of three student representatives from year 7 to 10 and the Support Unit and six representatives from year 11.
- Two Sports Captains from each of the three sports houses.
Marrickville High School's Student Representative Council passed their first Constitution on Wednesday 25 February 2009. The constitution sets out the roles and conducts of the SRC.
Performing arts
- The school has a Brass Band that is made up of the Pacific Islander students and play on many different occasions.
- Marrickville High also promotes drama and theatre performance. Years 9-10 drama and Years 11-12 drama classes have the opportunity to perform at Enmore's Sidetrack theatre.
- Music class students have opportunities to perform at the school's assemblies.
- Students also have the chance to display their culture through song and dance at the school's annual Multicultural Day, as part of the day's line up of performances and also at different venues, in different events, including on assemblies.
- As part of the English course students make class movies and develop their movie making skills and have experience in all the other roles.
Fundraisers and Charity Work
- The SRC organises annual fundraising for charity events like
- International Women's Day
- Australia's Biggest Morning Tea
- Jeans4Jeans Day
- Bandana Day
- Movember
- Red Nose Day
and for numerous other occasions throughout the year.
- Years 10 and 12 students organise fundraising for their year 12 formal, through school discos, barbecues and drink sales, pizzas, raffles, mufti days and selling roses on Valentines Day.
- As part of a yearly tradition, Year 9 go out to collect donations for the Australian Red Cross in the local community and then move to Greater Sydney. In 2008 they collected over $4000.
Competitions
- Annual Chess Competition
- Australian Law Students' Association's Mooting
- Australian Stock Exchange Schools Share Market Game
- Annual Web Design Competition
- Mock Court Trial
- Premier's Debating Challenge
- Marrickville Council's Environment Debate
- Premier's Reading Challenge
- Rotary Model United Nations Assembly
- Tournament of the Minds
Enrichment Programs
- Best Buddies Australia Program: a program where volunteer students create friendships with students with an intellectual disability
- Adopt a School Program - Cafe 308
- Gifted and Talented Class
- Links to Learning
- Literacy Programs:
- CARE (Comprehension And REading Skills)
- HomeR (Home Reading Program)
- LAC (Literacy Across the Curriculum)
- LEAPS (Lawyers Encouraging And Promoting Students) in conjunction with Sparke Helmore
- Peer Support Program
- Schools BizLink
- Career's Day
Sports
Marrickville High's Top FieldSport plays an important role at Marrickville High and it has always been competitive and ambitious in sporting matches. Sports can be played on school grounds or out of school venues, in compulsory PDHPE lessons or as an extra-curricular activity.
Weekly Grade Sports (Years 7 and 8) offered include:
- Basketball
- Cricket
- Netball
- Oz-tag
- Soccer
- Softball
- Tennis
- Volleyball
Weekly Integrated Sports (Years 9 and 10) available include:
- Tennis
- Self-defence
- Swimming
- Ice-skating
- Ten pin bowling
- Hip-Hop dance
- Capioera (a Brazilian Martial Art).
Annual Sports Gala Days are held, where years 7 and 8 students from local high schools use the sporting grounds at Marrickville High to compete against one another in games of basketball.
The school competes in the Sydney East Knockout Competition, through which girls may compete in Touch, OZ Tag, Netball, Basketball, Soccer and Volleyball, and boys in Rugby League, Touch, Soccer, Netball, Basketball, Softball and Volleyball, Table Tennis and Indoor Soccer.
Sporting Houses
Marrickville High has a house system used for sporting carnivals, students are organised into teams based on their roll call class. Originally the houses were simply named Gold, Red and Blue but they have been renamed using the surnames of Australian sports people:
- Freeman Cathy Freeman, athlete
- Perkins Kieren Perkins, swimmer
- Milton Michael Milton, Paralympian
Each year two sporting captains are chosen from the senior years to represent and lead their team. The school holds annual school carnivals in Swimming, Athletics and Cross-Country. Results from these Carnivals determine selection for school representative teams and students progress on to the Zone Carnival for further competition.
See also
References
External links
- Marrickville High School Website
- Department of Education and Training Website: Marrickville High School
- Marrickville High on School Choice Website
- Article on Marrickville High in the Sydney Morning Herald
- Further Images of Marrickville High in 1974 in the State Library of NSW Website
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