Crestwood High School (New South Wales)

Crestwood High School
Address
17 Chapel Lane Baulkham Hills, New South Wales Australia
Coordinates	33°44′37″S 150°58′31″E / 33.74372°S 150.97535°E / -33.74372; 150.97535
Information
Type	Public, Co-educational
Motto	Vision and Progress
Principal	Therese Hourigan
Employees	94 (2014)
Enrolment	1,062 (2014)
Campus type	Suburban
Colour(s)	Sky Blue and Maroon
Website	Crestwood High School Website

Crestwood High School is public high school in Baulkham Hills, in the north-west of Sydney, Australia. Crestwood High School offers an education culminating in the award of the HSC, administered in accordance with BOSTES standards. The school offers comprehensive classes for students in grades seven through to twelve.^[1]

The school is of moderate size, counting 1,062 students and 94 employees in 2014, slightly smaller than many nearby high schools.^[2] Entry for prospective out-of-area students is increasingly competitive.^[3] In addition to the standard educational facilities, the school has a farm used for lessons in agriculture, sizeable arts and technology faculties, and a support unit which provides special education services for persons with disabilities.^[4]

Location

The school is located in the suburb of Baulkham Hills in the Hills District. Prospective students in the prescribed drawing area (including portions of Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill, and Bella Vista) are given first preference for available places.^[5] A limited number of places are generally available for students outside of this area, awarded on merit in line with DEC guidelines. Students often come from local suburbs including Kings Langley and Kellyville, but also as far as Rouse Hill and Toongabbie. Private operator Hillsbus operates school bus services to some of the aforementioned locations. The Sydney Metro project will improve accessibility to Crestwood when it opens in 2019, with Norwest railway station to be located a 25-minute walk from Crestwood High School.

Academic achievements

A selection of the notable achievements by students at Crestwood in recent years includes:

• Two students attained an ATAR above 99 in the 2014 HSC.^[6]
• 54 mentions in the HSC Distinguished Achievers list in 2014.^[7]
• 11 mentions in the HSC Top Achievers list (top 5-20 in course), including first in NSW in Legal Studies (2008), and in Industrial Technology (2007).^[8]
• 9 mentions in the HSC All-round Achievers list, one in 2014.^[9]
• In 2015, one student progressed to the state semi final level of The Plain English Public Speaking Competition.^[10]
• One student in 2014 attained the highest score in the Australian Science Innovations Big Science Competition. This score was awarded to only 64 of 49,000 participants.^[11]
• A team of four year 11 students were placed in the top four entrants in the University of Newcastle Business Plan Challenge in 2013.^[12]

Curriculum & Activities

Crestwood offers a more diverse curriculum in years 7 through 10, before the HSC curriculum in years 11 and 12. In stage four, students rotate technology subjects each semester, with courses including textile design, food technology, metalwork and woodwork. This is in addition to language, drama, and digital literacy courses, the aim of which is to give a holistic foundation with which to approach higher study. Grade nine and ten students elect to complete two 200-hour courses over the stage, and two 100-hour courses. This gives students the ability to trial subjects that they might be interested in before selecting the subjects to take them through the HSC course.^[13]

The school operates a Gifted & Talented class for its top performing students (based on semesterly and common examinations) in stage four, and offers a streamed Gifted & Talented class in Stage five. Years 7 and 8 students work on the 'Gifted & Talented Forum Project' annually, an open dialogue for the presentation of ideas and opinion, introducing concepts of ideation and entrepreneurialism.^[14]

Crestwood students from Grades 8 through 10 have the option of participating in a weekly sporting competition against neighbouring schools, as well as entering knock-out tournaments and a variety of regional and state sporting events. Other extra-curricular activities offered at Crestwood includes dance and drama, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, barista training, a concert band, debating, peer tutoring, and a small selection of special-interest groups and clubs.^[15]

The school also maintains connections with the local community through a handful of schemes, most recently the Community Mentoring Programme.^[16] The programme connects noteworthy figures in the local community to aspiring students in year 11, providing them with support and an opportunity to share experience. Beyond this, the school hosts an annual musical, and is involved in local fundraising exercises including the Relay for Life.^[17]

References

External links

• Crestwood High School website