Applecross Senior High School is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, located in Ardross, a southern suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. Founded in 1958, Applecross Senior High School has traditionally been one of the leading public high schools in Western Australia and consistently ranks academically within the top ten secondary schools in the state. Applecross has produced two

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

s. Applecross runs dedicated art, tennis and chess programs, and has traditionally been dominant in these areas. It also runs Academic Extension classes, for those students talented in the areas of English, Maths, Science, Society and Environment, French and Japanese. Like many WA high schools, Applecross is a partially selective high school with out-of-area students accepted on a number of criteria.Applecross Senior High: Out of area application.
Retrieved 1 September 2019.

History

The school was opened in 1958 to service the rapidly growing south-of-the-river suburbs of the city of Perth. 1,731 students from Years 7 to 12 attended the school. In 2009 the WA Government allocated $56 million for the re-development of the school. A competitive tender process was completed in April 2010. The original school 'H' block, science block, swimming pool, and the 1970s gymnasium was retained. All other existing buildings were removed. A new south wing on the site of the existing tennis courts was designed to house a new administration area, library, resource centre, science, home economics and health and physical education wings. A new design, and technology centre was constructed to the east of the swimming pool and a new visual arts centre was located on the site of existing basketball courts. The gymnasium was converted into a performing arts centre, while the original 'H' block was refurbished for use by business/information technology, careers & vocational education, English, languages, mathematics, society & environment and student services.

School crest

The school crest is a combination of a black swan holding a book, signifying proximity to the Swan River, with a hand holding a scimitar, emerging from a five-pointed crown ("issuant from an eastern crown or, a dexter hand holding a scimitar, in fess all proper"), the crest of the Chief of the Matheson clan. Sir Alexander Matheson Bt of Lochalsh, a property developer who in 1897 initiated the subdivision of the suburb of Applecross, became Chief of the Clan in 1920 on the death of his brother, the 2nd Baronet.

Academic ranking

The Year-12 cohort at Applecross perform consistently well in the

WACE Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his care ...

school rankings, and the school ranks well when compared to other schools in Western Australia. WA school ATAR ranking Year 12 student achievement data Beazley Medals * 2014: Robert Rubery won the Beazley Medal for the top ranked Vocational Education & Training (VET) student. * 1993: Bertrand Sze Yu Lee won the Beazley Medal for the top ranked

TEE A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby. Etymology The word tee is derived from the ...

student.

Notable alumni

Dean Alston Dean John Douglas Alston (born 1950) is an Australian cartoonist who became the editorial cartoonist of ''The West Australian'' newspaper in 1986. Biography Dean Alston was born in South Perth, Western Australia. He grew up in Mount Pleasant ...

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

winning newspaper cartoonist *

Tony Ayres Tony Ayres (born 16 July 1961) is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter, director in television and feature film. He is most notable for his films '' Walking on Water'' and ''The Home Song Stories'', as well his work in television, including ...

film director *

Marcus Beilby Marcus Charles Beilby (born 20 November 1951, in Western Australia), is an Australian realist painter. Beilby grew up in the Perth suburb of Mount Pleasant. He was educated at Applecross Senior High School and the Claremont Technical College, ...

Realist painter, winner of

Sir John Sulman Prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Galler ...

* Darren Bennettformer

Australian Rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

punter in the NFL * Jenny Boult (1951-2005)author and poet, won 1981

Anne Elder Award The Anne Elder Trust Fund Award for poetry was administered by the Victorian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers from its establishment in 1976 until 2017. From 2018 the award has been administered by Australian Poetry. It is awarded ann ...

for first book of poetry * Jim Gill Chancellor of

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

, Western Australia (2010-2012), former: CEO of WA Water Corporation; WA Commissioner of Railways * Jillian Green artist whose work is held in many major Western Australian institutions * Jeanette Hacket Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University, Western Australia (2006-2013) *

Adele Horin Adele Marilyn Horin (25 January 1951 – 21 November 2015) was an Australian journalist. She retired in 2012 as a columnist and journalist for ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. A prolific and polarising writer on social issues, she was described as ...

(1951-2015)Walkley Award-winning columnist and reporter for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', previously international correspondent for the National Times. * Toby Hussey Journalist and newsreader * Peter Lewis former Australian Consul-General and Senior Trade Commissioner in San Francisco * Bill LoudenDeputy Vice-Chancellor (2009-2013) and Dean of Education (2006-2008) of

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

Vince Lovegrove Vincent James Lovegrove (19 March 194724 March 2012) was an Australian musician, journalist, music manager, television producer and AIDS awareness pioneer. He was a member of 1960s rock 'n' roll band The Valentines, sharing vocals with Bon ...

(1947-2012)journalist, music manager, television producer, musician * Raoul Marksdual

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winner for main title design on

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...

and

The Man in the High Castle ''The Man in the High Castle'' (1962), by Philip K. Dick, is an alternative history novel wherein the Axis Powers won World War II. The story occurs in 1962, fifteen years after the end of the war in 1947, and depicts the political intrigues b ...

* Tonya McCuskerclassical dancer, wife of

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

* Vinay Menon

2012, John Monash Scholar * Steve Pennellsjournalist, 5-time Walkley Award winner including

Gold Walkley The Gold Walkley is the major award of the Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic ...

in 2012, 18 WA Media Awards * Graeme Robertson

1971, former: Director of Muresk Institute of Curtin University; Director-General of WA Department of Agriculture *

Diane Stone Diane L. Stone (born April 1964) is an Australian-British academic. Career Diane Stone has been a founding vice president of the :fr:Association internationale de politique publique, International Public Policy Association for 8 years until June ...

professor in Politics and International Studies at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, UK and Professor in Public Policy at

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

in Budapest. * Lesley VidovichWinthrop Professor, Graduate School of Education,

Reece Waldock Reece Waldock is a retired senior Australian public servant. Most recently he served concurrently as Director-General of the WA Department of Transport, Commissioner of Main Roads Western Australia and CEO of the WA Public Transport Authority, ...

Director General of WA Department of Transport, Commissioner for Main Roads, CEO of Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. Former WA Commissioner of Railways * Steve Wardboat builder; built 1983

12-metre class The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. ...

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

winner ''

Australia II ''Australia II'' (KA 6) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successful ...

'', and challengers ''Australia'', ''Australia III'', ''Australia IV'', ''Challenger 12'' & ''South Australia''. * Bruce WilliamsCommissioner of

Fair Work Australia The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Australi ...

, former Commissioner of the

Australian Industrial Relations Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with powers ...

, Perth

References

External links