Baulkham Hills High School (colloquially known as Baulko) is a government-funded academically selective

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 ...

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

, located in

Baulkham Hills Baulkham Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 30 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district within the local government area of The Hills Shire. Baulkh ...

in the Hills District of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The principal is Wayne Humphreys. Consistently ranked as one of the state's top schools academically, the school was ranked second in the NSW Higher School Certificate in 2016, 2017 and 2020, ranked fifth in 2018, and ranked third in 2021. In 2010, the school was ranked the most popular school in NSW for high school applications.

History

Baulkham Hills High School was established in 1971 as a public comprehensive high school. It was officially opened on 23 March 1974 by the then Governor, Sir Roden Cutler. For the first year, students and teachers at the school were relocated to nearby

Castle Hill High School Castle Hill High School, located in Castle Street, Castle Hill, New South Wales, Australia, is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational and comprehensive school with students ranging from year 7 to year 12, established in 1963. Castle Hill High Sch ...

whilst Baulkham Hills High School was still under construction. The school's first selective cohort was in 1990, with all grades being selective by 1995. The school was built on the site of a former

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

orchard, with the region having once been a major orange producing area of Sydney. This history is acknowledged by the use of an orange on the school logo. The use of the word "Persevere" as the school motto encourages students to persevere in all their studies.

"The school emblem consists of the school name and the motto "PERSEVERE". It also shows an orange, as Baulkham Hills area was one of the main orange producing areas of the State, with the school being built on a former orange orchard."

Acknowledgement of the agricultural history of the area is also reflected in the naming of the four intramural sports houses of the school, which are named after four prominent early European settlers in the area: MacDougall (red), Suttor (blue), Meehan (yellow) and Hughes (green).

Admissions and Enrollment

Total enrollment in junior years (Year 7 to

Year 10 Year 10 is the tenth year of compulsory education in schools in many countries including England, Australia, India, Northern Ireland, New Zealand and Wales. It is the tenth or eleventh year of compulsory education. It is approximately equivalent ...

) is approximately 180 students per year group, and around 200 per year group in senior years (

Year 11 Year 11 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is the eleventh or twelfth year of core education. For some Year 11 students it is their final year ...

and Year 12), due to transfers from other schools. the total enrollment was 1,230 students. As a selective school, entry into the school in Year 7 is based upon results in a statewide examination known as the Selective High Schools Test. In 2020, the lowest admitted score was 234 out of the maximum 300. Entry into vacant places in later stages is based on a reserve list and other criteria: mainly reports and academic achievements from previous years.

Facilities

Departments and staff rooms

There are ten staff rooms for all of the faculties. *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(upstairs C Block) *

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

(downstairs D Block) *Technology and

Industrial Arts Industrial arts is an educational program that features the fabrication of objects in wood or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. Industrial Arts are commonly referred to as Technology Education. It may include small engine rep ...

(upstairs F Block) *

Languages Other Than English LOTE or Languages Other Than English is the name given to language subjects besides English in Australia, New York City, and other schools. The name evolved from 'heritage language', a term first used to refer to languages other than French and ...

(LOTE) (upstairs D Block) *

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

(upstairs B Block) *

PDHPE PDHPE (''Personal Development, Health and Physical Education'') is a subject in the New South Wales school curriculum. It is a compulsory subject in the K-10 curriculum, and available as an elective in years 11 and 12 and for the HSC in year 12. ...

(E Block) *Science (E Block) *Social Sciences (upstairs D Block) *Support Unit (downstairs C Block) *CAPA and Music (downstairs G Block)

Extracurricular Activities

The school holds annual sports carnivals for swimming, cross country and athletics. Selected students compete in wider regional competitions, from Zone and Area to the CHS (Combined High Schools). There are 2 teachers who are the sports organisers overseeing sport.

Tri-School Tournament

The Tri-School Tournament was first held in 2011 between Baulkham Hills,

James Ruse Agricultural High School , motto_translation = Deeds not words , established = , type = Government-funded co-educational academically selective and specialist secondary day school , educational_authority = NSW Departm ...

and

Girraween High School , motto_translation = Mind aware of right , location = Girraween, western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , ...

. Teams from each school participated in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and touch football. Baulkham Hills obtained first place in both the 2011 and 2012 tournaments.

Quad School Tournament

Starting 2013,

Penrith High School , motto_translation = Striving for the highest , location = Penrith, Western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , pushpin_image ...

joined the sporting tournament previously known as the Tri-School Tournament between Baulkham Hills High School,

and

Girraween High School , motto_translation = Mind aware of right , location = Girraween, western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , ...

. In addition to

and touch football, Penrith hosted

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

in 2013. Again, Baulkham Hills High School won the tournament. The competition returned in 2014, with Baulkham Hills hosting basketball, Girraween hosting touch football, James Ruse hosting soccer and Penrith hosting volleyball. Again, Baulkham Hills High School won the tournament. Since the introduction of Quadschools, Baulkham Hills have won the competition 10 times, 9 of them being consecutively, and Penrith has won once.

Academic

A variety of academic extra-curricular activities are offered, in various subject areas. *

Tournament of Minds Tournament of Minds (TOM) is an academic competition focusing on collaborative problem solving and critical thinking. It is open to both primary and secondary students in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and a number of other locations in A ...

*Future Problem Solving *Mock Trial *OzCLO (Computational and Linguistics Olympiad) *Debating *Physics, Chemistry and Biology Olympiad Team *Mathematics Olympiad Team *Australian and New Zealand Brain Bee Competition

Sport

In addition to sporting competitions and tournaments such as Zone, Area and CHS, the school offers additional sporting activities to selected students, including: *Knockout Regional Teams (Basketball, Volleyball, Touch Football, Table Tennis) *Regional Championship Sports *Quad Schools Tournament, against

and

Girraween High School , motto_translation = Mind aware of right , location = Girraween, western Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Sydney , ...

(Baulko has won for several years in a row now)

Cadets

Australian Army Cadets is a youth development organisation with ties to the Australian Army. Cadets parade in the school quadrangle (the main open space in the centre of the school) every Thursday afternoon. In this time, recruits and intermediate cadets are instructed by older students who have earned the rank of a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, in drill, military traditions, navigation, survival, fieldcraft and leadership.

Creative and performing arts

The school offers various activities in the field of creative and performing arts, including: *School Bands, including Junior, Intermediate, Concert, Senior, and Symphonic Wind Ensemble. **Specialised bands, including String Ensemble, Big Band, and Orchestra. *School Choir *Music Nights *Variety Night *Drama Club *Photography Club *Art Club

Other Extracurriculars

*Chess Club *Green Group *Outreach (A club that organises events for charity) *Baulko Bulletin *Social Justice (Political debate and raising awareness for social issues) *Business Society *B-Soc (Business Society) *B-Well (Mental-health club) *Soul Purpose (

ISCF Inter-School Christian Fellowship (ISCF) or Inter-Scholastic Christian Fellowship is a Christian youth ministry that works with students within high schools. ISCF groups are often supported by external evangelical Christian organisations and churc ...

) *Spectrums (LGBT club)

Notable alumni

Greg Combet Gregory Ivan Combet (; born 28 April 1958) is a former Australian politician and trade unionist. He was Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions between 1999 and 2007. He was elected member for the New South Wales Federal seat of Ch ...

former Member for Charlton (2007–2013); former federal minister in the

Rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). Th ...

and Gillard governments; former Secretary of the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and la ...

(2000–2007) * Sam Dastyariformer

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

(2013–2017); General Secretary of the NSW branch of the Labor Party (2010–2013) *

Jayne Jagot Jayne Margaret Jagot () is an Australian judge. She has been a Justice of the High Court of Australia since 17 October 2022. She was previously a judge of the Federal Court of Australia and before that of the Land and Environment Court of New S ...

Judge of the High Court of Australia * Stephanie Schweitzerathlete; represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympics *

Notable teachers

Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to: In politics *Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church * Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician * Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...

(ret.)wrestler, represented Australia in the 1976 Montreal Olympics *Jacob Groth runner, represented Australia at 2010, 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2004 Junior world championships *Jeffrey Sinclair had an affair with a student, was later fired

References

External links

*
Baulkham Hills High School Army Cadet Unit website
{{Authority control Selective schools in New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1971 Public high schools in Sydney 1971 establishments in Australia Baulkham Hills, New South Wales

History

Admissions and Enrollment

Facilities

Departments and staff rooms

Extracurricular Activities

Tri-School Tournament

Quad School Tournament

Academic

Sport

Cadets

Creative and performing arts

Other Extracurriculars

Notable alumni

Notable teachers

See also

References

External links