Blaxland High School is a government-operated comprehensive

secondary 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 '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in Blaxland, a suburb in the Blue Mountains region of

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. Established in 1977, the school enrolled approximately 1,000 students in 2018, from

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 in the United ...

Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-compulsory educa ...

, of whom five percent identified as

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

and eight percent were from a language background other than English. The school is operated by the

NSW Department of Education ) , 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 , e ...

Subjects

Blaxland High School teaches a range of subjects throughout the grades of class.

Creative arts

* Dance * Drama * Music * Visual arts * Voice works * Photography and Digital Media * Vocational educational training (VET) entertainment * VET entertainment specialisation

Languages

* English * Italian

Mathematics

* Mathematics Standard 1 * Mathematics Standard 2 * Mathematics Advanced (from 2019) * Mathematics Extension 1 * Mathematics Extension 2

Human society and its environment

* Aboriginal Studies * Ancient History * Business Studies * History Extension * Legal Studies * Modern History * Society and Culture * Studies of Religion

Personal development, health and physical education

* Personal Development, Health and Physical Education * Sport, Lifestyle and Recreation Studies

Science

* Biology * Chemistry * Earth and Environmental Science * Investigating Science * Physics

Technological and applied studies

* Agricultural Technology * Design and Technology * Food Technology * Graphics Technology * Industrial Technology * Information and Software Technology * Textiles Technology * Design and Technology * Engineering Studies * Software Design and Development * Textiles and Design * Community and Family Studies

Sexual Assault Case

In 2019 the head of the Performing Arts, David Leishman was found guilty of sexually touching another person. At the time, the pupil was 15 years old. Leishman was sentenced to 12 months in prison in April at Penrith District Court on the touching charges, with a nine-month non-parole period. On the kissing accusation, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison with a nine-month non-parole period.

Chemical spill incident

In February 2019, the school was evacuated after a hazardous chemical spill that occurred in the Science Lab store room.

Calcium Carbide Calcium carbide, also known as calcium acetylide, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of Ca C2. Its main use industrially is in the production of acetylene and calcium cyanamide. The pure material is colorless, while pieces of tec ...

powder is highly explosive if contacted with water, resulting in the school being evacuated as a precaution by the St Mary's Fire and Rescue NSW team who responded to the incident. There were no injuries to teachers or students.

Cars for Refugees

In 2018, Shaun Halden's Industrial Arts class set out on a project to rebuild cars that were donated to the school that would then be donated to refugee families. Mr Halden was introduced to the project by the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group, which was hoping to find cars for refugees in need, and Halden set to get his students involved.

Notable alumni

* Jessica FoxBronze Medal Winner

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, Silver Medal Winner

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Gold Medal Winner

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Noemie Fox Noemie Fox (born 19 March 1997) is a French-born Australian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2013. She won three medals in the at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with two golds (C1 team: 2019, K1 team ...

Bronze Medal Winner - ''Under 23 Canoe Slalom World Championships'' * Peter FoxOlympic canoeist *

Amanda Reid Amanda Reid (born 12 November 1996) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer and cyclist. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, she won a silver medal in the Women's 500 m Tim ...

NAIDOC Sportsperson of the Year, two-time Paralympian and silver medalist *

Peter Wallace Peter James Wallace (born 16 October 1985) is a former Scotland international rugby league footballer who played for the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. A New South Wales State of Origin representative, Wallace began hi ...

professional rugby league footballer * Adam Graham Giles - former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) Lewis, B. C. (20 June 2013). "Adam Giles' journey from Blaxland High to running the Northern Territory". Blue Mountains Gazette. Retrieved 9 August 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaxland High School Public high schools in New South Wales 1977 establishments in Australia Educational institutions established in 1977 Education in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales)