Dapto High School is a government-funded

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

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...

, a suburb of in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

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 1958, the school enrolled approximately 900 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 six 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 nine percent were from a language background other than English. The school is operated by the

New South Wales Department of Education The New South Wales Department of Education, a department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery and co-ordination of early childhood, primary school, secondary school, vocational education, adult, migrant and hi ...

; the principal is Andrew FitzSimons.

History

In 1952, 32 acres of land which were to become the site of Dapto High School, were part of a farming property in the possession of the Amaral family. Dapto High School began in 1958 at the Smith Street School in Wollongong, followed shortly thereafter at its current site with 189 students, separated into five 1st Year classes. Numbers increased up to 1536 students in 1973, and have been fairly constant at between 900 and 1000 students for a number of years.

Figtree High School , motto_translation = To Grow. To have faith. To stand firm , established = , type = Government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school , educational_authority = New South Wales ...

and Kanahooka High School have also been housed at the current site, whilst those school premises were constructed in 1969 and 1974 respectively. Numerous building ventures and renovations/upgrades occurred at the school, starting with the “Maths Block” (1961), hall (1962/63), “Art Block” (1971), grounds (1972 - 1974), Library (1975/76), agriculture sheds, tennis/basketball courts (1977), levee bank (1984), herringbone drainage to ovals (1992), Fitness Centre and paddle tennis courts (1994), main quad upgrade (1996), “Maths Block” fire (1999), lift (2004/05), and asbestos cleanup (2007).

Higher School Certificate

On the basis of the 2007 NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC), Dapto High School was ranked number 602 out of a total of 673 schools whose students sat the HSC in New South Wales. In 2007 Dapto High School students received five total credits from 87 Year 12 students who attempted 443 exams giving a 2007 success Rate of 1.13%. In 2006 six total credits were gained from 472 attempts and the 2006 success rate was one per cent.

School-to-work program

In 2002, Dapto was the subject of a case study for its school-to-work program, which chronicled how the school innovated a centralized reporting program via school reports, which turned around an otherwise unsuccessful program and made the program a "whole new approach" which was recommended for other schools. As a result of this program the school's careers advisor, Steve Heinecke, was awarded the title of top careers advisor in New South Wales in 2005.

Notable alumni

Mathew Head Mathew Head (born 9 May 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s as a for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Wests Tigers and Hull F.C. Background Head was born in Wagga Wagga, New S ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

player * Paul McGregorrugby league playerDaily Telegraph - News Limited Australia - 21 June 2002 * Corey Tutt,

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

champion, 2020 NSW Young Australian of the year, and founder of DeadlyScience * Dean Youngrugby league player

References

External links