Denison College of Secondary Education is a dual-

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

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 ...

comprehensive

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 Bathurst, in the Central West 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. Founded in 2007 through the amalgamation of Bathurst High School and Kelso High School, the college enrolled approximately 1,830 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 13 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 six percent were from a language background other than English. The college 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 ...

; and the College Principal is Cathleen Compton.

History

In August 2005 a fire completely destroyed Kelso High School. In the wake of the destruction the NSW Education Department sought community consultation as they began to look at new ways to provide enhanced public education to the Bathurst community. These community collaborations, which involved more than 200 people resulted in consensus around a model that called for the establishment of a collegiate, with two-year 7–12 campuses at Kelso and Bathurst High. A feature of this collegiate model was that each campus would maintain its own identity, but the establishment of shared curriculum and resources would increase opportunities for all students. Denison College was formed to share curriculum, facilities and staff between Bathurst's two public secondary schools, Bathurst High and Kelso High in order to enhance student choice.

Naming

In 2006 the College Reference and Management Committees, which had been created to form the new college, sought to provide the college with a name. Community consultation and deliberations by the committees lead to the name for the college: "Denison College of Secondary Education." The name for the College came from a prominent Bathurst icon, the

Denison Bridge The Denison Bridge is a heritage-listed footbridge over the Macquarie River in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is the fourth oldest metal truss bridge existing in Australia. The bridge, completed in 1870, replaced an earlier bridge tha ...

; named in honour of Sir William Denison. After the naming of the College, the two high school's forming the collegiate were renamed from Bathurst High School and Kelso High School to Bathurst High Campus and Kelso High Campus respectively.

Structure

The college consists of two year 7–12 campuses with a shared senior curriculum. This blend allows the two campuses to maintain their own unique identities but with increased opportunities for students using the resources of the college. The college structure is supported by a College Principal and extra staff who work closely with Campus Principals to further develop and enhance the educational experiences for all students. College provided transport further supports the educational needs of senior students by allowing easy movement between campuses to meet course and co-curricula requirements. Denison College has partnerships with

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

, Western Institute of

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

and local industry.

Campuses

Bathurst High Campus has been a centre for education in Bathurst for over 125 years and one of the oldest schools in Australia. The campus is a comprehensive school. The school itself combines heritage buildings with new modern architecture. Kelso High Campus was established in 1976. A new facility has been built following the fire that damaged the original building.

References

External links