Edward John Eyre High School is located in

Whyalla Norrie Whyalla Norrie is a suburb of Whyalla on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. It was gazetted as a distinct suburb in 1967, and had its boundaries altered in 1975 and 2000. It is bounded by Iron Knob Road, Norrie Avenue, Broadbent Terrace and ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It opened in 1968 as Eyre Technical High School. Built during the boom period, student enrolment reached around 1,500 in the 1970s. Today, Edward John Eyre High School, also known as Senior Secondary Campus of the Whyalla Secondary College, has a student population of over 400. Eyre High School caters to a wide cross-section of the community. Its Young Mum's program supports young mothers to complete their

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. The Pre-Industry Program and Trade School assists students in preparation in the trade areas. The specialist

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course lead to wins in state and national competitions. Edward John Eyre High is proposed to be merged with Whyalla High School and Stuart High School. The new merged school is intended to be on Nicolson Avenue,

between the Whyalla campuses of the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

and

TAFE SA TAFE South Australia (TAFE SA) provides vocational education and training in South Australia. The acronym TAFE stands for Technical and Further Education and is used and recognised nationally throughout Australia. TAFE SA is a Registered trai ...

and expected to open for the 2022 school year.

History

Eyre High 1968-2008

2008 saw Edward John Eyre High celebrating its 40th birthday. During those 40 years, the school has had two other names, Eyre Technical High School and Eyre High School. For many people, the school will always be Eyre High School. The main buildings of the school were designed by Jim Loveday. They are correctly positioned so as to make the best use of the

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and to reduce the amount of heat gain. This has been positive for those who have used the buildings. The initial enrolment of 5 classes of Year 8 students were housed at Whyalla High and Memorial Oval Primary School. In 1968 these students moved into the new buildings of Eyre Technical High School on Grundel Street and along with the new Year 8s, brought the enrolment to 711. The late sixties and early seventies were a period of rapid population growth in Whyalla. By the end of the school’s first year, the school population had out-grown the existing main building. To accommodate the increasing enrolment, a new South wing with 8 classrooms and 3 Art rooms was added. These additions were not enough to keep up with population growth. By 1972, the western quadrangle hosted a portable science

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physic ...

and many "temporary" classrooms, some of which are still at the school. The school reached its highest enrolment of 1280 students in this period. In 1971 the school had its first name change and became Eyre High School. The name change was in-line with

government policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

to remove the distinction between trades orientated Technical High Schools and academically orientated High Schools. In the early 1980s, the effect of the closure of the shipyard was felt with decreasing population in the city leading to decreasing enrolments. Margaret Grant made the most of this situation, by relocating the library from upstairs in the main building to 6 classrooms, later 7 rooms in the South Wing. This created the space for a well laid out library to serve students and staff. In 1986 there was a further name change from Eyre High to Edward John Eyre High School. This was done to more closely identify the school with the

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who it was named after. The longer name also meant that the school was no longer confused with Ayr High School in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. In 1989 the population of the all of Whyalla's schools were trending down in line with the decrease in population of the city. As a result, the Education Department in consultation with School Councils changed the structure of secondary schools to create two junior high schools and a senior high school ''E.J. Eyre High''. From 1992, the school catered for Year 11, 12 and adult students. It has a wide range of courses which include the Pre-Industry Program and Trade Schools for the Future. It was the first school in the state to have a Young Mums Program.

References

External links

Edward John Eyre High School
{{coord, 33, 01, 33, S, 137, 32, 28, E, display=title, region:AU_type:edu_source:GNS-enwiki High schools in South Australia Educational institutions established in 1968 Whyalla