Fairvale 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

Fairfield West Fairfield West is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fairfield West is located 27 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Fairfield West is ...

, a south-western suburb 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. Established in 1969, the school caters for approximately 1,500 students 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 ...

. 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 school's name is

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBinishell Binishells are reinforced concrete thin-shell structures that are lifted and shaped by air pressure. They were invented in the 1960s by Dante Bini, who built 1,600 of them in 23 countries. The Binishell method needs expensive and sophisticate ...

. The Binishell, also known as "The Golf Ball", "Marshmallow" and "The Beanie," is spherical in shape and was recently painted mint green. The Binishell is created through a process in which a concrete membrane is blown up and allowed to set. It serves the purpose of a gym, dance hall, performance hall, and general assembly hall. Also to be noted is that the first attempt at building the Binishell in 1974 resulted in disaster when the foundations failed the Binishell and it collapsed in the centre. There were no injuries. In 2009, the Foley Centre was upgraded with an art and dance/drama space, including a full wall of mirrors, Harelquinn floors, and lighting and sound infrastructure. In 2010, the school also received a new Language Centre, refurbished hospitality standard kitchens, 6 new science labs and the new covered walkways. The Canley Vale Tutorial Centre, which serves students who have had difficulty completing their education in a mainstream school, is an annex to the school; however, it is not on the same site, but is near the close by Canley Vale Public School.

Curriculum

In addition to traditional core subjects, Fairvale students may study Music, Dance (to year 12), Drama, PE. Visual Arts, Spanish & French languages to HSC, Mandarin in Year 8, commerce and business studies. Vocational education courses are available in hospitality, tourism, business services, retail, ICT, and construction.

Extracurricular activities

Student activities and groups include

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

, LEOs Club, Personal Development/Health/Physical Education, Rotary, String Ensemble, Vocal group, Junior and Senior Dance ensembles, Various Rock Bands and Student Representative Council.

Notable alumni

Bill Harrigan Bill Harrigan (born 24 May 1960 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league football referee, and former head of refereeing for the National Rugby League. Unusually for a sports official, in his long career he was accorded the ...

Australian former rugby league referee * Raechelle Bannoactress from ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

'' *

Alex Papps Alex Papps (born 11 February 1969) is an Australian actor, television host, writer and singer. Early life Papps, who is of Greek descent, was born in 1969, his parents where both amateur theatre directors. He attended Belgrave Kindergarten Up ...

actor and television host *

Tony Popovic Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of A-League club Melbourne Victory. As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back. Starting in 1989 at Sydney Un ...

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 ...

player *

Stephen Cowan Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

Corporate Executive, current Chief Commercial Officer at Coates. * Sandy Li Co-founder & COO a
PUSHASForbes 30 Under 30 2022 (Asia - Retail & Commerce)

References

External links

*
Fairvale High Youtube Links
Educational institutions established in 1969 South Western Sydney Public high schools in Sydney 1969 establishments in Australia {{NewSouthWales-school-stub