Governor Stirling Senior High School (abbreviated as GSSHS) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

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 ...

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 compa ...

, located in Woodbridge, a north-eastern suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia. The school provides both a

vocational A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious c ...

and tertiary entrance education for 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 ...

to Year 12. Opened in 1959, the school replaced the former Midland Junction High School (MJHS) founded in 1901, at a new site in West Midland.

History

The school was officially opened on 28 October 1959 by then Western Australian Minister for Education, Arthur Watts. On that day its name was officially changed from Midland Junction High School to Governor Stirling Senior High School, named after James Stirling. This day also saw the adoption of a new school crest, which retained the motto of MJHS: "Honour Before Honours". The official crest features a white swan behind a shield. In 1964, Woodbridge House became an annexe for GSSHS. Around thirty students were involved in the High School Certificate courses, and the house provided a non-institutional learning environment for the small student community. Students were able to recover the wind vane missing from the house, which was discovered in the mud of the river bed. During this same period Woodbridge House became the headquarters for the Midland District Youth Committee, an advisory body representing up to thirteen local youth organisations. Governor Stirling Senior High School Lecture Theatre

Governor Stirling Senior High School Lecture Theatre

Redevelopment plans

On 8 May 2008, then federal Education Minister Julia Gillard formally granted $63 million to re-build the school on the current site. The school was rebuilt and equipped with newer facilities. The Maali Centre is a dedicated building for Indigenous student support services. Donaldson + Warn Architects were commissioned to design the new school campus, and construction began in February 2011. In the interim Years 8, 9, 10 attended the old Midland Primary School site and Years 11 and 12 attended Cyril Jackson Senior Campus. The new campus was completed for Term 1 in the 2013 school year.

Specialist programs

GSSHS offers three specialist programs; Artsmedia, Engineering and Football. All three programs are selective, and of these programs Artsmedia and Engineering are academically selective. As well as the specialist programs, the school also offers an approved Gifted and Talented GATE extension program. Specialist programs at GSSHS, as well as the GATE programme. The school also offers other non-specialist programs such as netball, dance and music.

Artsmedia

Artsmedia is a specialist academic program targeted at developing skills within Art and Media including visual arts, digital and game design, film and television, journalism and photojournalism. The program is delivered in partnership with Murdoch University, providing opportunities for direct university entry. The program operates from years 7–10 and students have classes for four hours each week. Students can continue studying aspects of the program in years 11 and 12 in the form of VET subjects. The school campus was used as a primary filming location for the short film, '' Ronan's Escape''.

Engineering

The school offers a specialist engineering program. The program focuses on a diverse range of engineering studies including electrical, mechanical, chemical, environmental and civil engineering. The program is delivered in partnership with the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

Football

GSSHS offers a specialist Australian Rules Football program.

Transport

GSSHS is accessible by public transport. The nearest train station is the Woodbridge station on the Transperth Metro Purple line (Midland Line) which runs between

and Midland stations.

Colonial era relics

Remnants of the colonial era remain on what is now GSSHS site. Mature Olive trees growing on the high bank overlooking the Swan River are believed to have originated in the colonial period. The school stands on the site of a small cottage built by James Stirling during the Swan River Colony's infancy. In 1930, an obelisk was erected by the

Royal Western Australian Historical Society Royal Western Australian Historical Society has for many decades been the main association for Western Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia. It was fou ...

. The obelisk stands on the river bank adjacent to the then school gymnasium and reads the below.

Notable alumni

* Sunday Aryang Super Netball League (

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is an Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Perth Orioles, t ...

) Netballer * Lisa Baker MLAMember of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

from 2008 and Deputy Speaker since 2017 * Nathan Broad WAFL ( Swan Districts) and

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

( Richmond) Footballer * Kim Hagdorn Western Australian Cricketer and Sports Journalist * Don HolmesWAFL (Swan Districts) and AFL (

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...

) Footballer * Zak KirkupState member for Dawesville from 2017 to 2021 and Leader of

Western Australian Liberal Party The Western Australian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division), is the division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Western Australia. Founded in March 1949 as the Liberal and Country Le ...

from 2020 to 2021 *

Kate Lamont Kate Lamont (born 13 October 1962) is an Australian cook, political aspirant and author. Career Lamont has hospitality interest in the Swan Valley, Margaret River and a bottle shop and bar in Cottesloe, Western Australia. as well as Lamont's ...

cook, entrepreneur and author *

Bob McMullan Robert Francis McMullan (born 10 December 1947) is an Australian former politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. He was the first person to represent the Australian Capital Ter ...

Senator for the ACT, and Member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Nic Naitanui Nicholas Mark Naitanui (; born 4 May 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was born in Sydney to Fijian parents, and his family moved to Perth, Western Austra ...

WAFL (Swan Districts) and AFL (West Coast Eagles) Footballer *

Bob Pearce Robert John Pearce (born 24 February 1946) is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1977 until 1993 representing the seats of Gosnells and Armadale. Biography Pearce was born i ...

Member of the

from 1977 to 1993 *

Christopher Pullin Christopher James Lonsdale Pullin is a former judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 10 September 2001. He served in the Court’s general division until 2005 when he was appointed as an appeal judge to the newly created Western Aus ...

Justice of the Court of Appeal Western Australia, Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia *

Ljiljanna Ravlich Ljiljanna Maria Ravlich (born Ljiljana Ravlić on 9 January 1958 in Split, Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a Western Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1997 to 2015. She was the ...

MLAMember of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

from 1997 to 2015 * Mike RichardsonWAFL (Swan Districts and West Perth) and AFL ( Collingwood,

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

) Footballer * Stephen RichardsonWAFL (Swan Districts and

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

) and AFL (Essendon) Footballer *

Michael Walters Michael Walters (born 7 January 1991) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally playing mainly as a small forward, Walters has recently spent more time in th ...

WAFL (Swan Districts) and AFL ( Fremantle) Footballer * Peter WorthingonWestern Australian Cricketer * John YovichMedical Director Pivot and Adjunct Professor Curtin University Midland Junction High School (antecedent of Governor Stirling Senior High School): * Digby Blight OADirector General Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Public Sector Standards Commissioner

References

External links

* {{Public high schools in Western Australia Public high schools in Perth, Western Australia Educational institutions established in 1959 Woodbridge, Western Australia 1959 establishments in Australia