The Hunter School of the Performing Arts (abbreviated as HSPA) 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 ...

selective and specialist

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

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 ...

which offers a comprehensive curriculum with a

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

specialty, located in , in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

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 1923, the school enrolled 1,150 students in 2018, from

Year 3 Year 3 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. It is usually the third year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between six to seven however some ...

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 four 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 eight percent were from a language background other than English. The school 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 , es ...

; the principal is now Tracey Breese as of Term 2 2021. The school is unique in terms of public selective schools to cater to both primary and secondary school students. Enrolment is by audition online and/or on-site.

History

The school has undergone many name changes since its establishment in July 1923. As a technical school * 1923–1926: Newcastle Junior Technical and Domestic Science School * 1927–1931: Broadmeadow Junior Technical School * 1932–1960: Newcastle Central Technical School As a general high school * 1961–1965: Broadmeadow Boys High School * 1966–1975: Broadmeadow Boys School * 1976–1992: Broadmeadow High School (co-educational) As a performing arts school * 1993–1997: The Broadmeadow School of Performing Arts * 1998–present: Hunter School of the Performing Arts A notable moment in this school's recent history was the

June 2007 Hunter Region and Central Coast storms The 2007 New South Wales storms started on 8 June 2007 following the development of an intense east coast low pressure system during the previous night. Over the next 36 hours these areas were battered by the system's strong winds and torrentia ...

. The Hunter School of the Performing Arts was one of the most severely affected schools in the area. The school suffered a large amount of damage; the entire bottom level was washed away and the school's library was severely affected. The March 2021 eastern Australia floods in New South Wales also affected HSPA by the closure of the school's Hunter Theatre. Due to the downstairs floor featuring an orchestra pit, storage room and boys and girls dressing rooms being flooded and waterlogged which caused a costly amount of collateral electrical damage. The theatre is now partially functional, open to the school and external clients.

Motto and colours

The original

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

was "Advance", which changed after the school became a boys' school in 1932 to ''Faber est suae quisque fortunae''. The motto was changed in 1999 to its English form, "Each of us is responsible for our own destiny". "Performing at Our Best" is the motto most commonly used today, taken from the school's vision statement. The original colours of the school were those of the 35th Battalion ("Newcastle's Own Regiment") of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, green and brown. In later years it changed to green and white. In 1999, students were given a

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

in a bid for them to choose their own school colours; they chose jade, purple and black. To keep a link with the Newcastle colours, the new logo (of the mask, dancer and bass clef) has been incorporated into a shield which also has a ribbon of brown and a ribbon of green. Following the change in the school colours, a new

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shir ...

was introduced in 2000, with options ranging from formal to casual, including performance and sporting wear. In 2001, the school's marching band uniform changed to reflect this as well, formerly being green and gold, and now has a uniform consisting of black, purple and jade.

Music

The school is home to a number of musical ensembles. Two

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

s, three

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

s and a "senior vocal ensemble",

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...

, two stage bands, a marching show band and percussion ensemble are well known within the school and community and frequently perform at festivals, parades, ceremonies and competitions. Additionally, the school holds a musical every year between the three performing arts and the HSPA Theatre Crew led by Theatre Manager Jim Bowman and the TAS staff. Alternating leads between the primary and secondary sections of the school, these musicals are performed in the theatre built on school grounds in 2007: the Hunter Theatre.

Dance

There are many dance opportunities within the school. Groups participate in a wide range of activities, including ''Star Struck'',

Schools Spectacular The NSW Schools Spectacular is an Australian variety show featuring more than 5,500 students from public schools across New South Wales and was performed annually at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) betwee ...

, Hunter Schools Dance Festival and State Dance Festival. There is also a range of dance ensembles, such as hip hop and ballet, and these are audition only. The dance production class gives students an opportunity to do project based learning (PBL) along with designing projects that the students want.

Notable alumni

Genevieve Clay-Smith Genevieve Clay-Smith (born 1988) is an Australian writer and director. She is an advocate of inclusive filmmaking. Clay-Smith's career as a writer and a film director began in 2009 when her film, starring a man with Down syndrome, won Austral ...

film director and writer *

Isabelle Cornish Isabelle Cornish (born 22 July 1994) is an Australian actress. She is known for her television roles, particularly in ''Puberty Blues'' and '' Home and Away'', and Crystal in the 2017 American television series ''Inhumans''. Personal life She ...

actress and model *

Charli Robinson Sharlene Marie Zeta Robinson (born 8 March 1981), known professionally as Charli Robinson previously as Charli Delaney, is an Australian television and radio presenter, most famously known as an original member of children's musical group Hi-5 ...

singer, actress and radio presenter, Hi-5 *

Michelle Lim Davidson Michelle Lim Davidson (born 23 July 1987) is an Australian actress. She got her break in television starring on the skit show '' Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth'' in 2011. From 2012 she was a presenter on '' Play School'', a long running Austr ...

actress *

Mathew Helm Mathew Helm (born 9 December 1980) is an Australian diver who won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the men's 10-metre platform. He was in first place at the end of the preliminary round and the semi-finals, but was passed by Chine ...

Olympic diver *

Ivy Latimer Ivy Latimer (born 1 December 1994) is an Australian actor best known for portraying the mermaid Nixie on the television series '' Mako: Island of Secrets''. Early life and education Latimer was born on 1 December 1994 in Ventura, California, ...

actress *

Rhys Nicholson Rhys Nicholson (born 22 April 1990) is an Australian comedian and known for being a judge on ''RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under'' from 2021 onwards. Career In 2014, Nicholson featured in the ABC documentary ''GayCrashers'', alongside Joel Crease ...

comedian and 2009 Grand Finalist in

Raw Comedy Raw Comedy is an Australian annual competition for emerging stand-up comedians held by Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It was established in 1996 and is supported by national youth radio station Triple J. In 2011, there were 1,100 conte ...

competition *

Short Stack Short Stack are an Australian pop punk band. The band consists of members Shaun Diviney (lead vocals, guitar), Andy Clemmensen (bass, backing vocals) and Bradie Webb (drums). Shannon Hotchkins was also a member of Short Stack before any song was ...

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

band (Shaun Diviney, lead vocalist and guitarist; Andy Clemmensen, bassist and back-up vocalist; Bradie Webb, drummer) *

Geraldine Viswanathan Geraldine Viswanathan ( ; born 20 June 1995) is an Australian actress. She gained attention in the role of Kayla in the 2018 film '' Blockers'', for which Refinery29 referred to her as "the film's breakout star". Viswanathan starred in the 2019 ...

actress *

Tanya Hennessy Tanya Hennessy (born 1985) is an Australian digital content creator, comedian, writer and television presenter who works in Australia. Hennessy taught drama and worked in theatre as a stage manager at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before switchi ...

digital content creator, comedian, writer and television presenter

References

External links

*
The Hunter Theatre
{{Public high schools in New South Wales, state=autocollapse Creative and performing arts high schools in New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1923 1923 establishments in Australia Public high schools in New South Wales Public primary schools in New South Wales Education in Newcastle, New South Wales

History

Motto and colours

Music

Dance

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links