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Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

, state =

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 ...

, postcode = 2150 , country =

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, coordinates = , schooltype =

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 ''Öffentlichkei ...

comprehensive

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

, religious_affiliation = , established = 1934 , principal = Gail Cluff , viceprincipal = , viceprincipal_label = , asst principal = , assistant_principals = , teaching_staff = , gender =

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

, years =

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 , enrolment = 1197 , enrolment_as_of = , faculty = 35 , campus type = , colours = , website = Macarthur Girls High School is situated on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. S ...

next to

Parramatta City The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a local government area located west of central Sydney in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland, where the Cumberla ...

. The school was named after John Macarthur, a pioneer of the Australian wool industry. The school was built in 1934 with later additions in 1955, 1975, 1996 and 2010. The school offers students a curriculum directed towards the Higher School Certificate with a combination of traditional and Vocational Education courses. The schools 75th birthday was in 2009. The School Students Representative Council celebrated the event by renovating the rose garden.

Background

Macarthur Girls High School is a large comprehensive school, with more than 1200 students, situated 20 km west 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 ...

and adjacent to the

River. Their purpose is to encourage young women to achieve their personal best and beyond, empowering them with the necessary skills to be successful citizens of Australia in an ever changing world. Macarthur Girls have had many achievements, including first in the state for standard English in 2012. In October 2018 a surprise visit to the school was made by the UK's

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

and Duchess Meghan.

School history

The school is located on an area of land first granted to William Reid (a seaman-convict from the

Sirius Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...

, the first ship of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

to enter Sydney Harbour in 1788). Later the property was acquired by the Rev.

Samuel Marsden Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden was a prom ...

where he built a new home, Newlands. The property changed hands several times before it was acquired by the Education Department and the present school was built in 1934. Changes in the name of the school reflect the changing educational trends of the times. * 1927–30 – The "Old School," originally located near Arthur Phillip High was known as Parramatta Commercial and Household Arts School. * 1931–37 – Parramatta Domestic Science School. * 1938–41 – Parramatta District and Home Science School. * 1942–45 – Parramatta Secondary Central Home High School. * 1946–52 – Parramatta Home Science School. * 1953–58 – Parramatta Secondary Home Science School. * 1959 – Macarthur Girls High School. * 2010 – Macarthur Centre of Excellence

Alumni

Counted amongst "The Old Girls" is the Olympic gold medal winning runner

Betty Cuthbert Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017) was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres ...

, ''

Dateline A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization i ...

'' presenter

Yalda Hakim Yalda Hakim (born 26 June 1983) is an Australian broadcast journalist, news presenter, and documentary maker. After her family left Afghanistan and settled in Australia in 1986, she grew up in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta and went o ...

, international fashion model

Robyn Lawley Robyn Lawley (born 13 June 1989) is an Australian model. Early life and family Robyn was born in Girraween, New South Wales, to Chris and Janne Lawley; and has two older sisters, Shona and Jennifer. Robyn attended Macarthur Girls High School. R ...

References

External links

Macarthur Girls High School website
{{Coord, -33.8130, 151.0125, type:edu_region:AU, display=title Public schools in Sydney Girls' schools in New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1934 Schools in Parramatta 1934 establishments in Australia Parramatta River