The Balmain Campus of Sydney Secondary College 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 ...

dual modality partially academically selective and comprehensive junior

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 on the eastern side of the Balmain peninsula, in the inner-western

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 ...

suburb of Balmain,

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 1975 at the Balmain High School, the campus caters for approximately 750 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 10 Year 10 is the tenth year of compulsory education in schools in many countries including England, Australia, India, Northern Ireland, New Zealand and Wales. It is the tenth or eleventh year of compulsory education. It is approximately equivalent ...

. 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 principal is Julianne Beek.

History

Established in 1975 as Balmain High School, the school has since taken part in several changes, most notably in a coalition with neighbouring inner-western schools. Since 2002, together with the senior school at the

Blackwattle Bay Campus The Blackwattle Bay Campus of the Sydney Secondary College is a government-funded co-educational dual modality comprehensive senior secondary day school, located in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Glebe, New South Wales, New South Wales, ...

and the other junior school at Leichhardt Campus, the school is part of the Sydney Secondary College. Throughout the school's history, it has remained a public school operated by the

. The Balmain Campus was also the birthplace of the film festival,

Flickerfest Flickerfest is an international short film festival held annually in January at Bondi Beach, Sydney. It is an Academy and BAFTA recognised short film festival for both international and Australian film makers. History The festival originated ...

Support Unit

Balmain Campus is acclaimed among the Sydney Secondary College for its ''Support Unit'' for physically and mentally disabled students. Balmain campus was the only high school in South-East Sydney to have a Satellite class with ASPECT, but it was shut down in 2009. The school underwent renovations during the 1980s to enable the entire school to be completely facilitated for

wheelchair access A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries (paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebral pa ...

, and other various needs of the disabled students. One of the major renovations included a central private lift for disabled students which provides access to the four main floors in the school.

Curriculum

The school offers a range of subjects in its curriculum. The academic staff is organised into several departments: English,

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

design and technology Design and Technology (D&T) is a school subject offered at all levels of primary and secondary school in England. It is used so children develop a range of designing skills and technology skills for example, using media to design their project. It ...

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

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 ...

, and

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

. The school participates in the

School Certificate The School Certificate was a qualification issued by the Board of Studies, New South Wales, typically at the end of Year 10. The successful completion of the School Certificate was a requirement for completion of the Higher School Certificate. T ...

assessment regime, with a wide range of subjects being offered in a variety of difficulty levels.

Facilities

The Campus is divided sequentially into six blocks: * A, B and C Block: ''Support Unit'' classrooms and facilities. * G Block: ''English'' on ground floor; ''Social Science'' on first floor; and ''Mathematics'' on second floor. * J Block: ''Science'' and ''Information Technology'' on ground and first floor; second floor holds the school office. * D Block: ''Design and Technology'' on ground floor, ''Visual Arts'' first floor; Mathematics and Science staff rooms on second floor; ''Physical Education'' theoretical classrooms on third floor. * E Block: ''Design and Technology'' workshops on ground floor, ''Performing Arts'' and ''Visual arts'' on first floor; ''Textiles'' laboratories and ''Hospitality'' kitchens on second floor. * F Block: ''

Assembly Hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the st ...

'' and ''

Canteen {{Primary sources, date=February 2007 Canteen is an Australian national support organisation for young people (aged 12–25) living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters, and young people with parents or primary carers ...

'' on upper floor; ''Physical Education'' student changerooms/showers, and staff room on lower floor. Throughout the campus, student bathrooms and

bubbler A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...

s have been installed as well as outdoor furniture (lunch benches, seats). The campus also, as previously mentioned, is facilitated with ramps,

stairlift A stair lift is a mechanical device for lifting people, typically those with disabilities, up and down stairs. For sufficiently wide stairs, a rail is mounted to the treads of the stairs. A chair or lifting platform is attached to the rail. A per ...

s, and a central lift to assist physically disabled student's access to the school grounds. Other school facilities also include a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor sur ...

s, netball courts, two football fields,

cricket nets Cricket nets are used by batters and bowlers to practice their cricketing techniques. They consist of a cricket pitch (natural or artificial) enclosed by netting on either side, behind, and optionally above. The bowling end is left open. Net ...

and a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium. A waterfront pontoon for launching light watercraft and other vessels has been scheduled for development in 2008.

Notable alumni

Alex Lloyd Alex Lloyd (born 19 November 1974) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', '' Watching Angels Mend'', '' Distant Light'' and ''Alex Lloyd'', released between 1999 and 2005, made the top ten on the ARIA charts ...

singer-songwriter * C.W. Stonekingmusician * Darcy Byrnepolitician

References

External links

Sydney Secondary College Balmain Campus website
{{Public high schools in Sydney, state=autocollapse Selective schools in New South Wales Public high schools in Sydney Balmain, New South Wales Educational institutions established in 1975 1975 establishments in Australia