Norwood Morialta High School

Norwood High School

Norwood High School first opened in 1910 on Osmond Terrace Norwood as Norwood Boys School. In 1915 it moved to new premises at Lossie Street Kensington Park. For a period the school was named Norwood District High School. In 1962 the school moved to what is now the TNMHS Senior Campus on The Parade. Norwood High School shared common origins with Norwood Boys Technical School, a school that later became Norwood Boys High, then Marryatville Boys High, and subsequently amalgamated with Kensington and Norwood Girls Technical High to become Marryatville High School, a school that shared a strong rivalry with NHS and continues to with the current TNMHS. The school provided an alternative to parents living in the eastern suburbs that wanted to enrol their children in a public school rather than one of the many private, selective and technical schools that were also in the area. During that time Ivan Coward was principal, and he met the needs of those enrolled in the public system who sought entry to the academic world.

Morialta High School

Morialta High School's founding principal was Ian "Joe" Laslett. He was appointed to the position in 1974, in the year before its opening, so was able to liaise closely with the architects during the construction of the school, appoint his staff in preparation for its opening in 1975 and provide opportunities for all who were to be part of the school community to have a say in formulating its philosophies and practices.

Although not due to take up their appointments until 1975, the senior staff met regularly towards the latter part of 1974 and a whole staff conference was held at Graham's Castle conference centre in December of that year.

The school was not ready to open in February, 1975 so, for the first weeks the initial 540 students (Years 8 and 9 only) and 45 teachers were housed at Murray House, a grand old building, part of the Murray Park College of Advanced Education (now the Magill Campus of the University of South Australia) until the completion of a main building ("B Block") at Rostrevor. The staff then voted to move into B Block although construction of the other buildings and facilities still continued.

The toilet block was not finished, so buses were provided with a timetable to transport students to the nearby McNally Training Centre until the school's facilities were ready.

The buses were also used to provide outdoor education opportunities in the early weeks. These endeavours helped develop a cohesive spirit amongst all members of the school community.

Morialta had an open plan design. "B Block" housed an extensive science teaching area on the ground level and open plan classrooms on levels 2 and 3. Whilst the majority of the 8 teaching areas on levels 2 and 3 were designed as Mathematics and Humanities areas, each level had one area also dedicated to Science teaching.

Morialta was not a specialist High School but had many experienced specialist teachers and ancillary staff. One staff member was senior lab technician Charles Jennings, who worked for 32 years at the school and, later, The Norwood Morialta High School, setting up accurate data records and hazardous substances folders for the science area, which helped the school gain level 3 occupational health safety and welfare (OHS&W) accreditation.

Another founding staff member was Deputy Principal, Peter Lang, who later returned as Principal of the amalgamated Norwood and Morialta High Schools.

The school won awards for its design in the 1970s, as it was considered modern and futuristic for its time.

The early years of the school were packed full of innovative practices and esprit de corps was high. School socials were a regular event and, on 8 December 1975 Australian band Cold Chisel performed at the school.

Following the amalgamation, the Morialta site became the TNMHS Middle Campus.

Norwood Morialta High School

TNMHS was formed in 1993 following the amalgamation of Norwood High School and Morialta High School. From 1993 onwards, all students in Years 8 to 10 were based at the Middle Campus, and students in Years 11 to 13 were based at the Senior Campus. The Middle Campus concentrates on developing students from Years 8 to 10 for life at the Senior Campus, which in turn focuses on the senior years of schooling and entrance into higher education. TNMHS is the only Government High School in South Australia with two completely separate campuses. Over the past few years, students have sought to enrol at The Norwood Morialta High School from outside of the school's zone. Students from Hong Kong, Vietnam, China, Germany, and South America have also been recruited through the school's International Program. Many International students take the opportunity to study their own language at Year 12 level through the School of Languages in addition to the Intensive Secondary English Course (ISEC) established in 2000. Students can begin at the Middle Campus in Years 8 to 10, or at the Senior Campus in Years 11 or 12.

In 2005 a student was assaulted with a machete at the senior campus after school, in front of scores of witnesses; this incident mirrored a similar event at the same campus in 2003. As at Term 3, 2005, the largest Government high school in South Australia was The Norwood Morialta High School with 1454.1 full-time equivalent (FTE) students. In January 2007, TNMHS was still the largest state high school with between 1300 and 1400 students, once again proving to be one of the most popular public schools.

In November 2008, calculations from the Australian Education Union claimed that under the South Australian Government's proposed new schools funding scheme, which allocates money per student instead of per class and is based on 2006 enrolments, The Norwood Morialta High School stood to lose as much as $167,029 in funding, though the Government claimed that the school's funding would remain the same.

Exchange program

The school has established links with sister schools located internationally in China (Yantai High School, Yantai), Germany (Berufliche Schule des Kreis Segeberg in Norderstedt, Norderstedt), Greece (1st Lykeio Patras, Patras), Japan (Takahashi High School, Okayama), and Italy (Scuola Media Statale Antonio Genovesi, Salerno).

Annual exchanges occur with each of the sister schools, with TNMHS sending students to a sister schools one year, and hosting students from that school the following year. This gives students the opportunity to experience both the culture and education systems of another country and enhance student learning and communications skills in other languages. There are also opportunities for individual students to go on a long term exchanges overseas. The tenth anniversary of the exchange with Japan was celebrated in September 2000.

International Baccalaureate

Since 1996, TNMHS Middle Campus has offered a comprehensive program which meets requirements of both the South Australian Curriculum and Accountability (SACSA) framework and the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program. It offers Years 3, 4 and 5 of the IBMYP and operates in a cluster of schools in which Years 1 and 2 are offered by three local Primary Schools.

In order to meet MYP requirements, students must choose Language B, Technology and Arts courses in Year 10. All students study courses in English, Health and PE, Mathematics, Science and Society and Environment in each year. In Years 9 and 10, Maths courses are differentiated into Advanced and Standard. Language B (a study of a second language) is compulsory in Years 8, 9, and 10.

Sub-schools and home groups

The Norwood Morialta High School places its students into one of three Sub-schools, which are similar to houses used at other schools. TNMHS has three sub-schools; Blue, Red and Gold. The sub-schools were originally used at Morialta High School and have continued to be used since the amalgamation in 1993. Sub-schools contain Home Groups which have approximately 20 to 30 students each. Students are divided into Sub-Schools for administrative and other purposes. Students from different Sub-Schools display a strong sense of rivalry towards each other during the weeks leading up to Sports Day which is held annually at Santos Stadium.

During double home group on Thursdays, the time is often used for various things such as assemblies, meetings, icebreaker activities, and in general to distribute information.

From 2008, Middle Campus students were placed into Year level sub-schools, with students still identifying with their sporting colours of Blue, Red and Gold for Sports Day.

As of 2016, The Norwood Morialta High School has replaced the sub-schools with Learning Communities; Hartley, Dunstan and Morialta. The difference is purely in name, and they function the same way that the sub-schools did prior to the change.

Co-curricular activities

Students have opportunities to partake in academic pursuits as well by participating in a vast range of co-curricular activities.

Community Service can be done through programmes such as the 40 Hour Famine, active8, Glossy Black Cockatoo Project, Peer Support, and the publication of School Yearbook. Students can also participate in broader activities such as Amnesty International, Australian Business Week, Campbelltown Youth Council, UNICEF Ambassadors, Youth Parliament Group, Debating, National Mathematics, Science and Language competitions, School Formal Committee, and the Student Representative Council.

Sport

Students can participate in sporting activities that the school offers through various associations, such as the Independent Schools Sport Association, the Catholic Girls Sports Association, and Secondary School Sport SA.

Sports offered by the school include:

Students also have the chance to participate in Camping and bushwalking, Rock climbing, canoeing, aquatic skills, orienteering, and distance running.

Rowing

TNMHS is one of only three public schools in South Australia that offer Rowing as a summer sport, the other two public schools being Adelaide High School and Unley High School. TNMHS competes annually with twelve other schools in the Schools' Head of the River Regatta, held at West Lakes. Training is held on the River Torrens, or at West Lakes where the school’s Boathouses are located.

Pedal Prix

The school participates in Pedal prix. Teams are entered, according to team members' ages, in the Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary Categories to ensure that all year levels are covered. The school has two teams in the Open Category which are mainly for old scholars but students still participate in these teams. TNMHS currently has four teams entered in the Series with students assuming significant team responsibilities including building and maintaining the bike. There is a significant amount of rivalry between the four teams, namely the two open ones Focus and Astro. As a result of this rivalry many Focus team members call the Astro bike "Gastro". The teams are:

Performing arts

Morialta High School was an entrant in the former Rock 'n' Roll Eisteddfod, competing in the years 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 becoming the South Australian winner in 1989. After the amalgamation with Norwood High School, The Norwood Morialta High School competed in the years 1993, 1995 and 1997, becoming state winners in 1994.

Media

In 2005 several students were involved as media producers for the Our Children the Future Conference. The program involved much of the Stage 2 Media Studies class. The work was given acclaim from both the school and the conference organisers. The program offered a first hand look at the world of actual media production to its students.

Student music videos have often been finalists and won at the Rap it up student video awards held annually in South Australia.

In 2007, The Norwood Morialta High School was an entrant in the "Local Yarns" New Media Awards Competition, conducted by the DECS Learning Technologies Group, and won in the Year 10 - 12 Category with their video Race Around the World, a satirical glimpse at Chinese community in Norwood and Payneham.

Music

The school offers a comprehensive music program to all its students. In the past, the school's music students had the opportunity to work with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

A themed music concert is performed annually at the Ivan Coward Hall at the Senior Campus. Previous themes have included The British Invasion which featured music from famous UK artists such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Handel, and Gilbert and Sullivan, and Music from Latin America featuring a performance from music students from nearby feeder school Magill Primary School.

There are various ensembles and bands that music students can participate:

Musicals

The Norwood Morialta High School performs an annual musical production involving students of all year levels. The musical is run almost entirely by students from stage management, make up and props to the actors and lighting technicians. It is supported and partially funded by local businesses and the community, in addition to funding from within the school. The school musical is a way for students to interact with people they may have never been able to get to know otherwise. In stage 2, a SACE point may be awarded to participants. Past musicals include: The Pirates of Penzance, In Your Dreams, Pendragon, Les Misérables, Calamity Jane, The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof amongst many others. Their most recent performance was Annie in 2015.

Facilities

Though there are separate Middle and Senior campuses, the following list of facilities are available on both:

The Music rooms at both campuses have a main room that is used for class tuition, and several small soundproof rooms in which each there is a piano available for private individual practice. There is also a Keyboard Lab at the Middle Campus, a room with many electronic keyboards that are connected to a central Keyboard and sound system. The Middle Campus also has a Darkroom which was formerly used for photography.

Facilities unique to the Senior Campus include a large Cafeteria, which has one large, and another smaller area, separated by a shared Canteen. Above the Cafeteria are the linked The Ivan Coward Hall, and The Peter Lang Performing Arts Centre, a facility built in the late 1990s. A specialised room dedicated entirely to filming is also located at the Senior Campus.

Notable alumni

This list is incomplete, and includes former students of TNMHS, not all of which ('which'?, 'whom' surely) graduated from this school.

Academia

Business

Media, entertainment, and the arts

Politics and law

Sport

Other