Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Orange High School (New South Wales)

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Established
  
1912

Enrolment
  
~1060 (7-12)

Colour(s)
  
Black & Gold

Founded
  
1912

Principal
  
David Lloyd

Campus
  
Rural

Phone
  
+61 2 6362 3444

Type
  
Public, Secondary, Co-educational, Day school

Address
  
Cnr Woodward St, Orange NSW 2800, Australia

Motto
  
Quod Potero Sedulo (Latin)

Orange High School is a co-educational, secondary, public, day school located in Orange, a provincial city of New South Wales, Australia, 260 kilometres west of Sydney.

Contents

Founded in 1912, the school was the first state secondary school to be established in western New South Wales, and is one of two government secondary schools located in the city of Orange, the other being The Canobolas Rural Technology High School.


Orange High School has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1100 students from Years 7 to 12. It is a school of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET), and prepares students for the School Certificate (Year 10), and the Higher School Certificate (Year 12).

History

Founded in 1912, Orange High School was the first state secondary school to be established in western New South Wales. The school's first classes were held in the School of Arts building, now the site of the Police and Community Youth Club in Byng Street. The school then moved to purpose built facilities on the corner of March Street and Sale Street, which are now part of the TAFE complex.

Amongst the decisions made in the first year were for the school colours to be black and gold, the design of the school badge and the motto, "Quod Potero Sedulo" (translated from Latin as "Whatever I do, I shall do to the best of my ability").

Students were housed at the March Street school from 1913 through until 1958, at which time the High School and Rural School were merged. The current school buildings, sited on Woodward Street near the western end of the main street, Summer Street, were opened on 13 November 1959. During the opening ceremony, the Principal, Mr O'Sullivan, stated that in 1913 the total number of students enrolled was 93 with 6 teachers on staff. Presently the school caters for just under 1100 students with 70 on the teaching staff.

Music

The school has a music department and stages frequent concerts. It had a stage band, which was regarded as one of the best in the state. In addition to the stage band, the school had a concert band, a choir, and many other smaller ensembles. The stage band was placed first in division 2, two years running, at the South Australian Mount Gambier Generations in Jazz Festival sometime ago.

Sport

Students of Orange High School may choose to participate in a variety of sporting activities, including Cricket, Netball, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Soccer, Softball, Aerobics, Badminton, and Lawn Bowls. The School participates in statewide competitions and maintains links with the traditional "Astley Cup", "Malyney Shield" and "McGinniskin Trophy".

All students take part in Swimming and Athletics carnivals, and the school also enters students in weekend competitions, including Netball, Hockey, Softball and Triathlon.

House system

As with most Australian schools, Orange High School utilises a house system for sport and administrative purposes. Students are divided into four houses upon their enrolment:

  • Bourke (dark green) - Named after Richard Bourke
  • Elliott (yellow)
  • Macquarie (dark blue) - Named after Lachlan Macquarie
  • Parkes (red) - Named after Henry Parkes
  • Notable alumni

  • Alexandra Nagle - Fashion designer based in New York City
  • Murray Cook - Children's Performer as a Member of The Wiggles (also attended Endeavour High School)
  • Sir Charles Cutler - Politician; Former NSW Deputy Premier and Country Party leader
  • David Foster - Novelist, essayist, poet and farmer (also attended Armidale High School and Fort Street High School)
  • Tim Gartrell - Australian Labor Party National Secretary. Gartrell was the school captain in 1988.
  • Garry Bruce West - Public Affairs Consultant; Formerly politician and representative in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (National Party) for the seat of Orange
  • Richard Hale - Order of Australia.
  • Lisa Lackey - Actress who attended Orange High School in the 1980s. Roles in Home and Away from 1992-1995 as Roxy Miller, NBCs series Heroes, Mulholland Drive.
  • References

    Orange High School (New South Wales) Wikipedia