Kooringal High School

Kooringal High School
Location
Riverina
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, 2650
Australia
Coordinates 35°08′35″S 147°22′52″E / 35.143126°S 147.381141°E / -35.143126; 147.381141Coordinates: 35°08′35″S 147°22′52″E / 35.143126°S 147.381141°E / -35.143126; 147.381141
Information
School type Public (secondary, partially selective, co-educational)
Motto The Edge in Education
Established 1973
Principal Norman Meader
Grades 7-12
Enrolment 842[1]
School colour(s) Navy blue, gold, and brown
            
Slogan Preserve, Conserve, Serve
Newspaper The Ziegler
Website School website

Kooringal High School (KHS) is a secondary, partially selective, co-educational, public high school, located in the Wagga Wagga suburb of Kooringal, New South Wales, Australia.[2]

Kooringal High opened in 1973 with 354 students in years seven and eight, 18 teachers, one office worker and eight cleaners. It was the third government high school established in the city of Wagga Wagga[3]. Kooringal High School's local enrollment area includes the residential areas of Kooringal and Lake Albert and more recently Tatton and sections of Springvale.[4]

Selective Stream

Kooringal High School's Selective Stream commenced operation with its first year 7 intake in 2010.[5] The commencement of the school's selective stream was thanks to the NSW state government's decision to increase selective placements, and Kooringal High School was set to offer thirty places per year to students who had sat and passed the State Secondary Schools Selective Test.[6] One of the school's claims to fame is that it is the only selective school in the Riverina region[7], with the nearest selective school being Yanco Agricultural High School. In 2015, selective students accounted for approximately 20% of the school's total enrollment.[7]

All prospective Selective Students sit the State Secondary Schools Selective Test and are assigned a profile score out of 300, and this score is used to determine which selective school they can acquire a place at. From that process, each school has a minimum entry score that is based on the score held by the last student to accept a place from the reserve list for the previous year's placement. In 2018, the School's Minimum Entry Score was 161, the lowest entry score that year, and a title shared by six other selective schools in NSW[8].

Minimum Selective High School Entry Scores[8]
School 2015 2016 2017 2018
Kooringal High School 161 163 160 161

Facilities

Technological

Kooringal High School features six computer rooms[9] for student use, four of which are fitted out with HP Prodesk 600 G2 desktop computers. Each computer room has on average 25 desktops that run Windows 10 for Education. 17 Interactive Whiteboards have been installed in Key Learning Areas[9] to aid in classroom learning, and a school-wide wireless network is accessible in each classroom and learning space. The Kooringal High School Library also has several banks of laptops that are loaned out to classes for student learning. The school was also one of 200 in NSW to receive a full video conferencing facility[10][9], which is now located in the top level of the school library, colloquially know as the VC (Video Conferencing) Room.

Sporting

The school has two sporting ovals, one on the north side of the school, and another on the south eastern side. Two new multi-purpose netball/basketball courts are located on the top oval, and an older (now mostly disused) basketball court sits alongside them. The school's indoor gymnasium commonly doubles as a basketball/volleyball/tennis court, and also plays host to school assemblies, held each fortnight[11].

Student Facilities

A school canteen sells produce to students during each school break, and minimal seating is provided in the open concreted play areas. The school library is open each lunchtime for students to come and study or work on assignments. Student restroom facilities provided to junior students at the school are generally considered sub-standard.

Behavioral Scheme - The 'Kooringal Way'

The commencement of the second school term in 2018 brought the announcement of the school's new behavioral scheme known as "The Kooringal Way". In the initial stages of it's introduction, the Kooringal Way scheme was made a meme of by students in the school, with an example included below. The Kooringal Way behavioral management strategy brought several changes to the school's Values and Expectations and Student Management procedures, seen in the table below. These changes have come as the school connects up to the NSWDEC Positive Behavior for Learning (PB4L) scheme. The most obvious change is to the Values and Expectations, where "Excellence" has been swapped out for "Learners" and the associated rules changed, which has further implications for the school community. Plenty of signage reflecting the Kooringal Way Values & Expectations have been placed around the school, with signage places in KLA's and Transition environments. The school community has called into question the necessity of this signage, however no official costing for the signs has been released by the school.

As a means of encouraging students to follow the Kooringal Way, 'Gotcha' cards were introduced. Gotcha cards are given out by teachers to students who follow the Kooringal Way. At each assembly, 'Gotcha" cards are put into boxed based upon the student's year groups and drawn out, with one winner per year group.

"The Kooringal Way"
Value Rule
Respectful Respect Yourself, Others & the Community
Responsible Act Responsibly
Cooperative Respond Positively to Instructions
Learner Participate Productively in Learning and Have High Expectations

Notable current students

Rachel Trenaman - Australian cricketer who plays for the New South Wales Breakers.[12]

Michael Nixon - Award-winning young entrepreneur and founder of EduKits International.[13]

Notable alumni

Performing arts
Sport

References

  1. ↑ "Kooringal High School". School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Meader, Norman. "2018-2020 School Plan" (PDF). Kooringal High School. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  3. ↑ "Kooringal High School | Our school". www.kooringal-h.schools.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  4. ↑ "Kooringal High School School Catchment Map - voomMAPS.com". voommaps.com. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  5. ↑ NSWDEC. "Guide to selective classes at Kooringal High School" (PDF). Kooringal High School. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  6. ↑ "Elite schools: boost to selective places - National - smh.com.au". www.smh.com.au. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  7. 1 2 "Kooringal High School | Selective Classes". www.kooringal-h.schools.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  8. 1 2 "2015-2018 Selective high School Minimum Entry Scores". NSW Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  9. 1 2 3 "Kooringal High School | Digital Education". www.kooringal-h.schools.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  10. ↑ "Connected Classrooms Program" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  11. ↑ "Kooringal High School | Bell Times". www.kooringal-h.schools.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  12. ↑ Rees, Courtney (2017-03-21). "Rachel heading overseas for tour". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  13. ↑ Manning, Shane (2016-07-01). "Michael's 3D vision rewarded in Regional Pitchfest | Photos". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  14. ↑ Grimson, Ken (2014-10-10). "Aria nominations for Wagga singers". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  15. ↑ Council, Wagga Wagga City. "Wagga Wagga City Council: News". www.museumriverina.com.au. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
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