Narrabundah College

Narrabundah College
Location
Narrabundah, ACT
Australia
Coordinates 35°20′10″S 149°8′52″E / 35.33611°S 149.14778°E / -35.33611; 149.14778Coordinates: 35°20′10″S 149°8′52″E / 35.33611°S 149.14778°E / -35.33611; 149.14778
Information
Type High School
Motto Discover, Care, Excel
Established 1974
Principal Kerrie Grundy
Enrolment ~939
Campus Urban
Colour(s) Yellow and black
         
Website http://www.narrabundahc.act.edu.au/

Narrabundah College is a government college that teaches the last two years of secondary education in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).[1] It was the first school in Australia to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB), starting the programme in February 1978.[2][3]

Despite attempts to close the college in the late 1970s due to falling enrolments, the school now has a full enrolment and an extensive waiting list. It has earned a reputation for academic excellence in the ACT, attracting 63% of its students from out of area including New South Wales.

History

Narrabundah College was formed as a result of the ACT developing its own education system in 1974. The new system meant that public high schools would only teach from year 7 to 10, and that years 11 and 12 would be completed at a separate school. The pre-existing Narrabundah High School was re-formed as Narrabundah College.[3]

Due to low enrolments, the ACT Schools' Authority threatened to close the school in 1978. This prompted the community into seeking backing for the IB programme. The then-federal Minister for Education, John Carrick, approved the commencement of the programme in 1979, ensuring the survival of the school.[3] It has prospered in the years since.

Campus

Map of Narrabundah College

The college campus is located in the suburb of Narrabundah, Canberra. It consists of several buildings including the large "S Block" which was originally the segregated senior building for years 11 and 12 prior to the school becoming a secondary college. In addition to a quadrangle and a canteen, the college also has a gymnasium and a theatre, as well as spacious playing fields on which students may spend their free time and is close to golf courses, public ovals and the local shops.

The College facilities also feature smart boards, iPads, and computer and science labs.[2] Every student is supplied a laptop computer for personal and educational use according to ACT legislation.[4]

Currently, buildings Block B, Block C, and Block D are contaminated with friable crocidolite asbestos. As such, the ACT Government has employed Robson Environmental to undertake regular inspections to ensure the safety of staff and students and the affected buildings will be demolished and replaced with modern educational facilities. Transportable classrooms will be installed in the College during session 2 of 2018.[5]

Curriculum

Narrabundah College offers a wide range of courses, and is highly regarded in the field of languages. As well as ESL and TIS (Translating and Interpreting Skills), the college offers students the opportunity to study the following languages:

Student assessments

For students to be awarded a Year 12 Certificate on the completion of Year 12, they must complete a total of 17 units from College courses including either 3 majors and 3 minors, 4 majors and 1 minor, or 5 majors. Courses offered by the College are assessed based on how students perform during assignments, essays, tests, "lab-pracs", workshop projects, and creative works depending on what is appropriate for the course area.[2]

Each course offered by the College is designated tertiary (T), vocational (V), or accredited (A). Students completing A units are awarded an A to E grade based of performance for each course criteria, students completing V units are designated as 'competent' (C) or 'not yet competent' (NYC), and students completing T units will receive an A to E grade as well as a score to indicate a rank compared to other students in the same course. Students who fail to complete the minimum requirements for assessments will "void" the unit, and do not have that unit count towards the completion of their course.[2]

Today

Narrabundah College showing front entrance and driveway, Winter 2008
People at Narrabundah College. From left to right: staff, student, assistant principal.
Narrabundah College students, along with Principal, Assistant Principal and representative of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra.

In 2006, 918 students were enrolled at Narrabundah College, which had a capacity of 912 students. 86% of college-aged students in the college's priority enrolment area attend Narrabundah, yet over half of students enrolled in the school do not live in the priority enrolment area.[6]

In 2007, Narrabundah College was the best performing government-run college in the ACT, with a higher average University Admission Index (before the introduction of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) and a greater number of students achieving a UAI of 65 or over than any other state college. Narrabundah students also made a high proportion of those achieving in the top one percent of the state, with 18 students achieving a UAI of over 99. In addition to this, Narrabundah College also awarded more Tertiary Entrance Statements, and more Year 12 Certificates than any other college in the ACT.[7]

A very high percentage of Narrabundah College students who graduate with a Year 12 Certificate also obtain a ATAR and go on to study at university. In 2017, the median ATAR gained by students of Narrabundah College was 83.7 compared with the average of students from all across ACT colleges of 77. 86.75% of students from the college who were awarded Tertiary Education Statements in 2017 scored over 65 for their ATAR, while 144 students attained an ATAR above 90, and 86 students received a score above 95.[8]

Narrabundah College consists of a large number of students from foreign countries and non-English speaking backgrounds, being the school in Canberra with the most foreign students. There are significant numbers of diplomatic, exchange, and International Private Students (IPS) studying at Narrabundah College whose attendance is importance to it's financing.

Notable alumni

The following people are notable former students who attended Narrabundah College:

Sister Schools

Hangzhou Foreign Language School: http://www.chinahw.net/html_en/template/aboutus.html

References

  1. ↑ http://www.decs.act.gov.au/schools/colleges.htm
  2. 1 2 3 4 Narrabundah College
  3. 1 2 3 Australia, National Archives of. "ACT Schools Authority". guides.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  4. ↑ Quinlan, Glynis. "All Canberra public students in Years 7-11 to receive laptops early next year | The RiotACT". The RiotACT. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  5. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions - Narrabundah College". ACT Education Directorate. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  6. ↑ http://www.det.act.gov.au/2020/pdf/Towards2020.pdf
  7. ↑ crCohortStats_NoVET.rpt Archived 2008-05-28 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ College, Narrabundah (2003-01-01). "Welcome". www.narrabundahc.act.edu.au. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  9. ↑ BBC - h2g2 - The Doug Anthony Allstars
  10. ↑ Pryor, Sally (26 September 2013). "Short end of the stick". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  11. ↑ Griffiths, John (6 November 2014). "Celebrating ACT Public School alumni". CityNews.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Celebrating the Achievements of our Past Students, ACT Government, archived from the original on 30 January 2017, retrieved 31 January 2017
  13. ↑ Canberra Liberals Archived 2006-08-19 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ Doherty, Megan (25 January 2013). "Timomatic and the local hero ... a dynamic duo for Australia Day". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  15. ↑ "Machine Translations: We Chat with J Walker". Coast. Coast Media Pty Ltd (Maria Reed). Summer 2009. pp. 30–32. ISSN 1833-3648. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.