Caringbah High School 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 ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

, located in

Caringbah Caringbah is a suburb in Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Caringbah is south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Sutherland Shire. Caringbah once stretched from Woolooware Bay o ...

, in the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. The school was opened in 1960 as a co-educational high school and was nominated to become selective in 1989, over the neighbouring Port Hacking High. approximately 907 students were enrolled. Surrounding schools include

Endeavour Sports High School Endeavour Sports High School (abbreviated as ESHS) is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive and specialist secondary day school, with speciality in sports, located in Caringbah, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Austra ...

Woolooware High School Woolooware High is a comprehensive secondary school in the Sutherland Shire, Sydney, Australia. It was established in 1967 and took its first class in January 1968. Woolooware High is known for participation and success in performing arts, spo ...

, and Port Hacking High School. Caringbah High School is the only co-educational selective high school in the Sutherland Shire.

School campus

Before 2010, the school was split across two locations, the southern campus (on higher ground, known colloquially as "top school") and the northern campus (on lower ground, known colloquially as "bottom school" or "the Annexe"). The campuses were linked by a covered walkway and grassed area. The southern campus was the original site which contained an auxiliary administrative office as well as music, industrial technology, applied science classrooms and languages. As of the 1980s, the junior years were taught in the Annexe and senior years were taught in the older buildings on the southern campus. However, due to the unstable

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

foundation of the "top school", causing the campus to begin sinking, a construction project to consolidate all of the school's facilities commenced in 2007. and was completed in 2012. As of 2010, only the "bottom school" is in use and the abandoned buildings of the "top school" have become a noted site of

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

and vandalism. On 2 April 2013, the school hall in the abandoned southern campus was destroyed by

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

. On 29 August 2015, one of the other buildings in the southern campus was the site of another fire. A year 12 student has secured $100,000 to add solar panels on the roof of the school hall, which is expected to create annual savings of $18,000.

Outdoor Learning Centre

One of the key programs the school's environmental committee "Greenedge" has undertaken is the Outdoor Learning Centre (OLC). Construction started in August 2013. It is located near the site of the former walkway between the two campuses. Students and staff both had significant input into the design, and much of the work was constructed with the help of students and staff. The OLC consists of a central "pod", where classes can be held, and 5 smaller "pods" each based on bush tucker, a xeriscape, a meditative garden, an indigenous garden and a sensory garden.

Information Technology course

Students have the opportunity to complete the 'Talented Computing Program' (TCP) as an elective in years 9 and 10. The preliminary Higher School Certificate course in Information Processes and Technology (IPT) commences on the first semester of year 9; allowing students to complete 2-units of their HSC prior to reaching year 11. Completion of TCP allows the option of undertaking a first-year university level course in computing through the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

in year 11 called COMP1917.

Co-curricular

Caringbah High School provides various extra-curricular activities, such as public speaking, debating,

Tournament of Minds Tournament of Minds (TOM) is an academic competition focusing on collaborative problem solving and critical thinking. It is open to both Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary students in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa an ...

and HSC distinction courses.

Music

Caringbah has twenty-two musical ensembles, of which many compete in regional and statewide events and performances, including the Sydney Eisteddfod McDonald's Performing Arts Challenge. As a part of the consolidation of campuses, a new, "Music Centre" was created, which houses music classrooms and practice rooms, where students from music classes and music ensembles have classes, can store instruments and practice during lunchtimes and before and after school.

Sporting teams

Caringbah fields many sporting teams which compete in many sports including

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

(boys and girls) and squash. In 2023, the Caringbah High School Boys Open Football Team won the NSW Combined High Schools Knockout Competition, winning the competition for the first time in the school’s history.

Dance ensembles

Caringbah High has 2 dance ensembles that are split by both grade and skill level. Both these ensembles have performed in a variety of festivals, such as the Synergy Dance Festival, In the Spotlight and Sutherland Dance Festival. Most of these are run by the NSW Department of Education specifically for NSW Department of Education schools. The program is open to all students from years 7 through to 12.

Tournament of Minds

Caringbah High School has competed in the

for over 18 years. The school regularly enters two Language Literature Teams, three Social Science Teams and a Maths/Engineering Team. In 2006, the Maths Engineering team, two Social Science teams and a Language Literature team received honours at a regional level. One Language Literature team went on to compete and receive honours at the State level. In 2018, the Social Sciences team won at the Sydney East Regional Finals, and are progressed to the State Final

Green Edge

In 2009, Green Edge, the school's environmental committee began (unnamed until 2012). The aim of the team is to promote environmental sustainability within the school community. It has undertaken activities such as upgrading light switches to energy efficient timers, introducing a worm farm system, and a school garden. After a period of inactivity, the Green Edge team was re-established in 2015 by a Year 11 student.

Debating

The school maintains several debating teams consisting of students from all grades, participating in regional debating competitions. In 2014, and 2018 a team of Year 10 students won the grand final of the Les Gordon History Debating Competition.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Caringbah High offers the

Duke of Edinburgh Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...

program as a co-curricular activity. In October 1973, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh himself presented the award at the school. Newspaper clippings of the Duke's visit are on display in the Caringbah High School Library.

HSC results

Caringbah High School students achieve consistently high marks in the Higher School Certificate (HSC). In the years 2000–2007, of the 150 student cohort, on average 11 students achieved 99+ (7%), 23 achieved 98+ (15%), and 48 achieved 95+ (31%), with over 98% of students gaining entrance into university. In the 2009 student HSC cohort the average ATAR was 87.8, with 60% of students achieving an ATAR 90+. The school's HSC rankings from 2007 to 2024 according to Better Education were: * 2007: 26th * 2008: 20th * 2009: 31st * 2010: 35th * 2011: 28th * 2012: 52nd * 2013: 57th * 2014: 38th * 2015: 36th * 2016: 29th * 2017: 39th * 2018: 40th * 2019: 48th * 2020: 30th * 2021: 44th * 2022: 35th * 2023: 42th * 2024: 81st

Notable alumni

Business

* Tamara Ralph – Australian–British fashion designer, co-founder of

Ralph & Russo Ralph & Russo is a European, privately held company owned and founded by Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo. Ralph & Russo is a high fashion house that specializes in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods, and fashion accessories ...

Economics

* Anne Harding (economist) — Australian economist and Emeritus professor at the University of Canberra

Entertainment, media and the arts

Jayne Azzopardi Jayne Azzopardi (born 1980) is an Australian television presenter, reporter and journalist. Azzopardi is currently a news presenter of Nine Network's breakfast program ''Today''. She has previously been a co-host and news presenter of '' Week ...

– co-host of

Weekend Today Weekend editions of '' Today'', an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC, began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on September 20, 1987. After NBC expanded ''Today'' to seven days a week in the 1990s ...

and reporter for

Nine News Sydney ''Nine News Sydney'' is the local news bulletin for the Nine Network station in Sydney, airing across New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory each night. Like all ''Nine News'' bulletins, the Sydney bulletin runs for one hour from 6p ...

* Michael Hing – co-host of Triple J's ''Hobba and Hing'' and presenter on The Project * Mickey Kojak – electronic musician * Neel Kolhatkar – comedian, YouTuber and actor

Politics, public service and the law

* Malcolm Kerr – former Liberal member for Cronulla *

Terry Metherell Terry Alan Metherell (born 9 January 1947) is an Australian former politician who represented the Electoral district of Davidson in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1992. When the Liberal Party won the 1988 election, Premie ...

– former Minister for Education and Youth Affairs * Iain Ross – former Judge of the Federal Court of Australia *

Mark Speakman Mark Raymond Speakman (born 6 November 1959) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2011 New South Wales state election, 2011, representing Electoral district of Cronulla, Cronulla ...

– current leader of the NSW Liberal Party

Medicine and science

* Ken Hillman – doctor, researcher and Professor of Intensive Care at the

* Susan Serjeantson – geneticist and professor of genetics at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

Finance

* There are at least four STIR traders that have graduated from Caringbah in the past two decades.

Sport

* John Dyson — Australian test cricketer *

Clayton Stevenson Clayton Stevenson (born 29 December 1967) is an Australian former cyclist. He competed in the team time trial at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as ...

— Olympian and Commonwealth Games cyclist * Randall Goff - Olympian (water polo)

Popular culture

The 2012 Australian television series '' Puberty Blues'' was filmed on location at Caringbah High School.

References

External links

Caringbah High School website
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1960 Public high schools in Sydney Selective schools in New South Wales 1960 establishments in Australia Caringbah South, New South Wales