Ku-ring-gai High School (abbreviated as KHS), formerly Ku-ring-gai Creative Arts High School (1996–2016), 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 ...

comprehensive and specialist secondary

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 ...

with a speciality in creative and performing arts. The school is located in

North Turramurra North Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore (Sydney), Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Turramurra is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in ...

, on the

Upper North Shore The North Shore is a region within Northern Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia, generally referring to suburbs located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour up to Berowra, and suburbs between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove River. 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The school is set on and located adjacent to the

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the Highway 1 (New South Wales ...

School catchment area and student selection

As a

New South Wales Department of Education The New South Wales Department of Education, a government department, department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery and co-ordination of early childhood education, early childhood, Primary education, primary sch ...

public high school, KHS accepts all students in

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia and England) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 ...

Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth or thirteenth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-comp ...

living in its catchment area. The catchment covers locations in Ku-ring-gai and Hornsby councils, including

Dangar Island Dangar Island is a forested island, in area, in the Hawkesbury River, on the northern outskirts of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Dangar Island is a suburb of Hornsby Shire and as at the 2021 census had a population of 313, which swells ...

. The school also accepts, if there's space, those who "demonstrate outstanding ability and commitment in the creative arts in either dance, music, drama and/or visual arts ". Students who apply for enrolment under this criterion are required to provide a portfolio demonstrating this ability. The school also takes international and exchange students and is part of the International Students Program of the NSW Department of Education.

Campus and facilities

The school features one of the last remaining Binishells (dome-shaped hall) called the "Margaret Preston Hall" and is one of the few public schools in New South Wales with a full sized hockey field. In July 2020, refurbishment was completed with the construction of new facilities. This included a new multipurpose hall, and the refurbishment of 15 existing learning spaces.

History

The school opened in February 1965 with its first group of Year 7 students. Ku-ring-gai was the first of a second wave of new co-educational high schools built in the Sydney suburbs. The school's first headmaster was Bill Eason, who later went on to found the Australian Independent School at

North Ryde North Ryde is a suburb located in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Ryde is located 15 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde. One of ...

. The four houses, which are still part of the school today, and the names of the four original classroom buildings were set in 1965 - Churchill,

Curie Curie may refer to: *Curie family, a family of distinguished scientists: :* Jacques Curie (1856–1941), French physicist, Pierre's brother :* Pierre Curie (1859–1906), French physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Marie's husband :* Marie Curi ...

Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

, and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

. The Churchill House is represented by the colour red; Curie House yellow; Tagore House green and Lincoln House blue. The school colours were originally brown and gold. The Lincoln block was added after 1970. At that time, the grounds included an obstacle course (later dismantled for safety reasons) and three free-standing cottages for creative arts, music and one for senior students. Ku-ring-gai was a local high school until 1996 when Mrs. B. Peatie became the headmistress and requested permission from the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

to become selective in creative arts. Since then, there have been up to 900 students registered each year. In 2015, it celebrated its 50th year and in 2016 reverted to the name "Ku-ring-gai High School".

Creative arts

The school was formerly creative arts-based. Members of the school choir as well as a large number of dancers are selected to perform at the NSW Schools Spectacular each year.

Notable alumni

Catherine Jinks Catherine Jinks (born 1963) is an Australian writer of fiction books for all age groups. She has won many awards including the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award four times, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, the ...

– author *Brad Allan – part of the 1977/78 Australian Schoolboys Rugby Team.

References

External links

Ku-ring-gai High School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ku-Ring-Gai High School Creative and performing arts high schools in New South Wales Public high schools in Sydney 1965 establishments in Australia Educational institutions established in 1965 Turramurra