Merewether High School (abbreviated as MHS) 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 the suburb of

Broadmeadow Broadmeadow is a locality in the Hunter region of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is the geographic centre of the Newcastle city and suburban area. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".

in the city of , Australia. It was established in 1977 following the merger of Newcastle Technical High School and Cooks Hill Girls High School. The school is named in honour of Edward Merewether, a prominent businessman and civil servant in the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

who later became the Superintendent of the

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in Newcastle. The school enrolled approximately 1,070 students in 2020, from

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 ...

, of whom two percent identified as

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and 25 percent were from a language background other than English. The school caters for students from a wide area within the Greater Hunter Region. The school is operated by the NSW Department of Education; the principal is Rochelle Dooley. Merewether High students have consistently achieved some of the highest results in the Higher School Certificate, outperforming other schools in the Greater Hunter Region, with many students achieving state rankings in select courses.

History

The suburb of Merewether is named after Edward Merewether, who began his working life in Australia as aide-de-camp to three

Governors of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

between 1842 and 1861. He was appointed Superintendent of the

in Newcastle in 1861 and became a significant landowner and local benefactor. The school's ''E.C. Merewether Award for Creative Endeavour'' and the shield, which adorns the school's front foyer, were inaugurated in honour of Merewether. From 1952 until 1976, the site, enclosed by School Street, Awaba Street, Chatham Street, Pokolbin Street and Melville Road, was occupied by Newcastle Technical High School. The school included an industrial arts block (now the covered outdoor learning area (COLA)), K Block (the library), two bike sheds (since removed) and a canteen (since pulled down and a new canteen built in its place). L Block was added in the 1960s. The school merged with Cooks Hill Girls High School in 1976 to form a comprehensive co-educational high school, which drew students from the suburbs of Carrington, Wickham,

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and Merewether. A building programme commenced just before the merger, with new blocks (A–D) being constructed, and blocks F–G being added later. The final principals of both schools are memorialised in the naming of the Bensley Hall and the Foley Library on the present campus. Since 1989, enrolment is determined by an academic selection process. The school has a planned capacity of 1,080 students (180 from each year from 7–12). It first reached its enrolment capacity across all years in 2005. Many buildings sustained severe damage in the 1989 earthquake, but were repaired thereafter. Another more recent event that affected the school was the floods of June 2007, which toppled trees and required the replacement of carpets in some blocks' lower floors, including K Block and the Foley Library. In 2020,

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was found in the roof cavity of K Block, necessitating air monitoring and ceiling encapsulation works. The inspection of the building found that the asbestos levels were below detectability, allowing classrooms to remain in use.

Selective high school

As an academically selective high school, Merewether High School takes enrolments through a statewide process. In the final year of primary school, students are assessed and enrolled by the school on the basis of their achievement across the curriculum and on the Selective Schools Placement Test. Only 180 places are offered for Year 7 students, with the minimum score required for admission in 2015 being 180. After the beginning of Year 7, students are placed into the selective classes by the college on a student-by-student basis.

Extra-curricular activities

Merewether High School offers many extracurricular clubs and activities to its students, many of them

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform Instrumental music, instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist ...

s, including: string ensemble, percussion ensemble,

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind instrument, woodwind, brass ...

, saxophone quartet, flute quartet, clarinet quartet, vocal ensemble and guitar ensemble, formerly facilitated by the honourable Brian Saxby ''BMus''. Other activities and clubs at the school include a chess club, art club, and robotics club. Merewether High School has participated in

Odyssey of the Mind Odyssey of the Mind, abbreviated OM or OotM, is a creative problem-solving program where team members present their solution at a competition to a predefined long-term problem that takes many months to complete and involves writing, design, cons ...

since at least 1992 and have had many successes in this pursuit, including a team of Year 9 students winning the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award in 2008. The school has many various sporting teams including: cricket, association football, basketball (The Weathers), rugby union (Merewether Moos), rugby league,

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

, hockey, netball, volleyball, rowing, aerobics team, water polo, tennis, table tennis softball and baseball. Merewether High School regularly participates in the World's Greatest Shave, with several staff and students shaving their hair to raise money for leukaemia research. In 2021, the school raised over $78,000. In 2022, the school was able to raise over $100,000, the most of any school in Australia. Merewether High School was one of the schools that competed on the

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programme Shaun Micallef's Brain Eisteddfod.

Notable alumni

* Tim Ambrose, former cricket player * Manu Bennett, actor *

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

, veterinarian and television presenter * Sarah Halvorsen,

player * Gordon Hamilton, director of The Australian Voices * Erin James, actress * Iain Jensen, professional sailor * Harry Johnson-Holmes, rugby union player * Sarah Kendall, stand up comedian and actress * Justin Norris, butterfly and individual medley swimmer, bronze medal in the 200m butterfly at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

* Nathan Power, water polo player * Anna Rose, environmental activist

References

External links