Figtree High School

Figtree High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located on Gibsons Road in Figtree, a suburb of Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1969, the school enrolled approximately 900 students in 2018, from Year 7 to Year 12, of whom five percent identified as Indigenous Australians and 26 percent were from a language background other than English.^[2] The school is operated by the New South Wales Department of Education.

History

Figtree High School was established in 1969, with 242 First Form students enrolling as the first students to attend. The first principal of the school was Ken Brokenshire, with Robert Everitt, the Deputy Principal and nine assistant teachers. Because construction of the school was not finished at the time, students and teachers borrowed furniture from Dapto High School and attended classes in seven portable buildings in the grounds of Dapto High School. Construction finally finished in July 1969, being announced "Australia's most modern high school" by the local newspaper,^[3] and students re-located back to their new building in Gibsons Road. Of the original 242 students enrolled in 1969, 87 elected to enter the Senior School and completed their Higher School Certificate in 1974.

The school was built in close proximity to the famous, historic fig tree that the suburb was named after, and this tree was adopted as the school emblem. But in 1987, after a significant storm, the tree was terminally damaged and was removed as a safety precaution. Students referred to the school as "Figstump High" for this time. After much discussion, a new fig tree was planted on the site of the original tree in 1997.^[3]

Staff

The current principal of Figtree High School is Daniel Ovens. There are 52 classroom teachers and a total of approximately 100 staff members including behaviour teachers, physical disability teachers and school assistants.

Music, dance and drama

Figtree High School has put on a number of musical productions including the 2008 production of "The Course of True Love", written by a teacher at the school and the 2010 production of "Grease: The Musical".

Notable alumni

• Jan Barham – politician; former MLC – Greens Member NSW Legislative Council^[4]
• Stephen Black – former NBL basketball player
• David Farmer – administrator; former General Manager Wollongong City Council, now CEO Ipswich City Council^[5]
• Brian Hetherington – former rugby league footballer, state representative^[3][6]
• Garry Jack – former rugby league footballer, national representative^[7]
• Phil Jaques – former Australian cricketer
• Wendy Laidlaw – basketball player; represented Australia at the 1984 Olympics and the 1983 World Championships
• Ashley Paske – former actor in Neighbours now voiceover professional
• Steve Roach – former professional rugby league footballer, national representative
• Jason Ryles – former rugby league footballer, national representative
• Carolyn Watson – conductor
• Zac Lomax – rugby league footballer

See also

1. ^ "Figtree High School". School Locator. NSW Public Schools. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Figtree High School, Figtree, NSW: School profile". My School. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "History". Figtree High School. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
4. ^ Alafaci, Annette (6 December 2005). "Barham, Jan (1958 - )". Australian Women's Register. University of Melbourne; National Foundation for Australian Women. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
5. ^ Christodoulou, Mario (10 May 2008). "Farmer finds it's lonely at the top". Illawarra Mercury.
6. ^ "1972". 18th Man. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
7. ^ Simes, Alicia (4 November 2008). "Dynamic duo scouts for old school cast". Illawarra Mercury. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

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