WARRAWONG HIGH SCHOOL TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
Mr SULLIVAN (Wollongong) [5.28 p.m.]: I wish to report to the House the twenty-fifth anniversary of Warrawong High School, which is located in Wollongong, south of the heavy industrial area and north of Lake Illawarra. In May 1972 the first of the school’s buildings were occupied by years 7 and 8 students who had been relocated from Port Kembla and Berkeley high schools, which they had attended, in the case of the year 8 students, for one year and one term. At the same time Lake Illawarra High School, located south of Lake Illawarra, whose pupils had attended Warilla and Oak Flats high schools, also moved to the site, the students being bused there each day. Those two high schools then occupied the buildings of Warrawong High School, completed at the end of 1973. My involvement began at Warrawong High School at that stage when I and a number of other teachers were transferred from Port Kembla and Berkeley high schools because of a reduction in enrolments at those schools and a growth in enrolments at Warrawong high school.
For a couple of years Lake Illawarra High School operated from the Warrawong site until the Lake Illawarra High School was completed. The Warrawong school has never officially been opened. Within 18 months of it being built the education department wanted to lay carpet over the vinyl tiles. It was a fascinating experience to argue against the education department spending money on carpeting a brand new school when the school did not have any books in the library. But these priorities were determined elsewhere within the bureaucracy of the education department.
On average, 90 per cent of students at the school have been from non-English speaking backgrounds - Italian, Greek, Macedonian, Arabic, Lebanese and Serbo-Croat. More than 80 different non-English speaking background communities have had children attending the school - even a family of Eskimos. When the father of the family had the opportunity of further training and study in Australia he chose Wollongong and worked at the steelworks, having worked at a steelworks in Alaska. What have been the achievements of the school? I will run through them very quickly. It is a great tribute to the students that they have gone on to become dentists, solicitors, engineers, doctors, academics, teachers, nurses, allied health professionals, accountants and members of many other occupations.
Mr Merton: No politicians?
Mr SULLIVAN: Not at this stage but we are waiting. The school has facilitated the dream of many parents from overseas countries. They wanted their children to have a better chance in life and that has certainly been provided by the school. It has also played a significant role in achieving multiculturalism as a stated objective of our community. It has nurtured many young sports stars, who have achieved well at regional, State and even national levels. It also provided a teaching environment which many teachers have thoroughly enjoyed and which has given them great career satisfaction. In fact, an article in today’s Illawarra Mercury refers to one of the original teachers who went to the school in May 1972. He is still teaching at Warrawong High School. There is a photograph of him and he is quoted as saying that it is a great place and that once he got to Warrawong he did not seek a transfer, because he discovered a good teaching environment there. On 11 December there will be a celebratory dinner dance and on the following day the Director-General of the Department of School Education will officiate at a presentation ceremony, which always takes place in the last week of the fourth term at Warrawong High School.