Glenunga International High School

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Glenunga International High School
Labor Omnia Vincit (Latin for Work Conquers All)
Location
99 L'Estrange St Glenunga, SA 5064 Australia
Information
Type	Public
Established	1903 (as the Preparatory School for the SA School of Mines and Industries) [1]
Principal	Wendy Johnson
Faculty	approx 150
Enrollment	1230 [2]
Colour(s)	Blue and Gold
Information	+61 8 8379 5629
Website	[ http://www.gihs.sa.edu.au/]

Glenunga International High School (informally known as Glenunga or GIHS) is a publicly-funded school in South Australia. It is located approximately four km from the city centre of Adelaide in the suburb of Glenunga, between L'Estrange St and Conyngham St, adjoining the major thoroughfare Glen Osmond Road. It is among the top public schools in the state in terms of academic performance and serves the surrounding Unley, Burnside and Hills suburbs. It was the first public school in South Australia to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

Principal

The current principal is Wendy Johnson, who commenced her term at the beginning of 2008. She was previously the principal of Victor Harbor High School and has experience as a teacher, administrator and district director.

Robert Knight, who started at the school in 1992, retired as principal at the end of 2007. He helped improve the standing of the school with features such as a large international student program (under the Intensive Secondary English Course) involving many students from China, Japan and a variety of south-east Asian nations; a selective program for gifted students entering high school (Ignite Programme, initiated as the SHIP program in 1998) and the adoption of both the local SACE and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs. Knight's term saw enrollment increase by 700 students to 1400 (many of whom are from areas outside the school's zone, or from overseas), after it came close to being closed by the State Government in the mid-1990s due to falling enrollments.

History

Glenunga's iconic blue wall

The school was established in 1903 (planning began in 1898) as the Preparatory School for the South Australian School of Mines and Industries. It was renamed the Junior Technical School in 1914 and then Adelaide Technical High School in 1918.^[1] Nevertheless, the school and the Old Scholars Association marked 1998 as the cententary year.

It was located at Brookman Hall, North Terrace, which is now part of the City East campus of the University of South Australia. The school population outgrew the campus, so in 1964 it was relocated to its current location in Glenunga, and was renamed Glenunga High School in 1974. It adopted its current name upon the introduction of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in 1990-91, a development which was instigated to help save the school from closure due to dwindling student numbers. With enrolments rising, GIHS has subsequently attracted substantial government funding and construction projects, most notably the technology and science wing extensions, a new administration block and a performing arts centre; since 2005 there have been various additional changes to the facilities, such as extra rooms. While facilities have been improving, the school campus has now come to a point where, as a result of the expansion in enrolments, it is suffering similar space issues to its predecessor.

Recent changes include:

• The gymnasium now houses three extra classrooms, which are used for Physical Education classes and a weights/training area.
• The focus room has been moved to a new location in the Mathematics Wing.
• There have been some lockers added, fixed, redecorated or removed.
• There are new staff members.
• Gradual upgrading of all computer systems within the school as well as the usage of Bess content-control software to help prevent access to non-curriculum-based internet content.
• Airconditioning in almost all areas of the school.
• A new outdoor shade area between the Library and Mathematics Wing.
• Tennis courts have been upgraded.
• SMARTboards have been installed in various classrooms within the school.

International focus

Glenunga has a strong history of academic achievement in the IB Diploma Programme, with students often achieving scores in the highest range. Glenunga has several sister schools in countries as wide-ranging as China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, India, Malaysia and Fiji. GIHS helps organise regular student exchanges and school tours both to and from these schools.

GIHS also offers extensive second language courses including English, English as a Second Language (ESL), Mandarin, French, German, and Japanese. Other languages are available off-campus through various programmes, such as the Ethnic Schools Association and the South Australian School of Languages. It has also achieved accreditation from the European Council of International Schools.

Student life

Glenunga International High School hosts an array of extracurricular groups, many of which are student-run. These include the Student Forum, musical theatre and other interest clubs, a variety of community service organisations, International and Environment Clubs, as well as various sporting teams. The Amnesty International Club and the Student Activist Alliance are two student-led groups which seek to raise international and political awareness within the school as well as in the wider community. To actively encourage the creation and expansion of these groups, GIHS maintains a Student Life Coordinator on its staff. The current coordinator is Jonathan Turland.

Glenunga International High School is home to an active student voice organisation which has undergone a number of changes between 2006-2007. These changes include the composition of new constitutions for the Student Forum as well as the Prefect system.

Notable alumni

• Peter John Badcoe - Victoria Cross recipient. Killed in action during the Vietnam War
• William Henzell - Represented Australia at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics in table tennis
• Paul Mildren - Member of the Australian baseball team
• Cameron Wood - AFL footballer with the Brisbane Lions (2004-2007) & Collingwood Magpies (2008-)

References and notes

External links

• Glenunga International High School Website
• Adelaide Technical High School Old Scholars Association