Established in 1981, Macquarie Fields High School caters for approximately 1,000 students from Year 7 to Year 12.[2] The school is administered by the New South Wales Department of Education and has two avenues for admission and runs two streams of classes: "Selective", in which students are accepted after sitting a statewide competitive entrance examination, and "Community", in which students are allowed to reside in the local community.[3]
History
The first Principal was Don Harwin and his Deputy was Mike Wilson. Harwin began in 1981 with approximately fourteen staff members and was appointed to Menai High School in 1988 with Mike Wilson as the Deputy Principal.[4]
Extracurricular activities
Future Teacher's Club
This initiative allows students to experience first-hand teaching. Students plan and teach lessons to younger grades during 'Teach Week'. Additionally club-members participate with annual visits to University of Sydney, allowing them to partake in insightful discussions and activities with current university students studying secondary education.[5] As tradition, students also have annual excursions to Yanco Agricultural High School, a selective school in Leeton, in south-western New South Wales, giving students rural experiences of schooling. The initiative has been successful as Australia's first Future Teacher's Club; currently occupying over 50 club-members.[6]
Campus
The hall was refurbished following an arson attack in 2009.[7] In 2009, Macquarie Fields High School was selected as one of thirteen primary and secondary schools around the state to become Centres for Excellence.[8][9] The school will receive extra resources, and be linked to a university which will be able to send its teaching students to the school at any time during their course rather than the traditional internship.[10]
