Golden Grove High School

Golden Grove High School

Principal: Ms Jude Leak

Golden Grove High School is a large public comprehensive secindary school with an enrolment of 1200 students situated 20kms from the Adelaide City Centre.

It also has a Special Education Unit which currently caters for 50 students who have an Intellectual Disability.

Golden Grove High School shares its campus with Gleeson College and Pedare Christian College and share the same facilities and resources. Some facilities are also shared with the community by arrangement with Tea Tree Gully Council which manages the Golden Grove Recreation and Arts Centre on site.

Golden Grove High School and Gleeson College also  share a 'State of the Art' multi-purpose facility comprising of a large activity area, stage, foyer and 2 lecture theatres.

Golden Grove High School is also a Centre of  Excellence in the Arts, and offers a Special Entry Dance program which commences at Year 8.

The school is well serviced by a number of Trans Adelaide bus routes and is approximately 25 minutes from Adelaide by O'Bahn.

The school has a comprehensive school uniform policy, fully supported by the Governing Council.  A uniform shop has been established on campus to give the school better control over the quality, style, cut, materials and pricing structure.
 
A privately leased school canteen provides students and staff with a wide range of food and drinks.  It is open for both breakfast and lunch.  Students participate in the quality assurance process for the delivery of canteen services.
 
 
Pastoral Care

Middle School approaches have been developed in Years 8 & 9 to reduce the number of teachers with whom students identify.  A House system operates from Years 8-12, and a year level structure allows for an effective student voice input to decision making. 
 
The “Student Voice” program ensures a well-informed student body participates at every level of decision-making.
 
 
Support Offered

• Two School Counsellors (coordinator status) support students (and staff) with course and career counselling.  The Access Centre is where the Counsellors and VET Coordinator are located and it is a “one stop shop” for students.
• A School Chaplain (up to 15 hours per week) is also available to support and advise students.
• A Student Services Team approach is in place and all key staff providing counselling and learning support meet on a regular basis.  Students are referred to the team and a Case Manager may be assigned to provide ongoing support to an individual student.
• A peer support program operates, with Year 11 students accepting particular responsibility for Year 8 students.  There is planned support and training, in particular to support the Year 7-8 Transition Program.
• Students in Year 8, 9 10 and 11 are taken through specific seminar to address strategies related to bullying and harassment during the first half of each year. Emphasis is placed on the quality of relationships between students, teachers, and parents.

Parent participation
 
The Governing Council has a number of sub committees that involve students, teachers, and parents. Parents are encouraged to become involved in the school in a variety of ways – eg committees, sports coaching, learning assistance programs, library assistance, financial advice etc.
 
Special Programs

Golden Grove High School has established national and international partnerships in the Arts, particularly the Performing Arts.  Students excel in Dance, Drama, Music, Music Technology and gathering ever increasing momentum is Multi Media integrated into the Visual and Performing Arts.  The development of the new DRMC provides an outstanding venue for students to showcase their excellence to the community.  The Performing Arts Faculty have established a performance based exchange tour to Singapore & Malaysia.

The School implemented the first intake of Special Entry Dance students into Year 8 in 2004.  These students are offered a place following an application, audition and interview process.  They study 2 lines of dance at Years 8 and 9 and then access a breadth of Arts options from Year 10 onwards.  Students selected may come from in or out of the zone.

The school currently runs two exchange programmes for languages. 

• Every second year Spanish students have the opportunity to travel to Spain.
• Japanese students from Seto Junior High School come to Golden Grove High School in August each year, while Golden Grove High School Students visit Japan every second year

(Information taken from the Golden Grove High School Ccntext Statement 2005 - located on their website's home page)