Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus


The Leichhardt Campus of the Sydney Secondary College is a government-funded, co-educational, dual modality, partially academically selective and comprehensive junior secondary day school, located in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia. Together with the senior school at the Blackwattle Bay Campus and the other junior school at Balmain Campus, the school is a part of the Sydney Secondary College.
Established in 2002, the campus caters for approximately 1000 students from Year 7 to Year 10.

History

Prior to 2002, the school was known as Leichhardt High School. Established in an area with a large number of migrant families, particularly from Mediterranenan backgrounds, the school has long been known for its diversity of cultural backgrounds. This led to focused funding and pedagogical approaches towards non-English speaking background students.
Declining enrolments at the school, together with a push towards multi-campus colleges led to the establishment of Sydney Secondary College in 2002. In the first year after establishment, the College had a combined enrolment of 1,800, up from 1,250 in 2001.
From 2011 onwards, as part of the Smarter Schools National Partnership on Improving Teacher Quality, the school was involved in an alliance with the Balmain Campus and Campus of the Georges River College as a Centre for Excellence.
Leichhardt Council has proposed that two heritage former tramway buildings, situated next to the school, be handed over and made into a performing arts centre for the students. The school supports the handover, but the government is unwilling to allow access to the buildings.

Facilities

Lostock

The campus maintains a property, known as Lostock, about north of in the Hunter Valley along the Paterson River. The property is used for school excursions and camps, and also provides facilities for families of staff and students as a "weekender". The property is home to an abundance of wildlife, including wombat and platypus colonies.

Notable alumni