Lucas Heights Community School

Lucas Heights Community School is a unique K-12 coeducational, comprehensive school located in the Sutherland Shire in southern Sydney.

Lucas Heights Community School was established in 1992 in a new and growing residential area in the Sutherland Shire to cater for local students from Kindergarten to Year 12. The pleasant bushland setting is complemented by modern purpose built facilities which are conducive to effective learning and teaching. Also included is a gymnasium and a performance space.

Three sub-schools exist within the school: junior, middle and senior school. These sub-schools each have their own ceremonies, symbols, programs and student privileges which enable students to develop a sense of progression through their stages of schooling. Lucas Heights Community School seeks to ensure that our comprehensive educational program for all students provides a sound, challenging education, effective welfare programs and a range of sporting, performance and cultural opportunities.

SCHOOL BELIEFS

Teaching and Learning

LHCS believes that:

- all students have the right to learn - learning is lifelong - all students learn in different ways at different rates - teachers are facilitators of learning - students supported by the whole school community are responsible for their learning - assessment and reporting are ongoing and integral to teaching and learning

Student Welfare

LHCS believes that:

- positive self esteem is important to the development of the individual - all school community members are responsible for the welfare of students - effective student welfare facilitates learning - school should be a safe, caring and secure environment - all students have rights and responsibilities

School/Community Interaction

LHCS believes that:

- all members of our learning community have the responsibility to work to achieve quality outcomes for students -the community is a valuable source of expertise and resources -school decision making and policy development should involve community consultation and liaison

SCHOOL HISTORY: Lucas Heights Community School was established in 1992 with the appointment of 10 staff and the enrolment of 57 students in the inaugural Year 7. Building of stage 1 was six months ahead of schedule and the Department Of Education made the decision to open the school, even though the first group of students needed to be accommodated in the grounds of Menai High School for semester one of that year.

The Principal, Deputy Principal, and four head teachers were also appointed in the closing weeks of January leaving little time to plan for the classes for the 1992 Year 7 cohort before school commenced. The school was initially housed in four demountable classrooms adjacent to the agricultural plot at Menai High – the presence of sheep in the staff study was a common occurrence!

The parent community at this time relished the challenge of supporting the establishment of their new school. In consultation with the students, they designed the new school uniform, established the canteen and uniform shop and gave countless volunteer hours to assist in covering new library books and text resources.

Visiting the new school site, complete with hard hats, was an exciting day as the staff envisioned where they would be located in the new buildings. The formal occupation of the site took place on day 1 of Term 3, 1992. Some specialist secondary rooms, eg the TAS block, had not been constructed and so the current senior canteen, augmented by a gas barbecue, was the makeshift kitchen for stage 4 Design and Technology and a mini workshop for Wood Technology was located in a demountable in the staff carpark.

The latter part of 1992 was consumed with preparation for the enrolment of the first K-6 cohort of children in 1993. The anticipated enrolment of 5 classes actually increased to 11 classes by December 1992. The task of selecting and appointing staff, purchasing resources and preparing for the enrolment of over 400 children K-6 at the beginning of the new school year was massive. In addition, preparations had to be completed for the enrolment of the new Year 7 of 1993. This really marked the nature of the school from 1992 to 1998, that is, until the foundation group completed the 1997 HSC.

During 1993, the final establishment phase was planned. The school was purpose built for students and staff who required the use of wheelchairs and thus the Support Unit for students with a physical disability was established in 1994. The school community welcomed this additional dimension to the nature of the school and worked very hard to create a support unit that has developed into an outstanding example of a learning environment for students with special needs integrated into a mainstream setting.

The excitement of creating and building a new K-12 school community energised the dedicated staff of class teachers and the school leadership team. The rich collection of educational resources now found across the school would not exist without the outstanding financial support of the parent community realised through school contributions and the efforts of the P&C.

LHCS ACHIEVEMENTS: At Lucas Heights Community School, students can and do become high achievers. Quality students attend the school and achieve superior standards in the school certificate, the HSC and other areas of school life. It is no surprise that the vast majority of students at Lucas Heights Community School progress to university, TAFE, apprenticeships or full time work.

Lucas Heights Community School can boast many significant achievements in its short history. The school is the proud holder of two Director General 's Awards. One for excellence in outcomes based education and the other for K-12 educational curriculum. In sport, Lucas Heights Community School has produced State representatives in golf, basketball, equestrian, swimming and Tae Kwon Do. At National and International level, our students have represented and been supported in Rugby League, Athletics, Cross Country, the 2000 Paralympics and Ice Skating.

In the performing arts we have had student representation in the Sydney Olympic Games and The Rugby Union World Cup, while our dancers have represented us at state level and we were placed second in the state theatre sports competition in 2005.

Our quality programs in debating and public speaking have seen the school consistently perform well in a range of interschool competitions with some of our students using these skills to become Sutherland Shire Citizen of the Year and Lions Area Youth of the Year.

Sources:

Lucas Heights Community School website: http://www.lucasheigh-h.schools.nsw.edu.au Lucas Heights Community School - NSW Department of Education Profile website: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/schoolfind/locator/?section=showRecord&code=8271