Crestwood High School is a public high school in Crestwood,, in the north-west of Sydney, Australia. Crestwood High School offers an education culminating in the award of the HSC, administered in accordance with BOSTES standards. Their overall state score is 90. The school offers comprehensive classes for students in grades seven through to twelve. The school is of moderate size, counting 1,062 students and 94 employees in 2014, slightly smaller than many nearby high schools. Entry for prospective out-of-area students is increasingly competitive. In addition to the standard educational facilities, the school has a farm used for lessons in agriculture, sizeable arts and technology faculties, and a support unit which provides special education services for persons with disabilities.
Location
The school is located in the suburb of in the Hills District. Prospective students in the prescribed drawing area are given first preference for available places. A limited number of places are generally available for students outside of this area, awarded on merit in line with DEC guidelines. Students often come from local suburbs including and, but also as far as and. Private operator Hillsbus operates school bus services to some of the aforementioned locations. The Sydney Metro project will improve accessibility to Crestwood when it opens in 2019, with Norwest railway station to be located a 25-minute walk from crestwood High School.
Academic achievements
A selection of the notable achievements by students at Crestwood in recent years includes:
Two students attained an ATAR above 99 in the 2014 HSC.
54 mentions in the HSC Distinguished Achievers list in 2014.
11 mentions in the HSC Top Achievers list, including first in NSW in Legal Studies, and in Industrial Technology.
9 mentions in the HSC All-round Achievers list, one in 2014.
In 2015, one student progressed to the state semi final level of The Plain English Public Speaking Competition.
One student in 2014 attained the highest score in the Australian Science Innovations Big Science Competition. This score was awarded to only 64 of 49,000 participants.
Crestwood offers a more diverse curriculum in years 7 through 10, before the HSC curriculum in years 11 and 12. In stage four, students rotate technology subjects each semester, with courses including textile design, food technology, metalwork and woodwork. This is in addition to language, drama, and digital literacy courses, the aim of which is to give a holistic foundation with which to approach higher study. Grade nine and ten students elect to complete two 200-hour courses over the stage, and two 100-hour courses. This gives students the ability to trial subjects that they might be interested in before selecting the subjects to take them through the HSC course. The school operates a Gifted & Talented class for its top performing students in stage four, and offers a streamed Gifted & Talented class in Stage five. Years 7 and 8 students work on the 'Gifted & Talented Forum Project' annually, an open dialogue for the presentation of ideas and opinion, introducing concepts of ideation and entrepreneurialism. Crestwood students from Grades 8 through 10 have the option of participating in a weekly sporting competition against neighbouring schools, as well as entering knock-out tournaments and a variety of regional and state sporting events. Other extra-curricular activities offered at Crestwood includes dance and drama, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, barista training, a concert band, debating, peer tutoring, and a small selection of special-interest groups and clubs. The school also maintains connections with the local community through a handful of schemes, most recently the Community Mentoring Programme. The programme connects noteworthy figures in the local community to aspiring students in year 11, providing them with support and an opportunity to share experience. Beyond this, the school hosts an annual musical, and is involved in local fundraising exercises including the Relay for Life.
