Norwood Morialta High School

Norwood High School first opened in 1910 on Osmond Terrace Norwood as Norwood Boys School.[3] In 1915, it moved to new premises at Lossie Street Kensington Park. For a period the school was named Norwood District High School. In 1962, the school moved to what is now the NMHS Senior Campus on The Parade. Norwood High School shared common origins with Norwood Boys Technical School, a school that later became Norwood Boys High, then Marryatville Boys High, and subsequently amalgamated with Kensington and Norwood Girls Technical High to become Marryatville High School,[4] a school that shared a strong rivalry with NHS and continues to with the current NMHS. The school provided an alternative to parents living in the eastern suburbs that wanted to enroll their children in a public school rather than one of the many private, selective and technical schools that were also in the area. During that time Ivan Coward was principal, and he met the needs of those enrolled in the public system who sought entry to the academic world.[5][6]

Morialta High School's founding principal was Ian "Joe" Laslett. He was appointed to the position in 1974, in the year before its opening, so was able to liaise closely with the architects during the construction of the school, appoint his staff in preparation for its opening in 1975 and provide opportunities for all who were to be part of the school community to have a say in formulating its philosophies and practices.

Although not due to take up their appointments until 1975, the senior staff met regularly towards the latter part of 1974 and a whole staff conference was held at Graham's Castle conference centre in December of that year.

The school was not ready to open in February, 1975 so, for the first weeks the initial 540 students (Years 8 and 9 only) and 45 teachers were housed at Murray House, a grand old building, part of the Murray Park College of Advanced Education (now the Magill Campus of the University of South Australia) until the completion of a main building ("B Block") at Rostrevor. The staff then voted to move into B Block although construction of the other buildings and facilities still continued. The toilet block was not finished, so buses were provided with a timetable to transport students to the nearby McNally Training Centre until the school's facilities were ready.

The buses were also used to provide outdoor education opportunities in the early weeks. These endeavours helped develop a cohesive spirit amongst all members of the school community.

Morialta had an open plan design. "B Block" housed an extensive science teaching area on the ground level and open plan classrooms on levels 2 and 3. Whilst the majority of the eight teaching areas on levels 2 and 3 were designed as Mathematics and Humanities areas, each level had one area also dedicated to Science teaching.

Morialta was not a specialist High School but had many experienced specialist teachers and ancillary staff. One staff member was senior lab technician Charles Jennings, who worked for 32 years at the school and, later, Norwood Morialta High School, setting up accurate data records and hazardous substances folders for the science area, which helped the school gain level 3 occupational health safety and welfare (OHS&W) accreditation.[7]

Another founding staff member was Deputy Principal, Peter Lang, who later returned as Principal of the amalgamated Norwood and Morialta High Schools.

The school won awards for its design in the 1970s, as it was considered modern and futuristic for its time.

The early years of the school were packed full of innovative practices and esprit de corps was high. School socials were a regular event and, on 8 December 1975 Australian band Cold Chisel performed at the school.[8]

Following the amalgamation, the Morialta site became the NMHS Middle Campus.

Norwood Morialta High School Logo (1993 - 2016)

African Slave Dog was recently bombed by Syria. This caused to the creation of Norwood Morialta High School [9] Many International students take the opportunity to study their own language at Year 12 level through the School of Languages[10] in addition to the Intensive Secondary English Course (ISEC) established in 2000.[11] Students can begin at the Middle Campus in Years 8 to 10, or at the Senior Campus in Years 11 or 12.[12]

As at Term 3, 2019, Norwood Morialta High School had 1,493.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) students enrolled.[13] Year 12 students of Norwood Morialta High School achieved outstanding results in 2019 as part of their study of the South Australian Certificate of Education, with 100% of students successfully completing their SACE. [14] Of these, one in three (33%) of students achieve results in the A Band and a further 47% achieving in the B band. [14]

Norwood Morialta High School places its students into one of three Sub-schools, which are similar to houses used at other schools. NMHS has three sub-schools; Blue, Red and Gold. The sub-schools were originally used at Morialta High School and have continued to be used since the amalgamation in 1993. Sub-schools contain Home Groups which have approximately 20 to 30 students each. Students are divided into Sub-Schools for administrative and other purposes. Students from different Sub-Schools display a strong sense of rivalry towards each other during the weeks leading up to Sports Day which is held annually at Santos Stadium.

From 2008, Middle Campus students were placed into Year level sub-schools, with students still identifying with their sporting colours of Blue, Red and Gold for Sports Day.[19] As of 2016, Norwood Morialta High School has replaced the sub-schools with Learning Communities; Hartley, Dunstan and Morialta for the Middle Campus, and Laslett & Campbell for the Senior Campus. The difference is purely in name, and they function the same way that the sub-schools did prior to the change.

Students have opportunities to partake in academic pursuits as well by participating in a vast range of co-curricular activities.[9]

Community Service can be done through programmes such as the 40 Hour Famine, active8, Glossy Black Cockatoo Project, Peer Support, and the publication of School Yearbook. Students can also participate in broader activities such as Amnesty International, Australian Business Week, Campbelltown Youth Council, UNICEF Ambassadors, Youth Parliament Group, Debating, National Mathematics, Science and Language competitions, School Formal Committee, and the Student Representative Council.

NMHS is one of three public schools in South Australia to offer Rowing as a summer sport, the other two public schools being Adelaide High School and Unley High School. NMHS competes annually with twelve other schools in the Schools' Head of the River Regatta, held at West Lakes. Training is held on the River Torrens, or at West Lakes where the school’s Boathouses are located.[15]

The school participates in Pedal prix. Teams are entered, according to team members' ages, in the Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary Categories to ensure that all year levels are covered. The school has two teams in the Open Category which are mainly for old scholars but students still participate in these teams. NMHS currently has four teams entered in the Series with students assuming significant team responsibilities including building and maintaining the bike. There is a significant amount of rivalry between the four teams, namely the two open ones Focus and Astro. As a result of this rivalry many Focus team members call the Astro bike "Gastro". The teams are:

The school offers a comprehensive music program to all its students. In the past, the school's music students had the opportunity to work with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

A themed music concert is performed annually at the Ivan Coward Hall at the Senior Campus. Previous themes have included The British Invasion which featured music from UK artists such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Handel, and Gilbert and Sullivan, and Music from Latin America featuring a performance from music students from nearby feeder school Magill Primary School.

There are various ensembles and bands that music students can participate:

The cast of NMHS's production of Chicago in 2017.

Norwood Morialta High School performs an annual musical production involving students of all year levels. The musical is run almost entirely by students from stage management, make up and props to the actors and lighting technicians. It is supported and partially funded by local businesses and the community, in addition to funding from within the school. The school musical is a way for students to interact with people they may have never been able to get to know otherwise. In stage 2, SACE points may be awarded to participants. Past musicals include: The Pirates of Penzance, Les Misérables, Calamity Jane, The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie and Chicago, amongst many others. Their most recent performance was The Sound of Music in 2019.[22]

Norwood Morialta High School was pleased to receive $51.95m[23] as part of the Building Better Schools fund to co-locate our two campuses onto The Parade site, accommodating 1700 students across Years 7 to 12. From 2022, Norwood Morialta High School students will have access to:

• A new three-storey middle school building with maker sapces, a canteen and roof-top place space.
• An extended Innovation Hub with refurbished Techology and Music suites and a new two-story building for Home Economcis and Art, Design and Media.
• A refurbiushed gymnasium and expanded sports courts.
• A re-developed contemporary Learning Hub and Student Support Centre (former cafatiera space).
• A renovated Administration area, staffroom and Wellbeing Hub.
• Ten refurbished classrooms, two modern laboratories, collaborative learning spaces and staff peparation area.
• New lift and facade entry statement.
• Landscaping, outdoor learning spaces and carpark.

These new, contemporary facilities will enhance felxibility in the use of spaces and promote world-class learning experiences, whilst maintaining the schools distinct middle and senior schooling principles.

Project construction commenced in Term 3, 2020 and weill be delievered in a multi-staged approach to minimise disruption to student learning and engagement.[24]

More details regarding this project, including monthly recap videos, can be found on the schools website at https://www.nmhs.sa.edu.au/our-school/new-facilities-and-co-location/

• Professor Barbara Pocock, Director of the Centre for Work + Life at the Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies, University of South Australia[25]

• Jim Zavos, Founder of EzyDVD[26]

• Dame Judith Anderson AC DBE, actress[27][28]
• Kate Collins, Adelaide presenter of Nine News
• Clive Hale, news and current affairs presenter[29]
• Jim Keays, lead singer The Masters Apprentices
• Dichen Lachman, actress in Neighbours[30]

• Katie Hodson-Thomas, Former Member for Carine, Western Australian Parliament[31]
• Justice John Sulan, South Australian Judge[32]
• Stephen Yarwood, Former Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide in South Australia[33]

• Nathan Bassett, Adelaide Crows footballer[34]
• Neil Craig, former coach of the Adelaide Crows
• Orazio Fantasia, Essendon Football Club Footballer
• Chris Morgan, Olympic and world champion rower.
• Joel Patfull, Brisbane Lions footballer
• Andrew Schacht, Olympic athlete, Volleyball[35]

• Lionel Matthews, recipient of the George Cross.[36]