Gosford High School

Gosford High School (abbreviated as GHS) is a government-funded co-educational academically selective secondary day school, located in Gosford, in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.

Established in 1928, the school enrolled approximately 1,067 students in 2025, from Year 7 to Year 12, of whom one percent identified as Indigenous Australians and sixty-three percent were from a language background other than English. The school is operated by the NSW Department of Education; the principal is Michael Smith.

History Gosford High School, operated by the New South Wales Department of Education, was established in 1928, the first secondary school in the Central Coast region, and became a selective high school in 1989. The original building was completed in 1929, and consisted of seven classrooms, one science laboratory and an assembly room. Students at the school primarily come from the Central Coast region, though students from the Sydney and Lake Macquarie regions comprise a significant portion of the population. , Gosford High was the only fully selective school on the Central Coast, making admission very competitive.

Motto The school's Latin motto is spectemur agendo, which is conventionally translated into English as "Judge me by my actions" Other translations include Let us be judged by our acts and By our deeds may we be known.

Staff The principal of Gosford High School from 2006 to 2016 was Lynne Searle. She was replaced in 2017 by Tony Rudd, the former principal of Manly Selective Campus. Rudd retired at the beginning of the 2019 academic year with previous deputy Adrienne Scalese taking over the position temporarily. The position of principal was taken by former principal of Narara Valley High School Michael Smith as of the start of term 2 of the 2019 academic year.

Notable among the former staff are Mark Butler (now retired), recipient of the Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools in 2004, who has been elected to the National Curriculum Board, Rebecca Donoghue, Head of Visual Arts, who received the Minister's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2013 and Michael Chamberlain, who was falsely convicted with wife Lindy in the death of their daughter Azaria, later exonerated.

Notable among current staff are Brian Jackson, a Physics teacher who a former rugby league football player; and Katherine Barebler, Head of Science, who featureed as a World Teacher's Day Winner.

Academic results The table below shows the school's HSC ranking relative to other schools in NSW. Year Ranking Distinguish Achievers (DA) Exams Sat DA Frequency (%) Year 12 Students 2016 49 250 1003 24.9 180 2017 51 282 1065 26.5 194 2018 59 231 997 23.2 178 2019 52 263 977 26.9 176 2020 72 213 1025 20.8 202 2021 87 175 921 19.0 143 2022 54 252 1024 24.6 177 2023 65 222 971 22.9 171 2024 54 299 1149 26.0 176 2025 34 336 993 33.8 165

Extracurricular and co-curricular Music Apart from the mandatory Music course in Year 8, the school has several music groups and programmes, including a Concert Band that has toured overseas in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore. A school musical is held every two years. The school also hosts an annual Kerle Comp, in which students form bands to perform the music of Bobby King. There are two main school bands, the Concert Band and the Premier Ensemble.

Sport The school holds annual swimming, athletics and cross country carnivals, with achieving students competing in higher level competitions run by the Sydney North School Sports Association. Within the school there are four sporting houses, named after prominent members of the local community and the Old Students Union.

Kingsbury (red and white Rowe (black and white ) Wheeler (green and yellow ) OSU (brown and yellow )

Gosford and Orange High School have an annual school exchange program which has taken place since 1968. Each year sporting teams are selected from both Orange and Gosford High Schools to compete against each other for the Malynley Shield, the name Malynley being an acronym of Dews' family members who donated the shield.

Agriculture Gosford High School shares a three-hectare agricultural farm with neighbouring Henry Kendall High School.

Notable alumni John BrewPublic servant and engineer Pat Conroypolitician David Fairleighrugby league player and coach Adrian GoldsmithWorld War II (1921–1961) flying ace Jack Grahame (1933–2003) lawyer Chris Holsteinpolitician Caroline JonesJournalist and broadcaster Daria Nina LoveVeterinary microbiologist Donald McGillivray (1935–2012) botanical taxonomist Mary-Louise McLaws - Infectious disease epidemologist and AO Recipient Alan Ramsey – journalist June RossGeologist, paleontologist, biologist, and one of the first Australian women to obtain a PhD Daniel Patrick Russellactor Arthur TangeSecretary of DFAT and Department of Defence Felicity Wardcomedian Nina Wilsonmusician

Gosford High School

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