Rooty Hill High School

Location: Rooty Hill, suburban Sydney, NSW

Rooty Hill High School, a large comprehensive co-educational school in western Sydney, had an enrolment in 2016 of 1,125 students, more than half of whom are from culturally and linguistically diverse non-English-speaking backgrounds including more than 5% Aboriginal students and a large number from Asia and the Pacific. 70% of students come from low-income families. Although up to 80% of any Year 7 group are up to 3 years behind grade average on enrolment, the school’s growth data is now above state average.


How Rooty Hill High School has used Gonski funding

Rooty Hill HS received $870,000 in Gonski funding across 2014-2015. The funding has been used to pursue a range of strategies including development of core curriculum capabilities in literacy, numeracy, critical & creative thinking, and use of information and communication technologies; provision of detailed individual learning programs for each student; provision of both junior and senior learning support programs; employment of 3 part-time consultants to assist teachers in developing their own skills; additional paraprofessional staff to support students with learning disabilities; implementation of a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program that includes an e-portfolio for each student in Yrs 7-10 against which they record achievement and growth against curriculum capabilities.


How Gonski funding has made a difference for students

Rooty Hill HS reports average growth rates of 2-3 years in any 12-month period for the majority of students, and believes this is sustainable using the creative strategies the school has adopted. Principal Christine Cawsey AM says; “… we have been able to use Gonski funding to embed deep professional learning for our teachers and create a culture where it is everybody’s business to improve … the capabilities of our student so that … they are confident, creative and capable learners.”


What Rooty Hill High School could do with Gonski funding in the future

The full Gonski funding would allow RHHS to sustain both growth in performance and a high equity culture by continuing to find innovative ways to engage learners who are starting high schools with capability levels behind their peers in more affluent schools.

<<< BACK


More Gonski Success Stories

Barrack Heights PS is located in Shelharbour, 16km south of Wollongong. It has an enrolment of 250 students, most of them from low-income backgrounds.
Forest Lake State High School in outer suburban Brisbane has an enrolment of around 1450 students from diverse backgrounds.
Ulladulla High School, located on the NSW south coast, has an enrolment of about 1200 students, 70% of whom are from low-income backgrounds.
Yarrabah State School is a three campus Pre-Prep to Year 10 school in the Far North Queensland community of Yarrabah. The community faces complex inter-generational challenges including high unemployment and families living in poverty.
Morayfield State High School has a current enrolment of approximately 1500 students. The majority of students are from low-income backgrounds
Mansfield State High School is a large high school of about 2,200 students from diverse income and ethnic background in southern Brisbane.
Darlington Primary School, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, has an enrolment of about 300 students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
The school opened in 2011 and has three campuses co-located on one site: Girls’ Education, Co-Education and Special Education.
Milton Public School, a K-6 school on the south coast of NSW, has an enrolment of 650 students about half of whom are from low-income backgrounds. Around 40 students are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, and about 5% of the students are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
Minimbah State School has a stable enrolment of around 800 students. A high number of students are from low-income backgrounds.
Casino Public school is a P-6 school of 700 students, located in rural north coast NSW.
Windaroo State School in the Mount Warren Park area of Logan City has an enrolment of around 930 students. A significant number of students are from low-income backgrounds. Approximately 50 students are Indigenous and 80 students are from non-English-speaking language backgrounds.