Set in the pleasant hills and forest area of Perth, Kalamunda Senior High School is a long established school with proud traditions. Drawing on the hills and the surrounding suburbs, the school has a strong sense of community stretching across three generations. Nearly 30 per cent of our current students have parents who attended Kalamunda as did their grandparents. Many of our graduates have excelled in and taken on leadership roles in their chosen fields - notably the arts, education, medicine, engineering, Olympic representation, journalism, entertainment and the public service.
Kalamunda has a particular focus on the arts and is a Special Art School. These students receive tuition on Saturday mornings to enhance their artistic skills and abilities. Each year the excellence of their work is recognised through winning and gaining places in regional and state awards. In addition students have won the TEE Art Exhibition, the school consistently obtains top 10 school rankings and annual inclusion in TEE Perspectives and Young Originals exhibitions.
To complement the art focus Kalamunda has a vibrant music program including an orchestra, numerous ensembles and a choir. Overseas tours have provided students with an opportunity to perform internationally as well as in many local and regional venues and events. Art and music are also complemented by strong dance and drama programs which make use of the excellent 250 seat Performing Arts Centre located next to the school. Students with an interest in the media are encouraged to become involved in running and presenting on the school's radio station.
Places at Kalamunda are in high demand and this demand reflects the excellent reputation of the school in the arts and academic studies. The school offers an extensive range of courses leading to studies at university and TAFE colleges. Students have achieved outstanding results over many years in university entrance exams, top subjects and student awards and levels of secondary graduation. Outstanding students are nurtured and extended in the school's Academic Excellence program and excellence in primary schools is acknowledged by the annual presentation of Year 8 Academic Scholarships.
On the sporting field, school teams enter interschool competitions in volleyball, netball, basketball, cricket, football, boys and girls soccer, swimming and athletics. Recent successes include champion school status in volleyball, the Blackwood Marathon and Avon Descent and as the champion school in Year 8 and Year 12 debating.
Kalamunda offers a welcoming and supportive environment for all students. A strong and committed student services team, including a manager, chaplain, nurse, school psychologist and Year Coordinator, work together to help each child and their families with learning and other issues which affect teenagers.
A new initiative in 2005 is the formation of Year 8 Learning Teams in which two teams of staff work together on curriculum and student welfare matters to assist students with their transition to high school.
Kalamunda also welcomes international fee paying and exchange students who bring a wonderful multi-cultural dimension to our very Australian school. We also have strong links with our sister schools in Japan and trips and exchanges to Indonesia, Italy and Japan reflect the strong ties to the countries of the three languages taught at Kalamunda.
Kalamunda, is indeed, the best kept secret in the hills.
