Figtree High School
Figtree High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located on Gibsons Road in Figtree, a suburb of Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1969, the school enrolled approximately 900 students in 2018, from Year 7 to Year 12, of whom five percent identified as Indigenous Australians and 26 percent were from a language background other than English. The school is operated by the New South Wales Department of Education. History. Figtree High School was established in 1969, with 242 First Form students enrolling as the first  students to attend. The first principal of the school was Ken Brokenshire, with Robert Everitt, the Deputy Principal and nine assistant teachers. Because construction of the school was not finished at the time, students and teachers borrowed furniture from Dapto High School and attended classes in seven portable buildings in the grounds of Dapto High School. Construction finally finished in July 1969, being announced "Australia's most modern high school" by the local newspaper, and students re-located back to their new building in Gibsons Road. Of the original 242 students enrolled in 1969, 87 elected to enter the Senior  School and completed their Higher School Certificate in 1974. The school was built in close proximity to the famous, historic fig tree that the suburb was named after, and this tree was adopted as the school emblem. But in 1987, after a significant storm, the tree was terminally damaged and was removed as a safety precaution. Students referred to the school as "Figstump High" for this time. After much discussion, a new fig tree was planted on the site of the original tree in 1997. Staff. The current principal of Figtree High School is Daniel Ovens. There are 52 classroom  teachers and a total of approximately 100 staff members including behaviour teachers, physical disability teachers and school assistants. Notable achievements. Enterprise education. In 1999, the school was a part of Australian Business Week, where students would form "companies" and run a four million dollar business for a simulated two-year period. Since then, Figtree High School has taken part each year, but in 2008 won first position. This took the team of students (ranging from Years 10 to 12) to the next stage, the Global Enterprise Challenge, where they won second place to New Zealand. The challenge involved designing and  implementing a system to aid water conservation around the world. Figtree's design, the "Hydro Shift Program", was a household water usage monitor, that allowed users to set goals to reduce their consumption and water bills. Twelve other countries including Germany, Norway, Wales and the United States of America also took part. This position was the highest to be received by any Australian team in the global stage of the competition. Sport. Figtree High School has also been noted for its achievements in sport, sending many representative teams and individuals for state competitions within New South Wales. Students have represented  Australia in sports such as athletics, rugby league, swimming, water polo, basketball, tennis and snow sports. Extra-curricular. Figtree High School has also organised a number of overseas study tours for those students undertaking ancient history. This has involved trips with staff and keen family members to relevant locations within Italy and Greece. The school has also been involved in a number of exchange programs. A number of students within the school undertaking language courses have won ten-week scholarships to Germany, and other students have travelled to South Korea. Music, dance and drama. Figtree High School has put on  a number of musical productions including the 2008 production of "The Course of True Love", written by a teacher at the school and the 2010 production of "Grease: The Musical".