Blacktown High School was established in January 1956 as a co-educational school to service the local community. At its peak it had a population of around 1200 students, both male and female. The suburb of Blacktown soon began to boom with a new train station and bus interchange being opened in 1955. The shopping centre was being transformed to accommodate new shops with the first Kmart in Australia being established close to the centre. An old hotel was also bulldozed to allow for new government offices being established in Main Street; close to where the Court and the police Station stand today. As the Blacktown CBD grew, so did the neighbouring suburbs which also experienced a post war boom in population. With growing pressure on the school, it was decided by Government, that the school be divided, as per policy at the time, into two separate boys’ and girls’ high schools. A fence literally divided the two schools. New buildings on both sites, a school hall, separate carpark’s and fencing divide the two schools to this day. By 1959 the two schools were operating independently of each other, and Blacktown Boys High School was officially opened on the 17th of October 1959 by the then Deputy premier and Minister for Education, Bob Heffron.
Blacktown Boys High School from Sunnyholt Road. Circa 1959
Blacktown Boys High School from Sunnyholt Road, 2023
From 1959 to 2010 the boys school serviced the local community as a mainstream local boys’ high school. Blacktown Boys taught a traditional curriculum and fielded strong sporting teams, especially in Rugby league and Cricket. However, from the 1990’s onwards, with a changing and aging population and the establishment of other Christian and state schools, within and surrounding the Blacktown area, enrolments began to decline considerably. The number of enrolments became so critically low at the boys school, that in 2009 it was decided by the Department of Education, that the twin schools become partially selective. In 2010 the school took on its first selective class of 30 boys in its Year 7 cohort. Since then, the school’s enrolment has grown from 297 students in 2010 to its current number at 860. It is expected to peak at 900 by 2025.
The newfound popularity and interest in the school can be attributed to a number of factors since 2010. No doubt, the establishment of a selective class changed the focus towards an academic one. The popularity of the selective school model saw several full and partially selective high schools being established in the Western Sydney area during or close to this time. At the same time, Blacktown and neighbouring suburbs began to see an urban renewal, with older commercial buildings being replaced by new and modern high-rise apartments and town houses. This attracted new and younger families into the area and demand for a single sex education at the school began to increase. New shops, new places of worship and improvements to public transport and major roads such as Sunnyholt Rd, the M2 and M7 saw the centre of Sydney shift towards Blacktown. The school’s growth reflects the changing makeup and importance of Blacktown as a city, within the Sydney Metropolis. The popularity of Blacktown Boys High School also showcases the local community’s recognition of the school as a serious place for learning and its ability to transform and accommodate the needs of its students through new curriculum, wellbeing programs, sporting facilities and technological upgrades.
Over the years the school has been awarded a Director-General’s Achievement Award for its work in student welfare, curriculum and school organisation. Three members of staff have received Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence. The visual arts faculty has also been recognised by the Minister for Education for its achievements with a Certificate of Excellence. The school has been recognised for its outstanding work in boys’ education and has presented at a national conference on boys’ education. In the 2021 HSC the school achieved its highest ranking of 111th, placing it in the prestigious top 150 schools in NSW. The school is going from strength to strength and transforming to meet the expectations of a changing local community.
The first class in 1956 when the school was co-educational.
Principals of Blacktown Boys High School
1956 E.T. Wallace. B.Sc.
1959 W.H. Buckland. B.A
1971 J.R.Kelly. A.S.T.C.
1974 W.A. Wellham A.S.T.C.
1977 G.B. Mancell B.A.
1980 M. Scanes B.A.
1995 J.A. Craig BSc. MA M ED ADMIN
2003 J. Thomas B.A. Dip.Ed.
2008 S. Addy B.A. Dip Ed
2020 D. Calleja B.A. Dip.Ed
