Bass High School is a comprehensive, co-educational government high school in Bass Hill, New South Wales

Bass Hill, New South Wales

Bass Hill, a suburb of local government area City of Bankstown, is located 23 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydney region.-History:...

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History

The school was established in 1959 and accepts students from feeder Primary Schools in Villawood

Villawood, New South Wales

Villawood, a suburb of local government areas City of Bankstown and City of Fairfield, is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the Greater Western Sydney region....

, Bass Hill and Georges Hall

Georges Hall, New South Wales

Georges Hall, a suburb of local government area City of Bankstown, is located 24 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is part of the South-western Sydney region....

. Bass High School (usually abbreviated to "Bass High") caters for students in years 7 to 12.

It is named after George Bass

George Bass

George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.-Early years:He was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George Bass, and a local beauty named Sarah Nee Newman. His father died in 1777 when Bass was 6...

, the explorer. The school is in the Bankstown District of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. It is unique among government schools in this district as it has a farm and offers agriculture as a course of study.

Student body

In the 1980s, a large percentage of the school's students were from Greek and Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 backgrounds. During the 1990s, students from Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 were more common. The multicultural nature of the school has meant that it has often promoted multicultural ideals and concepts.

The number of students attending the school has varied since it opened. It started off with several hundred students and peaked during the late 1980s with over a thousand students. Since that time the numbers attending have decreased.

Recent Controversy

In recent months a local dispute has emerged regarding the sale of some of the land that belonged to Bass High. The problem has been that there are plans to construct a private school

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

right next to the government school. This has caused a great deal of community concern.

External links

• School web page
• http://www.basshill.org/ - Residents Action Group opposing the new private school.