Alex Park (as the locals call it) is a school where every student is valued and respected. The cultural backgrounds of students and staff are diverse and all cultures are regarded as important. Students are encouraged to enrich their learning by understanding the various cultures represented at the school.
“When children have an understanding of what is fair, of fairness as common ground, they can overcome prejudices and small-minded attitudes and get on with dealing with the situation at hand, whether it’s in the playground, the sporting field or classroom, and then hopefully in life,” Acting Principal Robert Bruce said.
The school has always had a strong connection with the local Aboriginal community and prides itself in being involved in the Bemul Gardoo Project where students, in collaboration with the Tribal Warrior, built a canoe using local traditional methods and materials and rowed the canoe on Sydney Harbour as part of Australia Day celebrations. This canoe is still on display at the Rocks Museum.
The school caters to students from kindergarten to Year 12. The Park Road campus houses a Junior school and a Middle school along with a Community Centre. It offers Opportunity classes for students in Years 5 and 6, and a Gifted and Talented program for the Middle school students. It has strong partnerships with local businesses and organisations as well as several of the Universities in the area. Souths Cares is also involved in the school in a reading program. Imagine walking into your classroom and seeing Mick Crocker or Isaac Luke sitting at the back of the room! This would be very inspirational to a young child.
The Senior Campus teaches students from Years 8-12. It is situated on Mitchell Road and was once Alexandria Public School. The old building is large and the high ceilings and large rooms give an air of quiet peacefulness. The school has a Selective stream of students from Years 7-10 but all students are mixed for Elective subjects. This allows for a variety of students to engage with each other and take advantage of the wonderful resources the school has to offer. Alex Park offers a holistic approach to education. There are programs where Universities are involved with students from an early stage right through until the time a student leaves school and moves on to further study or training.
Alexandria Park Community School is a modern school with an ancient history. It’s the product of an amalgamation in 2003 that included some of the oldest schools in Australia: Cleveland Street High, Redfern Public, Alexandria Public and Waterloo Public schools.
As a parent of a student newly enrolled at Alex Park, I couldn’t be happier with the education and support my child is receiving.
