Hurlstone Agriculture High School to relocate to Hawkesbury in 2020

THE Macarthur region is set to lose its leading HSC performer and only agricultural high school.

THE Macarthur region is set to lose its leading HSC performer and only agricultural high school.

Western Sydney University announced today Hurlstone Agricultural High School will move to its Hawkesbury campus in 2020 in an ambitious $35 million plan.

A yet-to-be-named selective school, for 1000 students, will remain on the Glenfield site, although it is believed the State Government will sell off about 140ha of the current farm land for housing development.

This also will fund a new primary school at Glenfield.

The upgrade to the high school at Glenfield will ensure that all heritage features of the existing buildings, including Clarke House are maintained.

The decision to sell off the land and relocate the agricultural school follows a very public “Save Hurlstone” community campaign in 2011. This time around, however, the decision was already made before the public was told.

Hurlstone was established in Ashfield in 1907 to provide practical education for boys interested in a rural career. It moved to its Glenfield location in March 1926.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli and Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor Professor Barney Glover today officially signed a heads of agreement, proposing to relocate the high school to a new state-of-the-art facility at the Hawkesbury campus – itself, the site of the first agricultural college in NSW.

Hurlstone Agricultural High School at Glenfield held off a State Government sell-off in 2013.

The new Hurlstone Agricultural High School (Hawkesbury) will be an academically selective agriculture and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) school, catering for 1500 students spanning Years 7-12.

A shared university and high school precinct will give school students exposure to the university’s world-leading science, agricultural, STEM, and environmental research and facilities, as well as access to the university’s extensive tracts of farm land, suitable for both intensive and progressive farming practices.

Prof Glover said the university had a long and proud history in agricultural education, dating back to 1891 and the days of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College.

“Today’s announcement is the bringing together of two of NSW’s most important and long-standing agricultural institutions, representing an important renewal and progression of a proud agricultural education tradition,” Prof Glover said.

“Most critically, the infusion of STEM into this selective agricultural model of vertically integrated education is pivotal not just to the school’s success, but to the university, the western Sydney region, and the broader economy.

“Western Sydney’s continued emergence as a key driver of Australia’s innovation agenda is largely dependent on the constant flow of high-quality graduates from STEM disciplines. Embedding Hurlstone Agricultural High School within the university’s own world-leading research and teaching environment is precisely the way to achieve that outcome.”

Hurlstone Agricultural High School offers students a rural education.

The $35 million will be used to develop new, purpose-built buildings for the school, which will feature high-tech learning spaces and advanced technologies such as touch sensitive screens, writable walls, breakout pods and full wi-fi connectivity.

The new school will also incorporate new boarding facilities, playing fields, and outdoor learning spaces to give students a full and enriching high school experience.

“Hurlstone Agricultural High School is an exceptional fit with our own Hawkesbury Agripark’s objectives – significantly enhancing its educational platform in a collaborative and highly integrated way,” Prof Glover said.