1960's

With changes crashing in, Penshurst Girls High School had to quickly adapt to the new routines.  In 1962 the Wyndham Scheme was introduced into tertiary education. It brought forth the 6 years of secondary schooling and the completion of the Higher School Certificate, essentially shaping how we know school to be today. Becoming known as Penshurst Girls High School was the next step in the journey of modernisation.

Competitions and Community

Penshurst Girls High School has always reached for the stars participating in a range of competitions, exhibitions and extracurricular activities.  In 1963 there was a speaking competition at Hurstville Rotary Club with a 5-pound entry fee (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005 pg. 50).  In 1961 a home economics exhibits attracted the attention of Sydney County Council (Fig.1) (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005 pg. 48) and in 1963 Penshurst girls' artworks were exhibited in a fine art exhibition in Sydney, Canberra, Japan, Canada (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005 pg. 48). Furthermore, one student from the school applied and won a place in the American Feild Service exchange program which led to her spending a year overseas (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005 pg. 46). 

Changes to the School and Curriculum 

With the increasing population of the surrounding suburbs, Penshurst Girls High needed more classrooms to cope with the increase of students. In July 1962 a new wing opened (Fig.3) this brought two new classrooms and three specialist rooms for music, art and science. At the time the main playground was asphalted. (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005) The improvements allowed students to better enjoy their time at the school during breaks by having flat open grounds suitable for a friendly game of squash or participating in club activities. With a lack of grassed areas, school sports carnivals were held at Ramsgate Baths and Hurstville Oval (Fig.2) (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005).

Student Life

With the introduction of the Wyndham scheme students were offered a wider range of subject choices, such as Mathematics, I II and III as well as Physics and Chemistry. This made a Penhurst Girls High School a fully comprehensive school. (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005) The school had many club activities available for students like a school orchestra (Fig.7), choir (Fig.8), library assistant (Fig.6), public speaking program, a newspaper club, bank officers (Fig.5), SRC and many more. Students were encouraged to participate in charitable activities, such as a Junior Red Cross (Fig.4) and sending Christmas boxes of toys to children in hospital as well as overseas fundraising events. (Penshurst Girls Union, 2005)