Leonora, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located approximately 833 kilometres northeast of Perth, and 237 kilometres north of the city of Kalgoorlie. Leonora District High School is quite an unique school that caters for approx. 100 students from Kindergarten through to Year 12 with an Aboriginal population of approx. 78%.
All our students and our staff embrace a culturally response environment where our students are taught the Wongatha language and participate in Two-Science program. In fact, our school is now a lead School in Two-Way Science where students and staff learn together the scientific approaches along with the approaches that Aboriginal people have been using for centuries.
The school has a supportive, inclusive and positive culture, with innovative programs such as two-way science, Kitchen-Garden and Big Picture Design Education in the high school. Our goal for our students is to complete 13 years of education here in Leonora, achieve their WA Certificate of Education and go on to transition to further education, training or local employment.
The school prides itself on forming effective, positive relationships with students, families, staff and the wider community. Through the Positive Behaviour Schools process, we have defined the expected behaviours; Consider, Achieve Respect, Engage. We believe interesting and relevant learning experiences are vital to student engagement.
The school business plan is now into its second year of the three-year cycle, and we will shortly be in the consultation process to begin developing our next School Business Plan. We will use the data collated over the past 3 years to set aspirational targets for the school for the next 3 years. The motto for Leonora DHS is ‘We Care, We Succeed’ The focus now needs to be on ‘We Succeed’ and academic outcomes for all students at Leonora DHS, supporting the strategic directions of the WA Education Department improvement driver to ‘provide every student with a pathway to a successful future.’
Merwan Kassem
Principal