Cootamundra is a country town of 6000 people located in the South West Slopes district of New South Wales.
Cootamundra High School draws students from within the town and the surrounding villages of Stockinbingal, Wallendbeen, Bethungra and Muttama.
The school has an established reputation of academic, sporting and cultural success and enjoys close ties with the community. Cootamundra High School seeks to provide all students with diverse and challenging opportunities to maximise their personal successes through a supportive and dynamic learning environment.
Download the Information Booklet (pdf 3242 KB) for more details on our school.
Education History
Cootamundra has long enjoyed an excellent tradition of public education, which commenced in 1875. By 1896 Cootamundra was designated a Superior Public School, with some post-primary classes, and in 1912 it became a District School, where pupils prepared for the Intermediate Certificate. In 1923 there was a further change in status to Intermediate High School, with the first Leaving Certificate classes one year later. Finally, in 1955, the school was upgraded to a full and separate High School.
In 1958 the school moved from the Cooper Street site to its present location (A Block) on Church Hill, where the Industrial Arts and Home Economics blocks (D) had already been erected in 1948. A third major teaching wing (B Block) was built in 1964-5 and a fourth complex (C Block) was added in 1970-1 during a period of exceptional growth.
School Site
The school now consists of three imposing, double-storey, red brick "wings" and several other smaller brick buildings, with a pleasing balance of space and compactness and an unusual degree of architectural harmony. The school area comprises some six hectares of land, with 2 hockey fields, a school oval, 2 covered all-purpose courts, cricket practice nets, an agricultural plot, and a barbecue area.
The school grounds are well grassed with many shrubs and trees, providing a pleasant, relaxing environment for students. The concrete centre quadrangle is well suited for short open assemblies. There are ramp facilities to all blocks for wheelchair access. During 2002 the completion of the lift between the first and second floor of A Block provides access to all specialised classrooms for our wheelchair bound students.
New curtaining throughout the school in 2005 was made possible by the efforts of the P&C for which we were grateful. During 2006, the Junior and Senior Toilet facilities experienced a much-needed upgrade. New carpeting was added to some classrooms in A, B, and C Blocks. Air conditioning was added to the C4 computer room and C1 was converted from a Science Lab to a new Art room to replace the demountable D4.
In 2017 a skywalk was built to connect the top of A/B Block to C Block.
From 2020 until 2022 major upgrades have occured across the school. The front office has a revamp and the old photography darkroom was converted into a conference room.
The front of the school had a major overhaul with the replacement of trees with ornamental pears and the planting of a new hedge.
Classrooms have new furniture, paint, blinds and carpet, and new interactive panels.
The cooler classroom initiative has also meant that classrooms have received new air conditioning/ ventilation systems.
Skywalk
