Balcatta Senior High School

Balcatta Senior High School is a public co-educational high school in Perth, Western Australia. The school is located on Poincaire Road in the Perth suburb of Balcatta.HistoryThe school was established in 1967 and caters for students in Year 7 to 12.In 2003 the school won the inaugural Institute of Chartered Accountants Award in Australia’s Great Student Debate.Singer-songwriter and dancer Johnny Ruffo completed his high school education at Balcatta Senior High School. He became known after being a contestant in the third season of The X Factor (Australia), he was the second runner-up. He also was a part of the 2012 season of Dancing with the Stars which he went on to win. He recently released his debut single 'On Top'.Another graduate is animator Shaun Tan, who won an Academy Award for his short animation film at the 2011 Oscars. He was nominated with Andrew Ruhemann in the Animated Short Film category, for his work on The Lost Thing, which is narrated by fellow West Australian Tim Minchin.EnrolmentsThe number of student enrolments has remained reasonably stable over the last five years. The school enrolled 496 students in 2007, then 523 in 2008, to 604 in 2009, then fell to 554 in 2010 and to 557 in 2011. The fall in student numbers from 2010 is a result of the enrolment age changing for students entering high school in Western Australia.Catchment areaBalcatta's catchment area has been specified by the Department of Education and Training to include all or parts of the following suburbs: Balcatta, Gwelup, Nollamara, Stirling and Westminster. Some areas are able to attend Carine Senior High School or the Western Suburbs Secondary Schools Cluster. Balcatta's feeder primary schools are Balcatta, Takari and West Balcatta. Lake Gwelup and Osborne primary students most feed to Balcatta but some are eligible to attend either Balcatta or Mirrabooka Senior High School.