Is secondary school just a fancy name for high school or something, because I've never heard of it, since I live in Australia and all.
It's one name for it, yes.
Many places use different names, even in the same countries.
Here in England, I've always known them as Primary/Secondary schools, but there are different names in different areas too.
I've been in a few schools that go by different names.
Infant's School (Years "Reception" to Year 2) (Ages 5 to 7)
Junior School (Years 3 to 6) (Ages 8 to 11)
Primary School (Years "Reception" to year 6) (Ages 5 to 11)
Secondary School (Years 7 to 11) (Ages 12 to 16)
Sixth Form College/Secondary School (Years 7 to 11, plus Years "12 & 13") (Ages 12 to 16, plus Ages 17 to 18)
College (Years "12 & 13") (Ages 17 to 18 [Often can go beyond this age too])
University (Ages 18+)
The ages can vary in each year, however. So long as you are at the minimum age during a single school year (September to Mid-July in the UK) you will be in the year corresponding to it.
For example, if your birthday is September 5
th then you could be in Year 11 at the age of 16, while everyone else is but 15.
Or you could have a birthday in August (like me) and be in Year 11 and be the age of 15 for the entire year, while everyone else turns 16 during the school year.
Also, you can be held back to re-take a year if you manage to fail it (Although this is rare, and you won't be held back in Years 10 and 11, since these are the last years of Compulsary Education, and the school doesn't want to keep you there any longer since you won't be their responsibility soon.)
