Benowa State High School

Benowa State High School
Address
Map
Mediterranean Drive

Benowa, Queensland
,
4217

Australia
Coordinates28°00′21″S 153°23′20″E / 28.0057°S 153.3888°E / -28.0057; 153.3888
Information
TypeState secondary day school
MottoMany Pathways – No Limits[1]
Established1980; 40 years ago[2]
PrincipalAlison Fahlbusch[5]
Year levelsYear 7 – Year 12[3]
GenderCoeducational
Enrolment1,980 (August 2023)[2]
Colour(s)    
Red, grey, white and black
TeamsBenowa Redbacks (volley ball)[4]
Websitebenowashs.eq.edu.au

Benowa State High School (BSHS) is a state, co-educational school in the suburb of Benowa (Queensland, Australia) in the Gold Coast.[6] The school is located in the land of the Kombumerri people, within the wider Bujalung language nation, recognising Ngarahngwal and Yugambeh.[7] It is the only state high school in the state electorate of Surfers Paradise.[1]

It hosts exchange students from Asia, America, Africa and Europe.[8] It started a French Immersion program in 1985 and was the first school to offer Marine Biology as a subject in the Queensland curriculum.[9]

Academic

The school's French Immersion programme is a four-year course offered in Years 7 to 10, where students are taught four of their six subjects in French: these being mathematics, French, society & environment and science. The school has recorded 11 OP1s (Overall Position) each year from 2004 to 2007, which ranks it ahead of all other secondary schools in the Gold Coast region.[10] Another stream in Benowa SHS is the Steiner education Programme which aims to develop independent and "natural" learning in students, who learn at their own pace.

The STEM program at Benowa aims for students to excel in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is a four-year program from Years 7–10. Each and every STEM student receives extra lessons in those categories and various opportunities including 3D printing, Rocket Launching, Coding, and more.

Benowa is known for having a large range of subjects. It has over 30 subjects which students can choose in Years 10, 11 and 12. Unlike most state schools, but like some private schools, Benowa State High School groups year 10–12 as senior school, and offers Specialist Mathematics as a subject to the year 10 students.

Sports

Benowa is a constant achiever at volleyball tournaments, placing highly in most of the competitions they enter, and some students have entered the national level of competition in the event. Students also achieve high in many other sports, including tennis, swimming, athletics and touch. The school also has an athletics-inclined stream called "Sports Excellence", which is aimed at Year 7, 8 and 9 students who wish to pursue a career in athletics. It has produced athletes who have gone on to represent both state and country in a variety of sports such as: swimming, volleyball, rugby, Australian rules football, football and track & field.[citation needed]

Arts

Benowa has created an innovative curriculum in the arts which includes visual art, music, dance, drama and music. Art workshops are offered to complement formal classes.[11][12][13]

The school is included within the Gold Coast Branch of the "Modern Language Teachers Association of Queensland".[14]

Students

Year levels

In 2015, Queensland secondary schools started catering for Year 7 to align Queensland with the other states, as part of the official implementation of Anna Bligh's state-wide "Flying Start" program.[15] 2014 was the last year Benowa State High School catered only for Year 8 to Year 12.[16]: 2  Since 2015,[17]: 2  the year levels currently offered at this school are Year 7 to Year 12.[18]: 2 

Student enrolments

In 2023, Benowa State High School was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 2,456 students.[19]

The trend in school enrolments (August figures) has been:

Student enrolment trends
Year Year levels Gender Total
7 8 9 10 11 12 Boys Girls
2010 - - - - - - 819 914 1,733[20]: 2 
2011 - - - - - - 895 952 1,847[21]: 2 
2012 - - - - - - 945 997 1,942[22]: 2 
2013 - - - - - - 957 1,001 1,958[16]: 2 
2014 - - - - - - 914 979 1,893[17]: 2 [23]
2015 - - - - - - 984 1,032 2,016[24]: 2 [25]
2016 - - - - - - 932 1,000 1,932[26]: 3 [27]
2017 - - - - - - 880 1,015 1,895[28]: 3 [29]
2018 405 352 364 262 232 288 869 1,024 1,893[30]: 3 [31]
2019 361 396 344 340 261 187 858 1,031 1,889[32]: 2 [33]
2020 379 359 393 315 315 217 905 1,073 1,978[34]: 2 [35]
2021 340 367 349 343 293 291 916 1,067 1,983[36]: 2 [37]
2022 357 340 377 312 334 269 927 1,062 1,989[18]: 2 [38]
2023 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 1,980[2]

Sports

Volleyball

The school's volley ball team is called the "Benowa Redbacks".[4]

House structure

Benowa State High School has eight different school houses. Students can gain house points for their house during sporting events, as well as showing behaviour that aligns with the school's four core values (respect, compassion, integrity and diligence). Between 2018 and 2022, the school operated under a "vertical" roll mark structure based around the houses, however, in 2023 the school reverted back to a "horizontal" structure. With the change of system, the heads of house were renamed "house coordinators".

The eight houses, named after Australian pioneers are:

Current house system in Benowa SHS
House name Colour Mascot House coordinator Australian based pioneer
Bandler   Red Dragon Andy Taylor Faith Bandler- Indigenous and civil rights activist
Florey   Purple Phoenix Curtis Allnut Howard Florey- Nobel Prize winning pharmacologist involved in the development of penicillin
Hinkler   Pink Flamingo Katy MacGibbon Herbert Hinkler- Aviator and inventor, first to fly solo from England to Australia and across the Southern Atlantic Ocean
Hollows   Orange Owl Alex McBroom Fred Hollows- Ophthalmologist and humanitarian involved in restoring thousands of Australian's eyesight
Laver   Blue Lion Jane Brown Rod Laver- Tennis player
Murdoch   Green Minotaur Nanette Richert Elisabeth Murdoch- Philanthropist
Wake   Aqua Wolverine Imogen Klan Nancy Wake- Nurse, journalist, special operations executive and intelligence officer for the French in WWII
Wright   Yellow Griffin Mike Redfern Judith Wright- Award winning poet, environmentalist and Indigenous land rights activist

Before 2018, the original 4 homesteads (Carnarvon, Lindemann, Moreton and Girraween) had a system in which siblings were in the same homestead. This is no longer the case.

Notable alumni

The following are notable alumni of the school:

Entertainment

Notable alumni in entertainment
Name Area
Peter Andre Singer[39]
Jamie Durie TV presenter and landscape designer[40]
Anna Torv Actress[41]

Sport

Notable alumni in sport
Name Sport Achievement
Daniel Merrett Australian rules football Brisbane Lions player[42]
Brent Renouf Australian rules football Hawthorn Football Club (Port Adelaide) player[citation needed]
Dayne Zorko Australian rules football Brisbane Lions captain[43]

References

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  2. ^ a b c "Keebra Park State High School". Education Queensland International. Queensland Government – Department of Education and Training. 2023. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "Benowa State High School". Benowa State High School (benowashs.eq.edu.au). Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Sports". Benowa State High School. Queensland Government – Department of Education and Training. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Our staff". Benowa State High School. Queensland Government – Department of Education and Training. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Opening and closing dates of Queensland Schools". Queensland Government. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
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  8. ^ "Acknowledgement to Country". Benowa State High School (www.benowashs.eq.edu.au). Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
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