Gold Coast’s Queensland Academy for Health Sciences one of 16 Australia schools with students competing in International Science Olympiads
An outstanding Gold Coast school is one of 16 in Australia to compete in the world's toughest science competition. FIND OUT WHAT SCHOOL.
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THE Gold Coast’s only selective entry high school has one of two Queensland students chosen as part of a 21-strong Australian team to compete in the world’s toughest science competition for teenagers.
Southport’s Queensland Academy for Health Sciences has a rich history of success in the prestigious International Science Olympiads, with Year 12 genius Yalun Yang the school’s third to be selected to compete since 2016.
He’s part of the five-person physics team that will compete in the UNESCO-sanctioned International Physics Olympiad on July 17-25.
In 2016, Queensland Academy for Health Sciences’ student Amy Zhou was selected for the chemistry team and in 2020, Angie Zhou was chosen as part of the biology team.
Queensland Academies is a set of three top-performing state high schools for highly-capable students seeking to complete the rigorous International Baccalaureate Diploma program in their senior years.
Australia’s 21-strong team is made up of Year 11 and 12 students from just 16 high schools. They succeeded against thousands of others in qualifying exams and intensive training camps, all run remotely, for ultimate selection to the teams.
Instead of travelling to international competitions this year, the young Aussie Olympians will compete against students from more than 80 countries in online exams and challenges supervised at their school or other approved competition venues.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of Australia’s participation in the competition. Since 1987, the Australian Science Olympiads program has helped thousands of talented high school students to unlock their potential and passion for science.
Enrolment explosion: Gold Coast’s fastest growing schools revealed
May 6, 2021
A HUGE spike in students enrolments at Gold Coast’s public schools has been recorded in Pimpama, Jacob’s Well, Tallebudgera, Pacific Pines, Palm Beach and Ormeau.
The latest enrolment data from the Queensland Education Department reveals enrolments numbers at 11 Gold Coast schools have jumped by more than 34 per cent in the past five years, and four of those 11 grew by 53 per cent or more.
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Topping the list was Pimpama State Primary College, with a 197 per cent rise in enrolments since 2016, from 276 students to 819 in 2021.
The school opened in the northern growth corridor in 2015 to ease the burden on Pimpama State School, one of the areas oldest schools that opened in 1872.
It too has had seen massive growth in five years, with a 44 per cent increase in enrolments, it now has 845 students.
Pimpama State Secondary College is booming, with a 64 per cent spike in the past five years.
Pacific Pines State High School wasn’t far behind with a 42 per cent growth in five years and a 7 per cent growth in the past year. It now has 1970 students up from 1393 in 2016.
Students are also flocking to Palm Beach State School, with a 9 per cent rise in enrolments in one year and a 61 per cent rise in five years. The beachside school grew from 471 students in 2016 to 756 this year.
Springbrook and Numinbah Valley state schools had the largest one-year growth in the Gold Coast, with a 30 per cent and 20 per cent increase in students, respectively.
Other schools in the northern growth corridor experiencing rapid growth is Ormeau Woods State High School, with a 46 per cent growth in five years, and Woongoolba State School in Jacob’s Well, with a 9 per cent jump in the past year and a 53 per cent hike in enrolments since 2016, it now has 257 students.
The Queensland Academies Health Sciences Campus, for highly-capable students in Years 10 to 12, recorded a 4 per cent increase in enrolments in the past year and in five years the school has grown by 38 per cent from 321 to 443.
Tallebudgera Valley’s Ingleside State School, 15 minutes from Burleigh Heads, has posted a 16 per cent rise in enrolments since 2020 and in the past five years the roll has grown from 95 to 129.
Sports focused Keebra State High School, in Southport, grew by 34 per cent since 2016, with 1006 students now in attendance, while Broadbeach State School has 1117 students, that’s an extra 293 students in five years, or a 36 per cent increase.
Some schools also saw significant falls in the past year. Enrolments were down by 9 per cent at Norfolk Village State School, 7 per cent at Helensvale State High School, 6 per cent at Coomera Springs State School and Norfolk Village State School.
However, this is likely due to new schools opening nearby in 2020, this includes Gainsborough State School in Pimpama.
GOLD COAST SCHOOLS MOBILE PHONE POLICIES
Feb 17, 2021
QUEENSLAND’S Education Department allows Gold Coast’s public high schools to decide their own mobile phone policies in consultation with the school community.
Some ban them completely, others allow usage during breaks while many just ask students to be respectful users.
Most schools do allow exemptions on request. Some also consider phones to be acceptable as Bring Your Own Devices.
Here are the policies of 21 state secondary schools as they appear in their Student Code of Conduct documents online.
BENOWA STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Phones must be off and not visible during class, but are allowed before and after school and breaks. Misuse of this policy will see phones temporarily removed. Teachers can permit the use of devices in class for clear educational reasons, does not include listening to music while working. Phones are not to be charged at school.
COOMBABAH STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Phones are allowed at certain times and zones around the school, with posters coloured green for approved device areas and red for technology-free zones and times. They must be off and out of sight during classes, before and after school and during breaks, unless it’s being used in a teacher-directed activity to enhance learning. Phones can also be used for assigned class work and assignments set by teachers.
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ELANORA STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Phones are not to be used at school because they’re not “necessary for learning and provide a distraction for students and teachers”. If a device, including headphones, is sighted or heard it must be handed in to the Wellbeing Hub and an internal suspension will be given. A third offence results in referral to the dean. With approval, students can sign in to the hub’s “check and respond centre” for five minutes.
HELENSVALE STATE HIGH SCHOOL
During class, study periods and assemblies, phones must be switched off and out of sight. There are device-free zones around the school, such as the oval and basketball court, but phones are allowed before or after school and at break times. Fridays are designated “detox days”. Phones can be used for class work and assignments set by teachers. Devices can be confiscated with other disciplinary action including warnings, detention, suspension and recommendation for exclusion.
CURRUMBIN COMMUNITY SPECIAL SCHOOL
Phones can be used for class work and assignments set by teachers. Students must be courteous, considerate and respectful of others when using a mobile device and seek teacher’s approval where they wish to use a mobile under special circumstances.
KEEBRA PARK STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Posters around the school show approved device zones in green and device-free zones in red. Students are encouraged to engage in other social learning and development activities but they can use mobile phone or other devices for assigned class work and assignments set by teachers but they must be turned off and away unless the device is being used in a teacher-directed activity to enhance learning.
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MERRIMAC STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Years 7, 8 and 9 are not to use mobile phones, including earphones, and students are strongly urged not to bring them to school. Juniors must sign phones into the Student Hub in the morning and collect them at 3pm. Seniors can use phones for class work and assignments set by teachers. A breach of policy will result in confiscation, a third offence requires a guardian to collect the phone.
MIAMI STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Posters identify technology-free zones and times at the school. Phones must be off and away during classes, before and after school and at lunch breaks, unless it’s being used in a teacher-directed activity to enhance learning. They can also be used for assigned class work and assignments set by teachers. Usage in class without permission results in confiscation. After a third offence further disciplinary action will be taken.
NERANG STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Years 7, 8 and 9 are not to use mobile phones, including earphones, and students are strongly urged not to bring them to school. Juniors must sign phones into the Student Hub in the morning and collect them at 3pm. Seniors can use phones for class work and assignments set by teachers. Phones are confiscated if the policy is breached. A third offence requires a guardian to collect the phone.
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ORMEAU WOODS STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Phones are not considered an approved learning device so must only be used before 8.30am, during lunch times and after 2.30pm. They must be off and away during classes and students must not use the phone function of a smart-watch in a classroom. Disciplinary measures include confiscation, detention and possible suspension.
PACIFIC PINES STATE HIGH SCHOOL
A green phone symbol in classrooms means devices are allowed during classes, otherwise they must be off. Red phone symbols indicate phones are not required for learning and must be off. Phones are allowed in break times. Those who misuse phones get a reminder before the device is confiscated. Repeated breaches result in loss-of-phone privileges.
PALM BEACH- CURRUMBIN STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Years 7-9 aren’t allowed to use phones inside school grounds or before or after school or during lunch breaks and are strongly urged not to bring phones to school. Phones aren’t allowed in classrooms at any time across all year levels. The policy states “we believe that the behaviours modelled in the workplace should reflect common practices in greater society”. Disciplinary measures include warnings, confiscation and referral to deputy principal.
QUEENSLAND ACADEMIES HEALTH SCIENCES CAMPUS
Devices are not encouraged because of potential for theft and “general distraction and or disruption associated with them”. If phones are brought to school they must be off and away during assemblies and classes. They can be used at breaks and before and after school.
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ROBINA STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Students can use phones in approved areas only, with zones set up around the school. Phones can also be used for work and assignments set by teachers but they must be off and away during classes. The school “strongly encouraged” phones be out of sight during and after school and during breaks unless used for school-based activity.
MUDGEERABA SPECIAL SCHOOL
Posters that identify technology-free zones and times are located around the school with students encouraged to engage in other social learning and development activities in these areas. Phones can also be used for class work and assignments set by teachers but must otherwise be off during classes, before and after school and during breaks unless they are being used in a teacher-directed activity to enhance learning.
SOUTHPORT STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Years 7-9 aren’t allowed phones during lunch breaks, but can be used while seated in the Quad, if needed. Juniors who use phones for learning during lunch breaks, must do so in the Learning Hub. With teacher’s permission phones can also be used for assignments and class work, but otherwise must be off and away during classes. Phones are confiscated if the policy is breached. A third offence requires a guardian to collect the phone.
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TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Phones are not permitted during school hours, 8.30am-3.05pm, with students encouraged to “engage in other social learning and development activities”. Only with direct teacher consent are devices to be used at school. Disciplinary action includes suspension or Saturday detentions.
VARSITY COLLEGE SECONDARY CAMPUS
Phones can be used before and after school and during breaks but must be off during class time, moving between rooms, practical lessons and assemblies. Phone can’t be used to contact parents unless approval is granted by admin. Staff approval must be sought for use. Disciplinary measures include confiscation, contact with parents, detention, exclusion from school activities, suspension.
SOUTHPORT SPECIAL SCHOOL
It’s acceptable for students to use phones and other devices at the school. However, it must be off during classes, before and after school and during lunch breaks, unless it’s being used in a teacher-directed activity to enhance learning. It can also be used for assigned class work and assignments.
UPPER COOMERA STATE COLLEGE
Phones and other personal technology devices (PTD) are not permitted at school. However, approved BYOX (devices such as laptops and iPads) as per the college’s information and communication technology policy are permitted for class work and assignments. PTDs will be confiscated by staff and collected upon provision of a note of request to the principal. Breaches of this prohibition may result in disciplinary action. Devices that are brought to school must be off and out of sight.
FOXWELL STATE SECONDARY SCHOOL
Students can only bring phones if they are off or on silent and in secure locks, available to all students, from 8.45am-3pm. They must not be used during the day. Access is allowed from 8am and from 3-4pm in the Learning Hub. Disciplinary action includes confiscation, with a third offence requiring a parent to collect the phone. Further offences will be deemed to be wilful disobedience and dealt with accordingly.
PIMPAMA STATE SECONDARY COLLEGE
Students can only use phones during lunch breaks and before classes start in the morning and for assigned class work as directed by their teachers. Those who break the rules will be disciplined depending on whether it was a minor or major behaviour problem.
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