Queensland State High Schools Article Index for
Queensland State
Shopping
Queensland
Website Links For
Queensland
 

Information About

Queensland State High Schools





STATE EDUCATION SYSTEM


Queensland , Australia has an extensive State education system, which is free and open to all residents, administered by and funded through a Queensland State Government Department now known as Education Queensland and also responsible for the Arts.

The system (in 2006) consisted of Preschools, Primary Schools generally called State Schools , High Schools, Special Schools (catering to the needs of those with physical and intellectual handicaps severe enough to prclude mainstreaming) and the Correspondence/Remote support service. In 2007, Preschools will be replaced by a Prep year at Primary Schools.


NAMING OF SCHOOLS


Secondary School s in the Education Queensland system are normally named Town/District State High School, and often referred to by their Acronym eg TSHS. Unlike some other schooling systems, State High Schools in Queensland are normally not (re)named to commemorate significant individuals or historic events.
A few schools (e.g. Bundamba State Secondary College ) have adopted other styles of names. Some schools have been renamed from Town SHS to District SHS, this sometimes occures when smaller schools in a district are closed, and rural school bus services to the major centre provided instead.


VARIATIONS

In some rural areas, small local State High Schools cater only to years 8 to 10, with students continuing to Year 12 busing to a larger centre for their final two years. There have also been a few schools, usually in extremely remote areas, that provide Years 1 to 10 (Hightop Primary Schools), with those wishing to complete Senior usually moving to a larger centre to complete their schooling.

A very small number of State High Schools offer or have offered either dormatories or out-boarding placements, however the majority of boarding schools in Queensland are religiously affiliated, mostly Anglican, Lutheran or Catholic schools.

In recent years, some new schools have been built with a clear division between the Junior (years 8 to 10) and Senior (years 11 & 12) facilities, with the Junior sub-campus referred to as the Middle School.


COMPLETION


  • Queensland Certificate of Education: Certificate of completion at the end of Year Twelve, will be considered a minimum qualification for most employment. A certificate was historically given at the conclusion of grade 10, known as the '''''junior certificate''''', while the final certificate received at the conclusion of grade 12 was the '''''senior certificate'''''. It is now Queensland Government policy that student must remain in education, training, or work, until they are 17. It has come to be known as the '''''learning or earning''''' policy.


Under the previous system, Apprenticeships and other post (Junior) Secondary employment and training options, coupled with compulsory attendance only until 15 saw many students leave to enter the workforce before completing the Junior Certificate. Changes to employment conditions, compulsory education requirements and other factors have seen most students now completing Junior and attending through to Senior Certificate level. Now all students must achieve either a Queensland Certificate of Education or be working full time.


CONTROVERSIES

  • There is a proposal to extend high school attendance requirements by one year, which would mean many students would reach legal adulthood, including the legal right to consume alcohol, during their final school year.


  • There has been a long running debate about placing students over 16 (Legal Age of Consent in Queensland) in the same campuses as students as young as 12.


  • School Chaplains provided by fundamentalist Christian groups


  • Ongoing problems with insensitivity in school communities to minority groups


=List of Queensland SHSs=