Redcliffe State High School

Redcliffe State High School is an independent, public, co-educational, secondary school, located in the City of Moreton Bay town of Redcliffe in Queensland, Australia.^[2][3] It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment of 1,368 students and a teaching staff of 112, as of 2023.^[3] The school serves students from Year 7 to Year 12,^[2][3] and in 2019, some of the school's buildings were listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.^[4]

The school initially opened on 3 February 1958,^[5][6] on the eastern side of Oxley Avenue, with sporting facilities on the land adjacent. In order to meet growing demands, the school classroom facilities have since expanded onto adjacent land on the other side of Oxley Avenue.^[7] A pedestrian bridge linking the two campuses was constructed after a student was killed crossing the road in 2006.^[8]

The school is notable for its left-wing, liberal values. The deputy principal, Sue Linde, was involved with Montecito.^[9] The school's LGBTQI+ group introduced pronoun badges in 2021. It was the first school in the State to do so.^{[10][11][12][13]}

The school strives to embed "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives across learning areas."^[14]

The school has its own graffiti wall for students and has pioneered a brewers' training course.^[15][16] The school also has an "Excellence in Women's [Rugby League] Football Program".^[17] The school also has its own cybercafe.^[18]

In 2023, the school held a "Night of Culture" organised by PASIFIKA and the school's First Nations teachers. The evening was opened by First Nations people and featured an Acknowledgment of Country and a traditional welcome dance, followed by performances by students, staff and community members.^[19] The aim of the night was to promote "tolerance".^[20] Also, since 2022, the school has elected First Nations students as school captains.^[21] The principal was quoted as saying that, by having school captains, the teachers were "trying to increase our students’ voice and agency".^[22]

The school plays an active role in promoting National Sorry Day, NAIDOC Week, Anzac Day, Harmony Week (for diversity), Respect Week (for inclusivity), Wear It Purple Day (to support the LGBT movement) and International Women's Day.^{[23][24][25][26][27][28]}

The school does not offer any religious instruction classes.^[29]

The school performed below the national average when compared to "All Australian students" in the Year 7 reading and numeracy categories and the Year 9 spelling and numeracy categories in the 2021 NAPLAN tests. Student participation in the NAPLAN tests was 10% below the national average. ^[30]

The school has never been able to reach a State Overall Score of 90, meaning it is consistently ranked outside the top 160 high schools in the state.^[31][32]

It is also consistently ranked outside the top 100 high schools in the state based on the Better Education Rank metric.^[33] Its best ranking was 110 in 2013 and its worst was 307 in 2017.^[34]

The school has an ICSEA rating of 997.^[35]

According to a survey of parents contained in the school's 2023 annual report, there was a steady 7% decline over the three years to 2023 in the belief that teachers at the school were motivating their child to learn, a 5% decline in the belief teachers were treating students fairly, a 7.6% decline in the belief they could talk to teachers about their concerns, a 3.6% decline in the belief they could collaborate with teachers, a 7.7% decline in the belief teachers took parents' concerns seriously and a 7.9% decline in the belief that student behaviour at the school was well-managed.^[36][37]

In the same report, only 67.8% of students surveyed said they felt safe at the school, 60.9% of students felt teachers treated students fairly, 50.6% of students felt they could talk to teachers about their concerns, 50.0% of students felt teachers took students' opinions seriously and just 46.2% of students felt that student behaviour was well-managed.^[38][39]

The school is rated 2.3 out of 5 on the reviewing site, SchoolParrot.^[40]

In semester one of 2023, the student attendance rate was 86% with only 52% of students attending school 90% or more of the time. By term three, this had dropped to 45%.^[41]

In 2010, asbestos was found in garden mulch at the school. The Courier-Mail newspaper alleged that this was kept secret from parents and students in "a deliberate and elaborate cover-up. Department chiefs told school principal Shona McKinlay to keep the danger secret after deciding the risk was "minimal" once safeguards were brought in."^[42]

In 2014, a parent alleged his daughter was told to sit out the NAPLAN tests (to make the school's results look better) because her previous performances were poor.^[43]

In 2016, there was a bomb threat at the school.^[44]

In 2017, there was a second bomb threat.^[45]

In 2018, a program called "Respect — Commit To It" was introduced in an attempt to counter the high levels of abuse and violence directed towards staff by students.^[46]

In 2019 the school was caught twice promoting a trade union campaign. In the first instance, which occurred "weeks before a federal election", the school posted flyers and also some "campaign material was distributed in the students’ homework folders to take home".^[47] The school's principal was also interviewed on a union website.^[48] In the second instance, which occurred four months later, the school was caught again, this time using its Facebook page to promote the same union campaign. Evidence of this misconduct was tabled in the Queensland Parliament by the LNP.^[49]

In 2020, a student was murdered after a drug deal went wrong.^[50][51]

In 2021, a number of students were rushed to hospital after drinking Gatorade spiked with wiper fluid by another student.^[52]

In 2021, the media reported the school was put into lockdown when students brought knives on campus with the intention of fighting. The school denied the students drew the weapons.^[53]

A head of senior school has been accused of sexual misconduct against a student^[54] and multiple incidents of bullying student-teachers but no charges have ever been laid against him.^[55][56]

In 2022, video emerged of one female student from the school violently attacking another outside a supermarket.^[57][58]

In 2023, the Courier-Mail newspaper stated there was a "fight club" culture amongst students at the school.^[59] One incident was captured on video. It showed a "girl being struck multiple times in the head".^[60]

• Mark Bradtke, basketballer^{[citation needed]}
• Tom Butterfield, rugby league player^{[citation needed]}
• Luke Capewell, rugby league player.^{[citation needed]}
• Daly Cherry-Evans, rugby league player^[61] and gay rights supporter.^[62][63]
• Petero Civoniceva, rugby league player^{[citation needed]}
• Yvette D'Ath, politician, Australian Labor Party.^[64][65]
• Martin Kent, cricketer, Queensland and Australia.^[66]
• Teagan Micah, Australian footballer, LGBT athlete.^[67][68][69]
• Brooke Prentis, Aboriginal activist, former CEO of the left-wing political lobby group, Common Grace,^[70][71] opponent of Australia Day,^[72][73] supporter of Anzac Day and Remembrance Day,^[74] anti-colonialism activist,^[75][76] "stolen generations" reparations advocate,^[77] supporter of Bruce Pascoe (Dark Emu debate),^[78] advocate of feminism and gay rights and member of the heterodox, far-left, "Progressive Christianity" movement,^[79][80] Indigenous Voice to Parliament "yes" campaign activist,^[81] environmentalist^[82][83] and anti-racism campaigner.^[84][85]
• Joel Romelo, rugby league player^{[citation needed]}
• Roman Quaedvlieg, former Commissioner of the Australian Border Force.^[86][87]
• Arianna Williams, AFLW player.^[88][89][90]
• Karl Winchester, politician, Australian Labor Party.^[91]

• Kevin Bates, trade unionist (former president of the Queensland Teachers' Union, federal secretary of the Australian Teachers' Union) ^[92][93][94] and opponent of religious instruction in state schools.^{[95][96][97][98]}
• Kelvin Kuhle, Queensland Teachers' Union.^[99]
• Michael Macklin, English-born radical-left Roman Catholic friar, politician (Australian Democrats), environmentalist, philosopher, supporter of Vietnam veterans, advocate for prosecuting former Nazis residing in Australia, member of the National Native Title Tribunal, Director of Development at the University of Queensland^[100] and early gay rights campaigner.^[101]
• Denis Murphy, politician, Australian Labor Party.^[102][103]
• Sandra Ruck, politician, Moreton Bay City Council.^[104]
• Paul Wobcke, Wagner Society of Queensland, LGBT advocate.^[105]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Redcliffe State High School.