Benowa State High School
State secondary day school in Benowa, Queensland, Australia
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Benowa State High School (BSHS) is a state, co-educational school in the suburb of Benowa (Queensland, Australia) in the Gold Coast.[8] The school is located in the land of the Kombumerri people, within the wider Bujalung language nation, recognising Ngarahngwal and Yugambeh.[9] It is the only state high school in the state electorate of Surfers Paradise.[1]
| Benowa State High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
Mediterranean Drive , 4217 Australia 28.0057°S 153.3888°E | |
| Information | |
| Type | State secondary day school |
| Motto | Many Pathways – No Limits[1] |
| Established | 1980; 46 years ago[2] |
| Authority | Department of Education (Queensland) |
Principal | Alison Fahlbusch[3] |
Deputy Principals | |
Business Manager | Michelle Black[3] |
| Year levels | Year 7 – Year 12[4][5] |
| Gender | Coeducational[5] |
| Enrolment | 2,129[6] (August 2025) |
| Colours |
|
| Teams | Benowa Redbacks (volley ball)[7] |
| Website | benowashs |
It hosts exchange students from Asia, America, Africa and Europe.[10] It started a French Immersion program in 1985 and was the first school to offer Marine Biology as a subject in the Queensland curriculum.[11]
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.[12] 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
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.[17] 2014 was the last year Benowa State High School catered only for Year 8 to Year 12.[18]: 2 Since 2015,[19]: 2 the year levels currently offered at this school are Year 7 to Year 12.[20]: 2
Student enrolments
In 2023, Benowa State High School was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 2,456 students.[21]
The trend in school enrolments (August figures) has been:
| Year | Year levels | Gender | Total | Ref | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Boys | Girls | |||
| 2010 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 819 | 914 | 1,733 | [22]: 2 |
| 2011 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 895 | 952 | 1,847 | [23]: 2 |
| 2012 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 945 | 997 | 1,942 | [24]: 2 |
| 2013 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 957 | 1,001 | 1,958 | [18]: 2 |
| 2014 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 914 | 979 | 1,893 | [19]: 2 [25] |
| 2015 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 984 | 1,032 | 2,016 | [26]: 2 [27] |
| 2016 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 932 | 1,000 | 1,932 | [28]: 3 [29] |
| 2017 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 880 | 1,015 | 1,895 | [30]: 3 [31] |
| 2018 | 405 | 352 | 364 | 262 | 232 | 288 | 869 | 1,024 | 1,893 | [32]: 3 [33] |
| 2019 | 361 | 396 | 344 | 340 | 261 | 187 | 858 | 1,031 | 1,889 | [34]: 2 [35] |
| 2020 | 379 | 359 | 393 | 315 | 315 | 217 | 905 | 1,073 | 1,978 | [36]: 2 [37] |
| 2021 | 340 | 367 | 349 | 343 | 293 | 291 | 916 | 1,067 | 1,983 | [38]: 2 [39] |
| 2022 | 357 | 340 | 377 | 312 | 334 | 269 | 927 | 1,062 | 1,989 | [20]: 2 [40] |
| 2023 | 355 | 348 | 337 | 337 | 313 | 280 | 953 | 1,017 | 1,970 | [41]: 2 [42] |
| 2024 | 394 | 357 | 360 | 318 | 343 | 266 | 1,000 | 1,038 | 2,038 | [5]: 2 [43] |
| 2025 | 405 | 397 | 371 | 341 | 306 | 309 | 1,016 | 1,113 | 2,129 | [6] |
| 2026 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
Sports
Volleyball
The school's volley ball team is called the "Benowa Redbacks".[7]
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:
| 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
| Name | Area | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Andre | Singer | [44] |
| Jamie Durie | TV presenter and landscape designer | [45] |
| Anna Torv | Actress | [46] |
| Hannah Palmer | Walkey award-winning journalist and radio producer | |
| Eamon Farren | Actor |
Sport
| Name | Sport | Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Merrett | Australian rules football | Brisbane Lions player[47] |
| Brent Renouf | Australian rules football | Hawthorn Football Club (Port Adelaide) player[citation needed] |
| Dayne Zorko | Australian rules football | Brisbane Lions captain[48] |
