Cairns State High School
Encyclopedia
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It was founded in 1917 as an annex of Cairns Central State School The school caters for grades 8 though to 12 and has the capacity for 1500 enrolled students. Founded in 1917, it is the oldest High School in Cairns. The school motto is 'Vincit Qui Se Vincit' ('He Conquers Who Conquers Himself') and its current principal is Mrs Angela Toppin.
Activities / Achievements
Cultural:Cairns State High School prides itself on its performing arts programs, excelling in dance, drama and music. Cairns High music students participated in the Eisteddfod Challenge 2005, in which the school came out on top. CSHS also participates in the biannual Education Queensland Fanfare competition which consists of musical ensembles of government schools in the state. In total, the Cairns State High School Orchestra has been presented with the first prize trophy a record five times, while the only school to have entered the Grand Finals on more occasions is Brisbane State High School
Brisbane State High School
Brisbane State High School is a partially selective, co-educational, state secondary school, located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a member of the Great Public Schools' Association of Queensland, and the Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association...
. Although Cairns State High did not win the Fanfare Finals in 2006 they were awarded the 'TOAN National Orchestra' award and their conductor Robert Favell was acclaimed the 'most outstanding conductor'. Bob Favell (conductor of the CSHS orchestra) is highly respected for his musical achievements in Cairns as an instrumental teacher, conductor and musical director for Cairns High. He has led the Cairns State High School Orchestra in Education Queensland's Fanfare competition from 1992 to present.
In the year of 2008 Cairns High produced 7 OP 1 graduates. This was repeated in 2009, with another 7 OP 1 Graduates.
Basketball School of Excellence
Bulldogs Basketball, the schools basketball development program has won the boys CISSA competition for the last 7 years with the girls team winning 5 of the last 7 years as well. The program has produced numerous National Champions as well as AIS and US scholarship athletes. Recently:
1998 Daniel Donaghy - US Junior College Scholarship
2001 Scott Pagett - Scholarship athlete @ University of New York
2004 Aaron Baynes - AIS Basketball Scholarship
2004 Aaron Baynes - Australian Schoolboys Representative
2004 Kerry Williams - ABA National Champion with Cairns "Bartercard" Marlins
2004 Kerry Williams, Kris Whelan and Leslie Coe - Under 18 National Champions with Queensland North
2006 Aaron Baynes - Scholarship athlete @ Washington State University
2006 Kerry Williams - Scholarship athlete @ North Idaho Community College
2007 Kerry Williams, Brad Burdon (Ass. Coach) - ABA National Champions with Cairns "Bartercard" Marlins
2007 George Coe - National Schools Championship with Queensland
In the last decade Bulldogs Basketball has helped to develop over 50 state or national team representative players. Program Director Brad Burdon also serves as Director of Coaching at Cairns Basketball ensuring strong links with the representative program.
School Facilities
The follow facilities are available for students at Cairns State High School:- Performing arts centre
- Laboratories – seven science labs, 14 computer labs, two multimedia labs
- Five art studios
- Sports complex
- Outdoor volleyball court
- Covered multi-purpose courts ("The Cage")
- 2 school buildings and 32 classrooms
- 11 practical art rooms
- One Recording/Sound Studio
Awards
The school has received the following awards:- Best Orchestra Regional Area 2006 – The Orchestras of Australia Network Awards
- Finalists – Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art
- Two High Distinctions, 25 Distinctions – Australasian English Competition
- Three Distinctions, Three Credits – Australasian Schools Writing Competition
Other information
Cairns High was temporarily closed on 4 June 2009 due to swine fluSwine flu
Swine influenza, also called pig influenza, swine flu, hog flu and pig flu, is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus or S-OIV is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs...
. It was due to reopen on the 9th of June, however this was extended to the 12th of June, after a second student was diagnosed with the illness. This caused some disturbance to exams and assessment, however teachers and students remained in contact through email and other electronic means.