Narangba Valley State High School (NVSHS) is a co-educational, state secondary school in Narangba

Narangba, Queensland

Narangba is a suburb north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located in the Moreton Bay Region.This suburb has rural origins, but is being redeveloped as a residential suburb on the outskirts of the greater Brisbane metropolitan area.-History:...

, Queensland

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...

. It is one of the newest schools in the state, having only been established in the year 2000.

Uniform

The uniform

School uniform

A school uniform is an outfit—a set of standardized clothes—worn primarily for an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries . When used, they form the basis of a school's dress code.Traditionally school uniforms have been largely subdued and...

 for Narangba Valley State High School students varies depending on their year level and the day of the week. On Mondays, students are required to wear their formal uniform. This consists of a blue shirt

Shirt

A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...

 and navy shorts

Shorts

Shorts are a bifurcated garment worn by both men and women over their pelvic area, circling the waist, and covering the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to or even below the knee, but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they are a shortened...

 or trousers

Trousers

Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...

 for boys, and a blue blouse

Blouse

A blouse is a loose-fitting upper garment that was formerly worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women and children. It is typically gathered at the waist so that it hangs loosely over the wearer's body. Today, the word most commonly refers to a woman's shirt but can also refer to a man's shirt if...

 and navy skirt for girls. All senior students (years 10, 11 and 12) are required to wear a senior tie

Necktie

A necktie is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. Variants include the ascot tie, bow tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Neck...

 with their formal uniforms, while junior girls wear a crossover tie. Boys have the option of either wearing shorts or trousers, except senior boys during the middle two terms of the year, whom must wear trousers.

During the other four days of the school week, students have a choice of wearing either the formal uniform or the unisex

Unisex

Unisex stands for the meaning that either gender or sex will be able to, but can also be another term for gender-blindness.The term was coined in the 1962 and was used fairly informally...

 sports uniform. This consists of navy shorts as well as a green, navy blue and gold striped shirt for juniors and a predominantly navy blue shirt for seniors.

Academics

Narangba Valley State High School offers schooling from grade 8 through to 12. The school has had a reasonable amount of academic success, with 71% of students receiving an OP of 1 - 15 in 2006, one of the highest scores for state schools in the district.

Subjects are offered in a wide range of curriculum areas: Mathematics, English, SOSE, Science, Performing Arts, Life Technology (Home Economics), Design Technology (Manual Arts), ICT and Business, Physical Education, LOTE

Lote

Lote is a village in the municipality of Eid in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The population of Lote was 132. The village is located about southeast of Nordfjordeid and about northwest of Sandane in Gloppen municipality...

 (Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

) and Visual Arts.

As well as these Academic subjects, the school also has a weekly lesson designed to enhance the life skills of the students, known as SDV (Student Development). Another of these weekly lessons is ATP (Assessment Training and Preparation). In ATP, Year 10 and 11 students have been completing a Certificate I in Work Education, adding points towards their Queensland Certificate of Education. In Year 12 students complete preparation tests for the Queensland Core Skills Test

Queensland Core Skills Test

The Queensland Core Skills Test is a statewide test completed by all Queensland year twelve students who wish to be eligible for an Overall Position and is optional for tertiary rank students. These ranks are used to gain entrance into tertiary degrees and courses...

Academy Programs

Since 2004 the school has offered extension programs in many subjects. Students are given the opportunity to nominate or be selected for the fast-tracked subjects in Year 8. These programs are offered in a number of different areas.

Core Subjects

Students who achieve outstanding academic results are selected to take part in these programs. The programs are offered until Year 11, when students are given the opportunity to undertake further courses during their senior years.

Academies are offered in Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, English

English studies

English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...

, Science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 and SOSE

Social studies

Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...

Performing arts

At the beginning of Year 8, students are asked to audition for either of the three academies: Music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, Dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 and/or Drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

. These students complete work faster than ordinary classes, and their assessment is expected to be of a higher standard. These academies continue until year 10, where students progress to complete their senior studies.

A recent addition to the academy program is Academy Camp and Tour. This involves Academy students preparing and rehearsing a performance, before traveling to a number of local schools and presenting the act.

The P.A.L.A.C.E.

Narangba Valley's Performing Arts and Lifestyle Academic Centre of Excellence is a state of the art hall, that was officially opened in 2005. The facility includes:

• 1500 seat indoor auditorium
• two full-size basketball courts
• Six volleyball courts
• Dodgeball courts
• Two tennis courts
• Four badminton courts
• Two netball courts
• Two purpose built drama classrooms
• Sports gymnasium
• Lighting and sound studio
• All new stage lighting

AFL Academy

The Narangba Valley AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 Academy has been successful in numerous endeavours. It was the first AFL academy in the state to have female participants. The grade 8 academy students won the statewide Fast Nines competition in 2005 and the Junior (grade 8 and 9) AFL team won the statewide Lion's Cup for 2006. This feat was also achieved by both the Junior and Senior girls teams in 2006. This great triumph was repeated in 2007 by the junior girls team. The boys' and girls' AFL teams have both completed a trip to Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, in 2007 and 2008 respectively, to compete against local school teams. In 2010 the grade 8 girls won Fast Nines.

House system

Narangba Valley has four houses, one of which each student is a member of. Each house is named after an Australian sportsperson:
FREEMAN (yellow

Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

) - named after runner Cathy Freeman

Cathy Freeman

Catherine Astrid Salome "Cathy" Freeman, OAM is former Australian sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame.Freeman was the first ever Aboriginal...

 LAVER (red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

) - named after tennis player Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...

 O'NEILL (blue

Blue

Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...

) - named after swimmer Susie O'Neill RAFTER (green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

) - named after tennis player Patrick Rafter

Patrick Rafter

Patrick "Pat" Michael Rafter is an Australian former World No. 1 tennis player. He twice won the men's singles title at the US Open and was twice the runner-up at Wimbledon. Rafter was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006. He was known for his natural serve-and-volley style of...

Over the course of each year, the different houses compete for a number of different championships and shields:

• Inter-House Swimming Carnival
• Inter-House Athletics Carnival
• Champion Sporting House
• Champion Service House
• Champion Cultural House
• Champion Academic House

Extracurricular activities

The school's instrumental music program involves a large number of students. The school has a number of different ensembles, which perform at many events, as well as competitions including the Queensland Youth Music Awards.

Each year, numerous teams are entered into the QDU Debating Competition. Narangba Valley's teams have had reasonable success in recent years, with a number teams progressing into the finals competition.

In every other year, the school produces a musical, which contains a large number of students from the performing arts faculty. The following musicals have been produced:

• 2004 - Grease
  Grease (musical)
  Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
  
  
• 2006 - Little Shop of Horrors
  Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
  Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
  
  
• 2008 - The Wiz
  The Wiz
  The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
  
  
• 2010 - Beauty and the Beast
  Beauty and the Beast (musical)
  Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...
  
  

External links

• Narangba Valley State High School Homepage
• Enrolment Management Plan, Education.qld.gov.au