Goondiwindi State High School

Goondiwindi State High School is a public co-educational secondary school, located in Goondiwindi, Goondiwindi Region (Queensland, Australia). The school is administered by the Queensland Department of Education.

Name

"Gundawindi", the name of the town the school was located in, and thereby the school itself, was derived from the "Gundawindi pastoral run" (c.1838), which in turn was thought to be derived from an expression used by the local Indigenous Australian community referring to 'wild duck' or a 'resting place for birds'.

History

Community advocacy for a dedicated secondary school in Goondiwindi commenced in 1960. The then Queensland Education Minister, Jack Pizzey, at the "State Rural School 1960" speech night, promised “a brand new high school for Goondiwindi when secondary enrolments reached 100, provided 10 students were prepared to continue into senior schooling level”. In the following year this target was achieved, with the school achieving 107 enrolments with 10 students pledging to continue to the senior years. The school was one of the numerous civic improvements to occur in Goondiwindi between the 1920s and 1960s, opening on 28 January 1964, with an enrolment of 178 students by February the very same year.

On 19–20 September 2014, the school celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

The school's Trade Skills Centre was opened in 2016. It provides education in engineering and agriculture, reflecting the economy of the local area.

Administration

As of 2025, the school has a teaching staff of 50 (Full-Tine Equivalent: 47.5) and a non-teaching staff of 27 (Full-Time Equivalent: 19.5). The current principal is Brett Hallett who has been in this position since 2009. The prior principals have been:

+ Past PrincipalsTenurePrincipalRef Initial Final 1964 1965 W. Goosens 1966 1968 Alf Garrone 1969 1970 A. Matthews 1971 A. Whitmee 1972 1975 Barry Thomson 1976 1977 Dennis Fredrickson 1978 1979 Kel Barnes 1980 1985 David Cassidy 1986 1987 Ian Isaacs 1988 1989 Leoll Barron 1990 1992 Paul Tarbuck 1992 1994 Gary Chew 1994 2000 Graham Jenkins 2001 2002 Catherine O’Sullivan 2003 2008 Alan Smith 2009 Dean Russell 2009 2020 Brett Hallett

- Acting principal, for only semester one.

Students

In its initial year (February 1964) the school had an enrolment of 178 students. As of 2025, the school has an enrolment of 453 students. The school serves students from Year 7 to Year 12.

+ Student enrolment trendsYearYearsBoysGirlsTotalRef 7 8 9 10 11 12 2009 - - - - - - 238 245 483 2010 - - - - - - 234 236 470 2011 - - - - - - 238 229 467 2013 - - - - - - 221 233 454 2014 - - - - - - 232 245 477 2015 - - - - - - 246 285 531 2016 - - - - - - 253 273 526 2017 - - - - - - 248 250 498 2018 81 80 88 80 54 77 237 223 460 2019 91 82 85 78 80 49 241 224 465 2020 79 95 90 76 76 72 265 223 488 2021 77 91 97 90 68 65 268 220 488 2022 84 84 90 99 81 60 260 238 498 2023 92 86 78 97 85 67 264 241 505 2024 85 90 80 83 83 79 258 242 500 2025 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 235 218 453 2026 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

Cultural Diversity

Indigenous

The school is located on Bigambul (also spelt Bigambal) peoples traditional Country.

Multiculturalism

The recent trends in multicultural composition been:

+ Trends in Multicultural CompositionYearIndigenousLBOTERef 2014 11% 2% 2015 14% 3% 2016 17% 2% 2017 20% 6% 2018 19% 8% 2019 21% 10% 2020 22% 10% 2021 22% 10% 2022 23% 9% 2023 25% 8% 2024 28% 11% 2025 26% 10% 2026 TBA TBA

Sports

Houses

The school's three sports houses are named after pioneering explorers of Australia.

+ Sports Houses House Name Explorer Colour Ref Cook Captain James Cook Blue Cunningham Allan Cunningham Red Mitchell Thomas Mitchell Green / Gold

Goondiwindi State High School

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