10 February 2025

Executive Principal's Address

Dear Parents and carers, 

It has been fantastic to feel the energy and excitement around campus as our students and staff settle into another year at Corinda. Watching our newest students explore opportunities, engage in their classrooms, and build friendships has been a wonderful start to 2025. A highlight of our first week was our Year 7 students embracing the tradition of the Corinda War Cry - an inspiring moment (pictured below) that showcased their enthusiasm for becoming part of our school community.

This year, we welcomed over 365 new Year 7 students into the Corinda family. It was wonderful to see so many parents join us for morning tea on their first day. Strong parent support networks are essential in guiding students through their high school journey, and we are pleased to facilitate these connections.

A sincere thank you to all families for ensuring a smooth start to the year - students arrived on time, in uniform, and prepared for the challenges and opportunities ahead. Whether your child is new to Corinda or continuing their education with us, we hope they have had a successful start and are looking forward to what’s to come.

Our Year 11 students started their school year with three fantastic days of camp. I am especially grateful to both our parents for helping their students prepare, and the fabulous team of staff who invested their energy to ensure that our beginning senior students started the year together and strong.

Last week we also celebrated our Merit Award recipients in both the High Distinction and Distinction categories. These celebrations are always a highlight for me personally, as we are recognising students who consistently do both the very best for themselves and those around them.

• To achieve a High Distinction, students had to achieve nothing but excellent (the highest) grades in both effort and behaviour across both their report cards from both semesters last year.
• To achieve a Distinction, students had to achieve no less than an average of 4.8 points for their effort and behaviour (with excellent being 5) across both semesters last year.

To have achieved one of these awards is incredibly difficult and I commend the hundreds of Corinda students who we recognised last week. As an example of how exemplary the students of Corinda performed, over 80 students received a Distinction and around 30 received a High Distinction in Year 8 alone – well done!

This morning, our Year 7 students set off on a 3-day camp, which promises to be a fantastic experience, focusing on friendship building, resilience, and fun. The team have record numbers of students who have registered for camp. With the same number of Year 7 students as 2024, we are taking almost 60 additional students to camp this year – this is exceptional. Camp will challenge some students, but it also provides the perfect platform for friendship formation early in the school year.

On Thursday evening, we are looking forward to celebrating academic excellence, where we will honour students who achieved outstanding results in 2024. The response to these awards has been overwhelming, with the venue selling out.  This speaks to both the outstanding performance of our students, as well as some continuing facilities limitations that we have as a community.

Finally, Corinda offers a wealth of extracurricular activities, from Sports to the Arts. Whether it’s Drama club, Choir, Dance troupes, Instrumental Music, or Badminton club, there’s something for every student. We encourage students to explore their interests and make the most of these opportunities. 

Parents, we invite you to our next P&C meeting on 26 February at 7:00 PM in D11 (enter via Pratten Street). Your involvement plays a crucial role in shaping our school community, and we welcome your participation.

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to a successful year ahead at Corinda State High School.

Ross Bailey
Executive Principal

Key dates

Some of our best

Welcoming our amazing new Year 7 cohort!

Last week we welcomed our Year 7 students for their first day of high school! Our Executive Principal, key staff and student leaders greeted our new students with their first assembly. They shared words of encouragement and provided important information for the exciting year ahead. Afterwards, parents enjoyed nibbles and drinks at the Station Master's House. We wish all Year 7 students best of luck at high school and we are so happy to have you here!

Making friends and learning new things are on the top of these student's lists as they start their secondary school journeys. Meet some of our amazing new cohort by watching the video below:

Bunar triumphs in 2025 Swimming Carnival

Our 2025 Swimming Carnival was an incredible display of talent, House spirit and sportsmanship! After some fierce competition, we are excited to announce that Bunar has emerged as the Swimming Carnival House Champions for 2025! With an impressive total of 378 points, Bunar claimed victory by a close margin of just 9 points. Here's how our houses placed: Bunar 1st, Moori 2nd, Yarraman 3rd, Kabul 4th, Dibbil 5th and Pirri 6th.

The carnival was not just about competition - it was about fun, excitement, and incredible House spirit. From the cheers on the sidelines to the intense race to the finish, everyone showed amazing energy and enthusiasm. It’s events like these that remind us of the great sense of community and camaraderie that we have at our school.

A massive thank you goes out to all the teachers who attended and helped make the event such a success. Your support and involvement were truly appreciated, and the day wouldn’t have been the same without you! Also, thank you to Dunlop Pool for being the perfect host for this event. We’re excited to share that the Age Champion results will be posted soon!

Highlights from the Fearless Learning PD

After a well-deserved summer break, the Corinda team gathered for an inspiring 2-day professional development conference at The University of Queensland (UQ). Day 1 of the Fearless Learning event featured keynote presentations by Dr. Michael Nagel from the University of the Sunshine Coast and Daniel Vella from Real Schools. Dr. Nagel discussed adolescent brain development and the importance of positive learning environments, while Vella focused on the role of connectedness and relationships in learning.

After an address from Executive Principal Ross Bailey, staff participated in workshop rotations led by Corinda team members, covering topics like relationship building, technology for engagement, and inclusive classrooms.

On Day 2, our teaching staff returned to UQ for more sessions, while non-teaching staff took part in strategic planning and the energetic 'Corinda Challenge Circuit', with 'Mad As' winning first place and the Tunnel Ball group taking top honors.

A big thank you to Deputy Principal Mrs. Rebecca Gilroy for her exceptional leadership in making this event a success. We're excited to apply the insights gained as we start another year at Corinda!

Year 11 thrive at Camp Cooby

Last week, our Year 11 students set off on their much-anticipated three-day adventure at Camp Cooby, eager and full of energy. From the very start, the spirit of inclusion was strong, with students coming together, welcoming new faces, and supporting each other through every challenge.

Whether it was navigating orienteering courses, working as a team to build rafts, or pushing personal limits on the high ropes, our students showed resilience, teamwork, and encouragement. It was inspiring to see them step up, cheer each other on, and create lasting friendships along the way.

Our collective thanks to the staff who accompanied our Year 11s, and a special thank you to Brad Kelman, Dean of Year 8 and 11 for his efforts behind the scenes to ensure that the communication, organisation and execution of a camp staged in the first week of a new school year was outstanding.

Welcome back to Corinda Joshua Batty

We are excited to welcome Joshua Batty as our new Year 7 and 10 Deputy Principal! Joshua joins us from Calamvale Community College, where he served as Acting Deputy Principal in 2024. With a strong background in education and a passion for supporting students, he brings a wealth of experience that will undoubtedly benefit our school community.

Joshua is no stranger to Corinda – he’s a former student, which makes his return to our school even more meaningful. His favourite teacher was Mrs Beamish, and she inspired him to become a teacher himself. He has a great understanding of the Corinda community, and we know he will play an important role in shaping the future of our students. We are thrilled to have him on board and can’t wait to see the positive impact he will have on our school. Welcome back to Corinda!

Year 10 and 11 captains join the Senior Student Council

On Thursday, we proudly announced our new Year 10 and 11 House Captains. These new leaders are ready to step into their roles, working alongside their classmates and fellow captains to inspire and support our school. Congratulations to all our new House Captains, and a warm welcome to the Senior Student Council for 2025! We’re excited to see the impact you’ll make, leading with passion, dedication, and teamwork.

School news

2025 School theme announced!

Our students were buzzing with anticipation as they gathered in their year level assemblies to discover this year’s theme, "A Galaxy of Possibilities". We can’t wait to blast off into a year packed with out-of-this-world learning, exciting new challenges, innovative projects and so much more. This year is set to be an intergalactic journey of growth and limitless possibilities!

Academic Awards of Excellence sold out

Due to the growing number of high-achieving students, tickets to next week’s Academic Awards of Excellence event have sold out faster than ever.

For parents and carers without tickets, we will live stream the ceremony in the foyer. A professional photographer will also be capturing moments, with photos available upon request though we can't guarantee every student will be photographed.

We appreciate your understanding and look forward to celebrating our students’ outstanding achievements!

QParents for permissions and excursions

A reminder to parents our school uses the QParents app for all permission forms for excursions. If you have not already registered or received an invite for QParents, please contact our Administration Team on (07) 3379 0222 and we will email you further information about accessing the app.

QParents connects you to our school community and keeps you informed about your child's progress. Additionally, it provides a method to make fee payments, access your student’s timetable, and allows you a quick way to lodge student absences. For more information, visit the link.

All you need is love this Love Week!

The Student Council is sprinkling a little love in the air and kicking off the year with Love Week from 10–14 February! Get ready for a week full of fun, friendship, and heartfelt vibes. Here’s what’s in store:

🌹 Serenades – Monday to Thursday (both breaks)
🍫 Roses & chocolates – Monday to Thursday (both breaks)
🎶 Live performances & Pancakes – Wednesday morning
📸 Photo Booth – Thursday & Friday (both breaks)

More information is available on Daymap Student Notices. 

Reporting harm with Stymie

Stymie is an important online platform that allows students to anonymously report any harm they may be experiencing or witnessing, helping to stop it. Through encrypted, anonymous notifications, students can report issues such as bullying, anxiety, depression, suicide ideation, sexual assault, discrimination, self-harm, and more. These notifications are swiftly delivered to authorized recipients, who respond according to their well-being framework.

Stymie provides students with the opportunity to speak up for themselves or others, promoting psychological safety and early intervention. It creates a safe space where every student has the power to #saysomething, making a positive difference in their lives. We encourage all students to use Stymie to share concerns and support one another. To find out more information follow the link https://about.stymie.com.au/.

Community news

Learn to row with Centenary Rowing Club

Centenary Rowing Club (located on the river at Middle Park) is running a Learn to Row course for high school students. Rowing is a fantastic sport, especially if your student hasn’t found their “thing” yet, as kids can’t start rowing until high school, so everyone are beginners together. Learn to Row will run for six weeks from 15th February from 7:30 in the morning. Sessions usually run for two hours.  The cost for the six weeks is $160, and the QLD gov FairPlay vouchers can be used to subside the cost.  Click here to register.