Spinifex State College

Infobox School
name = Spinifex State College


motto = Sharing Knowledge, Creating Our Future
established = 2003
type = Public
grades = 8-12
colors = Navy, gold, white
location = Mount Isa, Queensland
country = Australia
homepage = http://www.spinifexsc.eq.edu.au/

Spinifex State College is an 8-12 high school, located in Mount Isa, in north west Queensland, Australia. It first opened in 2003.

History

Prior to 2003 Mount Isa was serviced by two state secondary schools. Mount Isa State High School and Kalkadoon State High School had served the community well.

Following community consultation it was determined that to continue to provide the best possible education to students in Mount Isa that it was timely to merge the two schools. At the same time it was decided to open a residential campus to provide opportunities to students from outlying communities who do not have a secondary school.

Spinifex State College – Mount Isa opened in 2003. It is a three-campus co-educational school, with a Junior, Senior and Residential campus. Spinifex State College offers and educational program for years 8-12.

The Campuses

Junior Campus

The Junior Campus provides education for students in years 8-10. The school is based on a ‘school within a school’ concept with a Deputy and Head of Department assigned to, and managing each year level. In addition to this there is also a Pathways Program that caters for students who are not achieving success in the mainstream program. Some of the pathway students attend at the junior campus, some attend a class at senior campus and others attend a class based at Mount Isa Special School.

enior Campus

The senior campus provides for years 11 and 12. Students select a course of study from a wide variety of offerings including Queensland Studies Authority subject, Authority Registered subjects and also TAFE courses.

Spinifex College has a Special Education Unit at the junior campus and a Special Education Class at the senior campus.

Residential Campus

The Residential campus is the first state-run boarding facility in Queensland for students attending a state school. This campus has the capacity to board and provide educational support to 57 students.

Industry Links

Since opening in 2003 the College has worked closely with local industry partners. In 2004, in partnership with Xstrata, Mount Isa Mines we introduced a Bursary program for year 11 students. Selected students attend Xstrata one day a week in year 11 and during their holidays. This is then progressed into a SAT once students have identified their area of preference. In 2007 a new “Skills for the Future” program was offered for year 9 students to give them an opportunity to attend the Xstrata Skills centre and experience trade skills.

Close links with TAFE have enabled TAFE coursed to be embedded into the school timetable.

Spinifex College is also a Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy hub school. The Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) provides students with clear pathways into one of the state’s largest, dynamic and economically important sectors

Extra curricular activities

porting

Spinifex College sent away a Touch Football team, the Taipans, to Singapore to compete in the international competition and placed first within the competition.

The Spinifex Sapphires and the Spinifex Strikers represent the College in the local netball competitions. Friendly games are also conducted against Good Shepard Catholic College and Cloncurry State School.

Music

Spinifex College has a combined campus concert band, The students in this band range from intermediate to experienced levels. The band placed 2nd at the local Eisteddfod in 2005, placed 3rd in 2006, and 3rd in 2007. In 2005, the band received a Silver Award in May for FanFare - a prestigious band competition held throughout the state. The school also had a jazz band, that formed in 2005 and the following year they took 4th place at Eisteddfod. The jazz band reformed at the beginning of 2007 to form the Mount Isa Stage Band, which is open to all the community members to join.Fact|date=February 2008

Drama

Every two years the school produces a musical. In 2003 they performed the hit musical "Back to the 80s". 2005 saw the school perform another hit musical, again a comedy, "Smithy". The story of Smithy follows a troublesome youth who joins the school play, Romeo and Juliet, and tries his luck with the hottest chick around. Two years later, the school musical was postponed a year, to 2008, in order to accommodate for the new music teacher and the new drama teacher. The school musical for 2008 is called Disco Inferno, a 70's comedy. It premiered on the 18th and 19th of July at the Civic Centre. Disco Inferno had 70's songs like "play that funky music" and "fire" and the first song princess fiona sings at the end of Shrek 1.

Other

*Gifted and Talented Programs – including a program for year 7 students in the areas of Maths, Science, The Arts and English
*Magnetic Island Leadership and Personal Development camp – year 11
*Year 12 Leadership Camp – Captains and School Council Members – years 9-12
*Senior Tutorial Classes – yrs 11-12
*School-Based Apprenticeships/Traineeships yrs 10-12 – 35 students in 2007
*Structured Industry Placements – yrs 10-12 – over 300 placements
*Instrumental Music Program – yrs 8-12
*Debating – yrs 8-12
*North West Sports – yrs 8-12
*James Cook University Trip – year 12
*Yr 7-8 Transition Days
*Tools4Change – community sponsored transition program – year 7
*Xstrata Bursaries – yr 11-12
*Siemens Science Summer School – yrs 10-12
*QMEA – Outback @ Isa excursions, Senior Engineering Camp

References

cite web
last = Queensland
first = School Sport
title = Queensland School Sport
url = http://www.schoolsport.qld.edu.au/LinkClick.aspx?link=08_TeamOfficialsSummary_PrimSec.doc&tabid=52&mid=649
accessdate = 2008-07-09

cite web
last = QMEA
title = Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy
url = http://www.qmea.org.au
accessdate = 2008-07-09

External links

* [http://www.spinifexsc.eq.edu.au/ Official School Website]
* [http://www.qmea.org.au/ QMEA Website]