Mansfield State High School

Location: Brisbane, Queensland

Mansfield State High School is a large high school of about 2,200 students from diverse income and ethnic background in southern Brisbane. Forty per cent of students are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, and over 65 different languages are spoken at home, with approximately 5 per cent of students receiving intensive English language support. It has a small (approximately 6 per cent) Indigenous enrolment.

How Mansfield State HS has used its Gonski funding

Mansfield State High School has received over $850,000 in Gonski funding for 2014 and 2015.

Mansfield has invested its Gonski funding in whole-school literacy and numeracy improvement strategies. Additional staff have been appointed to work with students identified as needing greater literacy and numeracy support and release time has been provided to allow for quality professional development, mentoring and coaching by internal and external specialists.

A particularly successful initiative has been the implementation of a ‘Reading at Mansfield Program’, which has included training and employment of accredited teachers and teacher aides to support the program, as well as the purchase of quality resources suitable for use in the classroom.

How Gonski funding has made a difference for students

2015 NAPLAN data shows that Mansfield State High received the highest average score of all schools, including private schools, in the local area. In addition, 2015 Year 12 results were the best in the history of the school.

Mansfield’s Executive Principal Karen Tanks says that “all students at Mansfield State High School are now given a greater chance to be successful and to improve their own performance. It is inspiring to see what we as educators have been able to do for our students.”

What Mansfield State HS could do with Gonski in the future

With the full six years of Gonski funding Mansfield would build on the success of what has been achieved with Gonski funding to date such as the Reading Program, increased teacher and teacher aide hours, and greater access to quality targeted professional development and training. The school would also be able to expand the individual support offered to students, and improve digital learning through greater teacher training and increased provision of quality digital resources.

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