Morayfield State High School

Location: Morayfield, Queensland

Morayfield State High School has a current enrolment of approximately 1500 students. The majority of students are from low-income backgrounds. 10 per cent of students are Indigenous. 9 per cent are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, with approximately 110 Pacific Islander students. Morayfield has a Special Education Program which caters for 115 students with disabilities, both within the Special Education Unit and mainstream classes.

How Morayfield State High School has used its Gonski funding

Morayfield State High School received approximately $140,000 in additional Gonski funding in 2014 and $453,000 in 2015.

Morayfield has invested in whole-school strategies to improve reading and numeracy: employing additional specialist and support staff, high quality professional development for classroom teachers, and quality modern resources to support the initiatives being developed and implemented.

In the area of IT new resources have been purchased to support literacy and numeracy development such as subscriptions to online maths and spelling programs, online diagnostic assessment instruments, digital teacher observation and feedback platforms, and additional computer hardware to build teacher capability and other necessary resources to support new programs.

How Gonski funding has made a difference for students

As a result of Gonski funding Morayfield has shown above national average improvement in numeracy and reading over the last two years. Morayfield Principal Peter Keen says that: ''In particular, there has been significant above national average improvement in writing and grammar and punctuation for junior secondary students. Ninety nine per cent of 2015 graduating students had achieved either a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), a Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement (QCIA) which recognises the achievements of students who are on individualised learning programs, or VET qualification.''

What Morayfield State High could do with Gonski in the future

Without the full six years of Gonski funding these achievements would be unsustainable. The full six years would mean they could be sustained and extended. Morayfield would also target specific resources to a transition support program for students identified from feeder primary schools who require strong, extra support. This support would focus not only on immediate learning needs but also on social and mental health needs in order for them to be able to participate more fully in school life.