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A Community ~ “Building Productive Partnerships & Pathways.”
OUR SCHOOL WIDE PEDAGOGY

WE AIM FOR A QUALITY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT THAT PROVIDES:
  • Significant tasks that are open ended/problematic
  • Opportunities for learners to:
  • Manipulate and transform information
  • Make new connections
  • Exercise choice
  • Time frames for Quality work
  • Connectedness to the world beyond the classroom
OUR LEARNING COMMUNITY IS CHARACTERISED BY:
  • Engaging learners in substantive conversations to gain deeper knowledge and understanding
  • Being a Community committed to life-long learning
OUR TEACHERS FACILITATE LEARNING BY:
  • Modelling
  • Creating collaborative and independent learning situations
  • Being knowledge navigators
  • Knowing the individual
WITHIN OUR LEARNING COMMUNITY WE PROMOTE PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIPS ACROSS THE SCHOOL AND WIDER COMMUNITY THAT:
  • Are based on respect
  • Value individual differences
  • Enhance a supportive, enthusiastic and caring environment
  • Promote individual responsibility
  • Embrace internationalism
WE PROVIDE EXPERIENCES THAT ALLOW ALL OUR LEARNERS TO
  • Explore multiple pathways
  • Identify alternatives
  • Make informed choices
  • Nourish a sense of possibility

Curriculum

The school offers an extensive range of Category A and B Queensland Study Authority (QSA) subjects and nationally recognized courses that lead to Australian Qualification Training Framework (AQTF) Certificates.

Features of our curriculum include:
  • An Accelerated Learning Program that incorporates;
  • Acceleration in one or more subjects or even bypassing a whole year if students are particularly talented
  • Enrollment (through an entry examination in year 7) into the Academic Rich Curriculum (ARC) program which operates in Year 8 and 9. These classes adopt an integrated approach to the study of English, Mathematics and Science at an advanced level and are based on well-established Middle Schooling principles
  • Opportunities to enroll in courses at Griffith University, Bond University and the University of Queensland
  • A comprehensive Queensland Core Skills test (QCS) skilling and practice program
  • Excellence classes in Music, Sport and Rugby League
  • Extensive opportunities for engagement in Vocational Education through work placement, work experience and school based traineeships and apprenticeships
  • Innovative use of technology in all departments, Coombabah exceeds the State benchmark by providing one computer for every three students

Specialist Services

The School has a Special Education Unit that is coded to support speech language impairment and physical impairment. A Support and Enrichment Team (SET) cater for students experiencing difficulty with mainstream educational requirements. The Student Support Team includes the Guidance Counsellor, Industry Liaison Officer, School Nurse, Youth Support Coordinator, Youth Project Officer and Indigenous Student Support aide who are readily accessible to assist students and parents. Coombabah follows the Responsible Thinking Classroom approach to behaviour management. This approach encourages students to think about the choices they make and the consequences of those choices. A Planning Centre is provided for students who fail to make proper behavioural choices. This ensures that the right of students to learn and teachers to teach is upheld.

Co-curricular Opportunities

Students are actively encouraged to participate in co-curricular activities. Coombabah has an extensive co-curricular program that includes sport, instrumental music tuition, concert band, musicals, dancing, mooting and debating. Every second year the School stages a major musical that involves all year levels in a wide range of activities. School performance groups enter various categories in a number of Eisteddfods each year and also conduct regular performances at locations in the community.

Coombabah is proud of its sporting tradition. There are numerous opportunities for students to gain selection in representative teams, a process that is greatly assisted by a core of well-credentialed coaches. Over one hundred and fifty of our students have achieved State and Australian representation in seventeen different sports. We have won thirteen Queensland Touch Championships and in 2005 our Open Boys’ Tennis team won the Australian Championship. We currently compete against five other local schools in a Central Zone sporting season that runs in first semester and enter a range of Regional and State competitions throughout the year.

To complement the sports experience, the School has two large ovals and a multi-purpose hall with a wooden sports floor. The School is also in close proximity to world class facilities such as the Runaway Bay Super Sports Centre, Griffith University’s synthetic athletics track and the Gold Coast Hockey Centre, to name but a few. The School has partnerships with Pro1 Tennis Academy, Gold Coast Country Club (golf), Dodgers Touch Club and the Runaway Bay Rugby League Club.

The School’s four Houses – Drysdale, McCubbin, Namatjira and Streeton provide the foundation for our three sporting Intra-School competitions. They are also an integral part of our Rewards scheme, with students gaining much coveted House points and commendations for academic, cultural, sporting and community efforts.

Another feature of our School is our expanding International Student Program. As well as having a well-established sister School relationship with Inagakuen in Japan we have hosted study groups from Japan and Germany as well as teacher groups from China. A number of families regularly host international students and see it as a very satisfying and worthwhile experience.