Sunshine Beach State High School

Sunshine Beach State High School is one of only twenty schools throughout Australia to receive $25,000 in inaugural Schools First Seed Funding Awards. Sunshine Beach State High School has been recognised for its dedication in providing improved educational outcomes for students through the development of this school – community partnership.

Schools First has been realised by NAB in partnership with The Foundation for Young Australians and Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to promote best practice in school – community partnerships. It is the nation’s largest ever corporate-backed education initiative, and is the first in a three year commitment from each partner to promote best practice in school – community partnerships.

In our submission, we were able to demonstrate a detailed plan of its partnership, including objectives for improved student outcomes, and an undertaking to make the partnership sustainable and an integrated part of the school curriculum. The planned project involves our community partners are Noosa FM 101.3 Community Radio and Mike Middleton from On Camera. Together with our school staff and students, we will build a broadcasting studio where students will be trained in all aspects of radio and television broadcasting. These partnerships will introduce students to industry standard recording experiences and provide them with opportunities to showcase their work at a high level both locally and globally. The intended use of the broadcasting studio will address the need for the positive portrayal of the unique talents and skills of the young people at our school. It will also meet the need to provide a holistic program that will nurture the unique talents of every student in our school.

The facility will provide learning and expressive opportunities to students which until now have been very basic experiences. The broadcasting facility will provide both learning and expressive opportunities for students across all Key Learning Areas and our aim is to engage students in meaningful, relevant learning. Our hope for this ongoing project, in particular, will help to reduce the growing rate of absenteeism and disengagement. The $25,000 is intended for the school to build on its school – community partnership vision with Noosa Community Radio and On Camera. The partnership aims to build a broadcasting studio where students will be trained in all aspects of radio and television broadcasting. It will be built to industry standards. The associated learning program will be closely linked to the curriculum and tap into all Key Learning Areas.

The initiative is based on the belief that strong school - community partnerships can make a significant difference to outcomes for young people, including increased skills and greater engagement with learning. It is also anticipated that these partnerships will leave a meaningful legacy in the local community.

The following statement was reported in our local newspaper: “NAB is delighted with the calibre of seed funding award recipients this year, and we look forward to Sunshine Beach State High School being able to grow its partnership with Noosa Community Radio over the coming years and deliver some outstanding results for its students,” said Jodi Cryan, Head of Schools First.