Ferny Grove State High School

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Ferny Grove State High School

Always Aim High
Established	1980
School type	State High School
Principal/ Headmaster	Chris Rider
Location	Ferny Grove, Queensland, Australia
Campus	On Site
Enrollment	approximately 1800
School colours	Light and Dark Green
Homepage	http://fernygroveshs.qld.edu.au

Ferny Grove State High School is a public high school in the suburb of Ferny Grove, in Brisbane, Australia. It is renowned for its music and drama programs.^{[citation needed]}

1 History
2 Subjects Available to Students
3 Alumni
4 Events From Around The School Yard
- 4.1 2006 Teacher Controversy
- 4.2 Teacher Controversy Continued
5 Notes And References
6 External Links

[edit] History

The school was opened in 1980 on its current site at McGinn Road, Ferny Grove, quite close to where the Ferny Grove Railway Station and Primary School stood.

It's original principal was Mr Keith Tabulo, who held the position from 1980 to 1982, upon which he was replaced by Tony Marsland. It was Marsland who began the school's tradition of planting trees along the entrance way to the school on Queensland Day. This tradition, begun in 1984, has continued since, and trees now line both entrances to the school.

In 1985, the position of prinicipal was taken by Ralph Took. Took remained principal for a record 15 years (he resigned at the end of term one in 2000, having been offered a higher position in the Education Department). During this time the school gained its reputation for excellence in several fields, including music, drama, academia and sport.

Finding a replacement for Took proved quite a long process, with deputy principal Russell Burguez acting in the position throughout terms two and three of 2000. Starting with term four, the position was permanently filled by Chris Rider, who had moved across from Wellington Point High School. Rider is still in this position currently, although he is now performing other duties in the education department and deputy Pat Anderson is acting as principal.

[edit] Subjects Available to Students

Subject	Notes
English
Junior English	Req 8-10
Board English	Auth Sub
English Communications	Auth Reg
Science
Biology	Auth Sub
Chemistry	Auth Sub
Science 21	Auth Sub
Junior Science	Req 8-10
Social Studies
Ancient History	Auth Sub
Legal Studies	Auth Sub
Modern History	Auth Sub
Study Of Society	Auth Sub
Geography	Auth Sub
Tourism	Auth Reg
Junior SES	Req 8-10
Health and Physical Education
Health Education	Auth Sub
Physical Education	Auth Sub
Physical Recreation	Auth Reg
Health and Physical Education	Opt 10 Req 8-9
Mathematics
Maths A	Auth Sub
Maths B	Auth Sub
Maths C	Auth Sub
Physics	Auth Sub
Pre-Vocational Maths	Auth Reg
Junior Maths	Req 8-10
Business Education
Business Communication And Technologies	Auth Sub
Information Processing and Technology	Auth Sub
Accounting	Auth Sub
Business Education	Auth Reg Opt 9/10
Early Childhood Practices	Auth Reg
Information and Communications Technology	Auth Reg
Computer Education	Req 8
Home Economics
Health and Nutrional Education	Req 8/9
Home Economics	Auth Sub
Hospitality Practices	Auth Reg
Visual Arts
Art	Auth Sub Req 8 Opt 9/10
Drama	Auth Sub Opt 9/10 Req 8
Arts In Practice	Auth Reg
Manual Arts
Technology Studies	Auth Sub
Industrial Skills	Auth Reg
Graphics and Design	Auth Sub Opt 9/10 Req 8
Agriculture
Agricultural Science	Auth Sub Req 9 Opt 10
Horticulture	Sch Sub
Introduction to rural Skills	Sch Sub
Music
Music	Auth Sub Req 8 Opt 9/10
Music Extension	Auth Sub
Languages other than English (L.O.T.E)
German	Auth Sub Opt 9/10 Req 8
Indonesian	Auth Sub Opt 9/10 Req 8
German Extension	Auth Sub
Indonesian Extension	Auth Sub

Notes:

Please report any errors on the Discussion Page

Seniors (Year 11/12):

Auth Sub - Authority Subjects
Auth Reg - Authority Registered Subjects
Sch Sub - School Subject

Others:

Req X - Required Subject X (X=Year)
Opt X - Optional Subject X (X=Year)

[edit] Alumni

The School has approximately 1680 students enrolled in 2007. ^[1]

The school has had several winners of the prestigious TJ Ryan award, One of these winners include Ryan Williams who has since become a German teacher at the school^{[citation needed]}

Shaun Berrigan ^[2] of the Brisbane Broncos and Queensland State of Origin Team went to Ferny Grove.

Lisa and Jessica Origliasso (better known as pop group The Veronicas) went to Ferny Grove High in grades eight and nine ^[3]. The sisters sang together in the 1996 Ferny High school talent quest and placed second behind a traditional Indian dance performed by fellow student Anoushka Kumar.

[edit] Events From Around The School Yard

[edit] 2006 Teacher Controversy

Recently, the school has received some attention in the media due to the school being evacuated. The evacuation occurred after the police raided a manual arts teacher's (contract teacher) house, finding 53 kilograms of explosives inside as well as a book about several different terrorist leaders including Osama bin Laden. The 40 year old teacher lived with his mother in their house at Aspley, and had only started at Ferny Grove State High School earlier that year. During his short-lived career there, he told several students that he was married, however, this proved to be false as he was living with his mother. The evacuation of the school was simply a precaution, as the police did not expect to find anything. Fortunately, no explosives were found in the school. Although rumour has it they found one in the HNU block and one in the maths block... this later turned out a lie some grade 9 person had created.

[edit] Teacher Controversy Continued

John Howard Amundsen's terrorism charges were dropped on the 19th February 2007 and instead he faces charges possession of dangerous goods in a vehicle and two counts of possession of a weapon. Four other charges still stand, including using a carriage service to make a threat, fraud, making counterfeit money or securities, and a passport related offence. Mr Amundsen told the court today he was pleased the terrorism charge had been dropped. ^[4]. Despite Amundsen claiming he was only using the 53 kilograms of explosives (which actually enough to blow up a number of suburban blocks) to blow up trees for a homemade film.