Brisbane State High School

School Enrolment Management Plan

Brisbane State High School (BSHS) is Queensland's, and Australia's, largest state secondary school with over 3,000 students across Years 7–12.

Brisbane State High School is a high demand school with an outstanding academic, sporting and cultural heritage located in the inner city area of South Brisbane.

The school has experienced exceptional, unabated and unprecedented growth in its school population over the past five years. The increase in numbers has been particularly exacerbated by the number of families moving into the catchment area and also influenced by the increase in the number of multi-dwelling properties in the catchment.

Parents considering enrolling their child at BSHS must understand that an application for enrolment does not guarantee confirmation of a place. The Executive Principal is responsible for determining whether a student is entitled to be enrolled at the school on the basis of the requirements outlined under this Enrolment Management Plan and within the enrolment capacity of the school.

The school primarily exists to provide state secondary education to students who genuinely reside within the school's catchment. The requirement for a student's principal place of residence (as required under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (the Act) to fall within the school's catchment will be actively monitored and enforced. Parents must notify the school of any change of address within 14 days of any change.

For all local catchment enrolment applications, the school requires the provision of documentary evidence to demonstrate that students seeking to enrol genuinely reside in the catchment. BSHS will require parents and guardians to sign statutory declarations under the Oaths Act 1867 as providing legally sworn evidence of enrolment eligibility. This is essential to ensure that only genuine local students enrol in the school.

The Executive Principal reserves the right to undertake an audit or conduct an investigation at any time to ensure compliance with the requirements under this Enrolment Management Plan and an entitlement to enrol. If false or misleading information has been used to obtain enrolment, a student's enrolment will cease. The school reserves the right to independently assess, validate or investigate applications for enrolment and will refer false or misleading applications to the Queensland Police Service.

The school also operates a selective entry program where students from outside the school's catchment may make application for the limited places that are available under this program. The selective entry program is heavily oversubscribed each year and application fees apply to cover the cost of the assessment process. There is no guarantee of receiving an offer of enrolment under this program and entry is entirely at the discretion of the school.

The demand for enrolment at Brisbane State High School far exceeds the positions available in each year level. The school actively endeavours to maintain the integrity of the school catchment as a means of maintaining a productive learning environment for staff and students. Due to accommodation constraints and taking into consideration health and safety issues for both students and staff, it may be necessary for the school to assist you in enrolling your child in another government school.

The negotiated catchment area for the school may be subject to change and a residential address within the current catchment should not be relied upon as a guarantee of a future entitlement to enrol.

School enrolment capacity

Brisbane State High School has an agreed maximum student enrolment capacity of some 3,000 students. At present the school has capacity to accommodate over 1,000 students in its selective entry program.

The school operates a selective entry program for Academic, Sporting and Culture (Art and Music) entry for students. Selective entry places are available to 'out of catchment' enrolments only after the demand for 'in catchment' enrolments has been met and sufficient student enrolment capacity has been reserved for future in-catchment growth. From the selective entry places available, the proportion of places within the program are typically distributed according to the following:

• approximately 50% in Academic Selective Entry
• approximately 40% in Sporting Selective Entry
• approximately 10% in Cultural (Art and Music) Selective Entry.

Local catchment area

A school's local catchment area is the defined geographical area from which the school is to have its core intake of students.

BSHS operates under a negotiated catchment area. The school's catchment map which defines the catchment area is available to be viewed at either the school's administration building or viewed online.

Given that BSHS operates under a negotiated catchment, the boundaries of that catchment area are subject to periodic review and may be subject to change at any time. While a principal place of residence may currently be in catchment, there is no guarantee that this will satisfy future enrolment eligibility. Please check the school's catchment in the year prior to the proposed commencement date to determine which residences are located within the catchment area.

Out of catchment enrolments will only be accepted if they constitute a merit entry under the selective entry program or made as a legislative or policy requirement of the Department of Education and Training. No other out of catchment enrolment applications will be eligible for consideration.

Enrolment policy

Any student, whose principal place of residence is within the school's catchment area, is (subject to the Act) entitled to enrol at the school. The school's Executive Principal will reserve places for students who move into the catchment area throughout the school year.

Parents or legal guardians who seek to enrol their child at the school will need to fully demonstrate that the student's principal place of residence is genuinely within the catchment area. Current proof of residency at the address indicated must be provided.

The school reserves the right to confirm a student's entitlement to enrol under this Enrolment Management Plan immediately prior to the student's commencement at the school. Where a student about to commence at the school no longer resides within the catchment, the Executive Principal reserves the right to review the eligibility of the student to commence at the school. Any failure to notify the school of a change in address of the student's principal place of residence will be considered in determining eligibility.

Factors that will be considered in determining whether a student's residence is their principal place of residence and is within the school's catchment include but are not limited to the following:

• where the student sleeps
• where the student eats meals
• whether the student also resides in other premises and if so, the reasons for doing so and the extent of time spent there
• the place of residence of the student's immediate family, especially a parent, carer, step-parent or sibling
• whether there are other occupants of the residence, and their rights to, and control over, the property
• the connection of utilities such as telephone, internet, subscription services (for example Foxtel), gas and electricity under the name of the student or their parent
• whether the amount of electricity and/or gas used is consistent with the student and/or the student's immediate family occupying the residence as a home
• whether the student and/or their immediate family have moved their furniture and personal effects into the residence
• whether the residence is used as the student's, or the student's immediate family members, mailing address or address for other purposes such as the electoral roll, driver's licence and vehicle registration. If another residence is used, the reasons for using that other residence
• whether the student or the student's immediate family members entertain friends and other family at that residence
• the length of time of residence
• whether home insurance for the building and/or contents, has been taken out in the student's family name and whether the insurance is a 'landlord' or 'owner occupier' policy
• the type of finance acquired by the student's family for the residence. For example, obtaining finance as an owner/occupier or under an investment loan
• whether the applicant's purpose for occupying the residence is other than to make it their principal place of residence. For example, the purpose forms part of a scheme to evade limitations on, or requirements affecting, entitlement to enrolment under this Enrolment Management Plan.

The issue of whether a residence is a student's principal place of residence will be determined at the Executive Principal's discretion. The relevance and weight of each factor will depend on the individual circumstances of each case.

Examples of proof of residency documents under the relevant category that are required to be provided with the enrolment application to confirm the student's principal place of residence include but are not limited to the following:

Owned property

• unconditional sale agreement demonstrating fair market value, settlement notice or title deed
• evidence that the property is the legitimate family residence (e.g. type, size and nature of the accommodation)
• a current rates notice/s
• a minimum of three current bills and evidence of payment (e.g. electricity, gas, internet, telephone) that demonstrate reasonable levels of usage
• a current paid up home and contents insurance policy
• a current paid up motor vehicle insurance policy
• other evidence as requested by the Executive Principal.

Leased property

• a current commercially drawn, arms-length, residential lease agreement in the name of the legal parents or guardians (e.g. minimum of 3 months prior to the date of application and 12 months of the student's commencement date — leases of greater length will be given greater weight in the enrolment process) — private rental lease agreements are not accepted
• a current bond receipt lodged with the Residential Tenancies Authority for the stated residence
• a minimum of three current bills and evidence of payment for electricity, gas, internet, telephone (demonstrating reasonable levels of usage as compared to other households)
• a current paid up contents insurance policy
• a current paid up motor vehicle insurance policy
• other evidence as requested by the Executive Principal
• evidence of currently paid up rent at the amount outlined in the lease agreement

For lease holders, the school may also assess:

• evidence of payment of effective market value rent
• evidence that the property is the legitimate family residence (e.g. type, size and nature of the accommodation).

Compulsory personal information documents

• driver's license
• electoral roll.

Other evidence that may be required

• a properly sworn statutory declaration from a legal representative demonstrating guardianship/parenting arrangements
• a properly sworn statutory declaration from the enrolling parent or legal guardian attesting that the student's principal place of residence is the place nominated in the enrolment application.

The Executive Principal may request to sight original documentation and require copies of documents to be sworn or affirmed in front of the school's nominated legal officer, Commissioner for Declarations or Justice of the Peace (Qualified).

If the Executive Principal is not satisfied that the documentation provided by an applicant demonstrates adequately that the address stated is the student's principal place of residence, then the Executive Principal may decide that the student is not entitled to be enrolled at BSHS.

False or misleading statements or assertions about the student's principal place of residence amount to an offence and will be reported to police.

The Executive Principal will cease processing an application for enrolment of a future student or cease the enrolment of an existing student where entitlement to enrolment has been obtained through false or misleading statements about the student's principal place of residence.

Siblings

Siblings of selective entry students are not eligible for automatic enrolment.

Siblings of existing non-selective entry students whose principal place of residence is not within the catchment are not eligible for automatic enrolment.

Out-of-Catchment application

Out of catchments enrolments will not be considered unless they constitute a selective entry under the selective program or are made as a legislative or policy requirement of the Department of Education, including:

• children and young people who are subject to child protection orders that grant guardianship or custody to the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women
• students who live outside the catchment area and are verified with a disability can enrol in the school to attend the specialised disability program if it is the closest program to their home and meets their individualised needs
• students who have been excluded from another school, dependent upon the conditions related to the exclusion.

The only out-of-catchment students eligible for application to BSHS under this Enrolment Management Plan are those determined eligible through the selective entry program, subject to the availability of places in accordance with the student enrolment capacity of the school.

Selective entry process

The selective entry process will be determined and managed by the Executive Principal.

All applicants must complete the application package available on the school website and applications may be made under more than one category.

The Executive Principal reserves the right to review ongoing participation in a selective entry program if a student elects not to participate in the program for which they were selected.

Application for the selective entry program is no guarantee of successful enrolment at BSHS and any fees paid are non-refundable.

The Executive Principal is responsible for all decisions on selective entry enrolment and his decision on selection will be final. There is no internal review of the Executive Principal's decision.

Fees

• the enrolment management plan permits the enrolment of a student living outside the catchment area based on cultural, sporting or academic merit
• the significant number of prospective students living outside the catchment area and applying to enrol results in abnormal administrative costs to the school, for example, enrolment examination supervision and marking.

To participate in the BSHS selective entry program, applicants are required to pay the application fee. Participating in the selective entry program selection process is no guarantee of successful enrolment at BSHS and any fees paid are non-refundable.

The Executive Principal reserves the right to grant exemption for this fee payment in genuine circumstances of financial hardship.

Decisions on enrolment

The Executive Principal is responsible for all decisions on enrolments and may request any additional documentation or conduct other enquiries deemed necessary to satisfy enrolment eligibility criteria.

Where the Executive Principal forms a preliminary view that an application does not satisfy the conditions for the eligibility criteria for enrolment, applicants will be notified in writing.

Applicants may respond to the Executive Principal's preliminary view by making a submission to the Executive Principal, no later than seven days after receiving the preliminary view letter.

If no submission is received, the Executive Principal's preliminary view will be treated as the final decision and no further notice will be provided.

If a submission is received, the Executive Principal will consider the submission and make a final decision. A final decision notice will be provided to the applicant as soon as is practicable. There is no internal review of the Executive Principal's decision.

Gazettal date

This updated version of the School Enrolment Management Plan of Brisbane State High School was gazetted on 9 October 2020.

The School Enrolment Management Plan is reviewed periodically, and if required, updated to reflect any changes.