Cairns State High School (CSHS) is an independent public secondary school located near the centre of

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It was founded in 1917 and is the oldest high school in Cairns. The school caters for grades 7 though 12 and has the capacity for 1,607 enrolled students. The principal of the school is Christopher Zilm.

History

Cairns State High School was founded in 1917 as an annex of the Cairns Central State School, and moved to its current location in 1924 as a joint high school and technical college. In 1980, the technical college relocated, thus the site became solely a high school. In May 2014, Block A of Cairns State High School - the Cairns Technical College and High School Building - was listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

. This building was designed by Nigel Laman Thomas of the

Department of Housing and Public Works The Department of Housing and Public Works is a ministerial department within the Queensland Government, tasked with providing housing, sport, digital technology, and urban design and architecture services Both Smart Service Queensland (SSQ) and ...

in 1938, and built in 1939 though 1941.

Curriculum

Cairns State High School participates in various interschool and representative sport associations, including Peninsula School Sport. The school also performs dance, drama, and music productions, hosts study tours and student exchanges, and operates programmes for high-achieving students in STEM, sports, and the arts. As of 2021, Cairns State High School no longer offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program which was introduced in 2011.

Campus

The facilities available on site include: *Auditorium *Events hall *Sports complex *Volleyball and multi-purpose courts *Science and computer laboratories *Art rooms (including kiln, printing, and photography rooms) *Practical arts rooms *Performing arts rooms (including dance studios) *Swimming pool

Awards and recognition

The school has received the following awards: *Best Orchestra Regional Area 2006 – The Orchestras of Australia Network Awards *Finalists – Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art *Two High Distinctions, 25 Distinctions – Australasian English Competition *Three Distinctions, Three Credits – Australasian Schools Writing Competition *Cairns State High School Symphony Orchestra has also been winners of the competition FANFARE in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2016 * Cairns State High School Chorale has won the Creative Generation Choral Fanfare in 2017, 2019 and 2021

AFL Queensland Schools Cup Achievements

The

AFL Queensland Schools Cup The AFL Queensland Schools Cup is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by schools from across the state of Queensland. Founded in 2016 it consists of a knockout tournament starting from several re ...

is the premier

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

competition for schools in Queensland, it is run by

AFL Queensland AFL Queensland Limited (AFLQ) is the governing body of Australian rules football in Queensland formed in 2000 and based at Leyshon Park in the Brisbane suburb of Yeronga. AFL Queensland has over 216,000 participants (including Northern River ...

Senior Male (Years 10-12)

* State Championships : Third Place: 2018 * North Queensland Championships : Champions: 2018

Junior Male (Years 7-9)

* State Championships : Third Place: 2017 * North Queensland Championships : Champions: 2017

Notable alumni

Aron Baynes Aron John Baynes (born 9 December 1986) is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Washington State University before starting his professional career in Europe. In 2013, he joined the San Antonio ...

, NBA basketball player * Cam Cairncross, former Major League Baseball player * Matthew Deane, Thai-Australian singer, model, actor and television presenter * Charlie Dixon, AFL player for the Suns and Power *

Erin Holland Erin Victoria Holland (born 21 March 1989) is an Australian singer, TV host, model, dancer, charity worker and beauty pageant titleholder. She won her national title, Miss World Australia, on 20 July 2013. She has also featured as a sports pre ...

, beauty pageant model * Bob Manning, ex-mayor of the

Cairns Regional Council The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. ...

Dan Sultan Daniel Leo Sultan is an Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, actor and author. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 he won Best Male Artist and Best Blues & Roots Album for his second album, '' Get Out While You Can'' (N ...

, musician and activist *

Brenton Thwaites Brenton Thwaites (born ) is an Australian actor. Beginning his career in his home country in 2011, he had a starring role on the series '' Slide'' and later appeared on the soap opera ''Home and Away''. Since moving to the United States, Thwait ...

, actor

Gallery

File:Cairns Technical College and High School Building, 2013.jpg, Block A from quadrangle File:Cairns State High School quadrangle.jpg, alt=Quadrangle from Block A, Quadrangle from Block A File:Cairns State High School-BlockE-window.jpg, Block E at night File:Cairns State High School-BlockF-bubblers.jpg, Walkway near Block F File:Cairns State High School-choir performance.jpg, Choir performance in Crosswell Hall File:Queensland State Archives 2994 Technical College Cairns July 1940.png, Block A under construction, 1940

References

External links

* {{Authority control Public high schools in Australia Public high schools in Queensland Schools in Cairns Educational institutions established in 1917 Queensland Heritage Register