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New Mango Hill Secondary School Principal Welcomed with Open Arms

Education Minister Grace Grace has announced Michael Rogers as the foundation principal of Mango Hill’s new secondary school, which will welcome the first year 7 and 8 students in 2020.

Ms Grace said Mr Rogers started out as a HPE and science teacher at Indooroopilly in 2001 and has taken up a number of principal roles since, marking 10 years of leadership in July this year.

“I’m delighted to congratulate Michael on his appointment and I have every confidence he will succeed,” Ms Grace said.

“Michael’s been given the unique opportunity of leading a new school from scratch, starting in the role on the first day of term 3.

“He is the current Acting Principal at Sunnybank State High School, and over the past 12 months has worked as principal at Pine Rivers State High School and Everton Park State High School.

“Michael was also the former Deputy Principal of Kenmore State High School where he started in 2009 so he’s no stranger to leading high schools.”

Murrumba MP Steven Miles welcomed Mr Rogers’ appointment, marking another milestone for the Mango Hill community.

“It’s great to have a principal on board at this state-of-the-art $64 million school which will welcome up to 350 year 7 and 8 students on day one of the 2020 school year,” Mr Miles said.

“The school will eventually accommodate up to 2000 students in years 7-12.

“Michael has plenty of experience up his sleeve and I have no doubt he will do a great job at Mango Hill.

“The local community can’t wait for the school to open, with plenty of parents interested in enrolling their children at the school as the area continues to grow.

“Population forecasts show secondary student numbers will increase from just over 2800 to 4650 students in the Mango Hill and North Lakes areas in the next two decades.”

Ms Grace said there’s just over 200 days left until the school opens.

“Stage One of Mango Hill will include an admin building, information services centre, junior general learning centre, central covered eating area and canteen, sports centre and an oval,” she said.

“The first stage will also deliver a science centre, including junior applied technology and hospitality.

“The contractor FK Gardner and Sons are doing a great job on site, with the project supporting 170 full-time jobs.”

Mr Rogers said he was honoured to make another positive difference in the education of young Queenslanders.

“I’m really excited to take on this challenge and shape the direction of this new school,” Mr Rogers said.

“I am looking forward to working closely with the school community, taking a collaborative approach as we all work towards the first students commencing at the school from Term 1, 2020.”

Ms Grace said the Mango Hill school was one of eight new schools opening in Queensland in 2020, investing approximately $438 million and supporting almost 1400 jobs.

These include Mango Hill, a new state secondary college in Fortitude Valley, new secondary schools in Coomera, Calliope, Yarrabilba and Ripley Valley, a new primary school in Ripley Valley, and a new special school in Caboolture.

For more information on the new high school at Mango Hill visit: www.qld.gov.au/buildingeducation

07/08/2019 | mandah

Construction of Mango Hill State High School gets Underway

A new state secondary school will be delivered by the Department of Education, on a 14.1 hectare site at Mango Hill, opening to Year 7 students in Term 1, 2020.

Master planned to accommodate up to 1700 students across Years 7 to 12, the Mango Hill State Secondary School site is currently being excavated with building construction due to commence shortly.

The North Lakes and Mango Hill area is one of the fastest growing areas in Queensland with population growth averaging more than 2,000 per annum since 2006. Rapid population growth is forecast to continue over the medium to longer term with the local population expected to exceed 45,000 by 2036. Within this population, the proportion of school aged and pre-school aged exceeds the state average placing an additional burden on local schools.

The Department has completed schematic design and a detailed business case for this new school in conjunction with Building Queensland. The contract for the design of the new school was awarded to FK Gardner & Sons (FKG) in March 2019. Preparation works, including demolition works and the installation of fencing, were undertaken following acquisition of the site late in 2018.
The site acquisition caused a controversy within the Community and many were sad to see their beloved Mango Hill Goat Farm close its’ doors to the many public open days, usually held for the purpose of raising funds to assist other community members.

The site is bound by Capestone Residential Estate to the north, which was another issue of contention to the residents of the Estate.

Kinsellas Road East is a Council sub-arterial road, and has been identified for future upgrades to become a ‘future Council local collector’ (also known as the North-South Urban Arterial (NSUA)). Richard Road is a partially formed road at a rural standard and is marked as a future Council local collector road also.

It has been determined that there are some less than ideal areas of the site, specifically the low lying north-eastern corner, which will be used as the sports oval, as it is unable to accommodate any school related building infrastructure and dedication of land to the future North-South Urban Arterial road along Kinsellas Road East and Richard Road frontages of the site. Furthermore, ensuring school infrastructure is outside the radius of the telecommunications tower east of the site is a health consideration.

The concentration of the school campus is to be built on the highest and widest part of the site. The proposed buildings within the school grounds will comprise of a mix of heights between one and three storeys. The design also creates separate Junior and Senior learning areas that will consolidate cohort years within a defined area.

The catchment zone is still to be determined, however it appears as though it will split the existing North Lakes State College catchment area, and will extend generally along Kedron Brook to the north, west towards Anzac Avenue and south towards Freshwater Creek / Hays Inlet. The final catchment boundary will be determined through further consultation between the Department of Education and local school principals closer to the school opening date.

Enrolments will open following the appointment of a foundation school principal in mid-2019.

Parents and carers interested in enrolling their children at this new school are encouraged to sign up for updates via the project website: https://yoursay.buildingfutureschools.advancingeducation.qld.gov.au/new-schools

15/05/2019 | mandah

MHSS Farewells Principal Tracy Egan

Mango Hill State School farewells their foundation Principal, Tracy Egan.

After eight years as Principal at Mango Hill State School, Tracy Egan has stepped down.

A Guard of Honour was held by teachers and students as a tribute for her as she walked out of the school on Friday 5th April.

Tracy was appointed as Foundation Principal for Mango Hill State School, which opened in 2012 with 244 enrolled students. Today there are approximately 1240 students enrolled, as well as over 140 staff members.

Tracy oversaw many fantastic achievements, including:

– State Finalist in the 2017 Showcase Awards for Excellence in School National Wakakirri winners for 2018.

– Eight new building projects throughout the years including the Prep/Year 1 and Senior class double storey buildings and the Dock (Support Services). There were many other smaller building projects, such as the multipurpose court and most recently the shade structure over the Piazza.

– MHSS hosted four Mud Runs – a fundraising event never before held by a school.

– A new school bus route to cater for the growing number of students in the catchment.

– Outstanding academic results and one of the top performing state schools in the region.

There’s no doubt the school community will miss her inspirational leadership

“I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your kind words, emails, cards, gifts and kindness over this period and particularly with the guard of honour. I am truly overwhelmed and feel so blessed to have had the privilege of opening and leading our school community. I will miss the children enormously and look forward to popping in from time to time to see them all”, Tracy said.

14/05/2019 | mandah

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