Gladstone State High School is highly regarded in the Gladstone community, and has a long and proud history beginning well before the school opened in 1953.
On 29th January 1935, the Secondary Department of Gladstone State School opened, located in three rooms on the western side of the current grounds of Gladstone Central State School. Two courses were offered that first year to the twenty-four students enrolled, with two Academic Teachers and one Commercial Teacher employed. The motto of the school at the time was “Strive to Excel", and with the opening of the High Section, the principal Mr. E. A. Lonely chose the school motto “Sic Itur ad Astra" meaning “Reach for the Stars," which remains as Gladstone State High School's motto.
In 1940, the present site of 25 acres was chosen for the location of a separate High School due to the increase in student numbers. Construction commenced in 1952, and the new High School opened at the beginning of 1953, with Mr. H. T. Pegg as Principal and four other teachers employed. That year, Manual Training and Home Science were still conducted at the Primary School, but were incorporated with the other sections of the High School the following year.
Following Mr. Pegg, Mr. Bernard O'Kane served as the principal from 1955 to 1957. During his term, he saw to the laying out of the school grounds with an excellent oval, tennis courts and basketball courts, and the planting of over 500 trees as part of a tree-planting ceremony held by the Parent's Association and Women's Auxiliary. The first edition of the School Magazine was published in 1955, with the 1960 edition renaming the magazine 'TONKA.' The TONKA continues to be published each year, capturing the year's highlights and becoming the school's recorded history.
The current Sporting Houses at Gladstone SHS are named after Indigenous words from our region: Damala (yellow) translating to 'Sea Eagle', Kougari (red) meaning 'Seagull', Parnka (green) meaning 'Shining Water', and Tyalan (blue) meaning 'Rainbow'. When the school first opened, there were only two Sporting Houses, Blue and Gold. In 1961, Kougari, Damala and Tyalan were founded, and it wasn't until 1965 that Parnka was added, due to the greater number of students attending the school that year.
In the 70 plus years since the school was opened, it has grown greatly in size, in both student numbers and buildings. Gladstone State High School currently has more than 1250 students in attendance and over 140 staff. The newest upgrades to the school include a Hydrogen Lab, advancements to the Resource Centre and a new ID & T building (Manual Arts), which is located between the Hall and Maths (F Block). The original Manual Arts building (H Block) is to be demolished this year to make way for a green space for our students to enjoy.
Photo: First
Junior Class of 1953
Photo: Aerial view of GSHS from the 1961 TONKA