# Bracken Ridge State High School

Bracken Ridge State High School (BRSHS) is a public co-educational secondary school located in the Brisbane suburb of Bracken Ridge (Queensland, Australia), serving the suburbs of Brighton, Bracken Ridge, Nashville, Sandgate, Shorncliffe, and Bald Hills. It is administered by the Queensland Department of Education. The school is located within the Bracken Ridge ward of Brisbane City Council.

## History

The school opened on 23 January 1967, under the name Nashville State High School, which changed to its current name on 25 September 2000.
In 2018, the school developed Australia's first "off the grid" classroom, a classroom using just renewable energy around the clock. The project was run by Hivve Technologies Pty Ltd and received an Australian government grant of more than $370,000 through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
The school celebrated its 50th anniversary on 1–2 September 2017.

## Staff demographics
### Staff

In 2024, the school had 63 teachers (59.1 full-time equivalent) and 29 non-teaching staff (21.7 full-time equivalent).

### Principals

The school's first principal was Noel Rollings, and, as of 2025, the current principal is Michelle Lyons. The prior principals have included:
Past Principals :
| Tenure | Tenure | Principal | Ref |
| Initial | Final | Principal | Ref |
| 2022 | Current | Michelle T. Lyons | $^{:2}$ |
| 2020 | 2022 | Ross W. Bailey | $^{:2}$ |
| 2015 | 2019 | Roger Atkins | $^{:1}$ |
| 2011 | 2015 | Jeffrey E. Hennessey† | $^{:1}$ |
| 2007 | 2011 | David G. Friis | $^{:1}$ |
† During 2014, Regina Garrick (Deputy Principal) took on the role as acting principal.$^{:1}$
Principals prior to this include Jeff J. Major.

## Student demographics

Until 2014, the school catered for students from year 8 to year 12,$^{:4}$ however, the school has catered for students from year 7 to year 12 from 2015$^{:2}$ to the current day.
In 2024, the school had a student enrolment of 634 students, consisting of 309 female students and 325 male students. Enrolments trends for recent years have included:
Student enrolment trends :
| Year | Years | Years | Years | Years | Years | Years | Boys | Girls | Total | School Capacity | Ref |
| Year | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Boys | Girls | Total | School Capacity | Ref |
| 1991 | - | 88 | 77 | 94 | 97 | 80 | - | - | 436 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1992 | - | 84 | 87 | 84 | 83 | 93 | - | - | 431 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1993 | - | 73 | 86 | 79 | 77 | 71 | - | - | 386 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1994 | - | 82 | 74 | 82 | 61 | 63 | - | - | 362 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1995 | - | 73 | 82 | 80 | 67 | 48 | - | - | 350 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1996 | - | 97 | 71 | 85 | 65 | 61 | - | - | 379 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1997 | - | 92 | 100 | 84 | 73 | 53 | - | - | 402 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1998 | - | 100 | 99 | 105 | 65 | 61 | - | - | 379 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 1999 | - | 123 | 94 | 108 | 101 | 53 | - | - | 479 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2000 | - | 112 | 123 | 96 | 90 | 84 | - | - | 505 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2001 | - | 119 | 119 | 120 | 83 | 78 | - | - | 519 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2002 | - | 132 | 116 | 124 | 108 | 75 | - | - | 555 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2003 | - | 116 | 131 | 119 | 112 | 103 | - | - | 581 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2004 | - | 112 | 112 | 134 | 110 | 88 | - | - | 556 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2005 | - | 120 | 100 | 118 | 111 | 90 | - | - | 539 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2006 | - | 144 | 120 | 105 | 120 | 83 | - | - | 572 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2007 | - | 144 | 142 | 125 | 107 | 94 | - | - | 612 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2008 | - | 127 | 136 | 139 | 127 | 86.6 | - | - | 615.6 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2009 | - | 110 | 130 | 140 | 145 | 85 | - | - | 610 | - | $^{:5}$ |
| 2010 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 277 | 265 | 542 | - | $^{:3}$ |
| 2011 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 250 | 242 | 492 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2012 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 262 | 225 | 487 | - | $^{:3}$ |
| 2013 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 267 | 233 | 500 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| 2014 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 231 | 220 | 451 | - | $^{:4}$ |
| Addition of year 7 ||||||||||||
| 2015 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 249 | 218 | 467 | - | $^{:2}$ |
| 2016 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 266 | 217 | 483 | - | $^{:10}$ |
| 2017 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 266 | 218 | 484 | - | $^{:9}$ |
| 2018 | 104 | 116 | 98 | 91 | 49 | 62 | 263 | 257 | 520 | - | $^{:9}$ |
| 2019 | 122 | 114 | 119 | 88 | 82 | 43 | 290 | 278 | 568 | - | $^{:2}$ |
| 2020 | 133 | 124 | 116 | 116 | 86 | 69 | 344 | 300 | 644 | - | $^{:2}$ |
| 2021 | 127 | 123 | 119 | 108 | 100 | 80 | 345 | 312 | 657 | - | $^{:2}$ |
| 2022 | 120 | 131 | 117 | 105 | 93 | 89 | 337 | 318 | 655 | - | $^{:2}$ |
| 2023 | 116 | 120 | 127 | 108 | 87 | 82 | 329 | 311 | 640 | - | $^{:2}$ |
| 2024 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | 325 | 309 | 634 | - | |
| 2025 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
In 2024, Indigenous enrolments accounted for a total of 12% and 10% of students had a language background other than English. The trend has been:
Multicultural Composition :
| Year | Indigenous (%) | Language Background other than English (LBOTE) (%) |
| 2014 | 8 | 5 |
| 2015 | 6 | 9 |
| 2016 | 7 | 8 |
| 2017 | 7 | 9 |
| 2018 | 8 | 9 |
| 2019 | 7 | 9 |
| 2020 | 8 | 9 |
| 2021 | 9 | 10 |
| 2022 | 9 | 10 |
| 2023 | 10 | 9 |
| 2024 | 12 | 10 |
| 2025 | TBA | TBA |

## Notable alumni

Notable alumni :
| Student | Achievement |
| Trent Dalton | Novelist and journalist |
| Jeremy Neale | Singer and songwriter |
| Kári Gíslason | Literature professor and author |