Tamborine Mountain State High School 87 Holt Road, Tamborine Mountain, Queensland 4272

"The school was nice & the staff were mostly friendly. However, there were a multitude of issues I encountered during my time here. The staff have obvious biases for students that they favour. During group assignments, I sometimes found that some students would receive higher grades for that assessment than others in the same group - even though we handed in the same work. I have mild ASD & severe SAD, and I often require extra assistance with my work. I’d say that around 50% of the help I received from the Personalised Learning department consisted of telling me to “hurry up & do the work” or I’d get a detention. Following on from that, I would often receive consequences for things outside of my control, or did not warrant a punishment. I remember once asking for help with work that I didn’t understand & my teacher gave me a detention. One of the vice principals gave me a consequence for being in the monitoring room for over a week (the Monitoring Room is basically a lunchtime detention for those who didn’t hand in their work on time or were failing the class), even though I went to the PL monitoring room, which should be exempt from these rules. I need to go to the PL monitoring room to get the extra help with my work, otherwise it would not get done; there was no scenario where I would not be punished. Some staff members were also rude to me. The english teacher I had in grade 8 & half of grade 9 treated me & another student like idiots for having ASD. The principal was particularly unkind towards me. I recall that she once claimed that I was faking my anxiety to try and get out of doing work. Another time she referred to me as a “manipulator” & gave me a consequence for needing extra help with a maths assessment. Sorry for being different. The school also did next to nothing when I was being severely bullied. It got to the point where I tried to take my own life & the school simply told us to “just be friends.” It obviously did not help so I stopped asking for help as I knew that nothing would happen. This is a nice school, but if your child has a mental illness or disability, I recommend looking elsewhere."

"Heard very good things about this school from locals in the community and teachers etc."

"This is a school that takes time to care for their students well being. The teachers and school community are kind, thoughtful and considerate of the needs of students, and help children feel recognized and valued."

"The school is poorly managed and is certainly in need of a new principal"

"In my opinion Tamborine Mountain State High School is the best high school in the state. I highly recommend this school to anyone who is looking for a first rate education for their children"