Kawana Waters State College
Location
119 Sportsman Parade Bokarina , Queensland , 4575 Australia[1][2][3][4]
Coordinates	26°44′15.12″S 153°07′32.8″E / 26.7375333°S 153.125778°E / -26.7375333; 153.125778
Information
Type	State secondary day school[2][5]
Motto	Respect, Excellence, Diversity, Enjoyment[6]
Religious affiliation	Non-denominational[5]
Established	1986[7][3]
Authority	Department of Education (Queensland)[4]
Executive Principal	Brett Burgess[8][2][9]
Principal	Elly Gerbo[8][2][9] Allison Bye[8][2][9]
Deputy Principals	Brett Allan (Secondary campus)[9] Anne Allen (Secondary campus)[9] Cloe Brown (Secondary campus)[9] Amy Ferrington (Seconary campus)[9] Dave Mayfield (Seconary Campus)[9] Lise Carroll (Primary campus) Steve Olson (P-12 Special education)[2]
Staff	166 (Teaching)[4][10]: 6  69 (Non-Teaching)[4][10]: 6
Year levels	Prep Year – Year 12[2][11][4]
Gender	Coeducational[11][5]
Enrolment	2,109 (August 2023)[13][7]
Capacity	1,863[12]
Houses	Coral[14]   Pacific[14]   Tasman[14]
Colours	Blue   Black   White[15]
Website	kawanawaterssc.eq.edu.au[7][2][1][4]

Kawana Waters State College is a coeducational state-run^[2] primary/secondary^[2][5] school in the suburb of Bokarina (Queensland, Australia).^[2][1][3] The College is situated on the coastal strip between Mooloolaba and Caloundra, adjacent to Lake Kawana,^[16] on the Sunshine Coast, approximately 100 km north of Brisbane.^[17]: 1

The senior campus of the school was opened on 28 January 1986 as Kawana Waters State High School, whilst the junior campus of the school was opened a year later on 27 January 1987.^[18] Effective from 1 January 2006,^{[19]: 1 [20]} it merged with Bokarina State School, which was built in 1987,^[21] creating the P – 12 state school in its current form.^[20] The school still exists in it original campus buildings.^{[citation needed]}

The school is named after Kawana Waters, an urban centre on the Queensland Sunshine Coast on which the school is located. In the 1960s, Alfred Grant, one of the initial developers of the region, named the area after "Kawana", an Aboriginal word, of unidentified dialect, meaning "wild flowers".^[22]

Kawana Waters State High School was chosen as the college's post-amalgamation name through an extensive community consultation process before being approved by Rod Welford as Minister for Education.^[20] The name was launched by Chris Cummins (Local Minister) at the 2006 Kawana Festival.^[20]

As of 2024, the school has a teaching staff of 165 (Full Time Equivalent: 153) and a non-teaching staff of 70 (Full Time Equivalent: 52).^[4][10]: 6

The current executive principal is Brett Burgess (2022–present),^[8] who took over from Colin Allen-Waters.^[23][24] Some of the most recent principals have been:

† - The date in which the appointment was converted from an acting role to an official appointment.
‡ - Before 3 July 2006, House was the principal of Kawana Waters Senior Campus.

In 1986, the college, as Kawana Waters State High School, provided services for years 7 to 12.^[21] In 2006, it merged with Bokarina State School, a school which provided services for primary to year 7.^[21] This produced the school in its current form, teaching the initial prep year to year 12 (P-12).^{[41]: 2 [11]}

In 2023, Kawana Waters State College was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 1,863 students.^[12] The number of students entering Prep in any given year must not exceed 75 in 3 classrooms, unless there are more than 75 students enrolling from within the catchment area.^[12]

The school's Programs of Excellence has the capacity to enrol:^[12]

• 104 students in the Arts Excellence Program of Excellence;
• 140 students in the Football Excellence Program of Excellence;
• 190 students in the Academic Curriculum Extension Program of Excellence;
• 198 students in the Aquatics Excellence Program of Excellence.

The trend in student enrolment has been:

The Football Excellence Program was established in 1999.^[19]: 5 This school was funded by fees, sport's organisation sponsorship and government grants.^[61] The football Excellence Program provided an opportunity for players to further develop their football and futsal skills, while working through theory elements of skill acquisition and game training based on the Australian Curriculum.^[62][63] The progam has an annual "Outstanding Player of the Year" award.^[64]

The College is set between the Pacific Ocean and the world class sports and rowing precincts of Sunshine Coast Stadium, Kawana Aquatics Centre and Lake Kawana.^[52]: 1 Sport related events for the school are held in the adjacent areas of Wurtulla Beach and Lake Kawana.^[21]

The school is located on the traditional Country of the Undumbi people,^[22] a coastal subgroup of the broader Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) tribal nation.^[65]

The recent trends in multicultural composition been:

The school's five sports houses are named after bodies of water around Australia:^[14]

The school has been a venue for various state elections and referendums, hosted in the school's "Innovation Hall", including:

• List of schools in Sunshine Coast, Queensland
• Education in Queensland
• Queensland state schools
• History of state education in Queensland
• List of schools in Queensland
• Lists of schools in Australia

• Kawana Waters State College
• Somerset Council
• Queensland Department of Education
• Australian Department of Education