Would you recommend it?
I would absolutely not recommend ASHS (Aspley State High School) to anyone else as my time there was terrible. The teachers were unprofessional, the facilities were disgusting, and the overall quality of academic material and teaching, save for a few good staff, was appalling.
What had the biggest impact
Specific teachers made my time there greatly more manageable, but the vast majority of my interactions with staff were awful. Things that defined my school experience were constant bullying from certain staff (even executive members) and a total lack of competency in many teachers shaped me into an independent learner.
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Year 12 subject choices
I did: english literature physics economics math methods math specialist I just chose them as high-scaling subjects that would enable me to get into engineering. Double english was just because i was incredibly good at english so it was free ATAR.
Getting extra help
There was no tutors, only select teachers available on select days at this thing they called 'homework club.' Never used that resource, peer mentoring got me through school.
Readiness for life after school
I was equipped with self-study skills and good independence. The school had very little part in equipping me with any skills besides a sense of cynicism and disillusionment with authority.
Subject range and curiosity
There were a fair few of subjects i think. I know we did not offer all of them, as i know people in uni who did engineering and study of religion and philosophy which were not offered. But yeah it's not like they didn't offer subject electives. Just mainly the basic ones like food studies and coding.
Bullying and getting to school safely
There was and most definitely still is a pervasive bullying problem in the school, likely amongst staff in addition to the students. Very little is done about it from executive staff. There's nothing particularly unsafe about the surrounding neighbourhood; i lived about a 30 minute walk away and would walk to and from school most days and nothing ever happened to me.
Camps and excursions
The culture was very facetious, many staff disregarded student complaints (even serious ones like racism from teachers, targeted bullying amongst students, etc.) There was a very thinly veiled culture of strictness from teachers; rules and standards were enforced incredibly unevenly amongst teachers, leading to a general pervasive sense of apathy amongst students and staff in the school.
Something only students would know
There were many instagram pages created to just disseminate pretty abhorrent behaviour. I saw at least three pages in my time, one for students taking pictures/videos of other students in bathroom stalls while they were pooping, another for just defacing school property (mostly in bathrooms; one particular video i remember was of a kid swinging on a hanging bathroom ceiling light until the cable broke), and another of just bullying random people (this was for kids in grades below me, so i didn't know anybody getting bullied by the page). No staff were notified/no staff cared to do anything about them.
Coaching and chances to compete
Not sure-didnt do any sport
Chances to take part in the arts
Not sure-didn't do any arts subjects
- Played sport: No
- Did an arts activity: No
