Bentley Park College

Historical Development

The road the school is located on was built in 1885 and was named after the McLaughlin family, farmers of the area.

In 1997 (term 4), the school opened as a primary school in Centenary Park called "Edmonton State School", after a nearby town. In 1998, it was renamed "Bentley Park College" with commencement in operation as a P–7 school, a corresponding name change which was subsequently reflected in the suburb of "Centenary Park", which was renamed "Bentley Park". The school current educates students from preschool to 12th grade.

In 2011, the school's original motto, "Achieving Tomorrow's Visions Today" was replaced with its current motto of "Aspire, Learn, Achieve".

Infrastructure

Medical Precinct

In 2022, Bentley Park College launched a $1.4m medical precinct, allowing High school students throughout Cairns to fast track their career in health care.

Sports

On 25 February 2019, Bentley Park College launched a $1.65 million sport hall upgrade, funded under the Queensland Government's $200 million Advancing Schools initiative, an external covered multi-purpose court, new louvre systems, covered entrances, and a new kinesiology laboratory, with space for a full class of students, laptops and a fully equipped gym.

Students

Bentley Original

A "Bentley Original" is a term coined for a student who attended Bentley Park College from Preschool, Prep Year or Year 1 until their Year 12 Graduation. The terms was coined by a group of Year 11 Bentley Park College students in 2010 ("2012 Bentley Originals"), a year after the graduation of the initial students who met the "Bentley Originals" requirement, i.e. those beginning Preschool in 1998, or Year 1 in 1999, and graduating in 2009.

Years

The school first opened its doors to preschool age students in 1997. In 1998, it commenced operation as a P-7 school.

On 17 September 2001, Middle School specialist and general learning classrooms, Middle and Senior School Library, College Administration building and Middle and Senior School Canteen were officially opened. In 2001, The school began accepting middle school students (grades 6–9). In 2002, senior school students (grades 10–12). In 2003–2004, senior school students moved into their own building apart from the middle school students. The first cohort of Year 12s graduated in 2004.

In 2011, the middle school was removed paving the way for Year 7 to transition into high school ahead of other schools in the area, with the former 'Junior School' (Years P-5), 'Middle School' (Years 6-9) and 'Senior School' (Years 10-12) being merged into two sectors: P-6 and 7-12

In 2015, Anna Bligh's state-wide "Flying Start" program was officially implemented to align Queensland with the other states by transferring Year 7 into the high school system, As a result, Bentley Park College moved its Year 7 into the high school domain in 2015.

This produced the school in its current form, teaching the initial Prep Year to final Year 12 (P–12).

Student enrolments

In 2023, Bentley Park College was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 2,270 students. The 2023, limit on students entering the Prep in any given year was 150 students in 6 classrooms, which was only to be exceeded if there were more than 150 students enrolling from within the catchment area.

In 2005, there were approximately 1800 students enrolled in the school, 400 of which were senior school students. The trend in school enrolments (August figures) has been:-

Cultural Diversity

Traditional Land

The school is located on Gimuy Walubarra Yidinji people's traditional Country.

Multiculturalism

The recent trends in multicultural composition been:

Sports

Houses

The school's four sports houses are named after local reefs, each with its own sea creature mascot:

Notable alumni

The following are notable alumni of the school:

References

References

1. "Bentley Park College (0452)". Queensland Department of Education and Training (www.education.qld.gov.au).
2. "Principal's Welcome". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
3. "Bentley Park College (1998—)".
4. "Bentley Park College".
5. "Our Saff".
6. "Street, suburb and park names".
7. "History". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
8. {{Cite QldSchool
9. Farr, BronwynBronwyn. (21 November 2022). "Medical precinct at high school fast tracks health care careers".
10. Lawrie, Jack. (25 February 2019). "$1.65 million sport hall upgrade for Bentley Park College adds undercover court, classroom, gym".
11. "Bentley Originals". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
12. (10 June 2011). "Year 7 to move to high school from 2015 in Queensland, says Anna Bligh".
13. "Bentley Park College".
14. (2023). "Bentley Park College". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
15. (1 December 2006). "Queenslanbd State School Reporting – 2009 – Bentley Park College (0452)". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
16. (1 December 2010). "Queensland State School Reporting – 2010 – Bentley Park College (0452)". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
17. (1 December 2011). "Department of Education, Training and Employment – Queensland State School Reporting – 2011 – Bentley Park College (0452)". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
18. (1 December 2012). "Department of Education, Training and Employment – Bentley Park College (0452) – Queensland State School Reporting – 2012 School Annual Report". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
19. (14 July 2014). "Department of Education, Training and Employment – Bentley Park College – Queensland State School Reporting – 2013 School Annual Report". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
20. (25 June 2015). "Bentley Park College – Queensland State School Reporting – 2014 School Annual Report". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
21. (2014). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
22. (24 June 2016). "Bentley Park College – Queensland State School Reporting – 2015 School Annual Report". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
23. (2015). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
24. (15 June 2017). "Bentley Park College – Annual Report 2016 – Queensland State School Reporting". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
25. (2016). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
26. (15 June 2018). "Bentley Park College – Annual Report 2017 – Queensland State School Reporting". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
27. (2017). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
28. (12 June 2019). "Bentley Park College – Annual Report 2018 – Queensland State School Reporting". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
29. (2018). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
30. (25 June 2020). "Bentley Park College – Annual Report 2019 – Queensland State School Reporting". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
31. (2019). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
32. (22 June 2021). "Bentley Park College – School annual report – Queensland state school reporting – 2020". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
33. (2020). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
34. (15 June 2022). "Bentley Park College – School Annual Report – Queensland State School Reporting – 2021". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
35. (2021). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
36. (2 June 2023). "Bentley Park College – School annual report – Queensland state school reporting – 2022". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
37. (2022). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
38. (2 June 2023). "Bentley Park College {{!}} School annual report {{!}} Queensland state school reporting {{!}} 2023". [[Department of Education (Queensland).
39. (2023). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
40. (9 Jun 2025). "Bentley Park College│School annual report│Queensland state school reporting│2025". [[Department of Education (Queensland)]].
41. (2024). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
42. (2025). "Bentley Park College, Bentley Park, QLD". [[Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority]] (ACARA).
43. "Gimuy Walubarra Yidinji Country".
44. "College houses".
45. "Chris Wright - Olympic swimmer, swim coach and architect". [[Department of Education (Queensland).