Merrimac State High School

Merrimac State High School
Front entrance signage of Merrimac State High School, 2026
Location
Dunlop Court

Mermaid Waters
,
Queensland
,
4218

Australia[1][2]
Coordinates28°02′24″S 153°25′04″E / 28.0400°S 153.4177°E / -28.0400; 153.4177
Information
TypeState secondary day school
MottoPride in excellence[4]
Religious affiliationNon-denominational
Established1979[6][1][7]
AuthorityDepartment of Education (Queensland)
PrincipalRachel Cutajar[4][2][8]
Deputy Principals
  • Celia Norling[8]
  • Jason Gibbs[8]
  • Rachel Deere[8]
  • Nyree Hawley[8]
Business ManagerRachel Bullock[8]
Year levelsYear 7 – Year 12[6][2]
GenderCoeducational[3]
Enrolment970[9]: 2 [10] (August 2024)
Average class size
  • 21 (Year 7 - 10)[9]: 2 
  • 18 (Year 11 - 11)[9]: 2 
LanguageEnglish
Campus size10.4 acres (0.042 km2)[11]
Colours
  •   Green
  •   Black[5]
Websitemerrimacshs.eq.edu.au[1][9]: 1 

Merrimac State High School is a public high school in Mermaid Waters (Queensland, Australia).[1][2] The school falls within Division 12 of Gold Coast council.[12]

Motto

The motto of the school is "Pride in Excellence", which is featured on the school's crest.

Administration

Staff

As of 2025, the school has a teaching staff of 84 (Full-time equivalent: 79.7) and a non-teaching staff of 51 (Full-time equivalent of 41.8).[13]

Principals

In 1979, the first principal of the school was Brian Hallewell.[14] As of 2026, the current principal is Rachel Cutajar.[15][16] Recent principals have included:

Principals of the School
Principal Tenure
Initial Year Final Year
Rachel Cutajar
2022[17][18]
Current[15][16]
Chris Tobin
-
2021[19][20]

Students

Years

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,[21] meaning that in 2015 Merrimac State High School started catering for years 7 – 12.[22]: 3 [23]: 3 

Student enrolments

In 2023, Merrimac State High School was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 1,492 students.[24]

The trend in school enrolments (August figures) has been:-

Recent Student Enrolment Statistics
Year Years Gender Total Ref
7 8 9 10 11 12 Boys Girls
2010 - - - - - - 679 613 1,292 [25]: 3 
2011 - - - - - - 640 590 1,230 [26]: 3 
2012 - - - - - - 690 618 1,308 [27]: 2 
2013 - - - - - - 662 651 1,313 [28]: 3 
2014 - - - - - - 660 619 1,279 [22]: 3 [29]
Addition of year 7
2015 - - - - - - 699 700 1,399 [23]: 3 [30]
2016 - - - - - - 636 622 1,258 [31]: 4 [32]
2017 - - - - - - 628 579 1,207 [33]: 4 [34]
2018 - - - - - - 605 595 1,200 [35]: 3 [36]
2019 - - - - - - 605 624 1,229 [37]: 2 [38]
2020 217 234 197 210 194 182 623 611 1,234 [39]: 2 [40]
2021 250 220 235 183 192 143 623 600 1,223 [41]: 2 [42]
2022 224 225 203 208 167 147 593 581 1,174 [43]: 2 [44]
2023 165 203 210 191 199 115 557 526 1,083 [3]: 2 [45]
2024 177 144 199 181 176 142 513 506 1,019 [9]: 2 [10]
2025 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 472 458 930 [13]
2026 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

Sports

Houses

The school's four sports houses dervied the name from various Australian native animals and the translation of the names of those animals into the local indigenous language.[46]

Sports Houses
House Name Mascot Colour Surnames Ref
Pigin Turtles Turtle   Red A - E [46]
Mibunn Eagles Eagle   Yellow F - L [46]
Bowai Sharks Shark   Blue M - Q [46]
Ngurun Dingoes Dingo   White R - Z [46]

Notable alumni

Sports

Sports
Name Graduation Date Sport Achievement Ref
Marcus Ashcroft 1988 Australian rules football Former professional Australian rules footballer for Brisbane Bears and Brisbane Lions, and Gold Coast football coaching panel member. The Marcus Ashcroft Medal is named after him. [47]
Caine Eckstein 2002 Surf lifesaving Ironman champion [47]
Grant Hackett 1997 Swimming Former professional Australian swimmer, gold medallist and world record holder, former "Regan Funds Management" Director, and current chief executive officer of "Generation Life".[48] [49][47][50]
Trevor Hendy 1986 Surf lifesaving Ironman Champion and professional kayaker [47]
Steven McLuckie 1990 Australian rules football Former Australian rules footballer for Brisbane Bears, 1993 Queensland-Northern Territory State of Origin squad member, 2000 Joe Grant Medal winner,[51] and Gold Coast school principal. [52][47]
Amber Pilley 2014 Australian rugby league footballer Center for both the Brisbane Broncos Women's Team and Indigenous All Stars. [47]
Ricky Petterd 2005 Australian rules football Former Australian rules football player Melbourne Football Club and Richmond Football Club. [53][47]

Entertainment

Entrainment
Name Graduation date Achievement Ref
Pete Evans 1990 Chef, author, and My Kitchen Rules judge [47]

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b c d "Benowa State High School (2150)". School Directory (www.schoolsdirectory.eq.edu.au). Queensland Department of Education (www.education.qld.gov.au). Retrieved 26 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. ^ a b "Merrimac State High School | School annual report | Queensland state school reporting | 2023" (PDF). Queensland Government – Department of Education and Training. 7 June 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Principal's welcome". Merrimac State High School (www.merrimacshs.eq.edu.au). Archived from the original on 2 October 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  5. ^ "Uniform Shop". Merrimac State High School (www.merrimacshs.eq.edu.au). Queensland Government – Department of Education and Training. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
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  7. ^ "Merrimac State High School (1979—)". National Redress Scheme (www.nationalredress.gov.au). Retrieved 20 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
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  9. ^ a b c d e "Merrimac State High School│School annual report│Queensland state school reporting│2024" (PDF). Merrimac State High School (www.merrimacshs.eq.edu.au). Department of Education (Queensland). 9 June 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 October 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
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