Testimonials
BIS has a host of past students who we maintain a relationship with either as guest speakers or through testimonials and interviews.
Our students follow varied and exciting lives as their early learning experiences focused on helping them develop a balance between high achievement and life fulfillments; they are doctors, writers, engineers, psychologists, artists, programmers, actors and entrepreneurs. Our students maintain an active Alumni group for students spanning for more than 50 years with some regular Facebook memories posted and reunions organised. Once a BIS Kid, Always a BIS Kid!
I have so many wonderful memories of my years at BIS. I think creating my own language, religion and culture called “Abbish” with my best friend Elke is definitely something I’ll never forget.
Tessa Hutchinson
I have quite profound dyslexia and I know that without the drive and tools I learnt at BIS, my academic success would not have been possible. I left BIS feeling in control of both my emotional and social identity.
Going into high school I was ready to fight for my rights and the rights of others (which I did often); this respect for myself and those around me came directly from BIS. I learned how to critically look at the world and use all my faculties to get to the bottom of problems and connect with people. It made me the person I am today, and to be honest, I love that person.
After BIS I attended Indooroopilly State High School. At high school I maintained high grades, winning many achievement awards including the Stuart-Fox Public Speaking Award, Academic Scholarship from Bond University and the RSL as well as one of my proudest achievements: being accepted into the International Baccalaureate Program which focused on a high level of academic study at a university level in most subjects.
I participated in extra curricular activities all the way through high school. In senior I co-captained the debating team and represented my school and then my district in the Lions Youth of the Year contest. My team and I came runner up in the state finals for a performance and problem solving competition called Tournament of the Minds.
At university I studied Graphic Design for 2 years achieving the Dean’s list both years for outstanding GPA. I then changed degrees and recently graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology. In 2016 I was accepted into a Doctor of Medicine (MD) which I am currently studying. I have no doubt without my start at BIS I would not be fulfilling my dream of being a doctor.
Tessa Hutchinson
After leaving BIS, I attended Indooroopilly State High School where I received the 2011 Economics Award for Best Student and an Academic Honours Award in my final year. I graduated with an Overall Position (OP) of 3 and am currently attending the University of Queensland studying Psychology.
Zachary Cronau
One of my favourite BIS memories is being able to do some of my class work in the tree house, or sitting in the main tree, which was amazing. I remember doing assignments where we created a massive teepee, choreographed a sword fight to reggae music and invented our own language.
BIS inspired me to learn in a fun way and at my own pace. I established a good academic mindset and a solid approach to learning in high school and university. Being treated like an individual and being allowed to learn and complete class activities in a setting of my choice (e.g. sitting on the couch, on the floor or in a tree) gave me a real sense of freedom and control over my learning.
BIS is probably the single largest thing that has made me the person I am today. The kids there and friendships I made were fantastic. I knew everyone in the school by name, including the parents. I was taught valuable conflict resolution skills and social skills that I will use for life.
Zachary Cronau
My favourite BIS memories are probably when my mate used to have her pony next door and we would run away at lunch and ride around the paddock (this is probably not acceptable anymore!). I also remember playing huge games of cops and robbers at school sleep overs and getting the most loving hugs from my teachers.
Zoe Buckley Lennox
My memories of BIS is a beautiful idealistic loving bubble that equipped me to be able to see what is possible, what needs to change and how I have the capacity to create change. BIS taught me to how to respect, love, empathise with so many different people, but also not compromise my values and beliefs when they were challenged or questioned.
The biggest challenge in transitioning to High School at Indooroopilly was probably navigating power dynamics of the learning environment in a state school. Also remembering to call my teachers Mr, Ms and Miss's blah blah (I still don't know which one is for who).
My life journey has definitely not followed our societies proscribed path thus far. After I finished high school and started to study science it became clear to me that our lil' planet was in really big trouble, because so many essential human values and beliefs were not being upheld in the 'real world'. Living a life where we just study, work, exercise, maybe party, read the news and feel a little guilty was not enough. Being super in love with the natural world I couldn't just live that life; I knew there was more!
I think the illusion of finding meaning and happiness in life by following a prescribed life path is rapidly unravelling as we watch environmental, social, economic and our health suffer. It's becoming clear what we are told to do with our lives is not enough. Not for us or the planet. Learning strong values, how to work together, express empathy, love and joy. It seems essential to me that to understand what a healthy social structure looks and feels like from a young age, is an imperative...
My future plans and hope are to help however I can to build a strong movement of resistance that can tackle the the corruption, greed, ignorance and fear that has come from a system that doesn't work for so many
people ;)
Recent Updates for Zoe:
- First class honours in a Bachelor of Environmental Science
- Protesting and research with Greenpeace in Antarctica
- Coordinates UQ Fossil Free Group
Zoe Buckley Lennox
I graduated from BIS in 2015 and am currently a year 11 student at Indooroopilly State High school. I started attending BIS at the start of grade 5 as I was extremely unhappy in my prior school's environment.
Midge Perry
Before coming to BIS, I was extremely uncomfortable and insecure in myself, feeling like I was never able to fit in no matter how hard I tried. When starting, it took me awhile to wrap my head around the way BIS worked. Everything was so new from the different values to the different kinds of people I met. Eventually I started to let my guard down and stared to find myself rather than pretending to be someone I thought other would like.
I slowly learned that I did not have to fit the perfect mould to succeed in life, that everyone has a different method of learning in order to achieve their best. The teaching staff at BIS helped me understand myself which improved my self confidence immensely and I slowly stopped being so hard on myself. Nevertheless, there were definitely some hard times along the way as I dealt with emotions that I had never experienced before.
However, I learnt to channel these feelings into one of my passions, which was and still is dance. Looking back, I can say that I grew tremendously from these experiences. With all the support I received at BIS I was genuinely able to thrive and enjoy the remainder of primary school.
When starting high school, I was definitely nervous. Coming from a school with at the time 60 pupils and walking into a school with now over 2000 kids, was a little daunting. But despite my fears, I have made so many lifelong friends and discovered so many new things not only about myself but the world we live in. I can wholeheartedly say that I was truly able to flourish into the person I am today. The skills that BIS taught me also helped me be awarded the Australian Defence Force Long Tan Leadership Award for 2019.
Coming into my senior year of high school, I have begun to explore my options in potentially becoming a professional dancer or dance teacher. All I know while deciding my future career options, I hope whatever I do will genuinely make me happy.
Midge Perry
My favourite memory of BIS was when I was able to write, direct and produce a short film. I liked that experience a lot and I think it speaks to the sort of freedoms that I enjoyed at BIS. We were encouraged to experiment with different film techniques, and to just explore something that interested us. I remember laughing so much with all my friends who were actors in the film.
Max Brierty
It was a bit of a shock going from BIS to a mainstream high school. I think that it affects everyone differently, but for me it was difficult because I am an introvert. While I noticed that other people who I went to BIS with didn’t have any troubles with the transition, it did take me a little bit longer to settle into high school. I had to learn to find my voice in a larger group. It was such a challenge for me to enter a mainstream high school from a very supportive and caring environment because the mainstream was based around conformity and being taught in larger groups. At the time BIS was tiny with the whole school only 32 students so the move to a big school was challenging.
My life has taken on a journey that has been completely different to a majority of people, which was the result of both things outside of my control and through my own choice. As a child, BIS gave me the sort of freedoms that allowed me focus on my interests and to pursue what I was passionate about, as well as helped me to begin to think critically about the world. I think that as I have grown up I have continued to have that kind of freedom of mind and ability to make life about pursuing the things that I love and am passionate about.
Currently, I am completing a PhD at the School of Political Science & International Studies at the University of Queensland (UQ). I was awarded the a Poche scholarship. My research is a historical and philosophical investigation of the colonisation of Australia, particularly looking at certain technologies. Before taking on the PhD I was studying medicine at UQ, and I may return to that after graduating.
In my free time I enjoy on gardening, art, cycling, and spending time with my family.
In the next few years I plan to finish my PhD, finish writing a book, and start lecturing at a university. One day I hope to start a permaculture farm and become self-sufficient.
Max Brierty
