Gorillaz's Feel Good Inc suddenly explodes over the school's PA, shortly followed by an eruption of students appearing across the quadrangle for the beginning of lunch.
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There is laughter, chatter and banter as a basketball flies through the air across the area, narrowly missing all the moving bodies to land in a garden.
"Sorry Miss" comes the call from the thrower of the ball. Which is met by a good-natured "take it on to the court boys" from Batemans Bay High School principal Paula Brennan.
The vibe was 'feel good', as the song heralded the transition from class to break for the students.
Through a competition between roll call classes, the students can win the opportunity to select the day's song. Ms Brennan said this one small initiative had changed the way students moved through the school.
"Year 11 boys walking to class singing Thunderstruck... we've had a lot of eighties... the kids have loved it, it just calms things down and gets people moving - in a good way," she said.
The elimination of the regular school bell and the introduction of a song instead, was just one of a raft of positive changes that have been introduced in recent years.
According to Ms Brennan, these changes have had measurable impacts on the wellbeing and learning of students.
She said the goal had been "getting the kids wanting to come to school" and thus increasing their learning opportunities.
The school started with increasing numeracy and literacy classes in Years 7 and 8, and then into Years 9 and 10 also. This had resulted in growth in these areas, measurable in the Year 7 Best Start results and Year 9 Naplan results.
Additionally, Ms Brennan said the school had implemented wellbeing lessons into Year 7 and 8, to touch base with students' needs.
"All of them [students] have time with their year advisor, and assistant year advisor, to really find out what the issues are," she said.
"So, point of need, we can put things in place to make sure we are addressing them quickly, and early.
"Early intervention is the key."
The school was an early adopter of phones in lockable pouches, almost two years before it became mandatory in October 2024 across NSW state schools.
Ms Brennan said the 'off and away' policy, whereby students could still access their phones during school time, was just not enough.
"It was still that distraction, so we decided to go with the pouches - we felt there was just too much distraction," she said.
"Even though they were off and away, you'd still have that need - that impulse.
"So now they're running around, they're playing. We give them a big bag of basketballs and they're playing.
"Handball is back in - we've seen a massive difference."
Hand in hand with the change to phones in pouches, the school began practical improvements in the students' hangout and playing areas.
The basketball and netball courts were resurfaced, a cola was erected over the main basketball court, making it all-weather, breakout areas were landscaped, seating replaced and gardens built.
There had been a concerted effort to soften the concreted areas with greenery and murals.
The school gave the students a lot of input into the changes, bringing their ideas and skills onboard in the building of play areas, gardens and choice of mural.
Year 12 students Sienna O'Neill and Skye Carter were on a break from class and both agreed they had seen "massive changes" since they started Year 7.
"A lot more new facilities that are accessible to students - we've got new laptops, new seating areas, which was really, really needed," said Skye.
"And I know she [Ms Brennan] did a lot of work in the ag, which a lot of people love, and then the sporting areas as well."
Sienna believed the Year 12 study hub improvements had made a big difference to her.
"We have so much more access to seating areas and laptops as well, which makes it much easier to get work done in our study periods," she said.
Without phones, both girls agreed, school had been more settled, and students mixed readily.
Wonderfully, both Sienna and Skye credited their teachers for inspiring them to enter the profession themselves.
Ms Brennan said the teachers were essential to the success of the students and the school.
"We've tried hard to get the right people for our kids, and for our students - [teachers] that are working with them and want the same goals - willing to be flexible in helping them to achieve those goals as well," she said.