Will secondary school changes make the grade?
The NSW Department of Education is considering a move to co-educational campuses for Northern Beaches Secondary College, as well as the removal of selective status for the Manly site.
The school has five campuses, including single-sex Mackellar Girls and Balgowlah Boys. These would be made co-educational. Another option is to end Freshwater’s focus as a seniors-only campus, and include Years 7 to 9.
Manly, currently a selective campus, would offer non-selective enrolment in Years 7 to 9 with a new local intake area, with no selective enrolments in older grades. Non-selective students would move to the expanded Freshwater Campus for Years 10 to 12.
The Cromer Campus intake area would expand, so every child could access co-educational schooling.
Parent Simon Cahill, from the Manly Selective Campus P&C, said parents from local primary schools had raised ‘significant concerns’ about the proposal. “It would be very disruptive for non-selective students to attend one high school for Years 7 to 9, forming important relationships with students and teachers, only to relocate to another school in Year 10, halfway through Stage 5 learning and electives.”
There is also concern about a possible reduction in places for selective students.
“The proposal to ‘split stream’ Manly has been by far the least popular option through the consultations,” Mr Cahill said. “It registered almost no votes in some of the sessions. Parents from across our community, not just Manly, see how harmful this proposal could be to student wellbeing, educational outcomes and sense of belonging.”
Mr Cahill said there was a ‘lack of data on fundamental questions’
regarding the demand for co-education. “Without this data or any indication of implementation costs, transition planning, changes to bus services or capacity forecasts for our local schools, it has been difficult to effectively evaluate the proposals.”
Manly MP James Griffin stressed that Balgowlah Boys – NSW’s top-performing non-selective public school – needed urgent upgrades before any changes.
“The government seeks to potentially change the populations of some of our best performing schools, without first ensuring that the infrastructure is there to accommodate these changes,” he said.
Mr Griffin added locals also had concerns about making Freshwater a Year 7 to 12 campus. “Over many years, Freshwater has evolved into one of the most successful senior schools in NSW because it offers unique educational opportunities. Expanding the school may adversely impact its ability to continue delivering great outcomes for senior students.”