Families will soon be invited to have their say on the future of public secondary education in the Eastern Suburbs as the NSW Government looks to provide more choice for local students now and into the future.
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government wants to make sure the views of Eastern Suburbs residents are reflected in this independently-run consultation.
"The first step this month will be to work with the principals of all six eastern suburbs public high schools on the consultation program," Ms Mitchell said.
"Then next month the local school communities will be invited to participate in a series of workshops and online surveys to plan the road ahead for the six schools.
"The consultation has two aims. One is to determine the factors behind the high school enrolment choices made by parents in the eastern suburbs peninsula and the second is to obtain feedback on the proposals we're putting on the table relating to the delivery of local co-educational opportunities."
Those proposals are:
- Retaining single-sex education at Randwick Boys' High School and Randwick Girls' High School.
- Retaining single-sex education at Randwick Boys' High School and Randwick Girls' High School and, providing all local students an entitlement to enrol at an existing coeducational high school.
- Establishing a new, single co-educational campus at the current location by merging Randwick Boys High School and Randwick Girls High School.
- Retaining single sex education for junior years at Randwick Boys' High School and Randwick Girls' High School, and merging the senior years from each school to provide a co-educational setting.
- Establishing more shared co-educational classes between Randwick Boys' High School and Randwick Girls' High School from years 7-12 where appropriate.
"We want to understand local sentiment regarding each proposal and, after considering the consultation's findings, the Department of Education will determine the most appropriate way to increase access to co-educational options for the Eastern Suburbs," Ms Mitchell said.
Member for Vaucluse Gabrielle Upton said it's important to ensure that local parents and community views are part of any plan moving forward.
"This process is about securing the future of public secondary education in my local area, and making sure that local families always have access to a high quality public education options.
"I look forward to working with our school communities during this process when consultation gets underway in the coming weeks."
Based on the current population projections, local schools are able to accommodate current and future student demand through utilisation of existing schools. However, the Department will continue to explore opportunities to future-proof the provision of public secondary education in the Eastern Suburbs.
Following consultation, a report will be finalised for consideration by government in mid-2023.
