Northern Beaches Secondary College Freshwater Senior Campus will move to a 7-12 campus, beginning Term 1, 2026 with Years 7 and 9 students being able to enrol, and all years able to enrol from Term 1, 2027.

The department undertook comprehensive consultation with the Northern Beaches and surrounding area school and preschool communities. Co-educational schools were preferred by the majority of those surveyed.

There was particularly strong support from local public primary and preschool parents, carers and students for Proposal A, NBSC Freshwater Senior Campus to move to a 7-12 co-education campus. Across the four proposals, the foremost preferred was Proposal A, including:

• 40.54% of primary parents and carers
• 40.53% of early childhood parents and carers.

In most cohorts where a different proposal was ranked as most preferred, Proposal A still ranked highly:

• 32.36% of secondary parents and carers preferred Proposal A (second preference behind 33.09% for Proposal C)
• 32.65% of current school staff preferred Proposal A (second preference behind 41.4% for Proposal C).

The move to providing 7-12 education at NBSC Freshwater Campus will provide a more local and accessible co-educational option for students in Years 7-10.

Under the revised intake area boundaries, all families will have guaranteed access to a co-educational high school.

The updates provide improved alignment between primary schools and high schools, enabling more students to move from primary school to high school with their peers.

Local intake areas will be adjusted for the following schools:

• Brookvale Public School
• Harbord Public School
• Manly Vale Public School
• Manly Village Public School
• Manly West Public School
• Narraweena Public School
• NBSC Cromer Campus
• NBSC Freshwater Campus
• NBSC Balgowlah Boys Campus
• NBSC Mackellar Girls Campus
• The Forest High School

Some additional smaller, minor changes to intake areas are being implemented to correct instances where a non-residential area or a small group of homes is not aligned with the majority of its street or neighbourhood to a particular school.

Minor change list of schools:

• Balgowlah Heights Public School
• Balgowlah North Public School
• Beacon Hill Public School
• Curl Curl North Public School
• Davidson High School
• Frenchs Forest Public School
• Narrabeen Sports High School
• Wakehurst Public School

Parents can still apply as a non-local enrolment to an out of intake area school and their application will be considered on a case-by-case basis in line with the department’s enrolment policy.

The department will be closely monitoring emerging enrolment trends resulting from the new offerings and new intake areas. Further changes to intake areas may be made in future years to ensure they are working best for the community.

To check your proposed 2026 school intake area, use the search function in the map tool to look up your address. The new 2026 local intake areas will be uploaded to School Finder in January 2025.

All staff will be retained. The schools will continue to be staffed in line with the Staffing Agreement.

Additional teaching staff will be recruited as the NBSC Freshwater Senior Campus transitions to a Year 7-12 campus.

The 2025 school year will be a planning phase. This will include explicit stakeholder and community engagement, as well as the completion of necessary assets works.

In 2026, Year 7 and Year 9 will be enrolling, along with Years 11 and 12 students. In 2027, the campus will be fully operational for Years 7-12.

The department will invest in upgrading infrastructure at the site to make the Freshwater Campus the best possible learning environment for students.

All campuses in Northern Beaches Secondary College will continue educational provision for Years 11 and 12.

All students who live within the catchment area will have assured enrolment at the school.

The consultation heard feedback that the Freshwater Campus has strong supports in place for senior students. Consultation will be undertaken with the school throughout 2025 to ensure that the strong focus on supporting senior students at the campus continues as the school moves to a 7-12 provision.

Relevant details on any updates to school procedures will be published for students and parents when available.

In line with the department’s enrolment policy, NBSC Freshwater Campus will accommodate all designated intake area students. Where capacity exists, out-of-area students may seek enrolment until the school reaches its designated enrolment cap. At Freshwater Campus, there will be a larger intake for Year 11 and 12 students compared to intakes for Year 7-10 cohorts.

In addition to works at Freshwater Campus to support the move to a Year 7-12 provision, all NBSC campuses will have a condition assessment undertaken. In particular, refurbishment and upgrade works will be undertaken at NBSC Balgowlah Boys campus, following a condition assessment of the school. Further information will be provided to the local school community about these works in 2025.