Northern Beaches community consultation

The NSW Department of Education wants to hear from current and future students, parents and carers, staff and the local community about their views on high school enrolment decision-making in the Northern Beaches.

The department is consulting with school communities for seven weeks from 5 August 2024 to hear their views relating to high school enrolment decision-making and collect feedback on a range of proposals for future arrangements for Years 7-12.

Northern Beaches Secondary College (NBSC) proposals (in no order):

Proposal A: NBSC Freshwater Senior Campus would move from a Year 11-12 Senior campus to a Year 7-12 Campus.

Proposal B: NBSC Manly Campus would offer non-selective enrolment in Years 7-9 for students from a new local intake area, with the current arrangement that adds additional selective students in older grades to cease. Non-selective students would move to NBSC Freshwater Senior Campus for Years 10-12.

Proposal C: Intake area adjustments for NBSC Cromer Campus and The Forest High School, to expand their intake areas to all homes without a guaranteed co-educational option.

Proposal D: NBSC Mackellar Girls Campus and NBSC Balgowlah Boys Campus would become co-educational Year 7-12 campuses.

This consultation will help the department to determine the most appropriate way to meet the NSW Government’s commitment to ensure every child has guaranteed access to a co-educational high school.

Consultation will include sessions with future students, teachers and staff, primary and high school parents and carers, the public and special interest groups which will involve workshops/focus groups and online feedback forms.

How to get involved

There are multiple ways the Northern Beaches community can participate.

Survey

A survey is now available here to ask your views on co-educational offerings.

Public workshops

In-person, closed sessions with staff members will be held from:

· NBSC Balgowlah Boys Campus (9 September)

· NBSC Cromer Campus (10 September)

· NBSC Mackellar Girls Campus (3 September)

· NBSC Manly Campus (16 September)

· NBSC Freshwater Senior Campus (2 September)

· The Forest High School (4 September)

Sessions with student leadership groups and special interest groups, such as Teachers Federation and the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, will also occur.

Surveys and workshops are confidential and cannot be used to identify any individual.

Frequently asked questions

What is the purpose of the consultation?

This comprehensive community consultation seeks to better understand parent and student decision-making regarding high school enrolment choices, including preferences relating to educational offerings within the Northern Beaches.

Has the outcome already been predetermined?

The only pre-determined outcome is that a change is needed to provide all students with a guaranteed co-educational option for all years of their secondary schooling.

No decisions about future plans for the schools have been made – these community consultations will inform any decision making about educational offerings in the Northern Beaches.

Proposals and their indicative intake area maps have been developed to prompt discussion. They can be refined and adjusted based on information gathered during the consultation period or on other deciding factors, such as updates to population projections.

How were these proposals determined?

We held preliminary consultation discussions with representatives from Northern Beaches P&C associations.

These initial talks were a starting point for discussions about what potential co-educational offerings might look like.

While many different options were discussed, departmental planners have assessed the above proposals as potentially feasible based on available infrastructure, current student populations and projected student populations.

Information gathered through the consultation process will further inform the feasibility of these options and will contribute to the confirmation and refinement of a preferred proposal.

Can I provide another consultation option for discussion?

We welcome all feedback and look forward to robust discussions during both in-person and online workshops. The online survey also provides an opportunity to provide feedback.

Am I voting for the proposal I like best?

The consultation itself is not a vote. We want to understand different community viewpoints about educational offerings.

One of the survey questions will ask you to nominate your preferred future proposals, however this is just one of a series of questions.

All data collected will be considered along with other deciding factors including qualitative data obtained through workshops, interviews and emails when planning for future high school provision in the Northern Beaches.

Do you plan to build a new school in the area?

The community consultation is focused on understanding local contexts and preferences regarding educational offerings – it is not about delivering a new high school.

Who is facilitating the consultation?

The NSW Department of Education is facilitating the consultation process, drawing on a range of skills and expertise areas of school performance, school operations, communications, engagement, educational outcomes and school infrastructure across the department.

Other ways to engage

Additional submissions and questions can be sent to the project team by email to NorthernBeachesConsultation@det.nsw.edu.au.