Parents at all five Northern Beaches Secondary College secondary schools as well as local feeder primary schools will be asked for their opinion on four options.
“If you ask primary parents,someone who has a 10-year-old in year 3,‘Would you like your child to go co-ed school?’ they’re likely to say ‘Yes’ without considering they have the opportunity of attending two of the best academic schools in NSW,” Del Gallo said.
Secondary Principals’ Council president Denise Lofts said the community must be genuinely consulted about any changes.
Last year Balgowlah Boys was among the top comprehensive public schools in the state in HSC English,even outperforming high-fee schools including Ascham,Cranbrook and Abbotsleigh.
Neighbouring Manly boys school St Paul’s Catholic College will have a new senior co-ed cohort next year.
Manly MP James Griffin said the government must prioritise infrastructure upgrades to schools around Manly.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
Griffin noted the consultation,but questioned where the funding commitment was to pay for the school upgrades required at Balgowlah.
“Balgowlah Boys needs to be upgraded,full stop. That’s what needs to be done before consultation on a possible dramatic change to the school population,” he said.
Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell said the government did not have a consistent plan for implementing the commitment for all families to access a co-educational high school option.
“What we are seeing is an ad hoc approach,with school communities on the northern beaches being blindsided with discussions about cutting selective school places and getting rid of high-performing single-sex public schools,” she said.
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“Principals,teachers,parents and students have every right to be annoyed by this approach,particularly given that at no point before the election did the Education Minister give any indication that these sorts of massive changes were on the cards for these schools.”
Australian Tutoring Association president Mohan Dhall,however,welcomed the move to reduce the number of places in Manly’s selective school and offer more places to local students who did not sit the entry test,saying it could be a blueprint for the rest of the state.
“If you can experiment in a small part of Sydney it could be a model for doing it more broadly,” he said. “It[would be] politically fraught if you started with James Ruse. Here you’re not sparking a community backlash.”
A Department of Education spokesperson said the consultation aimed to gather the views of the wider northern beaches community on co-education,and to determine the best way to deliver strong public education for future generations.
“The findings will be released and shared with the community,” they said.
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