Blacktown area high school co-education community consultation
The department has reviewed all feedback regarding co-educational high school options for the Blacktown area, following comprehensive community consultation from 28 October to 6 December 2024.
It has been determined Blacktown Boys High School and Blacktown Girls High School will remain as separate single-sex schools, reflecting community preferences.
Adjustments will be made to high school intake areas to ensure all students in the Blacktown area have guaranteed access to a co-educational high school option.
Intake area adjustments are being finalised and will take effect for all new enrolments from Term 1 2026.
Families of current Year 6 students will be informed of the new intake areas by early March 2025, prior to the commencement of the Year 7 Expression of Interest enrolment process.
In response to feedback gathered during the consultation process, the department will also explore co-educational academic, sporting and extracurricular opportunities for students at Blacktown Boys and Blacktown Girls high schools and will work closely with both schools to identify and implement initiatives.
Frequently asked questions
Following comprehensive review of all feedback, Blacktown Boys and Blacktown Girls high schools will remain as separate single-sex schools. Adjustments will be made to surrounding high school intake areas to provide all students guaranteed access to a co-educational high school within their intake area.
The department conducted comprehensive consultation with the Blacktown community, and a thorough review of feedback showed that retaining Blacktown Boys and Blacktown Girls high schools was preferred by the majority of those who participated.
When asked if they prefer single-sex or co-educational settings for their child’s schooling, 52% of primary parents/carers, 50% of early childhood parents/carers, 53% of Blacktown Boys parents/carers and 69% of Blacktown Girls parents/carers said they prefer single-sex settings.
Support for Proposal A, which suggested combining Blacktown Boys and Blacktown Girls High Schools to create a new high school, was low across all parent/carer cohorts, with only 20-35% preferring this proposal.
Proposal B, retaining the existing single-sex schools and expand surrounding co-educational intake areas, was preferred by 60-73% of the parent/carer cohorts.
To deliver the commitment for guaranteed access to co-education, adjustments will be made to high school intake areas, and these will come into effect from 2026.
The department will explore the introduction of co-educational learning opportunities, including academic, sporting and extracurricular, to enhance curriculum offerings at Blacktown Boys and Blacktown Girls high schools. The department will collaborate with staff to identify opportunities and implement initiatives.
The department has heard community feedback on proposed intake areas for surrounding high schools presented during the consultation process.
This feedback is being explored, and final intake areas will be available in Term 1 2025 and shared on School Finder, following further discussion with school principals.
The final intake areas for each school will be made available via School Finder and will be applied for any new enrolment application for 2026.
The NSW Government is committed to offering all families a co-educational high school option. This means every student in NSW will be guaranteed a place at a designated co-educational public high school by 2027.
The department has been consulting with school communities to understand their views relating to high school enrolment decision-making and to collect feedback on a range of proposals for future arrangements for single-sex high schools.
A comprehensive consultation process took place from 28 October to 6 December 2024 to better understand parent and student decision-making regarding high school enrolment choices for Blacktown Boys and Girls high schools.
Parents, carers, students, staff, special interest groups and the community were invited to share their feedback by online survey and in-person and online workshops on two options proposed for Blacktown Boys and Girls high schools.
When adjusting intake areas, the department considers factors including enrolment trends; public transport access; size and utilisation rate of high schools; the number of students living in each proposed intake area; the proportion of students who historically enrol in either single sex or co-educational schools; and the capacity of co-educational schools to enrol students.
School enrolment numbers vary each year, so the department closely tracks student numbers and trends in all schools. We will continue to monitor enrolments and capacity at co-educational schools in Blacktown.
The Blacktown area consultation aimed to better understand parent and student decision-making regarding high school enrolment choices, including preferences relating to educational offerings.
The consultation process engaged current and future students, teachers and staff, primary and high school parents and carers, the public and special interest groups.
The consultation process included 13 workshops – both online and in-person –focus groups and an online survey.
Schools involved:
| Primary schools | High schools |
|---|---|
Blacktown North PS |
Blacktown Boys HS |
Blacktown South PS |
Blacktown Girls HS |
Blacktown West PS |
Evans HS |
Lalor Park PS |
Mitchell HS |
Lynwood Park PS |
Doonside Technology HS |
Seven Hills West PS |
Quakers Hill HS |
Shelley PS |
Seven Hills HS |
Vardys Road PS |
Wyndham College |
Seven Hills PS |
|
Caddies Creek PS |
|
Hambledon PS |
|
Kings Langley PS |
|
Marayong Heights PS |
|
Marayong PS |
|
Marayong South PS |
|
Quakers Hill East PS |
|
Quakers Hill PS |
The department coordinated the consultation process using an independent facilitator, drawing on a range of skills and expertise from school performance, school operations, communications, engagement, educational outcomes and school infrastructure across the department.