Northern Beaches community consultation

The NSW Department of Education has heard 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 consulted with school communities for seven weeks from 5 August to 20 September 2024, through in-person and online workshops and an online survey.

The consultation process gathered insights relating to high school enrolment decision-making and collected 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.

Community consultation helps 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.

Ways of consultation

There were multiple ways the Northern Beaches community participated.

Survey

The survey closed at 5pm on Friday 20 September 2024.

Public workshops

In-person, closed sessions with staff members were held at:

· 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, were also conducted.

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

Frequently asked questions

What was the purpose of the consultation?

This comprehensive community consultation sought 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 – feedback from 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?

Consultation closed on Friday 20 September 2024. All feedback has been received and we appreciate the community's participation in the robust discussions and insights shared in-person, online and through the survey.

Can I vote for the proposal I like best?

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

One of the survey questions asked you to nominate your preferred future proposal, however this was 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 facilitated the consultation?

The NSW Department of Education facilitated the consultation process, using an independent external facilitator and drawing on a range of skills and expertise areas of school performance, school operations, communications, engagement, educational outcomes and school infrastructure across the department.

Contact

The project team can be contacted by email at NorthernBeachesConsultation@det.nsw.edu.au.