Parents wait for new Rostrevor high school zone, but where will 3000 more students go?

The new Rostrevor school will eventually take 1200 students and force rezoning in Adelaide’s east, affecting house prices. But where will another 3000 students go?

Families are urgently waiting for new school zones and plans for new schools to be decided in Adelaide’s inner suburbs as secondary levels burst at the seams.

The Education Department will open a new high school in Rostrevor but it will not be enough to meet the need to place thousands more students in coming years.

Families with children now in primary and those wanting to buy a home in the city centre or inner north and east are in limbo about secondary school options.

“The earlier the department makes its decisions the better,” said Jenice Zerner, president of the South Australian Association of School Parent Communities.

The Rostrevor high school is due to open in 2023, with the department promising to release new zoning for it and neighbouring schools by May 2022.

This year, parents needed to submit applications for a high school place by May 21 to ensure entry in their zone for 2022.

Parliament was told Rostrevor would not affect the shared city centre zone of Adelaide High and Adelaide Botanic, both of which are struggling to meet demand.

The concept of building another new school, in the Prospect vicinity, was still in the data-gathering phase before preparation of a business case, parliament heard.

Independent Senator Rex Patrick said the lack of a clear plan for schools across Adelaide and regionally was “hugely problematic”.

“If there is a plan it’s being kept in a secret vault, it should be open for everyone to see,” he said.

“There should be a plan for how we’re going to address education over the next 10 years.”

Opposition education spokesman Blair Boyer has questioned whether the already oversubscribed city schools should have been a higher priority for government spending than the $84.4m Rostrevor project.

It will be built on the site now used by Norwood Morialta High as its middle school campus.

Norwood Morialta is consolidating on its Parade campus, with a $54m development to accommodate the move as well as the increase in total student numbers by 379 to 1822 as year 7 moves into secondary school.

Rostrevor will accept year 7s only in 2023 and progressively increase year levels from 2024 to eventually accommodate 1200 students.

It would help cope with “significant and sustained growth in enrolment”, department executive director Anne Millard said.

“Independent modelling commissioned by the Education Department shows that without the new school at Rostrevor, secondary schools in the eastern suburbs would reach 105 per cent capacity by 2023, climbing to 132 per cent capacity in 2036,” department executive director Anne Millard said.

The department anticipates there will be about 12,000 secondary students enrolled in the city centre, east and inner northeast in 2022.

An increase of a third on that would mean nearly 4000 extra students places would be needed.

Among families most affected are those keen to make the long-term investment of buying a home.

There was a significant difference in house prices based on zones, Harris real estate consultant Tom Hector said.

Homes in the Norwood Morialta catchment were far higher than similar properties in the Charles Campbell College zone immediately to the north, said Mr Hector who has extensive experience in the district.

The zone for a new school would “definitely make house prices more expensive”, he said. He expected buyers to hold back until zoning was clear.

A price rise would not only affect families sending children to government schools.

Judy Sharp and her husband are looking for a property near Rostrevor College, the Catholic school about 1km from the new school’s site.

Adam and Judy Sharp with their son, Riley, 13. The family are looking for a new home in Rostrevor. Picture: Matt Loxton

“It will make it harder for us to buy in,” said Ms Sharp, whose two sons are at Rostrevor.

While they had already made their school decision “if I had a primary school child and hadn’t picked a high school yet, why wouldn’t you look at a brand new school”.

“I think it’s going to be hugely in demand,” she said.

Ms Sharp runs Sharpen Up Property Styling and said from her experience schooling was a major factor in families choosing a home.

The new school is in the Morialta electorate of Education Minister John Gardner, who told a parliamentary estimates committee he would be at arms length from zoning to avoid conflict of interest issues.

However, he said the rezoning would not affect the city schools.

In addition to Rostrevor, new schools are opening in the north and south of Adelaide and in Whyalla.

Aldinga Payinthi College will cater for birth to year 12. It is due to open next year for preschool to year 8s, growing annually by a year level to 1675 students by 2026.

The northern school, Riverbanks College at Angle Vale, will follow a similar growth plan

Education Department chief executive Rick Persse said modelling was now in progress on zoning, taking into account demographics and sibling rights.

Issues to resolve include where a student should go if their older sibling is already at a school under the old zones.

Children moving into the new school’s zone but at a year level above the restricted intake also will need to have a designated school.

Ms Zerner urged the department to consult parents in feeder primary schools and take on board whatever concerns they may have.