New city high school on Frome Rd to be named Adelaide Botanic High
THE new city high school on Frome Rd will be named Adelaide Botanic High, share a zone with Adelaide High and be led by an educator with 35 years of experience.
THE new city high school on Frome Rd will be named Adelaide Botanic High, share a zone with Adelaide High and led by an educator with 35 years experience.
Families within the expanded areas will be able to nominate their preferred school.
The zoning decision, which takes the State Government back to its original plan, follows criticism of a subsequent proposal to split the catchment in two.
That plan had raised concerns the new $100 million school would be exclusively for advantaged children from the inner eastern suburbs.
“A shared zone will provide inner city parents with more choice in public education,” Education Minister Susan Close said.
The shared zone has the same boundaries as a map released in 2015, expanding the Adelaide High zone in the east and inner north to include Medindie, Medindie Gardens, Gilberton, Walkerville, Collinswood and Nailsworth.
To the west are added Bowden, Brompton, Hindmarsh, Hilton, Kurralta Park, Glandore and Black Forest, and parts of other suburbs as far south as Clarence Park.
The two high schools will have a shared enrolment process, with the Government saying specific enrolment criteria are being developed for each to manage demand and capacity.
The name, Adelaide Botanic High, reflects its location and specialties in science and health.
Adelaide High will retain its specialist language, cricket and rowing programs.
Adelaide Botanic High will be led by Alistair Brown, who began his teaching career in 1982 and has been principal of Heathfield High since 2011.
Mr Brown first applied for the job last year, when the Government struggled to fill the role and said it had not had any suitable applicants.
The position was readvertised and won by Mr Brown with a revised application, focusing on how he had modernised the curriculum and integrated technology such as student laptops at Heathfield.
The Government did not reveal how many applicants it had.
“It’s probably one of the most exciting positions available in Australia,” Mr Brown said.
He said the new CBD high school offered “an amazing opportunity to implement the 21st century curriculum” in a purpose-built setting of flexible learning areas, without the constraints of traditional classroom buildings.
Mr Brown is expected to take up the role next term, to begin preparing for the opening of the Frome Rd school in 2019.
Dr Close said: “I look forward to our new principal beginning key work on designing the school’s enrolment criteria and curriculum, establishing Adelaide Botanic High School’s staffing plan and developing the school’s identity.”