It’s one of the north shore’s most prized school catchments - and it just shrank

When Debbie Levien and her husband bought their Killara home last year, they “stretched” their budget to make a dual investment: in a property in a prized school catchment zone and in their children’s education.

Now a large swath of top-performing Killara High School’s catchment, including the street Levien purchased on, will shift. From next year, parts of Killara and Lindfield will fall into the catchment of Lindfield Learning Village, a K-12 school which supports non-traditional autonomous learning.

With her children guaranteed a spot at Killara High — thanks to her oldest daughter’s attendance at the school — Levien, who said she would not send her children to Lindfield Learning Village, faces the possibility of falling property prices.

“People won’t be buying into our area because Killara High School is what you pay for,” Levien said. “You pay for a house knowing that catchment is there to go to that school. Our area will be devalued. We paid more to purchase where we did.

“Living in Killara you’d think you could send your kids to Killara High School, but that’s clearly not the case.”

The median price in Killara for a four-bedroom home is $3.3 million.

Debbie Levien, and her children Oliver and Emilia, who will be able to attend only Killara High because of their sister’s enrolment.Credit: Steven Siewert

Jessica Cao, a real estate agent from Ray White Upper North Shore, said buyers had “very mixed” feelings about Lindfield Learning Village.

Cao said that the rezoning would probably bring down property prices as buyers saw Killara High’s catchment as the “biggest drawcard” in the area. She said buyers were concerned that Lindfield Learning Village did not have an established track record, and that it employed a “different concept” of education.

Students at the school call teachers by their first name, learn at their own stage rather than their age group, and forgo bells, timetables and uniforms. Last year the school’s entire leadership team unexpectedly departed, including its principal.

While the two schools are closely ranked in HSC results — Killara came seventh among comprehensive schools in NSW, Lindfield Learning Village came 10th — the latter has had only one graduating class, while Killara has long maintained top results. In 2024 NAPLAN results, year 7 students at Lindfield Learning Village underperformed against students with a similar background in every category but were equal to them for year 9.

Last year Lindfield was running at 62 per cent capacity, while Killara High and Chatswood High were enrolled at 102 per cent and 108 per cent capacity respectively.

The rezoning is a byproduct of the unpopular conversion of Asquith Girls High and Asquith Boys High into two separate co-ed campuses with distinct catchment zones.

Through the School Finder website, the department said the rezoning was informed through “a consultative process” in which public transport, school size and student populations were considered. Neither Levien nor local MP Matt Cross were aware of any community consultation.

Following complaints from “several constituents”, Cross wrote a letter to Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car on Monday calling for a joint enrolment area covering Killara High, Chatswood High, and Lindfield Learning Village.

The Department of Education was contacted regarding the impetus for the rezoning and the criticisms of Lindfield Learning Village’s methods, but did not respond before deadline.

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