These Sydney schools are getting $80 million in upgrades, but some parents are furious

The NSW government will spend $15 million on converting a top-performing northern beaches senior campus into a year 7 to 12 school, despite parents planning to mount a legal challenge to block the move.

Late last year, the government revealed it would turn Freshwater Senior Campus into a year 7 to 12 school, sparking fierce backlash from parents and students who have campaigned for the decision to be reversed.

Tilly Podvonich and Sunny Elliot are year 11 students at Freshwater Senior Campus.Credit: Thomas Wielecki

The year 11 and 12 senior campus, where some 45 per cent of enrolments are drawn from nearby private schools, ranks among the highest-performing comprehensive schools in the HSC.

The move to shut down the senior campus model was made as part of the Labor government’s election promise guaranteeing access to co-ed high schools across Sydney.

Tuesday’s state budget contained $15 million in the coming year to upgrade Freshwater ahead of it becoming a year 7 to 12 school. Another $10 million was allocated to dismantling Asquith Girls and Boys in the upper north shore and turning them into two separate co-ed campuses, set to be named Asquith High and Hornsby High.

About $40 million was allocated to the new Liverpool High, a co-ed school that will merge Liverpool Boys and Liverpool Girls into a six-storey campus with a new gym and sports courts.

The Freshwater Senior Campus P&C is pursuing legal action against the department, including seeking a judicial review of the decision to expand the school.Credit: Thomas Wielecki

Another $5 million in this year’s budget will go to Bayside High – which will merge James Cook Boys Technology High and Moorefield Girls – while $7 million was allocated for upgrades to the new co-ed Randwick High.

While many parents have welcomed expanded access to co-ed public high schools after years of lobbying for more options, others have fiercely opposed shutting or merging campuses.

In February, Freshwater parents launched a campaign to fund a legal case to block the government from dismantling the senior campus model.

“Despite Freshwater’s overwhelming success as a senior school, taxpayer money is being wasted on a plan to dismantle something that isn’t broken,” the fundraising page says. Parents argue the senior model works, outperforms some high-fee private schools, and has helped combat the exodus of students from the public system.

A consultation report revealed most parents, teachers and students at the senior school did not support the move, but parents at local primary schools preferred it to become a year 7 to 12 school.

Head of the Freshwater P&C Sam Williams said parents at the school “are fiercely committed to protecting the school for future generations of students. Once it’s gone you can’t get it back.”

Williams said the P&C is pursuing legal action against the department, including seeking a judicial review of the decision to expand the school.

He said it was illogical to dismantle the senior model given the proximity of the co-ed Forest High and Cromer High, and nearby private school St Luke’s Grammar building a $20 million dedicated senior school at Pittwater Road.

A year ago, education bureaucrats praised Freshwater for its popularity, fostering a strong sense of belonging in students and being among the best-attended schools in the state.

But the president of the P&C at nearby primary school Harbord Public, Martijn Timmer, said he was pleased with the move to expand the school. “Previously we only had Balgowlah Boys and Mackellar Girls, now this gives us more co-ed options in walking distance.”

Williams said there are concerns among parents about falling enrolments in nearby primary schools including Curl Curl North and Manly West, and if the population projections will support expanding the school.

The NSW Education Department has pushed back plans to open the school to years 7 to 12 until 2028.

A department spokesperson said funding will upgrade the school to support additional enrolments, with construction expected to start early next year.

“The timeline to expand Freshwater Senior Campus to include years 7 to 10 has been extended to allow more time for transition planning and to enable currently enrolled students to complete their senior schooling,” the spokesperson said.

Manly MP James Griffin said the $15 million would be better allocated at other northern beaches schools, including Balgowlah Boys, where he said, “teaching blocks and various classrooms are in states of disrepair”.

This week’s budget included an overall $2.6 billion for new schools and upgraded classrooms across NSW, including new schools in Sydney’s south and north-west growth corridors.

Freshwater Senior Campus school captains Sophie Rawstorne and Sebastian Rayel say the current model works.Credit: Edwina Pickles

A new public primary school is slated for Emerald Hills, near Leppington, where school-aged population growth has far eclipsed projections. Another new primary school is earmarked for Grantham Farm in the north-west, however, families will need to wait until 2028 for both schools to open their doors.

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