Catholic primary school enrolments in crisis as secondary schools expand

As independent high schools expand the year levels they offer, Brisbane Catholic primary school enrolments have been decimated. SEARCH THE INTERACTIVES

Catholic school principals are facing increasing pressure as competition for enrolment cash pushes more Queensland high schools to take on Year 5 and 6 classes, decimating primary school cohorts in the process.

A number of schools in Brisbane’s independent secondary sector, including Brisbane Girls Grammar School, Lourdes Hill College and St Rita’s College, have recently expanded enrolment offerings to the two year groups.

The growing trend has triggered a major drop-off in Catholic primary school numbers beyond Year 4, with many parents unwilling to gamble on securing placements at their preferred high schools despite having to fork out thousands of dollars more in fees when removing their children from primary school early.

One secondary principal told The Sunday Mail that Year 5 had become “the new Year 7” due to secondary schools competing for the financial advantage of extra enrolments.

The principal said many Catholic primary schools were under threat of essentially being reduced to Prep to Year 4 only.

A number of primary school staff contacted by The Sunday Mail said they were aware of numbers dropping off after Year 4.

St Agatha’s Primary School at Clayfield went from 53 enrolments in Year 4 in 2021, to just a single student in Year 5 the following year, according to its annual report.

It coincides with its nearest neighbours St Rita’s College introducing Year 5 for the start of 2022, All Hallows' adding extra classes for Year 5 and Clayfield College moving to a coeducational model.

Enrolments have also fallen dramatically at other Brisbane primaries including St Columba’s at Wilston, Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Coorparoo and St Anthony’s at Kedron.

St Anthony’s is in a unique position having a feeder relationship with Padua and Mount Alvernia colleges.

While the school is co-ed, boys historically do not stay beyond Year 4 as they start at Padua from Year 5, which results in St Anthony’s essentially becoming an all-girls school for the later primary years.

When asked if it had concerns around the impact on its primary schools, Brisbane Catholic Education said its student numbers continued to grow annually but said there had been a recent trend of smaller Year 5 and 6 classes in some suburbs on the back of secondary schools expanding offerings.

“This has provided opportunities for primary schools to welcome more prep students,” a BCE statement read.

Brisbane Girls Grammar School is one of several expanding to lower year levels.

“In inner-city Brisbane, applications for positions in prep classes at Brisbane Catholic Education schools next year has surged almost one-third on this year’s student numbers at the same schools.

“We work to ensure as many students as possible receive Catholic education from P-12 and we value the opportunity to work in partnership with families when choosing a school for their child.”

Australian Catholic University senior lecturer Paul Kidson said whenever secondary schools expanded their enrolments, smaller schools faced increasing pressure and “difficult decisions” about their ability to continue beyond Year 4.

“If you have a situation where numbers are dropping off, it makes for an interesting dynamic,” Dr Kidson said.

“There might be nothing wrong with the school but there will be questions like ‘why are people leaving?’

“It is likely to have a pronounced anxiety for those communities.” Dr Kidson said parents wanted the security and guarantee that children would get into their desired school and not miss out.

Australian Catholic University’s Dr Paul Kidson

A current St Agatha’s parent said their child would benefit from more opportunities going to private school earlier but at a considerable cost financially.

The mother said there had been just one girl left in Year 5 last year before she was moved to a different school.

Fellow parent Jasmin Xu said their family’s decision to stay came down to financial reasons.

“She’s (Heidi) happy there and there’s less tuition,” Ms Xu said.

“She loves the school and some parents will send their kids to St Rita’s because they can make friends but with her personality she can make them easily.”

Dr Kidson said schools with strong enrolment pipelines and high inquiry rates tended to be the ones to introduce extra year levels.

While the schools benefit from the cash cow of increased enrolments, Dr Kidson warned it was a costly exercise for schools to take on.

Independent Schools Queensland Parent Network executive officer Amanda Watt said it was a challenge parents had to weigh up when deciding where to send their child.

“Some parents can find comfort from their child being able to settle into high school early, the routine, the structure, for a lot of parents it’s an appealing option,” Ms Watt said.

Claudia Ramsey has already started trying to get daughter Annabel into private school when she reaches Year 5. Picture: David Clark

HELPING KIDS KEEP UP

Kieran and Claudia Ramsey were shocked when they found out most boys started at private school in Year 5 after having enrolled their son at St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace for Year 7 from birth.

The Cannon Hill parents said they ended up sending their son to Villa Nova for his Year 5 and 6 education before he was able to go to St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace for Year 7 so he didn’t feel left behind by the majority of his cohort.

“My son went at grade five and I felt like for him the school did a great job at preparing him for high school and helping him become more independent and ready,” Ms Ramsey said.

So it was an easy decision to start exploring similar options at All Hallows’ School, Lourdes Hill College and Somerville House for her seven-year-old daughter Annabel recently.

“I thought if they were offering it to girls why not send my daughter earlier,” Ms Ramsey said.

She said that the decision on whether or not to send her children to a secondary school from Year 5 came down to ensuring she was doing the best thing for them.

Ms Ramsey said she didn’t want her daughter to be “left behind”.

“It happened with my son when there were only one or two boys left in his cohort in Year 5 and I don’t want my daughter to be the only one left behind.”

Ms Ramsey said that the opportunities available to her children formed a major part of choosing which secondary school to send them to.

“Even going to All Hallows’ open day, they have fencing as a sport and I generally see it as having more opportunities to try different things and be successful in whatever area,” she said.

Ms Ramsey began her own high schooling in Year 8 at Lourdes Hill and she described it as a “huge shock”.

“To be in a huge school with hundreds of people and kind of left to your own devices all of a sudden, I feel like starting them in Year 5 can really smooth the transition,” she said.