Top Brisbane Catholic girls’ school to add Years 5, 6
One of Brisbane’s best Catholic secondary schools will add two extra year levels from 2024. HERE’S WHAT WILL CHANGE
South West
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Brigidine College in Indooroopilly will open a new junior school in 2024, welcoming students in Year 5 and Year 6 for the first time.
It was looking at adding two classes of 25 students in Year 5 and two classes of 25 students in Year 6.
At the moment it has a total of about 850 students from Years 7-12.
The Catholic girls’ secondary school, in Brisbane’s inner-west, is one of the best in Queensland and regularly tops NAPLAN and sporting competitions.
It also has a very strong social justice focus.
A raft of top Brisbane private schools have announced extra year levels or more classes in recent months as demand pushed up enrolments.
Brigidine principal Brendan Cahill said there would be a tailored junior school program “offering the best opportunities, including access to specialised teaching and learning’’.
Students would have access to before/after-school care and co-curricular activities in academic, sport, arts and “mission’’ areas.
As well as specialist teachers, the school offered a swimming pool, dance, art and drama studios, library and a STEM building which opened in 2019.
“These will provide the junior school students with opportunities to develop their sense of self, interests and academic capability,” Mr Cahill said.
“The benefits of a girls-only education for Years 5 and 6 will be to collaboratively explore learning with the care and wellbeing of each child paramount.
“Brigidine is known for its ‘learning with care’ and wellbeing of young women.
“We are expanding these opportunities to young girls of the western suburbs.”
The junior school would be housed in the school’s Brigid Centre, near a new playground, multipurpose courts, dance, drama and art studios.
Brigidine recently unveiled a masterplan which featured a new library, “bespoke’’ student learning centre and student reception, with building work starting in 2025/2026.
In July, leading Catholic boys’ secondary school Marist College Ashgrove announced it would be able to take in an extra 100-plus students from 2024, when a new primary years building opened.
Year 5 would become MCA’s major intake year, with 65 more students able to be accommodated in that year level.
About 40 extra Year 7 students would also be accepted.
The same month, top Toowong Catholic girls’ secondary school Stuartholme School announced it would add Years 5 and 6 from 2024.
Work on a dedicated new junior school precinct would start next year.
And last year, prestigious girls’ school St Rita’s College in Clayfield announced it would take students from Year 5 this year and Year 6 from 2023, while All Hallows’ School in the CBD and St Paul’s School Bald Hills introduced extra classes for Year 5.
A number of private boys’ schools offered enrolments from Year 5, including Brisbane Grammar School and St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, both in Spring Hill.
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