Western Sydney’s fastest growing primary, high schools revealed for 2023
Western Sydney’s fastest growing schools – and the ones going backwards – have been revealed. See where your child’s school ranks here.
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Western Sydney’s fastest growing schools – and the ones going backwards – have been revealed.
An analysis of federal government data has revealed every Western Sydney region school’s student enrolment trajectory over the past five years – exposing where student numbers have risen and declined the most.
Santa Sophia Catholic College (secondary) in Gables is Western Sydney’s fastest growing school, with enrolments increasing by 2487 per cent in the five years from 2018 to 2022.
The second fastest growing school was St Luke’s Catholic College (secondary) in Marsden Park with a 1189 per cent change while Wollemi College in Werrington recorded the third biggest change with a 173 per cent increase.
Wollemi College headmaster John Ramos said the school’s consistent impressive academic results, combined with a personalised approach to education and focus on character building are the main draw cards for parents enrolling their sons.
“Families moving into the area are looking for a high quality education for their children which is why our open days are always over-subscribed and next year we will surpass 500 enrolments,” Mr Ramos said.
“Our parents are active partners in the education of their children which makes Wollemi and attractive option for them.”
Charbel and Mirna Geagea, whose two sons are enrolled in years 2 and 3, agree. They said as parents they felt encouraged to engage further with their children’s education.
“We feel it’s a community, not a school, we’ve met great families from the school and have comfort in knowing our sons will grow up together,” Ms Geagea said.
“The school encourages the parents and children to engage together which builds real relationships.”
Father-of-two Nitin Jain, whose sons are in years 3 and 7, says the “positive community atmosphere” makes the whole school “feel like a family”.
Nearby in Marsden Park, Australian Christian College also recorded a 124 per cent surge in enrolments, with headmaster Brendan Corr, citing the school’s relative newness as creating a “shared enthusiasm” in growing the community.
“We are still a relatively young school and so we are growing every year - growing in size and in terms of our campus facilities,” Mr Corr said.
“This brings a sense of excited energy and expectant enthusiasm to everyone - students, parents and staff - who join us and commit to helping being part of community.”
Another interesting factor in Australian Christian College’s growing enrolents, is the option for distance education, “an alternate way of learning” not offered by many nearby schools.
Head of distance education Marsden Park, Luke Reifler, said since Covid, some families reconsidered traditional schooling methods and valued the “flexibility and sanctuary of distance education”.
“Throughout the Covid pandemic years, many more families discovered and embraced this alternate mode of learning, which has added to our significant and sustained growth in student numbers,” he said.
Some have since returned to classrooms, at their local school or our Marsden Park campus, but many more have continued to seek the flexibility and sanctuary that distance education offers.
For Catherine and Marcelo Duran, who have their two children enrolled at Australian Christian College, distance education was the perfect fit for their family.
“It was the best fit for our family enabling the pathway to support our children’s talents and dreams providing a strong academic curriculum whilst teaching them to self-manage their time,” Ms Duran said.
“They are no longer just students but independent managers designing their futures.”
Founding Principal at Riverbank Public School at The Ponds, Jeanie Brown, said the school had been established on “consistent high expectations and outstanding teaching and learning accountability.
After opening its doors in 2015 the school now has around 2210 students.
It has grown from 10 to 87 classes, with its staff increasing from 20 to 168, with an 81 per cent increase in enrollments since 2018.
Ms Brown said the school continued to attract parents and students because it had maintained its wellbeing framework, backed by “strong evidence based practices”.
“It’s about strong accountability, being very consistent in our practice, ensuring that my teachers know the ‘why’ and building those strong relationships,” she explained.
“Every student is known, valued and cared for. We [see] students improving every year. And that’s reflected in our data as well”.
Santa Sophia Catholic College principal Mark De Vries said the Catholic school had met demand for high quality independent education at the growth corridor in Box Hill.
The school was founded in 2018 with a total of 23 year 7 students. It welcomed 1674 this year.
“We are the only Catholic school to serve the area,” Mr De Vries said. “We have state of the art facilities, [with a huge focus on technology],” he explained.
Parent Kerrie Bollard enrolled her daughter Jessica at Santa Sophia Catholic College in 2018 and has now celebrated her graduation as the school’s first cohort.
She said she felt strongly she wanted her daughter to attend a Catholic high school nearby and was pleased at the“state of the art facilities” students moved into after several years where the school operated out of an alternate site.
“I knew we had enrolled our child at a really good school [that] was going to give her the opportunity to grow and mature, and to be able to get the skills she needed to be able to do what she wanted to in the future,” Ms Bollard said.
The Hills Grammar School principal Karen Yager said families in the area were looking for a co-educational school that focused on strong academic results and skills such as entrepreneurship that worked at “future proofing our students”.
Ms Yager said she had seen increased demand by parents for independent education, with the school seeing a strong 12 per cent increase in enrolments since 2018.
“We are not affiliated with any faith, we are truly independent and we have a culturally diverse student population,” she said.
President of the school’s parent and friends association Russell Burns said his three children attended the school from the early childhood education centre through to senior school.
“We selected Hills Grammar as we wanted our children to each thrive, despite having different passions and interests, both inside the classroom and beyond,” Mr Burns said. “We were keen for them to be well rounded people with broad interests and pursuits.”
In the Parramatta area, Alpha Omega Senior College’s 135 per cent leap in enrolments over five years could be down to its outstanding HSC results which students have consolidated since the Auburn school opened in 2011.
It ranked 354th in 2012, 71st in 2014 and 38th in 2018.
Last year, it was ranked 22nd in NSW.
The class of 2022 also ranked No.1 in standard English and 166 students were distinguished achievers, meaning they accomplished above 90 per cent.
There were six all rounders in the class of 2022.
More than 500 students make up the co-ed school, which only had 35 year 11 students enrolled during its opening year.
Alpha’s website states it has a “unique learning environment in comparison to mainstream schools’’.
“We are proud of our student-centric approach to learning through our true learning environment,’’ it states.
Westmead Christian Grammar recorded the highest number of enrolment increases for primary schools in the Parramatta area.
Greystanes dad Matt Tabarni’s 10-year-old son Lucas attends the school, where his daughter also went before she started high school.
“First of all, it’s a Christian school, it’s very moderate,’’ Mr Tabarni said.
“They don’t teach theology, they teach about Jesus and how to live for Jesus. That was the main thing for us as a family.’’
Mr Tabarni also likes the support system in place at the school.
“You name it, they have it,’’ he said.
While he was happy with the education his daughter Mia also gained from Westmead Christian Grammar School, she did not continue her education at its feeder campus, Bethel Christian School, because it was too far for the Greystanes family to travel to Mt Druitt.
The family is happy with Greystanes High School, where Mia is in year 8, for its extra-curricular options and discipline.
Meanwhile, the analysis also highlighted the Western Sydney region’s schools in decline with OneSchool Global NSW in Oatlands recording a 73 per cent drop over five years.
Luddenham Public School was the second school going backwards for enrolment with a 45 per cent drop and Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Primary School at Pennant Hills was the third with a 37 per cent decline.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority figures are the most up to date enrolment numbers that include all state and private schools nationally.
Schools with fastest growth between 2018 and 2022:
Santa Sophia Catholic College (Secondary): 2487 per cent
St Luke’s Catholic College (Secondary): 1189 per cent
Wollemi College: 173 per cent
St Luke’s Catholic College (Primary): 148 per cent
Alpha Omega Senior College: 135 per cent
Australian Christian College – Marsden Park: 124 per cent
Schofields Public School: 114 per cent
Riverstone High School: 85 per cent
Riverbank Public School: 81 per cent
Middle Dural Public School: 81 per cent
Schools in decline 2018-2022:
OneSchool Global NSW: 73 per cent
Luddenham Public School: 45 per cent
Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Primary School: 37 per cent
St Canice’s Primary School: 36 per cent
Henry Fulton Public School: 36 per cent
Westmead Public School: 36 per cent
St Nicholas of Myra Primary School: 34 per cent
Macdonald Valley Public School: 33 per cent
Kurrajong North Public School: 32 per cent
Parramatta North Public School: 31 per cent
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