The Geelong suburbs where schools are needed most

A demographer has revealed why families are choosing to live in outer Geelong suburbs, and the impact it’s having on schools.

A school built to cater for Greater Geelong’s unprecedented growth is nearly at capacity as demand continues to surge.

Iona College, located in the booming suburb of Charlemont, opened with just 150 year 7 students in 2020 and is expected to have a student population of 830 next year.

The school, which is opening gradually, will cater for students from year 7-12 by 2026.

Charlemont is one of the areas set to experience the most dramatic population change according to forecast.id.

Students at Iona College Geelong, which is expected to balloon in enrolments once at full capacity. William, 12, Charli, 12, Tom, 13, Emily, 12, and Jorja, 13. Picture: Alex Coppel.

According to forecast.id, the City of Greater Geelong is anticipated to grow by more than 110,000 people by 2041.

The municipality looks set to boast a population of 393,216 by 2041, a 43 per cent increase from its 2022 population of 274,647.

Lovely Banks-Batesford-Moorabool, Marshall-Charlemont, Mount Duneed, Bell Post Hill, and Armstrong Creek are the top five suburbs for anticipated growth, the data reveals.

Principal Damian McKew said demand was higher than his school could accommodate, despite being established to address it.

“Iona College was established to meet the increasing demand for Catholic secondary education in the Geelong region,” he said.

“Each of the existing Catholic secondary colleges (in recent years) were unable to meet the demand for enrolments for their respective colleges and the decision was made to establish a new Catholic coeducational college is the growth corridor of Armstrong Creek (Charlemont).”

Mr McKew said in its opening year of 2020, there were 150 year 7 students enrolled.

This will balloon out with 260 enrolling for the 2023 school year.

Iona College Geelong is taking in as many students as possible, with many still left out. Picture: Alex Coppel.

“There has been demand far beyond this number, but our intake is as high as we can manage from a buildings and facilities perspective,” he said.

“We expect the total school population at Year 7-10 to be around 830.

“It is expected that the school enrolment will ultimately grow to 1400 (Year 7-12).”

The Demographics Group co-founder Simon Kuestenmacher said areas like Charlemont had what young families with school-aged children were looking for.

“Everything from Clifton Springs, to Portarlington, the Bellarine, Ocean Grove … everything along the coast and outside the CBD has nice lifestyle gains,” Mr Kuestenmacher said.

“It’s where people want family friendly homes … and where they can be built.

“There’s classic three or four bedroom properties, in a house and land package.

“The castles of today’s generation are being built there.”

Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher said parents are choosing family sized homes before schools.

He said while schools are an important consideration, families will choose the house they want first.

“You can really look at a map and ask ‘where are houses being built’, and that’s where schools will be needed,” he said.

“(But) you don’t necessarily have the extreme need for people to co-locate schools with growth areas.

“If you’re driving to work, and you can (drop) your kids at school on the way, that works well.”

Demand for both state and Catholic education is on the rise, with enrolments in government schools in the region increasing by more than seven per cent between 2016 and 2021.

City of Greater Geelong’s acting city planner and economy director Adam Mowlam said while the state government is responsible for when and where new schools are built, council advocates for upgrades and new schools across growing suburbs.

“Our Precinct Structure Plans identify preferred locations for both government and non-government schools,” he said.

“The Victorian Government announced in the 2022–23 State Budget funding to purchase land for a future school in Charlemont which will help address future demand in the vicinity.”

A Department of Education and Training spokesman said there were more on the way.

“We know there is growing demand in Greater Geelong for a great education close to home – we’ve already built four new schools in the region, and the Victorian government has invested $236.7 million in the Victorian budget 2022/23 to acquire land for 15 future new schools including in Greater Geelong,” he said.

Originally published as The Geelong suburbs where schools are needed most