East Melbourne schools: Fasting growing schools in local area revealed
Exclusive data has revealed the top 10 fastest growing schools in the east. Find out how your school compares.
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Birralee Primary School has topped the list of the fastest growing schools in the east.
Principal Ashley Ryan says the school has no choice but to “go up” to accommodate for enrolment growth of about 200 per cent since 2013.
The school had 160 students just eight years ago but with surrounding development contributing to steady growth is expected to hit the 600 mark within two years.
The Heyington Ave campus was last upgraded in 2010 with the State Government providing a refurbishment designed to cater for 300 children.
The 2019 enrolment has grown by six students to 536 since the start of the year alone.
“We would ideally go up to preserve playground space because I believe children need to get outside and play,” Mr Ryan said.
“We can no longer fit all of our students in one place for assemblies, so we’ve had to split assemblies.”
An analysis of Federal Government data has revealed the region’s schools where student numbers have risen the most in the past five years.
Between 2013 and 2018 enrolment at Birralee Primary increased by 194.7 per cent, faster than any other school in the region.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority figures are the most up to date enrolment numbers that include all state and private schools nationally.
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According to the latest public data that includes public and private schools, student numbers have grown from 169 to 498, the fastest growth in the region.
The second-fastest-growing school was Brandon Park Primary School, where the student body increased by 157.5 between 2013 and 2018. Enrolment numbers grew from 188 in 2013 to 485 in 2018.
Over those five years Mount Pleasant Road Nunawading Primary School had the third-biggest enrolment boom in the area 225 more students at the school in 2018 than in 2013 — a 143.3 per cent increase.
Brandon Park principal Sheryl Chard said numbers had “skyrocketed”, surging even further to about 570 students in 2019 with more expected next year.
“There are a lot of new developments … a lot of younger families moving into the area,” she said.
“Our NAPLAN data is good, we are a high achieving school.”
Ms Chard, who is in her 17th year at Brandon Park, said it was “a totally different school” to when she started.
“There has been a big growth,” she said.
“We’ve got 46 different cultural backgrounds, with the most dominant cultures apart from Australian being Chinese, Indian and Sri Lankan.
“It’s like a big melting pot and it’s quite wonderful.”
Ms Chard said she expected student numbers to continue rising and the school was taking steps to prepare for that. “The Education Department told us we can take up to 1050 children,” she said.
“We are building a masterplan for building renovations and replacements to accommodate 1050 children.”
The number of students at Mount Pleasant Road Primary School has soared by 143.3 per cent in the past five years, with 225 extra students joining the school between 2013 and 2018.
Principal Kim Streitberger, who has been at the school for seven years, said she had watched enrolment grow from just 140 students up to the current 422.
She put the school’s growth down to its high-quality programs, which she said focused on wellbeing as well as academic subjects, and the school being held in high regard in the community.
Ms Streitberger said the 61-year-old school had become much more popular in the local area, with enrolment requests also coming from further away.
She said the main growth came from gaining 80 Preps each year.
“In the past we didn’t have full prep classes and now we do,” she said.
Ms Streitberger said she was looking forward to the school reaching 450 students next year, which would mean it would qualify to apply for a basketball stadium.
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