By Lucy Carroll
Parents at Sydney’s top single-sex public high schools have slammed a proposal to turn the campuses co-ed, arguing it would be illogical to make drastic changes to some of the highest-performing state schools.
Under the NSW government’s promise to expand co-ed options to all students, parents at Balgowlah Boys and Mackellar Girls are being consulted on making the single-sex schools co-ed, while similar plans have been floated at Asquith Boys and Girls near Hornsby.
Meg Garrido with her daughter Violet who attends Northern Beaches Secondary College Mackellar Girls Campus.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The move comes amid a controversial merger of Randwick Girls’ and Boys’ and an overhaul of inner and south-west catchment zones to give students more co-ed school choices.
Half a dozen private and Catholic schools have switched to co-ed in the past decade, including the all-boys Newington College where a decision to admit girls triggered legal threats and months of fierce backlash.
The government is considering a raft of changes at several public high schools, including co-ed proposals for Balgowlah and Mackellar, and the option of opening up Manly Selective to local students.
But the proposals have sparked intense criticism from parents, with some concerned it could reduce choice in the public system. “It would be crazy to mess with a network of schools that are doing so well,” says Christie Goldspring, president of Balgowlah Boys P&C.
“The government should be improving the facilities at Balgowlah, rather than considering co-ed.”
She said the P&C ran its own survey to ask families about school preferences, with about 90 per cent of respondents at Balgowlah Boys indicating they want to retain single-sex.
“The survey showed some parents had initial concerns about the lack of co-ed options in the area. But once their children started at the school they see the benefits of how the teaching really caters to boys,” Goldspring said.
Balgowlah Boys was the top-ranked comprehensive school in last year’s HSC, eclipsing selective schools and private schools MLC and Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview. Mackellar ranked fifth among comprehensives, while Asquith Boys achieved among the biggest gains in band 6 scores.
Parents have been consulted about changes to five northern beaches schools, while co-ed mergers have been floated for Asquith Girls and Boys and Moorefield Girls’ and James Cook Boys’ High in Kogarah.
Balgowlah Boys High year 12 class from 2023. It was the top-ranked comprehensive school in last year’s HSC rankings.Credit: Nick Moir
Mackellar Girls parent Meg Garrido says single-sex education suits her daughter, Violet. “A lot of the parents at Mackellar are very protective of keeping it all-girls. It has strong academic results and a positive culture, for many parents these are the most important things,” Garrido said.
“The teachers are experts in delivering girls’ education. When you look at it, the simpler option would be expanding access to [co-ed schools] Mosman High or Forest High and not reduce choice.”
Asquith Girls P&C president Lisa Rothwell says parents had been left in the dark about a possible co-ed move, with “no communication” from the department in six months since consultation began.
In a letter to the department, she questioned why Asquith Girls was “selected for this conversion” while other single-sex schools within public system “remain untouched”.
“Many of the students have thrived in the supportive and nurturing environment provided by the school,” she said.
In the inner and south-west, more than 30 catchments are being adjusted so families in single-sex school zones will have a co-ed option.
But Balgowlah Heights Public parent Annelies Hodge, who was surveyed on her co-ed views, said she would prefer to send her children to a co-ed high school “to better prepare them life after school”. “It normalises relationships with the opposite sex,” she said.
Some single-sex state schools have faced major declines in student numbers in recent years, with parents opting for co-ed private schools due to lack of choice.
A separate proposal to add a comprehensive stream to Manly Selective up to year 9 has drawn “significant concern”, with parents worried the change would cause major disruption to students across all grades.
“Parents from across our community seem to see how harmful this proposal could be to student wellbeing, outcomes and sense of belonging,” said Simon Cahill, president of the school’s P&C.
A department spokesperson said a comprehensive consultation process had been conducted in the northern beaches, Hornsby and Kogarah areas. “The feedback is now being considered and updates will be provided to the communities later this year.”
Research shows single-sex schools have the slight academic edge over co-ed, but that advantage narrows when socio-economic background and parents’ education is taken into account. Single-sex schools outperform co-ed counterparts in the HSC, while boys’ schools narrowed the gap last year.
The government has already announced the merger of single-sex schools to form new co-campuses at Randwick High, Liverpool High and Georges River College.
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