By Jordan Baker and Nigel Gladstone
One of Sydney’s newest schools is at bursting point, NSW Department of Education data shows, with Wentworth Point Public having more students than space and in need of an upgrade despite being built four years ago.
Parramatta High has also grown beyond its classroom capacity in the past four years even though the $225 million, high-rise Arthur Philip High School, which can accommodate 2000 students, opened nearby in 2019.
Other schools that exceed a so-called utilisation rate of 100 per cent - which suggests they have more students than space - are Parramatta West Public (143 per cent), Kyeemagh Public (133), Forest Lodge (103), Crown Street Public (117) and Oran Park Public (116).
In 2018, the utilisation rate for Wentworth Point, near Sydney Olympic Park, was 50 per cent. In 2021, it was 117 per cent.
However, fewer schools today have utilisation rates of 100 or above than in 2018, suggesting the NSW government’s multibillion-dollar building program is easing pressure on overcrowded schools, the data - obtained under freedom of information laws - shows.
In Sydney, there were 271 schools at 100 per cent utilisation or more in 2018, and in 2021 that fell to 212. Utilisation is defined as the percentage of teaching spaces occupied by a class as a proportion of the total teaching spaces on site.
The 17-storey Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta opened in 2019.Credit: Edwina Pickles
A rate of about 80 to 100 per cent is considered ideal, and shows the school’s space is being used well. More than 100 per cent, however, indicates overuse.
Killara Public was one of the most over-utilised schools in 2018, but an upgrade has resulted in its rate dropping from 150 to 85 per cent. At Bourke Street Public, utilisation has dropped from 136 to 100 per cent due to an upgrade.
In April, NSW Auditor-General Margaret Crawford called on the government to commit to a 10-year school building priority list, after School Infrastructure NSW told the government it would not meet forecast classroom needs beyond 2023. A NSW Department of Education spokesman said that list was under way.
Ms Crawford warned the majority of the state’s school builds over the past three years were determined by government promises and election commitments rather than priorities identified by the department’s infrastructure arm.
Head of the NSW Teachers Federation Angelo Gavrielatos said enrolments in public schools would keep rising.
“The government is predicting a 25 per cent increase in student enrolments over the next 25 years, and this government has neither a plan for the infrastructure needed nor a plan for the teachers needed to meet the significant growth,” he said.
The department’s data, for the first half of this year, shows some under-utilised schools have also enrolled more students, which could in part be the result of a stricter approach to out-of-area enrolments making it harder for families to “school shop” outside their catchment zones.
Matraville Sports High’s utilisation grew from 45 to 58 per cent, South Sydney High’s from 50 to 62, and Marrickville High’s from 61 to 74.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Education said 121 new and upgraded schools had been built since 2019, and funding for another 44 builds and upgrades were announced in the last budget.
They included an extra update for Wentworth Point Public and a new school at nearby Rhodes East, as well as a new kindergarten to year 12 campus in Rydalmere.
“[A] 100 per cent utilisation rate does not mean that a school is overcrowded. It means all of the school’s current teaching spaces are being used for teaching and learning,” the spokeswoman said.
“Higher enrolments can usually be catered for by adding permanent or temporary classrooms.
“Enrolment numbers in schools are dynamic and changing all the time. The data provided is a snapshot at a certain point of time. The department deploys resources to schools as appropriate and this will affect a school’s utilisation rate.”
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