By Lucy Carroll
Randwick Girls’ and Boys’ High Schools will combine into one co-educational school from 2025 after years of fierce debate about a possible merger between the adjoining single-sex campuses.
The plan to join the two eastern suburbs schools represents a significant win for community groups that have long campaigned for a co-ed option in an area dominated by private high schools, many that charge fees exceeding $30,000 a year.
Siblings Noah and Lara Klikauer, who are enrolled in year 7 and 9 at the Randwick schools, are pleased they will soon be combined. Credit: Steven Siewert
The state government will spend $42 million upgrading the two sites to form a year 7 to 12 co-ed school in a “modern, fit-for-purpose facility”.
Families living in the Georges River catchment will also gain access to more co-educational options with two single-sex campuses – Penshurst Girls and Hurstville Boys – each transforming into a mixed-gender school.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car said the decision to create the three new co-educational schools by 2025 reflected the preferences of most parents and families in the local communities.
“The larger student populations will help increase the range of subjects and extracurricular opportunities for students, and the investment in the sites will provide all students with the best possible learning environment,” Car said.
Debate over the future of Randwick Boys’ and Girls’ has been running for decades, but previous proposals to merge the schools have met strong resistance from the girls’ parents.
Last year, the former Coalition government launched a consultation about the future of public education in the eastern suburbs and Georges River catchments, canvassing community views on extending catchments and providing more co-ed options.
The public surveys found strong support for co-education, Car said, with most parents of primary-aged children supporting the change.
The NSW Department of Education commissioned PR firm SEC Newgate to run surveys of families and students in the eastern suburbs and Georges River catchments.
Georges River College Penshurst Girls’ Campus will become a co-educational school from 2025.Credit: Nick Moir
In the eastern suburbs, about 3000 parents from 29 public primary schools and six local high schools responded. About 76 per cent of parents with children in primary school said they would prefer to send their child to a co-ed secondary school.
Most parents living in the Georges River catchment, with children enrolled at Mortdale, Oatley and Oatley West Public schools, also said they would prefer a co-ed high school.
At Randwick Boys’ High, 62 per cent of the 300 parents who responded said they would prefer a mixed-gender school, but at Randwick Girls’ almost half of parents and students surveyed wanted the school to remain single-sex.
Randwick Girls’ High School will merge with Randwick Boys’ to form a co-ed campus.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“Broadly, current students at Randwick Boys’ favoured the merge, and students at Randwick Girls’ prefer to retain the status quo of single sex education,” the Newgate report said. Teachers and staff at Randwick Girls’ were especially concerned about “losing the sense of community” at the school if it were to merge.
Parent Joel Gibson, whose daughter attends the girls’ high school, said some families felt switching to co-ed was a “major breach of trust” for those who enrolled because it was single-sex.
“Parents are in shock today. Not only did we find out second-hand because they told the girls at school hours before they emailed parents, but there was widespread opposition to a full merger during the focus groups I attended,” Gibson said.
There are at least 20 private high schools in the eastern and inner-city areas, including many that have hiked fees three to seven per cent this year. The six public comprehensive high schools in the eastern suburbs include JJ Cahill Memorial High, Matraville Sports High, Rose Bay Secondary College, South Sydney High and Randwick Boys’ and Girls’.
Licia Heath, from lobby group Community for Local Options for Secondary Education (CLOSE), welcomed the decision to merge the schools and said it will mean fewer families move catchments to have access to a co-ed option.
Siblings Noah and Lara Klikauer, who are enrolled in year 7 and 9 at the Randwick schools, were pleased about the move. “Boys often have a different point of view than girls, and it’s good to have that diversity of opinions in the classroom” said Lara.
But P&C secretary at Randwick Girls’, Leanne Bergan, said while she understood prospective parents supported the co-ed shift, she was concerned about parents who had chosen the schools because they were single-sex.
“The schools have seen some progress with upgrades, but there is a long way to go to make these schools fit for purpose,” Bergan said. About 850 students are enrolled in Randwick Girls’ High and 675 attend the boys’ school.
The NSW Education Department said that it would “recognise the preferences of some students and families” and provide opportunities for single-sex-focused classes and activities at the co-ed schools.
The interim name for the new eastern suburbs co-ed school will be Randwick High, while the department will run a consultation process with students, parents and staff to determine the final name.
In June, the Herald revealed that students living in the city’s inner and south-west would have guaranteed access to a nearby co-educational public high school from 2025, with the plan being expanded to all students by 2027.
A plan to allow girls to be enrolled in Randwick Boys’ was vetoed by the department in 2019, despite community support of the idea.