December 1 - 31, 2024: Issue 637

 

Education News: Freshwater campus to be expanded - Forest High School revised boundaries - New Sports High School in 2025 - how to best support students with disability accessing HSC exams: Review underway

Freshwater campus to be expanded

December 5, 2024
The Secondary College Freshwater campus will be expanded to a Year 7-12 campus by 2027.

Families will have guaranteed access to a co-educational public high school on the Northern Beaches, with Northern Beaches Secondary College (NBSC) Freshwater campus to expand following comprehensive community consultation.

By 2027, the co-educational Freshwater campus will expand from a Year 11–12 campus to a Year 7–12 campus, with the NSW Government to deliver upgraded facilities to accommodate a larger school community.

The decision follows community consultation conducted by the NSW Department of Education with the Northern Beaches community about their views on co-education and high school settings in the local area.

The NSW Government made a commitment at the last election to ensure every community had access to a co-educational school.

The Northern Beaches community consultation found strong support for co-education.
  • 74 per cent of local early childhood parents and carers preferred a co-educational school setting for high school.
  • 68 per cent of local primary school parents and carers preferred a co-educational school setting for high school.
The most preferred option to deliver guaranteed co-educational access was expanding NBSC Freshwater campus to years 7-12.

The community was also consulted about a proposal to offer co-education at the Mackellar Girls and Balgowlah Boys campuses of NBSC, however this option was not the community’s preference.

As the Freshwater campus transitions to offering schooling for years 7-12, features of the current school that best support senior students will be retained.

In addition to infrastructure works at the Freshwater campus, upgrades will also be undertaken at the Balgowlah Boys campus to address needs at the school.

It is proposed that Year 7 and Year 9 will enrol at Freshwater Campus in 2026, alongside years 11 and 12, with the school becoming fully comprehensive for Years 7–12 from Term 1, 2027.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:
“Local consultation in each community has informed the way we are delivering on our election commitment to provide access to co-educational schooling for NSW families.

“Hundreds of families on the Northern Beaches will now have guaranteed access to a co-educational high school for the first time, reducing uncertainly for parents and travel time for many families.

“I want to thank the community for their engagement and the passion shown for public education on the Northern Beaches throughout the consultation.”

Member for Manly, James Griffin has welcomed the NSW Government’s announcement regarding co-educational schooling on the Northern Beaches. The announcement includes a commitment to deliver comprehensive infrastructure upgrades at the Northern Beaches Secondary College (NBSC) Balgowlah Boys Campus.    

The Department of Education has confirmed that the NBSC Freshwater Campus will transition from a Year 11-12 senior campus to a Year 7-12 campus by 2027. 

Local intake areas will also be adjusted for NSBC campuses and The Forest High School, with revised boundaries due to be announced at the end of term 4, 2024. 

As part of these changes, the Government will deliver upgraded facilities to NBSC Freshwater Campus to accommodate this school population increase. In doing so, the Government will also commence conditional assessments at all other NBSC campuses, with the Deputy Premier emphasising that ‘upgrades will also be undertaken at the Balgowlah Boys campus to address the needs at the school.’  

“The previous Coalition Government had committed to upgrading the Balgowlah Boys campus. After the election, I made a promise to the students, parents, and staff at Balgowlah Boys that I would do everything I could to ensure that the Minns Labor Government stayed true to providing this important funding,” Mr Griffin said. 

“In working side-by-side with the school principal and the P&C executive, I have continually fought for Balgowlah Boys to receive upgrades to its facilities as a matter of urgency.

“The Government’s plans to dramatically expand the intake of schools on the Northern Beaches were simply never feasible without significant investment in existing school infrastructure. I made it clear that if the Government had managed to locate funding to pay for these upgrades, then that funding must also be allocated to Balgowlah Boys,” Mr Griffin further stated.     

“That is why I am so pleased to say that after almost two years of calling on the Deputy Premier, the Government has finally heard our calls and has made a public commitment to delivering these vital upgrades.  

“Balgowlah Boys has consistently excelled as one of the State’s top performing schools despite substandard conditions and woefully outdated facilities. The delivery of these works will ensure that the students and dedicated staff at Balgowlah Boys are able to thrive in a learning environment that reflects the stellar academic success of this fantastic school. It will also ensure that the school meets the needs of our local families well into the future.

“I wish to extend my immense gratitude to the P&C and the school leadership team for their unrelenting advocacy. I also wish to acknowledge the Deputy Premier for hearing our appeals and committing to delivering this outcome,” Mr Griffin said. 

“I will continue to work closely with the school and the P&C executive to hold the Minns Labor Government to account and ensure that they follow through on this commitment. The students, teachers and staff at Balgowlah Boys do not just desperately need these upgrades; they deserve them.”  

More than just a sporting chance

December 5, 2024
The rise of NSW Sports High Schools is set to continue under the new stewardship of James Kozlowski. Glenn Cullen, Media Officer with the NSW Dept. of Education, reports.

A new era for sports high schools will start in 2025 with James Kozlowski taking over the reins as President of the NSW Sports High Schools Association.

The baton was passed to Mr Kozlowski, Principal at Endeavour Sports High School, at a recent function to celebrate a decade of the association.

Outgoing president and association founder, Roger Davis, is set to retire at the end of the year.

The association was founded in 2014 and is instrumental in ensuring sports high schools get a voice within the school system and externally, with burgeoning interest in the many talented athletes they produce.

More than 170 students have represented their country at senior national level from NSW public sports schools, with a bevy of NRL, AFL, basketball, golf and surfing stars also educated through the system.

Next year will see the formal introduction of an eighth sports high school, with Eagle Vale Sports High School starting its Talented Sports Program in rugby league, basketball and cricket.

“We want to position ourselves as the pre-eminent junior sporting talent development pathway in the country. No other organisation, pathway, sporting academy sees their athletes for five days per week, 40 weeks of the year for six years,” Mr Kozlowski said.

“We develop the whole person – their academics, wellbeing, leadership and sporting talent. We are committed to them for the entire high school journey, regardless of where they are on the rollercoaster of the teenage years.”

With the 2032 Brisbane Olympics on the horizon, Mr Kozlowski said the association would look to continue building relationships with the Australian Olympic Committee, Office of Sport, NSW Institute of Sport, state sporting bodies and professional clubs.

Mr Davis, a former principal of Westfields Sports High, was recognised at the recent function for his unbridled passion and ability to get things done.

NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar described him as an inspiration.

“I’ve loved working with Roger,” he said.

“There are very few people in my career that I’ve come across that I find it hard to say no to. He’s so passionate about the kids and the staff and the opportunities that he’s hard to knock back.”

The evening concluded with a question and answer session involving recent and past talent from sports high schools.

Current Wests Tigers NRL star Lachie Galvin, who graduated from Westfields Sports High School in 2023, former Cronulla, NSW and Australia forward Wade Graham (Hills Sports High School), and triple NBL Premiership winner BJ Carter from the Sydney Kings, spoke in glowing terms about the opportunities that sports schools give to young athletes.


Photo: James Kozlowski with NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar and outgoing NSW Sports High School Association President Roger Davis.


NSW Dept. of Education sports high schools provide opportunities for students to achieve sporting and academic excellence. Sports high schools offer flexible educational programs which are supportive of students' training and competition commitments. Talented students study the core curriculum prescribed by NESA as they pursue their chosen sport. These schools also offer specialised training facilities and fields to help students excel.

There are 7 department sports high schools in NSW in 2024:
  • Endeavour Sports High School
  • Hunter Sports High School
  • Illawarra Sports High School
  • Matraville Sports High School
  • Narrabeen Sports High School
  • The Hills Sports High School
  • Westfields Sports High School.

Review to consider how to best support students with disability accessing HSC exams

December 2, 2024

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) has engaged an independent evaluator to review the HSC Disability Provisions program.

The review, to be conducted by Urbis, will evaluate how the current policies, processes and systems are supporting the increased proportion and number of students applying for disability provisions. 

NESA receives some 10,000 applications for HSC Disability Provisions annually, with applications growing year on year. Since 2020 applications have increased by 45%.

The evaluator will examine key concerns that parents, teachers and disability education groups have raised and deliver recommendations relating to current and emerging issues including:

  • The process, time and resources involved for teachers, schools and parents in obtaining or not obtaining provisions. 
  • NESA's evidence guidelines and requirements.
  • Whether all students with disability needing provisions are applying for and getting appropriate provisions 
  • The differences between school-based and external HSC exam-based provisions.
  • The appropriate balance between Principal and NESA-approved provisions.

Consistent with Recommendation 21 of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Children and young people with disability in NSW educational settings, the review will consider streamlining the process for schools applying to NESA for and the granting of provisions.

Key stakeholders across the education, health, and disability sectors will be engaged in targeted consultation sessions from now through 2025. Designed to be inclusive, it will also build on evidence gathered previously to avoid ‘consultation burnout’ in the community.

Past HSC students who have utilised the program, as well as their parents and carers, will also be invited to provide their feedback and insights.

NESA will present the final report findings to the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education later in 2025 for implementation in the 2026 HSC. 

The Terms of Reference for the review can be found here.

CEO of the NSW Education Standards Authority Paul Martin said:

“It is essential that young people have access to systems that support them doing their best in their education.

“While the current Disability Provisions program features a number of strengths that ensure students have equitable access to exams, we acknowledge concerns raised by stakeholders and will seek to identify improvements.

“The HSC exams are a major milestone in a young person’s life and we want support mechanisms in place that are simple for students, schools and families to access, while maintaining the integrity of the country’s largest public exam.

“It is a priority for NESA that students with disability have access to appropriate provisions to participate in the HSC on the same basis as their classmates.”