By Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
Overcrowded public schools in booming north-west Sydney are operating at double or triple their enrolment caps, pushing some campuses to exceed their official capacity by 1000 students.
Data obtained by the Herald reveals at least a third of schools in The Hills Shire, Camden, Ryde and Hornsby are above their enrolment caps by more than 100 students each, with the bulk of those primary schools.
This year’s figures, however, show that while some public schools are being squeezed by surging enrolments, more than 300 NSW schools are underutilised, with empty classrooms and space for hundreds more pupils.
The Ponds High has overtaken Cherrybrook Technology High to become the largest public high school.Credit: Edwina Pickles
In the local government areas of Woollahra, Waverley, Bayside, and Lane Cove, many schools are losing enrolments, and no campuses are operating above their student cap. Hundreds of public schools have reported declining student numbers since 2022.
Georges River College Hurstville Boys Campus, J J Cahill Memorial High, Marrickville Public and Darlington Public have space for hundreds more students. In the eastern suburbs, primary schools such as Rose Bay Public, Bondi Beach and Coogee Public are at least 100 students under their enrolment cap.
In contrast, schools in the high-growth north-west, such as Northbourne Public in Marsden Park, are coping with swelling enrolments that have pushed students into dozens of demountable classrooms. The school has almost 2000 students, 16 kindergarten classes and 40 demountables. It has surpassed its enrolment cap by 1020 students.
Other sought-after schools, including Rouse Hill Public, Carlingford West, The Ponds High, St Ives High and Riverbank Public, have exceeded their caps by 600 or more students.
Enrolment caps were introduced in 2019 and are based on the capacity of a school’s permanent buildings. Schools cannot accept out-of-area enrolments if they are operating beyond their cap.
The city’s north-west is among the nation’s most prosperous regions, adding thousands of people in the past four years, but frustrated parents say public school capacity has failed to keep pace with population growth. Many lower-fee private schools in the north- and south-west have been established to cater for booming populations.
About 60 per cent of families in the Hills Shire are couples with children, about 15 percentage points higher than the national average.
However, principals say parents are still school shopping despite a crackdown on out-of-area enrolments, as families move suburbs to guarantee they are in a catchment with their preferred school.
“Families need to be aware enrolment zones can be redrawn. So moving into a catchment area when a child is young doesn’t guarantee the schools will still be in that zone by the time that child is in high school,” said Craig Petersen, head of the Secondary Principals Council.
“With the expected population growth over next decade we can expect uncertainty around the enrolment zones for each school,” he said. “We really need better planning well ahead of time.”
About 27 schools are running below 60 per cent of their enrolment cap, with the most schools underutilised in the inner south-west. The number of schools in Sydney that are under their cap by more than 200 students grew from 147 to 168, with the majority high schools.
The 2024 enrolment data shows The Ponds High, also in the city’s north-west, has eclipsed Cherrybrook Technology High as the largest NSW public high school with 2200 students.
Principal Jenny Weal said the school opened in 2015 with 183 students, and its numbers are expected to peak in 2028 with 2430 students.
“We’ve grown more than ten times over. Riverbank Public, with about 2000 students, is also on the same site which makes us just a huge campus,” said Weal.
With 48 demountables, Weal said the school’s biggest challenge was dealing with “a reduced playground footprint and trying to make sure we can get electricity to all the demountables, especially on hot days and when the students are using laptops”.
The Ponds High opened in 2015 with 183 students and is now the state’s biggest public high school with 2200 students. Credit: Edwina Pickles
“The demountables are comfortable; they just take up far too much space,” she said. “When a school is built, there is a formula for how much shade and cover students need, so we need to plan to guarantee we will have enough shelter. There are benefits, though, to a big school – we can offer multiple extracurricular activities and a huge range of subjects.”
Weal said while the majority of local primary students enrolled at local public high schools, the “biggest area we lose our kids to is selective schools. That’s a very popular choice with parents”.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car said the government’s recent enrolment growth audit found “the former government ... were blind to the needs of families in the booming suburbs of north-west and south-west Sydney”.
“The school infrastructure backlog cannot be reversed overnight; however, we are investing $3.5 billion to upgrade 51 [schools] and build 24 new schools in western Sydney.” There are currently 5000 demountables at public schools across NSW.
Year 10 students at The Ponds High in north-west Sydney. The school has 48 demountables. Credit: Edwina Pickles
At Carlingford West Public, which is 1400 students over its enrolment cap and has 75 demountables, new classrooms are being built, along with a new hall, library and play area.
A spokesperson for School Infrastructure NSW said a new primary and high school was being built in the north-west suburb of Melonba to help ease pressure on Northbourne Public.
A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said the government was examining ways to lift enrolments and make “public schools the first choice of parents”.
“During the term break the department held a roundtable with our education partners to discuss enrolment policy and how we can address issues and meet school needs.”