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New campus pilots junior program
As the country shifts to a more uniform national education system, the first
Brisbane students will enter their “junior” year. Leonie Briggs reports
A
northside college is blazing the trail this
year for the transition to junior secondary
schooling in Queensland which will see
more than 40,000 Year 7 students relocated from
primary to secondary campuses by 2015.
Murrumba State Secondary College is one
of 20 pilot schools but the only one to start on
Monday 23 January with a new, purpose-built
campus and an initial intake of 300 students in
Years 7 and 8.
More than $600million has been allocated
for the state-wide move to more uniformity
among schools Australia-wide which also aligns
Queensland with the new national curriculum
that starts this year in English, Maths and
Science. The courses are designed for 13 years of
schooling, Prep to Year 12, and treat Year 7 as the
first year of high school.
Griffith University education expert, Professor
Donna Pendergast, believes the junior secondary
model will revitalise Queensland’s state secondary
sector and reverse the trend of dwindling
BACK TO SCHOOL
• Day school Years 5 – 12
• Boarding Years 6 – 12
• Catholic school in the Edmund
Rice Tradition
• Extensive social justice program
• Choice of 33 OP subjects
• Gifted & Talented program
numbers due to leakage to private schools.
“The thinking is with the new structure
more aligned with middle schooling in private
schools, parents might be prepared to give junior
secondary a go because they can try it for three
years and if it doesn’t work out they can switch to
the private sector for the start of senior schooling
in Year 10,” Professor Pendergast says. She says
this strategy could appeal to a significant number
of families because they would be paying private
school fees for only three years instead of six.
Although early days, community interest
already is lending weight to this view. Murrumba
State Secondary College principal Paul Pengelly
says if the “overwhelming” response he has
experienced is any gauge, the junior secondary
model is off to a great start.
Following extensive community consultation
with parent groups and feeder schools, the college
had no trouble attracting enrolments, including
from families who had withdrawn children from
private schools to attend Murrumba.
Every future has an origin...mine is here!
Dr Steven Cook
Nudgee College Old Boy
1986-1990
Anaesthetist
Nudgee College offered me opportunity and dedication
What will Nudgee College offer your son? Whether it be academic,
cultural, personal, spiritual, sporting or vocational, Nudgee College
will help your son find his path in the world.
• Vocational Education Program
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• World class academic & sporting
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• Established in 1891
St Joseph’s Nudgee College 2199 Sandgate Rd Boondall, Queensland (07) 3865 0555 www.nudgee.com enrolments@nudgee.com
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Specialist facilities such as industrial design
and technology workshops, science and language
labs and a state-of-the art library have attracted
a lot of interest. Parents also have been very
receptive to the notion of “here’s a chance to get
everything and more but not have to pay the hefty
tab for it,” Pengelly says.
Bray Park State High School is one of the
remaining 19 schools piloting junior secondary
from 2013. Principal Michael Knox says it is
“pretty exciting” being one of the first schools
involved while the principal at Bray Park primary,
Leonie Betts, says the junior secondary move,
although voluntary at this stage, has strong
support within the community.
She says a lot of effort is being made to ensure
a seamless transition for pilot students during the
two-year trial period by enabling participation in
activities such as school camps. “We also don’t
want to break up any long-standing friendships
between students.”
Alexandra Hills State High School principal
St Joseph’s Nudgee College is easing
transport concerns for families with a
fleet of buses that makes it easy for
students to get safely to and from school
each day.
“Many prospective families were
being increasingly reluctant to send
younger children, in particular, to and
from school on public transport said
Principal Mr Daryl Hanly.
“We listened to families concerns
and now have a fleet of buses that are
dispersed across eight bus runs every
morning and afternoon whilst also
transporting over 100 boys each day to
and from Boondall train station,” he said.
Areas covered by the bus runs are:
• Albany Creek / Eatons Hill
• Brett’s Wharf and southside
• Clayfield / Ascot
• The Gap / Jinker Track
• Samford / Dayboro
• Wilston / Nundah (departing from
• Gregory Terrace)
• Bardon
• North Lakes / Redcliffe
For exact route information see the
Getting to Nudgee College page (under
Enrolments) on the Nudgee College
website.
Enrolment opportunities exist in some
Gail Armstrong says a lot of work will be done this
year to ensure the curriculum and teachers are
ready to accept the pilot students next year. “We
want parents to be confident about their children
coming to high school and that it will be a really
wonderful experience,” she says.
There would be a significant amount of
professional development undertaken this
year and Year 7 teachers from feeder schools
might also be involved and transfer to the junior
secondary progam, she added.
Griffith’s University’s dean of education,
Professor Pendergast said junior secondary
schooling was “not just about moving students”.
She says there is “great evidence” this tailored
approach has improved outcomes and better
prepared students for senior schooling. She says
the high cost is best viewed as an investment
in the future and the price that has to be paid
for “changing the education system to meet the
needs of young learners and to give them what
they need for the rest of their lives.”
TrAnSpOrT COnCernS eASed
year levels in 2012. To find out more,
take a tour of the campus or request
a prospectus visit www.nudgee.com
or email enrolments@nudgee.com
www.nudgee.com
phone 3865 0555