Brookvale Public School (PS) has demanded the Department of Education explain why the students within their school’s catchment continue to be zoned to Cromer High (3.7km away) when the new Freshwater High is 1.3km down Winbourne Road.
Parents at Brookvale PS expected the majority of their students to be rezoned during the Department’s shake-up of Northern Beaches high schools. When they weren’t rezoned, and the Department didn’t give any reasons to justify its decision, they pointed to potential discrimination against the school’s culturally diverse community.
“Brookvale PS is a small, close-knit school community and a great place for our kids to get the best start in their educational journey,” Hina Osmany, Brookvale PS P&C Association President, tells Manly Observer.
“And all we want is to continue that positivity when they transition to high school and avoid any obstacles that would prevent them from attending high school and engaging in the local community.
“Our school community is really diverse, and for many of our parents, English isn’t their first language, and they don’t understand what’s going on, so I felt it was the P&C’s duty to advocate for our students to ensure they have the same access as everyone else.”
High schools on the Beaches backstory
In 2024, the NSW Department of Education released new high school intake areas for the Northern Beaches as part of the state government’s 2023 election promise for all students in NSW to have guaranteed access to a co-education public high school by 2027.
On the lower Northern Beaches, some students only had access to single-sex high schools (like Mackellar Girls High and Balgowlah Boys High).
After consulting the school community, the Department opted to rezone catchment areas and change Freshwater Senior Campus to a full Year 7 to Year 12 high school. The move has both excited young local families and ruffled feathers (more information on how the Freshwater Senior community took the news here).
Prior to the shake-up, students at Brookvale PS were zoned to Northern Beaches Secondary College Cromer Campus’ catchment and they remain part of that catchment. The Department has simply left them in their existing catchment. However, with the upcoming opening of Forest High (which is 3.5km from the Brookvale PS) and planned transitioning for Freshwater Senior to a full high school, parents expected the catchment zones to change.
“Before there was no other high school option available to us other than Cromer,” Ms Osmany explains.
“But now we have Forest High up the hill, or even better, we have Freshwater, which is an easy, flat 10-minute walk. Keeping us zoned to Cromer just doesn’t make sense anymore.”
“But now we have Forest High up the hill, or even better, we have Freshwater, which is an easy, flat 10-minute walk. Keeping us zoned to Cromer just doesn’t make sense anymore.”
When Manly Observer contacted the Department, they said there is no change to Brookvale’s local public high school. When we questioned whether students in Brookvale were once zoned to Freshwater High (Freshwater used to be a full high school from 1983 to 2002, and a former student says Brookvale used to be zoned to Freshwater during this period), the Department said their records don’t go back further than 2002.
“As a primary school parent, I was focused on where my children were going to primary school and assumed their high school would be the nearest high school,” Sarah Lakeman, P&C Vice President, says.
“I wouldn’t have ever imagined we’d still be in Cromer if a closer option was available, and without Hina and Rachita Bhatia (P&C Treasurer) speaking up, I would’ve never been aware that this issue had cropped up.”
The fight for fairness
“School catchment boundaries may be lines on maps for the Department of Education, but for students and families these are life-changing delineations,” Member for Wakehurst, Michael Regan says.
He is supporting Brookvale P&C’s calls to have Brookvale PS students included in the Freshwater High catchment.
“Excluding them is illogical, unfair, and not good for our community,” he adds.
“The wrong call has been made in this case, and I will keep pushing for a fairer, common sense outcome for Brookvale families.”
Mr Regan says he has secured a commitment from the Education Minister to meet with the P&C before Term 1, 2026 and for an EOI survey to be completed for Brookvale’s Year 4, 5 and 6 to get an accurate picture of their high school preferences. The Minister has also agreed to an enrolment and intake area review in 2027, taking into account actual enrolments across all schools impacted by the zoning changes.
According to the P&C, keeping Brookvale PS students zoned to Cromer has several implications.
The first is geographically. To get to the Cromer campus, students will need to take a 45 mins bus ride (sometimes this involves multiple bus transfers or, with current timetables, getting the students to school too early, or after the first bell rings).
“I found these guidelines from the Department on when they create a new school, and one of the key criteria is accessibility, with the preference for students to walk or bike to school,” Ms Osmany says.
Ms Lakeman adds that with Brookvale’s diverse community, some parents might not drive, or must both leave for work early, and therefore if accessibility is an issue, it may increase in absenteeism as it’s just too hard for the student to get to school.
The P&C explains the Department views Cromer as Brookvale’s local community, which is the second issue.
“Brookvale children train and play with Brookvale Football Club in Manly, play netball at Curl Curl, are members of surf life saving at Freshwater and Curl Curl, and attend extra-curricular activities locally in Brookvale, Freshwater, Curl Curl and Manly,” Ms Osmany says.
“Our networks, sports and social activities place us firmly in the same community as families who will attend Freshwater High.”
Finally, the P&C points to the Department’s decision as ‘potential discrimination’.
“The decision to exclude Brookvale from the Freshwater Campus intake also appears to deepen class-based inequalities in the Northern Beaches public school system,” Ms Osmany says.
“Brookvale is home to a far more diverse mix of ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds than many surrounding suburbs. Yet, we are being cut off from the high school options being made available to wealthier areas like Freshwater, Curl Curl, Manly and Balgowlah.”
What’s the solution?
Brookvale P&C would like the Department to be transparent in its decision to keep their students zoned to Cromer and rezone their school to Freshwater High when it opens in 2027.
“We aren’t talking about earth shattering numbers here,” Ms Lakeman explains.
“We have 45 children in Year 6,” Ms Osmany adds.
“By the time you have families who want to send their kids to private schools, and those who are on the borders of our catchment and might go to a different high school, we are talking about maybe 20 students wanting to go to Freshwater High.
“We’re a small school; we aren’t going to be flooding their enrolments.”
Mr Regan would also like Brookvale students to have additional options for enrolment at Forest High, Mackellar Girls or Balgowlah Boys.
“I also want to add we aren’t against Cromer,” Ms Osmany explains.
“Our students have been going there for years, and it’s been a great school. We just have other options now with Freshwater High opening, and we love our school and our community and just want what’s fair.”
Read our earlier coverage:
‘We feel let down’: Brookvale Public School loses catchment area despite declining enrolments
Freshie students walkout over Department’s decision to add Years 7-10
Northern Beaches primary school catchment changes follow highschool rejig
New local intake areas for Northern Beaches High School shake up
