Sydney Private Schools Backtrack On Being Co-Ed, Will Return To Single-Sex Enrolment

Following decades during which public, private and Catholic schools have gradually embraced being co-ed (open to male and female students), Kincoppal-Rose Bay and Shore have now announced they will transition back to single-sex enrolments for their junior campuses.

Kincoppal-Rose Bay enrolled boys in the years up to and including year six at its Barat-Burn junior campus, whilst Shore has enrolled girls from preparatory kindergarten to year two at its Northbridge campus. The former first enrolled boys in the junior years in 1914; the latter started enrolling girls in preparatory years in 2003.

But with the heads of both schools reporting that demand to enrol boys and girls respectively has faltered, they have confirmed they will return to fully single-sex education.

Schools say demand for being co-ed has faltered

Principal Erica Thomas of Kincoppal-Rose Bay wrote to parents that the school has “struggled to secure significant numbers of boys” in the junior years, though it began offering scholarships to boys in 2019 in an effort to increase the number of enrolments.

Thomas said enrolments for boys beginning in kindergarten will end in 2028. The last cohort of co-ed students will therefore graduate from the junior campus in 2034.

Shore will not enrol girls next year. Its headmaster John Collier noted a “gradual decline” in girls’ enrolments “over many years” at the school. “So the market has decided, and parents of girls have decided, that this is not a viable option for them,” Collier said.

“Essentially, we are following the lead of parents, which has made the whole thing inevitable, and council have recognised that.”

Collier chalked the lacklustre enrolment of girls to the desire of parents to not have to move their children to another school for later years of their education, observing that fewer than ten girls were enrolled in years one and two at Shore this year.

“Parents want a long-term proposition for their daughters, and many are opting for high-quality girls’ schools in this area,” he said.

Shore previously sought to move back to entirely single-sex education in 2018, but backed down following backlash from parents. Collier says enrolments have steadily declined over the past decade.

For years three and up, “there is absolutely no demand for co-education,” he remarked.

The school’s early learning centre will continue to serve girls.

Thomas informed parents that Kincoppal was “fully committed to the 38 boys who are currently enrolled in kindergarten to year six, as well as all those who are enrolled to commence in future years.”

“We have made considerable efforts to increase the number of boy enrolments by offering the strongest calibre of teachers, refining our holistic education, introducing scholarships to attract boy enrolments and endeavouring to build year seven pathways with a range of schools.”

“More recently, increased competition from other schools and the removal of year seven pathways have contributed to low enrolments of boys and a poor outlook for the enrolment of boys for the foreseeable future.”

“To secure a high school place in many independent schools, boys are often required to take a place in primary.”

Thomas wrote that male enrolments had ranged throughout the school’s history from as high as thirty percent to less than ten percent.

Also in the Eastern Suburbs, Randwick High began operating as a co-educational school this year, whilst Newington College in the Inner West intends to enrol girls from 2026, sparking a lawsuit filed by a student. Cranbrook School also plans to enrol girls from next year.