Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Education and Training
Ogilvie High School and New Town High School will become co-educational in 2022 as part of the next phase of the Hobart City Partner Schools’ collaboration with Elizabeth College.
The Tasmanian Government has agreed with the joint recommendation brought forward by the School Associations of each school, which will increase education options for students in Hobart.
It will also provide Hobart families with a co-educational option to ensure the diverse needs of learners are met.
To assist with the transition, we are investing $150,000 in the 2020-21 State Budget for the development of an educational and infrastructure masterplan to support the continued collaboration between the Hobart City Partner Schools.
It follows extensive consultation with the community, which found that there is a need and strong support for more co-educational opportunities in Hobart and the preference is to use existing infrastructure.
The Government’s decision is supported by research and evidence including the scenario testing undertaken in 2017-18 to determine the feasibility of building a new inner-city high school in Hobart and the recent community survey conducted by the Partner Schools.
The Aurecon Scenario Testing found that:
- There is ample capacity across the schools in Hobart, but that the distribution is uneven;
- Building a new inner-city high school may result in drawing students away from schools that currently have capacity; and
- Building a new school would not resolve enrolment pressures at Taroona High School.
The Partner Schools will now work with their combined school association reference group to develop preferred models, which they will then take to their community in early 2021 to prepare for implementation in 2022.
I would like to thank the principals, schools’ staff and students, the school associations and the wider Hobart community for arriving at this approach for the benefit of all learners.
The full report is available to the public on the Department’s website it includes the findings of the Aurecon Feasibility Study and the Hobart City Partner Schools Survey results.
It is great that we can now move forward, building upon the voice of the schools and community, to provide greater surety in relation to inner city educational provision in Hobart.
