By Lauren Pilat
Excessive student numbers at some of Western Australia’s most prestigious and in-demand public schools are not expected to ease until Perth’s newest inner-city high school reaches capacity in five years' time.
The opening of Bob Hawke College in Subiaco next week had been hailed as the solution to overcrowding at the surrounding Shenton College, Mount Lawley, and Churchlands senior high schools.
Education Minister Sue Ellery took media through the new Bob Hawke College in Perth on Monday.Credit: Lauren Pilat
But ahead of the first cohort of Year 7s starting at the college on Thursday, Education Minister Sue Ellery said it would take some time for the pressure on nearby schools to ease.
“By the time it’s finished [Bob Hawke College] will take 2000 students, that will take some pressure off Churchlands, Mount Lawley and Shenton,” she said.
“It’s built on that side of the western suburbs where growth is and where the younger families are. Like most secondary schools, enrolments are coming in as a staggered fashion.”
Ms Ellery said at least 260 pupils and 16 teachers would start their school year at the college, with the number of students to increase each year as new Year 7s enrolled.
Stage one of the state-of-the-art multi-storey secondary school has a university feel and includes an observation room with a one-way mirrorred window for teacher training, a ‘learning street’, playing courts and ballet room, library, auditorium, cafeteria and dining room, and a lecture room with 150 seats.
The college is built on about two hectares of land at the old Kitchener Park site overlooking Subiaco Oval, which is yet to get new turf to complete its transformation into a school oval. In the meantime, students will have access to 6000 square metres of green space.
Bob Hawke College will open about three years after the government quashed plans to revive City Beach High School, which was closed by the former Gallop government in 2005.
The closure of City Beach raised community concern over whether the area would be serviced adequately by a secondary school: Ms Ellery said Bob Hawke College had been specifically built to meet those concerns.
“In terms of schooling, the growth in the western suburbs is on the city side – in fact on the coastal side, particularly around that City Beach side, population is going backwards, it’s not growing in terms of students who will be eligible to attend high school,” she said.
A one-way mirrored window will allow school staff to watch and learn from other teachers.Credit: Lauren Pilat
Ms Ellery said there was no plans to change the use of the previous City Beach High School site, which is currently a residential facility housing Perth Modern students from regional areas.
Bob Hawke College principal John Burke said he aimed to create a culture of innovation and reflection within the school and broader community.
“Our motto is ‘extraordinary together’, extraordinary as in the best version of staff, kids and the community, and the together piece is about inclusion,” he said.
“We’re really keen to look at ways of working in partnership with the community so the space can be shared.”
Mr Bourke said the ‘observation room’ with a one-way mirror would allow teachers to watch over colleagues' classes as a learning opportunity for school staff.
“Part of that reflective practice, that reflective culture is that we improve and one of the best evidence-based ways to do that is to observe each other teach so that observation room gives us the opportunity as a group of staff to watch our colleagues teach to learn from their exemplary practice and also to get better at what we do,” he said.
“Our teaching profile includes an early years graduate and then some more experienced staff ... we’re hoping to become a factory for excellence in teaching and learning in public schools in WA.”
According to the Department of Education, the college will be the third school in WA with an observation room, the others being Roseworth Primary School and Ashdale Secondary College.
The college is a local intake school, with the exception of the 32 students in its gifted and talented academic program from around the state, who will also start on Thursday.
Department of Education executive director infrastructure John Fischer said while the full impact across all student cohorts would not be realised until 2025, there would be an immediate impact from the opening of the college.
"The approximately 260 Year 7 students enrolled at Bob Hawke College would have otherwise been accommodated at existing schools," he said.
"Enrolments at both Churchlands Senior High School and Shenton College for Year 7 in 2020 are less than in 2019. This is in an environment where student enrolments are growing."