TASSIE’S FASTEST GROWING SCHOOLS

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THE Tasmanian schools that are booming have been revealed.

An analysis of Federal Government data has revealed the Tasmanian schools where student numbers have risen the most in the past five years.

Between 2013 and 2018, enrolment at Hobart’s Eastside Lutheran College, in Warrane, has increased by 167 per cent, faster than any other school in the state.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) figures are the most up to date enrolment numbers that include all state and private schools nationally.

According to the latest public data, student numbers at Eastside Lutheran grew from 91 to 243.

The second fastest growing school in that period was Woodbridge School, south of Hobart, where the student body increased by 114.2 per cent between 2013 and 2018. Enrolment numbers grew from 139 in 2013 to 297 in 2018.

Of the 10 fastest growing schools, the top six are in Tasmania’s South.

Geneva Christian College, a Prep to Year 12 school near Latrobe, in the state’s North, comes in at No.7. And No.8 ranked John Calvin School is Launceston’s fastest growing school, with a 47.9 per cent change.

Woodbridge School principal Shannon Bavage said growth had continued in 2019 with the school having 333 students in September — 153 primary students and 180 in secondary.

Mr Bavage said growth could be attributed to the increased number of families with young children moving to the D’Entrecasteaux Channel area.

“Currently the Year 7 and Year 10 cohorts are the largest groups with the kindergarten intake tripling in the last five years,” Mr Bavage said.

“In 2020, the incoming kinder numbers will be four times what they were in 2013.”

Mr Bavage said there were advantages to having kindergarten to Year 10 classes at the one location and while the school is among the state’s fastest growing, it retained a strong sense of community.

“With students from kinder to Year 10 on the one campus there are many opportunities for the development of crossage learning opportunities and secondary students can often be seen working alongside primaries in classrooms,” he said.

Woodbridge also has an ace up its sleeve when it comes to attracting students with an interest in the outdoors and marine studies.

“Access to the Marine Discovery Centre is a factor for families wanting to enrol at Woodbridge. For most schools, classes may visit once a year, for Woodbridge students classes are able to visit multiple times throughout the year, allowing for the development of deeper understandings about our marine environment,” Mr Bavage said.

Over the past five years, Southern Christian College, at Kingston, had the third biggest enrolment boom in southern Tasmania with 187 more students at the school in 2018 than in 2013 — a 105.5 per cent increase.