Blessed by new school
Catholic college for booming north
A CATHOLIC school being built in the northern corridor of the Gold Coast is set to be a major boon for the area.
St Joseph’s College Coomera will be a combined primary and secondary school accommodating up to 1800 students, the largest of its kind in the region.
The Gold Coast’s northern corridor is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, with the population across the northern suburbs jumping by almost 15,000 to 75,882 since 2013, putting pressure on the region’s existing schools and creating demand for more facilities.
Work on St Joseph’s College Coomera has already begun, including general learning areas, administration buildings, extra-curricular areas, sports fields, a library and a tuckshop.
Two hectares of the 11ha site are being left as natural bushland for students to learn about and explore.
The principal, Paul Begg, said the school would open on January 30 next year with about 220 students.
Mr Begg said $18 million had been invested by Brisbane Catholic Education just for stage one after realising the demand and the potential for a new school in the area.
“It was first envisaged 10 or 11 years ago and 1800 students is the projected enrolment across six years,’’ he said.
Mr Begg said the school was already taking in large numbers of enrolments despite having only opened applications at the start of this week.
The school is expected to open for pupils from Prep to Year 3 next year, with the possibility of a Year 4 class being added if there is demand. There will also be a number of Year 7 classes, with the potential to open a much needed Year 11 class two years earlier in 2021.
“I do understand the demand,” Mr Begg said.
“It’s very much dependent on whether we can deliver the facilities. We want to deliver the best possible education (for our students).”
Mr Begg said it had been projected that there would be demand for an extra 6000 students in the area across the next 15 years.
In the past five years, the population in Coomera has jumped from just under 11,000 people to nearly 14,000, according to the 2016 Census. The northern Gold Coast has about 75,882 people, up nearly 15,000 from 61,929 in 2013.
Local MP Michael Crandon said other schools in the area had built extra facilities to keep up with “burgeoning” numbers.
Since 2013, more than 5000 students had swelled the tanks in the area’s schools, with 15,363 students counted as of early February this year.
“We are the fastest growing region and have 10 new schools in 10 years since 2009,” Mr Crandon said.
“Twenty-eight per cent of our population is under 15 years of age. We’re just hanging on. With this school coming in 2019 it will relieve some of the pressure.”
Mr Crandon said the Catholic school would add to the diversity of the region, with a relatively even mix of private and state schools. “It will be great. It’s another option for parents,” he said.
Community relations manager Stephen Ruck of King’s Christian College,
which opened a northern campus in the neighbouring suburb of Pimpama three years ago, agreed and said a new school in the area was welcomed.
“We opened in 2015 and our experience has been that demand has been greater than what we had forecast,” he said.
“When we were planning for the school 10 years ago, we had part of the growth in mind after getting information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the State Government (and) council ... but the actual population growth has been much greater.
“We’ve put on extra classes (and) we’ve had to build more buildings.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said earlier this year the Government would build 10 new state schools in Queensland, including one secondary school in the Coomera area. A special school was also being planned for the northern Gold Coast.
Picnic Creek State School opened its doors to more than 180 students at Coomera this year.