The fact that the school itself is prepared to push ahead with its fate clears the department of the usual accusation that it is merely interested in selling off properties to top up its budget. It is clear that the problem in the region relates to faltering enrolment growth. Beacon Hill High School has a school population of 551. The solution the department has opted for, with its proposed Northern Beaches Secondary College, is the senior college concept. The new college, with TAFE offering students e-commerce and information technology services, will be centred at Freshwater High School, a campus with space and an ailing enrolment.
Senior colleges can draw away the better senior students from the local high schools.
Against this, though, is the fact that the senior colleges can offer an array of subjects that high schools struggling to be viable cannot. The justification for this solution is that the government school system needs to be as sensitive to the needs of individual students as the non-government system is. The amazing discovery of the prehistoric Wollemi pine. Expert help in the run-up to this year's exams. Keep fit How to stay in shape this winter.