Students relocate to new $112 million campus in Allambie Heights
For decades, distracted students were disengaged Macbeth or trigonometry students stare out the window at Forest High School’s lush oval while their peers practice archery, play football, or engage in unauthorized activities in the adjacent bush.
But those days are over, as Forest’s 877-strong student body moved to a new location with ocean views two miles east on Monday.
The decades-old move of Forest High School from its former home next to the Northern Beaches Hospital will result in the creation of a controversial town centre.
Perched high on the hill in Allambie Heights, the new school overlooks the northern beaches and Pacific Ocean from one window and the city skyline from the other.
The impressive new building, which includes a theatre, fully equipped gym, all-weather sports fields and air conditioning, has been designed around what principal Nathan Lawler calls the school’s “core values”.
“We are really pushing this narrative that our mission is to serve our community as a comprehensive high school,” he said.
“So if you’re a sporty kid, come to us. If you’re a creative student, come to us. If you’re an academic student who’s more into traditional subjects, math and science, come to us. If you need additional support, we’ll be right there.”
The opening of the $112 million school marks the beginning of a controversial new era of education on the northern beaches; catchment boundaries are being redrawn and subsequent plans abandoned in line with the state government’s election promise to offer co-education to every public high school student.
Forest has expanded its catchment eastwards to accept students from Manly Vale, Balgowlah, Allambie Heights and Seaforth.
Our registration continues this year. Normally 120 Year 7 students are enrolled, but as of Monday there are 145 students; According to Lawler, this trend is repeated across year groups.
He said parents were leaving local private and independent schools, as well as single-sex state high schools Balgowlah Boys and Mackellar Girls, in favor of Forest.
“I can’t say we draw from just one school,” he said.
“There are many factors: Our teachers’ reputation in the community is really strong, our parents speak highly of the school.
“I think having a new school helps, and the option for families to be able to come who were previously reserved for single-sex schools also helps.”
Elsewhere on the northern beaches, Freshwater High School will end its successful run as a senior campus for Year 11 and 12 students to become a comprehensive 7-12 school, taking in students from a wider area from next year.
Students in the area can still take part in the local single-sex options of Mackellar Girls and Balgowlah Boys, which this year had 97 students on the HSC honor roll.
The changes have not been without controversy: the government has backed away from plans to turn both Balgowlah and Mackellar into co-educational schools, while the Freshwater High School community lobbied unsuccessfully for it to remain a senior campus.
The construction of the New Forest High School has been blamed for polluting the nearby Manly Dam with silt runoff. Complaints were also made about increased traffic on the site and noise from construction.
Now that construction is complete, students will begin their schoolwork this week. Lawler said anxiety among students is often replaced by excitement.
“We met with different groups, they were really excited and almost couldn’t believe that we had such a beautiful facility and that they could call it their school.”
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