‘No communication’: Parents shocked by Sydney school’s sudden closure

Parents have been left blindsided by a decision to shut a northern beaches Catholic primary school to make way for a secondary school’s new year 5 and 6 “junior” campus.

The Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay, which stretches from the north shore to the Central Coast, announced on Wednesday drastic changes to 13 schools, including closing St Cecilia’s primary school at Balgowlah and merging it with St Kieran’s at Manly Vale.

St Cecilia’s, established almost a century ago, will be turned into a new year 5 and 6 campus for St Paul’s Catholic College, a formerly all-boys high school at Manly that transitioned to co-education this year.

The 246 children enrolled at St Cecilia’s have been offered places at St Kieran’s, which has under 200 students, but parents have been given a little more than a fortnight to confirm if they will accept the transfer.

Parent Natalia Macri said she chose St Cecilia’s for her kindergarten-aged daughter for its small size and proximity to her home that allowed her to walk her daughter to and from school.

“We were shocked,” Macri said. “There was no communication this could be happening, and now we feel cornered into making a really fast decision about what to do next year.”

In a letter to parents on Wednesday, the diocese also announced it would merge St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School in Northbridge with St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School in Willoughby. It is also considering merging two upper north shore primary schools into a new kindergarten to year 12 school.

Parents were invited to an “important strategic update” meeting on Tuesday night, with no context about its agenda. They were played a short video informing them of the decision to close the school, said Melissa Donnelly, whose children attend St Cecilia’s.

Donnelly said the audience was taken aback by the decision.

Catholic Schools Broken Bay senior executive Mark Robinson said the diocese had run consultations with parents. He maintained some families wanted the specialised year 5 and 6 model that would be offered by St Paul’s new campus to help students prepare for high school.

However, parents say there was no mention of merging or closing schools during these sessions, which focused on the positive impact of St Paul’s expansion.

“It seems to us like they’re prioritising attracting people not currently in that system over prioritising the needs and wants of the people who are already their customers,” said Donnelly.

St Paul’s will offer years 5 and 6 from 2026.

The decision comes after Rosebank, an independent Catholic high school in the inner west, announced this year it would start enrolling year 5 and 6 students to help guarantee its “long-term viability” and smooth the transition into secondary school.

St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill is also considering adding year 5 and 6.

Catholic and public school enrolments have been declining on the northern beaches.

Parents at St Cecilia’s said many boys leave at the end of year 4 for nearby Catholic schools, including St Augustine’s, St Aloysius’ College and Riverview. “Pretty much every boy at St Cecilia’s leaves before year 5,” said one parent, who asked not be named.

Another parent from one of the affected schools said it was “such a shame that schools like Loreto and Riverview pillage these primary schools of year 5 and 6 students, leaving skeleton classes”.

St Cecilia’s parents said moving their children to St Kieran’s would be inconvenient as they would need to drive to school, and that some would consider Balgowlah Heights Public instead.

Demographer Mark McCrindle said the decision to merge the schools may be because of the northern beaches’ ageing profile, driven by a lack of affordable housing.

Meanwhile, Broken Bay Diocese has announced $300 million for “significant upgrades” to multiple schools to meet enrolment demands on the Central Coast, an area McCrindle said was attracting young families.

“It used to be more of a retiring hotspot, but now there are a lot more families moving there from Sydney,” he said.

St Cecilia’s parent Grant, who asked that his surname be withheld, said the decision “could not have been handled worse” and his 11-year-old daughter was “really upset”.

“All of those things that this young group was looking forward to from a leadership and a friendship perspective was all being ripped away,” he said.

“We can only see this as a financial decision to support St Paul’s and its growth … It’s got nothing to do with the wellbeing of the students.”

An online petition to delay the school’s closure claims Tuesday night’s meeting was “run without any care or consideration for our children or community”.

“Catholic Schools Broken Bay has given us four months’ notice to move our children to new schools. This is absolutely shameful as we know this planning has been years in the making,” it reads.

“Had parents known, they would never have enrolled their kindergarten children to simply be uprooted a year later. For other parents, they too would have made different decisions to ensure there were no disruptions to their children’s education and wellbeing.”

In a letter to parents, Danny Casey, the diocese’s director of schools, said the “transformation” was about more than new facilities.

“We are expanding pathways, modernising facilities and reshaping the way Catholic education supports parents and their children,” he said.

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