Families with children at three Brisbane Catholic schools are being supported as major changes get underway to keep up with the evolving educational landscape in Queensland. Source: The Catholic Leader.
The latest Brisbane Catholic Education school to transition to a co-educational secondary offering is Our Lady’s College in Annerley.
The school has been an all-girls learning space since its founding in 1964 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph.
From 2030, it will enrol boys starting in Year 7. The campus, which has about 350 students, will be expanded to accommodate more students.
Adjacent to Our Lady’s College is Mary Immaculate Primary School, which will close at the end of term 4 in 2026, along with St Brendan’s in Moorooka.
Enrolments at Mary Immaculate and St Brendan’s have fallen by one-third over the past five years, with each school now enrolling fewer than 75 students.
The 2024 Innovating for the Future Inner-City Brisbane report found strong demand for co-educational Catholic secondary schools and noted a significant loss of students at the end of Year 4.
BCE opened its co-ed secondary Holy Spirit College at Fitzgibbon in 2022 and enrolment demand exceeded expectations.
Last year, BCE announced a new co-ed secondary at Windsor on the site of the former St Mary of the Cross Primary and it received more than 600 enquiries soon after.
“This level of interest demonstrates the strong demand for affordable, high-quality Catholic education in Brisbane. We anticipate similar interest for Annerley from 2030,” BCE acting executive director Ross Tarlinton said.
The changes reflected BCE’s commitment to a Catholic education over the past 180 years and into the future, he said.
BCE educates almost 80,000 students at 146 schools across southeast Queensland.
Families affected by the closure of the two primary schools will be offered enrolment at other local BCE schools, including St Sebastian’s, Yeronda and St Pius X, Salisbury.
BCE said a dedicated transition team would assist all families moving to the new schools, including financial assistance for new uniforms and fees for the first term.
“The wellbeing, learning and care for our students and our staff are our priority as we move through these next few months,” Mr Tarlinton said.
FULL STORY
Catholic education responds to co-ed learning demand in Brisbane (By Kymberlee Gomes, The Catholic Leader)
