Tied around the trees at the front of Canberra's St Clare's College, pink ribbons have appeared — the sign of a student campaign to keep the school for girls only.
"The girls really value having a single-sex education because of the unique environment it presents us," Year 12 student Brigid Norgrove said.
The school community has been rocked by a suggestion from the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Education Limited (CACGEL) to potentially move St Clare's, a girls-only school of more than 60 years, to a co-educational model.
Like Ms Norgrove, fellow Year 12 student Abby Bartkowiak is strongly opposed to the idea.
"It's not the fact we are against boys; we are against the fact that girls would be losing out," she said.
"In subjects that are more dominated by men typically, like physical education and design and emerging technologies, that's where girls would lose out."
The possible future of co-education at St Clare's is only one of three options being considered to meet the demand for Catholic secondary education on the south side of Canberra.
CACGEL has also put on the table whether existing school sites in Canberra's south-west could be expanded or repurposed, and whether land purchases across the border in New South Wales could help meet demand.
School 'empowers girls to be leaders'
Leigh Southwell, whose two daughters are St Clare's students, said she was "surprised" and "really disappointed" by the co-education idea.
"I really feel there is a value to the school being single-sex," she said.
"Making this choice based on numbers or just on a short-term plan, I think it would be really detrimental to the school, the kids that are there now but also the girls that won't have a chance to go there in the future."
But CACGEL said it put the idea on the table because a survey, canvassing parents of children in kindergarten to year five in Catholic schools in the ACT, indicated demand for more Catholic co-educational secondary options on Canberra's south side.
There is also a long wait list for places at co-educational Catholic school St Mary MacKillop College, which has turned away more than 150 families seeking enrolment for their child in 2027.
Decision has not yet been made
CACGEL executive director David de Carvalho, who declined to be interviewed, said in a statement he wanted to reassure the community that a final decision had not been made.
"The question before us is not about the quality of education at St Clare's," Mr de Carvalho said.
"It's about how we plan responsibly for the future and respond to the needs of families who want a Catholic education for their children."
He said CACGEL was being "transparent" and would consult with the community.
"Consultation will include opportunities for students, parents, carers, staff, alumni and affected school communities, including St Edmund's College, to ask questions and provide feedback on the educational, pastoral, operational and community implications of any possible change."
He confirmed no changes would take place prior to 2028 at the earliest, but a final decision would be made early next year.
'Limited' space for new schools
In a letter to the principal of St Clare's, Mr de Carvalho said CACGEL's ability to build new secondary schools in the ACT was "constrained by the way that the territory releases land to non-government schools", prompting the St Clare's co-education suggestion.
"[There's been] incredibly limited land release to prospective proprietors of non-government schools having taken place over the past decade," Mr de Carvalho said in his letter.
Education minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said there were new pockets of land opening in the ACT.
"That will be available [through an] expressions of interest process … that is an open process."
She highlighted a recent land release in the Molonglo Valley where an Anglican school was the successful bidder.
"The Catholic system is also open to apply when those sites become available," she said.
CACGEL is responsible for the operation of 56 Catholic systemic schools across the ACT and NSW.
