Freshwater Senior Campus students stage mass walkout over expansion plans

Hundreds of students at a Northern Beaches school have staged a walkout to oppose a move to change the senior campus to include years 7 to 10.

The NSW Department of Education announced in December last year that Freshwater Senior Campus, part of the Northern Beaches Secondary College, would begin the transition from early next year.

However, in a statement on Friday, the department said the timeline had been extended with year 7 and 8 starting in 2027 and all years incorporated from 2028.

The school has been operating as a senior college since 2003 and is ranked as one of the top 15 non-selective public high schools in the state.

The announcement of the change was met with fierce opposition by parents and current students, who argued the current model was successful and shouldn't change.

'It's a tragedy'

Former principal Frank Pickardt showed up to the protest to support the students.

"It's a tragedy that it's being transformed into a 7-12 campus," Mr Pickardt said.

"The Freshwater Senior Campus has been one of the most successful educational institutions on the Northern Beaches in a long time."

Katrina Sloane said her daughter Aysha Hogan had thrived in the senior school model.

Ms Hogan said her classmates were united in opposing the change.

"You can just tell students want to be here, not just because we're missing class, but because we're fighting for a cause which is really strong, and we want our voices to be heard," she said.

Consultation process done unfairly, parents claim

In a note on the school's website, the Department of Education said the move followed "positive feedback from community consultations" regarding expanding options for co-education.

"Expanding co-educational options in the Northern Beaches will give students access to an additional local school for Year 7-12," the note said.

Parents have argued the consultation process wasn't fairly done and are raising money to mount a legal challenge on that basis.

Julie Steele has had two children attend the school and said she hoped the department would rethink the decision.

"We just feel that very strongly that [the consultation] has been flawed, and it's definitely something that needs to be looked at from the legal point of view," Ms Steele said.

"It's very clear that there's a lot of unhappiness about this … so I would hope that they would at least go back and look at what they've done right and what they've done wrong and do right by the kids and the community."

Co-education options increasing across NSW

The move comes amid a push from the state government to expand co-education options in areas currently serviced by single-sex public high schools.

Education Minister Prue Car announced early last year that intake boundaries for about 20 co-educational high schools would be adjusted to give parents that option.

The minister also announced late last year that Moorefield Girls High School and James Cook Boys Technology High School, both located on the adjoining sites in Kogarah, in southern Sydney, would merge to become one school.