The State Government initiated a review of Springbank Secondary College in Pasadena.

The school’s ongoing low enrolments were impacting its ability to offer students a broad and varied curriculum with specialist subjects and teachers.

The review considered the educational, social and economic needs of both the community and the state as a whole. In particular it examined the impact of closing Springbank Secondary College and rezoning the Springbank zone to Unley High School.

Experienced educator, Terry Sizer, was appointed to chair the review committee, which included the principal and a governing council representative from both Springbank Secondary College and Unley High School, as well as other educators and directly impacted parties.

The review carried out over 3 months to allow a thorough examination of the options and to provide significant opportunity for feedback.

The review committee considered the impact of the following model of schooling in the inner southern metropolitan area:

• the current Springbank zone will be added to the Unley High School zone, giving all families living in the area a new local school,
• all current mainstream students enrolled at Springbank will be able to transition to Unley High School at the end of 2020,
• for those students who do not wish to attend Unley High School, every effort will be made to secure them a place in the public school of their choice (ie at schools other than Unley), subject to the year level capacity at the requested school,
• students currently enrolled in the school’s disability units and special class will be individually case managed, to assist the student to find a school that meets their educational needs,
• Financial support will be provided by the department to cover the costs of new uniforms for all 2020 students,
• additional capital works will be provided to Unley High School to ensure sufficient capacity to accommodate a larger zone,
• all current permanent teaching and support staff will retain their industrial entitlements. The department will work with staff to find appropriate placement and maintain existing tenures. This will be determined in consultation with staff.

A key consideration was working with the families of students with special needs to consider their requirements, including understanding the feasibility of a new unit at another school.

Springbank Secondary College is also a significant community asset and the review examined ongoing community usage and ownership options for the Basketball SA stadium and heritage listed Tower Arts Centre on the school site.