'Bursting at the seams': Student numbers growing steadily

Data from the Department of Education shows a number of primary and secondary schools in Bendigo have seen increased student numbers while others have remained consistent.

Primary schools with an increase in enrolments reflect the growing areas of Bendigo.

Epsom Primary School has gone from 197 students in 2016 to 245 in 2018, Huntly grew by 29 students to 245 and Strathfieldsaye is up to 534 from 471 in 2016.

Epsom Primary School welcomed a $6.2 million rebuild in 2018 but has already outgrown its new facilities.

RELATED: Epsom Primary to reach capacity two years after rebuild

Acting assistant principal Gill Davey said the Epsom site has four portables being used to help with demands.

"They were meant to go but were retained and are full," she said. "We have huge numbers of prep enrolments and are bursting at the seams.

"It's a positive. The school is built for 350 students and we're around 350 now and planning on that for next year.

"Numbers seem to have stabilised and we can definitely cope with what we have got but we would like more portables."

Golden Square primary was up to 398 students in 2018 (from 362 in 2016) while Kennington grew to 632 - 56 more than 2016.

Kennington Primary School principal Travis Eddy said while student numbers at his school had grown consistently over the years, he worked to keep class numbers small.

"We're not at capacity. We got up over about 660 earlier in the year but have pretty low numbered classes anyway," he said.

"What we have noticed in the last couple of years is an influx at the start of year of almost a (whole) class, but we can absorb that because we set our class numbers as low as we can.

"What we do is say 'this is what we have got, how can we operate a budget of staff, building and students?' We do the best we can do with the knowledge we have got."

RELATED: Growth suburbs in Bendigo put strain on school enrolments

Bendigo South East has seen 93 more students join their school in the 2016 to 2018 period with 1546 enrolled last year.

A BSE spokesperson said the growth was in line with population increases in their school zone.

"We continue to enrol students within our zone," they said. "Our growth in enrolment remains consistent with general population growth within our existing zone."

Eaglehawk Secondary has seen 56 more students and Weeroona College has 23 more students.

Crusoe College recorded a slight drop in students with 576 students enrolled in 2018 compared to 597 in 2016.

This year has seen just over 650 students enrolled according to Crusoe College principal Brad Madden.

He said this year about 200 year 7 students enrolled with the school. Currently there are 230 future year 7 students signed up to attend in 2020.

"We're not at capacity but we have typically had intakes of around 150 students each year," Mr Madden said.

"Certainly numbers are up in the last few years. We are expecting somewhere over 700 students next year which is two or three extra classes."

Mr Madden said space and classrooms at the college was not an issue but attracting new staff for specific subjects was a challenge.

"We will have to take in new staff. That's our challenge to advertise and recruit," he said. "Generally when we have advertised we do get people keen to work in Bendigo. The challenge is with specific subjects. Some subjects have a lot of (qualified) staff, in other areas, there aren't so many."

Crusoe College's capacity is manageable with the resources the school currently has, Mr Madden said.

"What the Department of Education says (is our capacity) and what I'd like it to be are different," Mr Madden said. "There is capacity for around 1000 students but for us working to level of 800 is comfortable. That's based on spaces we've got. It's manageable."

The Department of Education said there is currently capacity for increased enrolments at schools across Bendigo.

A spokesperson for the Department said annual reviews of residential growth, demographic change and enrolment trends helped guide the consideration for locations of new or upgraded schools.

"We are building the Education State to ensure that every student has access to a great local school so they can get a world class education and the best start in life," the spokesperson said.

"We consistently monitor current enrolments and population projections and work with local authorities and other organisations to ensure there are enough school places for the future."

Since 2015-16, the state government has provided more than $80 million in funds to upgrade and maintain Bendigo schools.

Projects in that time-frame include $14.4 million to upgrade Kalianna Special School, $8.8 million to upgrade Bendigo Senior Secondary College, $7.3 million to upgrade Spring Gully Primary School, $6.4 million to upgrade Marong Primary School, $6.2 million to upgrade Epsom Primary School, $4.6 million to upgrade White Hills Primary School, $2 million to upgrade Big Hill Primary School and $613,000 to upgrade Lockwood Primary School.