The parent, who did not want to be named, has a son in year 8 who was looking forward to going to St Francis Xavier's at Hamilton, which caters for years 11 and 12, to do his HSC - following in the footsteps of his older sibling who went through both schools.

But the Catholic Dioceses of Maitland-Newcastle confirmed that St Pius X and SFX, along with Mayfield's San Clemente, would transition to 7-12 schools by 2027, with the first stage of the change expected to start in 2024.

The parent said her reaction to the news was "total surprise".

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"The thing about SFX that made it a very unique and special school, was that it was a senior school only," she said.

"It has a very big impact on students in terms of motivation, a sense of responsibility and ownership over their own learning.

"They're treated as young adults. It has a really big impact on the kind of learning they do.

"The good thing at St Pius too is the year 10s are the senior kids at school. They're shown a sense of responsibility."

The diocese said the current model of several year 7 to 10 schools feeding into a large senior secondary college was "an appropriate response to the educational needs and funding realities of the 1990s" but "the educational context of the current day has changed significantly".

"Contemporary research and recent case studies indicates that a more holistic, continuous educational experience from years 7 to 12, with relatively smaller year 12 cohorts, produces on balance, better long-term educational, spiritual and social outcomes for students," it said.

However the parent said she had concerns about the impact this will have on the students' education.

"I don't believe St Pius is a very strong school academically," she said. "There are a lot of children with behaviour issues that are not well addressed.

"It's going to be hard for teachers to make that leap into seeing them as adults.

"The difference is at SFX that's all they know. That's a culture, that infiltrates the whole school.

"I think there's going to be many consequences for year 11 and 12s."

The dioceses said the school community will have a chance to provide feedback about the changes, but the parent said this was happening too late.

"They're saying there's going to be a period of consultation, but it's not consultation. It's locked in already," she said.

Independent Education Union branch organiser Carlo Rendina also pointed out there wasn't a review like there was in Maitland, which recommended merging the seniors only St Mary's campus with the 7-10 school St Peter's.

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