Plans are afoot to open an alternative high school in Newcastle next year that will treat the "city as a campus".
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Former teacher and assistant principal David Chapman is seeking accreditation from the NSW Education Standards Authority to open Novoschool in the former drill hall at 498 King Street.
The school's inspiration is taken from existing alternative schools, including John Marsden's "Alice Miller" school in Victoria, Brightworks School in San Francisco and Peregrine School in Tasmania.
"I've been working in teaching and school leadership for more than 20 years now," Mr Chapman said. "Part of my role in previous jobs has been to stay abreast of innovative education and I've had the opportunity to go around the world to see best practice.
"That's led me to believe that Newcastle is growing to the point where it really can use a progressive option. Big cities around the world have some really interesting alternative schools, but Newcastle doesn't really have that yet.
"There are some really good schools in Newcastle, but there's not the range of options that you find elsewhere. It's time to give that option to parents."
If you go to most schools, kids rarely get asked what they want to learn.
- David Chapman
The Year 7-12 school will have two classes of 20 students in each year. The school will adhere to the Board of Studies syllabus, but with an emphasis on "intentional experiential learning".
"We're going to use the city as a campus," Mr Chapman said.
"Being a small boutique school, we're not going to have sporting facilities and big playgrounds. But we'll be going to different institutions around the city and learning all the time.
"The kids will be on the beach, they'll be at the museum, there'll be at the art gallery. We really want to lean into where the students' interests are at.
"If you go to most schools, kids rarely get asked what they want to learn. Whereas, in addition to covering the required government materials, we've got built into our program great chunks of time where students can investigate, learn about what they want to learn about and we will guide them along the way."
Mr Chapman hopes to receive accreditation next month and he has submitted a change of use application for the former drill hall with City of Newcastle. He needs to clear both hurdles to open next year.
"We are hoping to open in 2024, if not, it will be 2025," he said.
These schools are natural experiments in how to deliver education, which makes them interesting potential study points.
- University of NSW's Scott Eacott
Professor of education at the University of NSW's School of Education Scott Eacott said there had been a recent upswing in interest in schools that offered alternative educational pathways.
"Some people might say that it's a pandemic-inspired move but arguably it has been going on for a bit longer than that. But there is definitely an appetite from parents looking for something different in schooling. I noticed that the information sessions for Novoschool were at capacity," Professor Eacott said.
As fee paying schools, he said alternative and progressive schools tended to attract students from socio-economically-advantaged families.
"In many cases they are children who were probably going to be OK anyway," he said.
"These schools are natural experiments in how to deliver education, which makes them interesting potential study points. It's just removing the noise around the cohorts that they attract that is the challenge.
"I think one of the challenges that all of these alternative schools have is they make claims to do education differently. Where they often fall short is having any evidence that that they deliver on it."
Professor Eacott said there was insufficient research data to allow a meaningful comparison between HSC outcomes of students who studied at alternative high schools that those who had attended traditional high schools.
All new non-government schools seeking registration must demonstrate a capacity to comply with the registration requirements of the NSW Education Act.
The aim of the requirements is to ensure all NSW students are safe and receive an education based on the NSW curriculum
A NESA spokeswoman said Novoschool's application to open in 2024 was ongoing.
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Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
