Are you from a regional community? Have your say on how year 7 will move from primary school to high school in regional South Australia.

What is being decided?

Year 7 will be taught in all public high schools from term 1, 2022.

Year 7 students will benefit from access to specialist facilities and resources and exposure to different teaching styles, and the new high school environment will provide opportunities for more peer interactions and greater independence and responsibility.

We understand that introducing year 7 to high school in the regional setting will require special consideration, and we want to hear from communities in regional South Australia about the opportunities and challenges they anticipate.

Drawing on interstate experience, we are testing the possibility of providing families with a choice to keep their year 7 child in primary school, if their primary school is located more than 20 kilometres by road from its nearest area or high school.

The Government is committed to providing all year 7 students with the benefits of the move of year 7 to high school, however this approach will support those parents concerned about the increased travel distance for younger students to their schooling.

Under the proposed approach, some regional primary schools would continue to offer year 7, while all regional high schools would introduce year 7 (so that year 7 is offered concurrently in both settings).

This option would be made available to families for a limited period of 3 years (2022-2024) in order to smooth the system changeover.

View the list of primary schools eligible under the proposed approach to retain year 7 until 2024.

How can your input influence the decision?

Your input will help the Government make decisions about the best way to support the introduction of year 7 to high school in regional communities.

Get involved

To provide your feedback

• join the online discussion
• complete our online submission form
• email your written submission to Year7toHS@sa.gov.au
• attend a community forum in your region

What are the next steps?

Feedback will be included in a report provided to the Government by the end of 2019.

Contact

For more information email: Year7toHS@sa.gov.au

Closing date: Tuesday 3 September 2019