Planning is underway for a new Catholic school to open in the fast-growing AURA estate on the Sunshine Coast.
The proposed new co-educational school would be purpose-built to enrol up to 1900 students from Prep to Year 12 to keep pace with increasing student numbers in the growth area.
Dr Doug Ashleigh, Acting Executive Director of Brisbane Catholic Education, said the new proposed school is part of an ongoing response to accommodate the community’s education needs and the increasing number of families moving to the area who are seeking a Catholic education for their children.
“It will be the second Catholic P-12 school for the growing area, with enrolments in neighbouring Catholic school of Unity College on the Sunshine Coast overflowing,” he said.
“Brisbane Catholic Education schools remain increasingly popular with parents on the Sunshine Coast. It is a testimony to the extraordinary vote of confidence parents have in the quality of educational outcomes provided by Catholic schools.
“These growing numbers reflect the exceptional reputation that local Catholic schools enjoy in their communities, both as centres of academic excellence and places where Catholic faith and culture are celebrated.”
This year, enrolments in Brisbane Catholic Education schools are at an all-time record, with more than 77,000 students. Over the last 10 years, Brisbane Catholic Education has grown to establish 11 new schools across South East Queensland.
About 20 per cent of all students in Australia attend Catholic schools.
Fr Joshua Whitehead, priest appointed to the Aura Catholic Community, says the opportunity to provide both top quality Catholic education and a sense of belonging and community for families exists within new communities.
“Many families moving into the new City of Aura have come from elsewhere in Australia and know few, if any, other people in the area. This offers a prime opportunity for engaging young families in their faith in a way which respects where they are at,” Fr Josh said.
Mrs Shelley Morey is one of the parents who is thinking about sending her two sons, Mason and Hayden, to the proposed Catholic school in AURA.
“My husband and I have wanted to send our boys to a Catholic school from day one,” said Mrs Morey, who has been living in Baringa in the AURA estate for the past six months.
“We are new parishioners of the Catholic Parish in Aura and the hope of having a new Catholic school in our own community, to send our children to, is exciting.”
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Catholic Parish, visit https://caloundracatholicparish.net/aura-catholic-community/