Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School

School Enrolment Management Plan

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School (PBC) is one of Queensland's largest High Schools with over 2,400 students across Years 7–12.

PBC is a high demand school with an outstanding academic, sporting and cultural heritage located on Currumbin Creek, Palm Beach/Currumbin.

PBC has experienced exceptional, unprecedented growth in its school population over the last five years. The growth is precipitated by an increase in prospective students in PBC's catchment and demand for their enrolment.

Parents considering enrolling their child at PBC must understand that enrolment is not simply conditional on an application for enrolment being made. Enrolment is governed by the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld) (the act) and this Enrolment Management Plan, with it being the responsibility of PBC's Executive Principal to determine whether a prospective student is, after making an application for enrolment, entitled to be enrolled at the school.

PBC primarily exists to provide State secondary education to students who genuinely reside within the school's catchment. The requirement for a prospective student's principal place of residence (as required under the act) to fall within the school's catchment is actively monitored and enforced.

This School Enrolment Management Plan (School EMP) sets out the requirements for enrolment at PBC, subject to the act.

This School EMP is supported by:

• enrolment in State Primary, Secondary and Special Schools Procedure
• School Enrolment Management Plans (School EMP) procedure.

Student enrolment capacity of school

PBC has a current capacity of 2,614 student enrolments.

The School's Excellence Programs in Academic, Sports and Creative Arts is supported through the allocation of defined categories of placement. However, the availability of places in the Excellence Programs to out-of-catchment enrolments is subject to the demand for in-catchment enrolments at PBC first having been met and sufficient student enrolment capacity having been reserved for future in-catchment growth. Those issues aside, the current percentages of enrolments in the defined categories of placement are as follows:

• 20% in the Selective Entry Academic Excellence Program
• 20% in the Selective Entry Sports Excellence Program
• 15% in the Selective Entry Creative Arts Excellence Program.

Local catchment area

A school's local catchment area is the geographical area from which the school is to have its core intake of students. A catchment map defines the catchment area. PBC operates under a negotiated catchment area. View the school's catchment map. The boundaries of the catchment area are subject to periodic review and may change. It is recommended that applicants check PBC's catchment in the year prior to the proposed commencement date to determine whether a prospective student's principal place of residence is within catchment. 

Out-of-catchment enrolments will only be accepted via the selective entry process for Excellence Programs or policy requirements of the Department of Education. No other out-of-catchment enrolment applications will be eligible for consideration.

Enrolment policy

Any student whose principal place of residence is within the school's catchment is, subject to the act, entitled to enrol at the school. The School's Executive Principal will reserve places for students who move into the catchment area throughout the school year. Parents or legal guardians who seek to enrol their child at the school will need to fully demonstrate that the student's principal place of residence is genuinely within the catchment area. 

Current proof of residency at the address indicated must be provided (examples of such proof appear under the headings 'Owned Property', 'Leased Property', 'Compulsory personal documents', and 'Prospective Student in the Care of a Relative, Family Friend, or Third Party' below). Additionally, factors (which are non-exhaustive) for consideration in determining whether a student's residence is their principal place of residence and is within the school's catchment include:

• where the student sleeps
• where the student eats meals
• whether the student also resides in other premises and if so, the reasons for doing so and the extent of time spent there
• the place of residence of the student's immediate family, especially a parent, carer, step-parent or sibling
• whether there are other occupants of the residence, and their rights to and control over the property
• the connection of utilities such as telephone, internet, subscription services (e.g. Foxtel), gas, electricity under the name of the student or their parent
• whether the amount of electricity and/or gas used is consistent with the student and/or the student's immediate family occupying the residence as a home
• whether the student and/or their immediate family have moved their furniture and personal effects into the residence
• whether the residence is used as the student's, or the student's immediate family members, mailing address or address for other purposes such as the electoral roll, driver's licence and vehicle registration. If another residence is used, the reasons for using that other residence are required to be provided
• whether the student or the student's immediate family members entertain friends and other family at that residence
• The length of time of residence at the address
• whether home insurance for the building and/or contents has been taken out in the student's family name and whether the insurance is a 'landlord' or 'owner occupier' policy
• the type of finance acquired by the student's family for the residence. For example, obtaining finance as an owner/occupier or under an investment loan and whether the applicant's purpose for occupying the residence is other than to make it their principal place of residence.

The issue of whether a residence is a student's principal place of residence is to be decided by the Executive Principal. It is acknowledged that the circumstances of prospective students vary from student-to-student. Some applicants for enrolment may only be able to provide some aspects of the above information, while other applicants may only be able to provide other aspects of the information. 

The relevance and weight of factors are, for each application for enrolment, solely for the determination of the Executive Principal. The Executive Principal may request that applicants provide or confirm any information whatsoever by way of Statutory Declaration.

Examples (non-exhaustive) of proof of residency documents that are required to be provided with the enrolment application to confirm a student's principal place of residence include the following:

Owned property

• a current certificate of title
• the last issued rates notice
• evidence that the property is the legitimate family residence (for example, a Statutory Declaration by an applicant for enrolment outlining the individuals who reside in the property and their relationship to the prospective student)
• a minimum of three current bills and evidence of payment (e.g. electricity, gas, internet, telephone) that demonstrates reasonable levels of usage
• a current home and contents insurance policy and evidence of payment
• a current motor vehicle insurance policy and evidence of payment
• unconditional sale agreement demonstrating fair market value or settlement notice.

Leased property

• a current commercially drawn, arms-length residential lease agreement, which names a parent or legal guardian of the prospective student as a Lessee
  
• a current bond receipt lodged with the Residential Tenancies Authority for the stated residence
  
• in relation to any other lease arrangement:
• a current lease agreement
  
• a Statutory Declaration from a parent or legal guardian of the prospective student,  as well as a Statutory Declaration from the registered owner of the property (or the registered owner's nominated agent), outlining the lease arrangements and the duration for which such arrangements have been on foot
  
• evidence to the reasonable satisfaction of the Executive Principal that any lease payments are not infrequent and are at market rate (for example, an opinion from a real estate agent who practices within catchment).
  
• a minimum of three current bills and evidence of payment (e.g. electricity, gas, internet, telephone) that demonstrates reasonable levels of usage
  
• a current contents insurance policy and evidence of payment
  
• a current motor vehicle insurance policy and evidence of payment
  

Compulsory personal documents

• drivers licence
• electoral roll

Prospective student in the care of a relative, family friend or third party

Same requirements for proof of residency as owned or leased property: A copy of any court order appointing the relative, family friend, or third party with the custody of the prospective student or, in the absence of such order, a Statutory Declaration from:

• a parent or legal guardian of the prospective student that outlines to the reasonable satisfaction of the Executive Principal:

• the reasons for the living arrangements
  

• whether any financial or other support is provided to the relative, family friend, or third party in exchange for the prospective student's residence (for instance, payment for room and board)
  

• the duration that such arrangement has been in place
  

• the anticipated further duration of such arrangement and why
  

• the location of where the prospective student's parents each reside.
  

• the relative, family friend, or third party with whom the prospective student resides that outlines to the  reasonable satisfaction of the Executive Principal the same matters that are to be addressed by a parent of the prospective  student's in the parent's Statutory Declaration
  

• Centrelink documentation indicating that the prospective student's primary care giver is the owner or lessee of the property at which the prospective student principally resides. 

The Executive Principal may request to sight original documentation and require copies of documents to be sworn or affirmed in front of the school's nominated legal officer, Commissioner for Declarations or Justice of the Peace (qualified).

If the Executive Principal is not satisfied that the documentation provided by an applicant demonstrates adequately that the address stated is the student's principal place of residence, the Executive Principal may request further sources of proof of residence.

Siblings

As to a prospective student who:

• is the sibling of a current student who enrolled on bases that included the current student's principal place of residence being in the school's catchment
• but who as at the date of the prospective student's application for enrolment resides out of the school's catchment due to a change of the school's catchment area.

The prospective student is to be treated for the purposes of the prospective student's application for enrolment as if the prospective student resides within the school's catchment as at the date the school receives the prospective student's application for enrolment. 

Out-of-catchment application

Out-of-catchment enrolments will not be considered unless they constitute a Selective Entry under an Excellence program, or are made as a legislative or policy requirement of the Department of Education, including:

• children and young people who are subject to child protection orders that grant guardianship or custody to the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (Child Safety Services)
  
• students who live outside the catchment area and are verified with a disability can enrol in the school to attend the specialised disability program if it is the closest program to their home and meets their individualised needs
  
• students who have been excluded from another school, dependent upon the conditions related to the exclusion.

Selective entry process

The selective entry process will be determined and managed by the Executive Principal.

All applicants must complete the application package available on the School website and applications may be made under more than one category.

The Executive Principal reserves the right to review ongoing participation in a Selective Entry Program if a student elects not to participate in the program for which they were selected.

Application for the Selective Entry Program is no guarantee of successful enrolment at PBC and any fees paid are non-refundable.

The Executive Principal is responsible for all decisions on selective entry enrolment and that decision is final.

Fees

Under the department's state education fees procedure, a Principal of a State School with an approved school EMP is able to charge a fee for recouping costs of enrolment processing where:

• the enrolment management plan permits the enrolment of a student living outside the catchment area based on cultural, sporting or academic merit
  
• the significant number of prospective students living outside the catchment area and applying to enrol results in abnormal administrative costs to the school.

To participate in the PBC's Selective Entry programs, applicants are required to pay the application fee. Participating in the Selective Entry Excellence Programs selection process is no guarantee of successful enrolment at PBC and any fees paid are non-refundable. 

The Executive Principal reserves the right to grant exemption for this fee payment in genuine circumstances of financial hardship.

Enrolment decisions

The Executive Principal is responsible for all decisions on enrolments and may request any additional documentation or conduct other enquiries deemed necessary to satisfy enrolment eligibility criteria. Where the Executive Principal forms a preliminary view that an application does not satisfy the conditions for the eligibility criteria for enrolment, applicants will be notified in writing via email.

Applicants may respond to the Executive Principal's preliminary view by making a submission to the Executive Principal no later than seven days after receiving the preliminary view letter.

If no submission is received, the Executive Principal's preliminary view will be treated as the final decision and no further notice will be provided.

If a submission is received, the Executive Principal will consider the submission and make a final decision. A final decision notice will be provided to the applicant as soon as practicable.

Gazettal Date

This updated version of the School Enrolment Management Plan of Palm Beach Currumbin State High School was gazetted 9 December 2022​.

The School EMP is reviewed periodically, and if required, updated to reflect any changes.​