Understanding School Catchment Zones

Understanding School Catchment Zones

As a parent, you want to make sure that your child has access to a good education, and one of the ways to ensure that is by understanding school catchment zones in Bundaberg.

School catchment zones are specific geographic areas assigned to a particular school or group of schools. If you live within the boundaries of a certain catchment zone, your child is likely to attend that school. Catchment zones only apply to state school; private schools accept enrolment based upon the application of each student.

In Bundaberg there are three Secondary School catchment zones for Bundaberg North State High School, Kepnock State High School and Bundaberg State High School. If you live on the North side of the Burnett River, your child will be within the Bundaberg North SHS catchment zone. If you live on the South side of the Burnett River the school catchment is split between Bundaberg SHS on the West side of Bundaberg and Kepnock on the East side.

Catchment zones help to manage student enrolment and ensure that schools don’t become overcrowded. They also make it easier for students to attend schools that are close to their homes.

This doesn’t mean you can’t apply for enrolment at state school’s outside of your catchment area, but enrolment is not guaranteed and your student will be placed on a waiting list.

Applications are processed and assessed in the order they are received.

A state school’s ability to accept students who live outside its catchment area depends on whether the school:

• has capacity once all in-catchment enrolments are met
• needs to allow for students relocating into their catchment area during the year
• can ensure an even spread of students across all year levels while maintaining class size targets
• can ensure their out-of-catchment enrolments do not reduce their capacity to meet in-catchment enrolments.

To find out which school catchment zone you live in, you can visit the Queensland Department of Education edMap here or contact your local school directly. It’s important to note that catchment zones can change over time due to population growth or changes in school capacity, so it’s always a good idea to double-check before making any decisions about your child’s education.