Where and why Brisbane kids are leaving primary schools for year 5 entry
Primary school typically goes to year 6. But Henrietta is among the thousands of Brisbane children set to leave in year 5, in the hopes of making friends early and easing the transition to high school.
And the year 5 entry pathway, particularly in Catholic schools, is leaving some primary school classrooms with zero, or just one or two, boys or girls at a senior level.
Henrietta’s mum, Amber Synnott, hopes her daughter will get a year 5 offer for Brigidine College, a small Catholic girls’ school in Indooroopilly, which opened its year 5 and 6 junior school last year.
Amber Synnott’s daughter Henrietta plans to switch schools in year 5 in what is a growing trend in Brisbane.
“After serious consideration, I opted for year 5 at a smaller Catholic girls school as the classes will be smaller, and she will hopefully form friendships to guide her through the rest of her schooling,” Synnott said.
“The school we’ve opted for is creating wonderful traditions for the year 5 and 6 girls which will only strengthen their school ties.
“Also our catchment school [Indooroopilly State High] is far too large, and I don’t want that experience for her.”
Henrietta’s school – St Ignatius School in Toowong – had a drop in both boys and girls from year 4 in 2023 to year 5 in 2024, according to data from the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board.
It went from 14 boys down to two, and from 20 girls to 12.
Despite some primary schools losing girls, it is overwhelmingly a trend for boys, as more single-sex boys high schools offer spots for entry at year 5 in Brisbane.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School, at Coorparoo, had 48 boys in year 4 in 2023 and just one boy in year 5 in 2024. Girl enrolments only dropped from 53 to 40.
At St Anthony’s School, a Catholic school in Kedron, the number of boys dropped from 69 in year 4 to zero in year 5, while girls enrolled went from 60 to 50.
However, the market for year 5 entry for girls is growing. St Rita’s College in Clayfield offered year 5 entry for girls from 2022, and Brisbane Girls’ Grammar will open a junior school from year 5 in 2026.
Over at St Joseph’s School in Bardon, girl enrolments dropped from 37 in year 4 to zero in year 5, with boys going from 33 to 23.
Some public schools also had smaller cohorts in year 5, such as Ascot State School, which dropped from 114 students in year 4 in 2023 to 74 in year 5 in 2024.
Tahana and Achilles Clun.
Mum Tahana Lee said her son Achilles loved Ascot State School, and it had given him a great foundation.
But she believed St Laurence’s College, a Catholic boys school at South Brisbane, would provide the academic challenges he needed and the sporting opportunities he craved, particularly in football, with their association with Manchester City.
“I chose year 5 entry as a lot of parents are choosing to hold their children back at Prep,” she said.
“This is creating huge age gaps in each year – up to 18 months in some cases. Given I didn’t hold my son back, and he is one of the youngest, giving him an additional two years in that environment [at St Laurence’s] to help with his confidence and comfort was essential for me.
“I know a lot of the boys and girls from Ascot will move on to private schools next year, leaving a small population of year 5s and 6s.”
Griffith University Professor Donna Pendergast said high schools had offered entry pathways in junior years for many years, but the shift of year 7 into high schools in 2015, and the mandatory addition of Prep in 2017, accelerated the trend.
Pendergast said some families chose year 5 entry for early access to specialists and facilities, such as science laboratories and music teachers.
For children in primary schools where many left in year 5, moving with their friends to a new school maintained social and emotional connections, Pendergast said.
“If they feel like they’re travelling [to a new school] with their friends, they have some connections, that’s a really positive thing,” Pendergast said.
But parents must weigh up potentially higher fees against the fear that if they delay until year 7, their child will miss out on a spot.
Some parents said they avoided schools where most boys left in senior years entirely, or were ready to jump on board the year 5 exodus if everyone else was doing it.
Other concerns were that children would lose leadership opportunities – such as being school or sports captain – if they left in year 5, or would get lost while moving into a bigger “pond”.
Pendergast said transition programs were essential, including mentoring, pastoral care and academic support, ideally for six or more months before and after switching schools.
“Some kids really thrive in going early into a secondary school environment, and others less so,” she said. “As long as the support systems are there, it can be very successful.”
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