South Australia’s fastest growing school has grown from just over 100 students to almost 1000 in less than two decades.
Pinnacle College grew 727 per cent, from 120 students in 2008 to 993 in 2025.
The independent reception to year 12 school opened with just 25 students at Gilles Plains in 2005 before a second campus was established five years later in Elizabeth East.
It now operates across three sites with the addition of the Golden Grove campus.
The Advertiser analysed enrolment trends since 2008 at Australian public and private schools using the latest data available for each sector.
No other school in SA had growth of more than 190 per cent in that period.
Westport Primary School, in Semaphore Park, was among public campuses with the highest growth.
But when principal Rebecca Huddy started working at the site in 2011, “half of the classrooms were empty”.
It now has more than 500 enrolments, including students at the co-located preschool.
The primary school has grown more than 135 per cent since 2008.
“Back then when I started, this school didn’t have a reputation for being a school of choice,” Ms Huddy said.
“It was more, if you didn’t get in anywhere else or you couldn’t access other school, you came here.
“It was known as the poor school.”
But the “reputation would take of itself” when, under Ms Huddy’s leadership, they began working on “what makes a good school”.
“Out of our 70-odd staff, only five of them were here when I got here,” she said.
“I’ve chosen everybody else, which makes a big difference if you’ve got a certain type of person and we all want the same goal.”
There are currently 11 public campuses in SA with capacity management plans which outline specific enrolment criteria for each school.
An Education Department spokesman said public school enrolments were closely monitored “to determine current and future capacity requirements”.
“The department has a focus to ensure that local schools can be accessed by local children and are a school of choice for families,” he said.
“This is supported by a series of capital works projects to increase capacity across the system.”
This included an upgrade of Westport Primary School “to accommodate growing student numbers”.
Just 1km away, at independent school Portside Christian College, enrolments had grown 122 per cent, from 282 in 2008, to more than 620 last year.
Kildare College was the Catholic campus with the largest growth, more than doubling from 361 students to 768 in the same time period.
Enrolments had grown from 48,000 in 2021 to more than 58,000 this year across Catholic Education SA’s 101 schools.
“Enrolments into Catholic schools have certainly increased in recent years and are projected to continue to grow in the coming years,” Catholic Education executive director Dr Neil McGoran said.
“We see to ensure that a Catholic education is accessible and affordable to all and every child is welcome regardless of religious or cultural background.
“Maintaining affordability and reducing financial pressures on families are among our key priorities.”
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