SA Education Leaders Weigh Next Steps on Campus Builds and Inclusion Training

Construction has started on a new $155.3 million high school in Eyre that will accommodate 1,300 students when it opens in 2028.

The timing coincides with steady results from the mobile phone ban that has operated in South Australian public high schools since 2023. Officials now face choices about whether to extend similar restrictions or adjust them based on the documented gains in student behaviour and wellbeing.

Infrastructure and early learning timelines

Catholic Education South Australia has confirmed that its first new Early Learning Centre, Eden Grove at Xavier College Two Wells, will open in Term 3 2026. The site adds capacity in a region experiencing population growth, requiring decisions on enrolment priorities and staff recruitment before the doors open.

Separately, up to 250 teachers at government and non-government preschool sites completed a trial of the Early Years Assessment and Learning Tool in Term 3 2025. Education authorities must now decide whether to adopt the tool more widely or modify it following the pilot data.

Training and inclusion programs

The University of Adelaide has introduced new modules on disability and inclusion within its teaching degrees. Course coordinators will need to determine how quickly these changes reach all pre-service teachers and whether partnerships with local schools will be required to test classroom application.

These developments leave several practical questions for the months ahead. Funding bodies and site leaders will review capital budgets for the Eyre campus, finalise transition plans for the Two Wells centre, and assess whether the phone ban requires formal policy updates. Decisions on scaling the preschool assessment tool and embedding the new inclusion training will shape classroom practice across the state in the coming terms.