‘Its identity is being erased’: Frustrated families speak out against Lindfield school changes

The decision to turn alternative Lindfield Learning Village mainstream by making students wear uniforms and introducing report cards has been met with outcry from parents, who say a department consultation was misused and that the school is a victim of its success.

Luke Escombe, who chose Lindfield for his son because it “offered something different to the 19th-century British industrial model most of our public schools still cling to”, said it was the fifth-best public comprehensive school in last year’s Herald HSC rankings.

“For that crime, its identity is now being erased,” he said, disagreeing with characterisations of the north shore K-12 school as experimental.

“Its teaching approach is informed by industry best practice from around the world.”

Lindfield Learning Village, which opened in 2019, was touted as a radical alternative to the traditional classroom. There would be no uniforms, no school bells, or traditional grade levels, and teachers would be called by their first name.

From next term, the school will be known as Lindfield College. Its new principal, Ben Rekic, is adamant the era of experimentation is finished.

But some parents have vowed to fight the changes, saying the school’s administration had dismissed their feedback.

Lindfield parent Paul Conte said many families had made massive sacrifices – including moving house – to escape the standard public school system, where their children had struggled.

“If parents feel their children would be served better by [the standard] model, they have many other options,” he said.

A 2025 survey of more than 400 parents at the school found most believed their child benefited from Lindfield’s student-led learning environment.

But when 255 parents considering enrolling their child were asked about the school, the lack of uniforms and a perceived lack of traditional education was the main reason given for their being hesitant.

Conte said the survey results, which were used to inform the changes, overrepresented the views of locals who “do not have children in the public system or perhaps even have school-age children at all”.

An Education Department spokesperson said “full and frank feedback” had been considered by the school’s executive team and that students and families would continue to be consulted as the school moved forward.

Conte’s wife, Jane, said Lindfield Learning Village was “never a failed experiment”.

“It was a deliberately designed alternative model that has allowed many children, including my own, to finally thrive after struggling in traditional NSW public schools,” she said.

The Contes’ daughter, Nia, 11, said she had come to Lindfield because it was different, but that she now worries about the changes.

“I liked it the way it was. It was fine,” she said. “What are they going to do next? Make us call our teachers by their last names?”

Local state MP Matt Cross said families wanted a choice between innovative and traditional models. He said the department had “failed to properly consult” last year, when changing the catchments for Lindfield and nearby Killara High.

“I know many students and families will be disappointed by this decision,” he said.

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