Loading The selective system also favours advantaged students, an Education Department review found; almost three quarters of their pupils came from the highest quartile of socio-educational advantage in 2016, and only two per cent came from the lowest. Earlier this year, stakeholders such as the principals' associations and the P&C Federation were consulted about a gifted student strategy that would identify different kinds of potential in students across all government schools. But the possibility of a new selective school was never mentioned, they said. "[Tuesday's] announcement was a complete surprise," said the head of the P&C Federation, Susie Boyd.

The decision to build a new, fully-selective school in the south-west growth corridor was made by Ms Berejiklian herself, senior government sources confirmed to the Herald. The "captain's call", a phrase made famous by former prime minister Tony Abbott in 2015, did not go to cabinet. Ms Berejiklian would have liked to announce several more new selective schools, but was persuaded not to. A spokeswoman for the Premier said there was strong demand for such schools from parents. "The fact that a new selective school has not opened for a quarter of a century is exactly why we need an additional selective school," she said. Premier Gladys Berejiklian made the call to build a new, fully-selective school in Sydney. Credit:Janie Barrett Sources said Ms Berejiklian had strong views on education, but the portfolio had previously been held by senior ministers. Ms Mitchell has been recently promoted from a more junior portfolio, which has increased the Premier's influence.

Loading The announcement and lack of consultation has angered the NSW Teachers' Federation, potentially risking the co-operative relationship developed by a succession of Coalition education ministers with the powerful union, which represents more than 50,000 teachers. Professor Piccoli, who was education minister for six years to 2017 and directs the Gonski Institute for Education, condemned the new school, saying Australia - and NSW in particular - had one of the most segregated education systems in the OECD. "The evidence and research in Australia and around the world does not support the expansion of selective schools as a good idea for education," he said. "Once you put [this policy] in place, it impacts for decades. "Our problem in Australia is we have a segregated, inequitable education system. You have to shift it in the right direction and provide more advantages for disadvantaged kids. What this does it shifts it the other way."

Christina Ho, a social scientist with the University of Technology, said building a fully-selective school in the south-west did not mean students from that area would be able to attend it, as the schools had no catchment zones. "We don't have any fully selective school in Sydney that reflects its local area," she said. "The make-up of these schools are essentially islands of privilege. Selective schools are like private schools in the public system." Ms Mitchell said she would like to begin consultations about the school as soon as possible, and would keep an open mind to proposals from the community, such as reserving places for local students. "I know some feel very strongly about [selective schools] in favour, others don't, I respect that," she said. "But as a government we've made a decision, particularly about knowing what parents want. The numbers [applying for selective schools] show that." She said the other two prongs of the strategy, a high-potential strategy across the school sector and the expansion of the so-called Bump It Up project, which sets targets for schools, would ensure all gifted students in the system were supported.