Matraville Sports High School is being hollowed out.

The often overlooked working class Sydney suburb wedged between the airport, Long Bay Gaol and some of the country's wealthiest suburbs is slowly being gentrified.

Every school day at 8:00am that polarisation is evident.

"What you see at the bus stop is kind of repeated all over Sydney actually," Professor Chris Davison told 7.30.

She is one of the new gentrifiers and also head of the School of Education at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

"You'll see the morning buses pulling up and picking up kids in private school uniforms and you'll see other public buses pulling up and dropping off kids that are coming to Matraville, so the two are sort of passing and that's about as close as they get to each other," she said.



That has seen enrolment at Matraville Sports High School fall from capacity of 800 down to just 250 students.

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Nerida Walker, Matraville's principal, acknowledges the demographic shift that has played a part in the change.

"The area itself is extremely diverse," she told 7.30.

"The demographics have changed very quickly because of state movement planning changes and there's more development happening."

But she said the view of the school is at odds with reality.

"Once a school has a certain kind of reputation the school often has to work hard keep telling the public that this is actually the truth," she said.

A chance meeting between Ms Walker and Professor Davison could be about to change all that.

"I didn't really understand who she was," Ms Walker admitted.

"She said, 'in an ideal world, Nerida, what would you want for the kids of this school?'"

"I said, 'I want what everybody else gets, which is access to every opportunity, regardless of the family's income'."

Program improves opportunities for students, teachers

Now Matraville has more teachers to give the students the attention they need, and the UNSW is giving its student teachers much more classroom experience than they would normally receive.

Up to 60 student teachers will now be on the Matraville campus at any one time.

"For too long teacher education has been stuck in an ivory tower with occasional excursions out into the real world," Professor Davison said.

Courtney Thompson says the program gave her a taste of life in the classroom. ( ABC: 7.30 )

"This is the first time that a secondary campus has been established for a university teacher education facility in Australia.

"The kids can get their hands dirty — student teachers need to see what it's like to actually deal with an extended school community."

It is exposure to real schools, with real issues far beyond standard teacher education.

For student teachers like Courtney Thompson, from predominately white backgrounds, it has been an eye-opener.

"My first reaction was one of shock," she told 7.30.

"I was so certain that I wanted to be a teacher, and I was so excited when I went to my first prac (practical teaching block), and then I got here and I was like, what am I doing? What am I doing here?"

Extra attention inspires hope among students

There is now one teacher for every five students to support both remedial learning classes and gifted students like Kea Smith.

Student Kea Smith says the program encouraged her to pursue her potential. ( ABC: 7.30 )

She is one of the schools many Polynesian students and, due to family circumstances, has already been to a number of schools in the area.

"My mum suffers from a couple of different mental illnesses so she does need some care — it's part of my lifestyle, it's what I live and that's what I have to do every day," Kea told 7.30.

But Kea is a bright and ambitious student.

Her exposure to the student teachers from UNSW and participation in the programs has shown her what is educationally possible in her future.

"In my family alone no-one has [gone to university]," she said.

"So for me, for my younger brother and sister, I want to make that possible for them, to show them it's possible."

And that extra attention has borne fruit — Kea has just been named school captain for next year.

"She turned around and thanked me for the opportunity," Ms Walker said.

"I didn't realise how much it meant to a kid like Kea, to let her know that she could do this. She had never had that message before."

For more on this story watch 7.30 tonight on ABC TV.