New Gold Coast private school to split Prep to Year 2 into morning and afternoon shifts

A new private school is set to become one of the first in the country to offer a double-shift model, providing two separate learning sessions each day for young students.

Village Yard Christian School in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast will open in 2027 with children from Prep to Year 2 able to attend either from 7.30am until noon or 11am until 3.30pm.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Double shift school divides opinion

It is planned as a low-fee independent Christian school for Prep to Year 8 students, with a focus on core values, the natural environment and giving back to the community, according to the school’s website.

Parents will be able to choose which shift their child attends, with the school saying the model is designed to offer families an alternative to the traditional school day.

The school says both groups will receive the full Australian Curriculum during their four-and-a-half-hour learning session.

The two groups will also overlap for about an hour each day, allowing students to come together for collaborative and community-based learning.

More than 100 applications have been received within weeks of enrolments opening for the inaugural 2027 intake, with Village Yard saying it is now close to full capacity.

A further 180 families have expressed interest for 2028, according to a statement provided to 7NEWS.com.au.

The school says the double-shift model is designed to give families greater flexibility, reduce peak traffic congestion and support personalised learning.

Village Yard was created by Hillcrest Christian College executive head of college Jeff Davis.

Davis said the strong early enrolment response showed families were looking for an education model that better reflected modern family life.

“The demand has been extraordinary,” he said. “Families are not simply looking for another school. They are looking for a model that is flexible, financially accessible, values based and responsive to the needs of children and parents.”

Carol Jung, whose son Harrison is enrolled to start Prep in 2027, said having another schooling choice close to home was important to her family.

“Village Yard feels like a genuinely different option for local families, and the flexibility of the model is a major part of its appeal,” she said.

The model isn’t entirely new to Queensland, with a high school on the Sunshine Coast already operating a similar staggered system for high school students.

Junior students start at 10.30am and finish at 4pm, while senior students begin at 7.30am and finish at 1pm.

The earlier start gives older students the opportunity to take on afternoon jobs and longer study sessions, while also helping spread traffic around the popular school more evenly.

But staggered school hours can also create headaches for families.

Parents with multiple children can be left managing different start and finish times, making school drop-offs and pick-ups more complicated.

For Village Yard families, the early shift would finish at midday, potentially leaving parents to find care or supervision for children for the remainder of the working day.

There are also questions about whether every family will genuinely be able to choose their preferred shift, particularly if demand for one session is higher than the other.

The Village Yard model differs from the Sunshine Coast high school’s approach in that children in the same year levels will be divided between two daily sessions.

The school says using the same facilities for two groups of students will help keep costs low, while giving families greater flexibility.

The Mudgeeraba school will initially accommodate about 130 students in 2027, with plans to progressively expand to a capacity of up to 1260 students.

It has also received accreditation approval from the Queensland Non-State Schools Accreditation Board for primary and secondary education.

A State Government community consultation period is expected to begin within days.