With more families moving to Muswellbrook for work in the mines or associated services, the number of new students is growing.

Muswellbrook South Public School principal Rebecca Langdon said the school had seen an outstanding increase in its school population.

“At this stage we have had a 10 to 12 per cent increase,” Mrs Langdon said.

“The school is going onwards and upwards.”

Muswellbrook South has had five new teachers join the staff who will offer new experience and knowledge to the students’ learning.

The mining boom and educational opportunities have attracted families from all over the country and some from overseas to Muswellbrook High School, according to principal Gareth Erskine.

The school has had more than 50 new enrolments as well as having a year 7 group of 130 students start this week.

Some students have come from Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland as well as the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Students Kaitlyn Borr from year 11 and Haize Tuhakaraina from year 8 have both moved to Muswellbrook from New Zealand.

“I moved in with my grandparents to try something different,” Kaitlyn said.

Haize moved here for a similar reason.

“My uncle moved over here and after a while he asked if I wanted to come over here to do college [high school].”

Isabel Ladmore from year 10 and Kyle Reeves from year 7 have both moved here from around NSW after their parents got jobs in the mines.

There are eight new teachers at Muswellbrook High and with final student numbers to be submitted in the next few weeks, the school may see more appointed.

For the first time in 10 years, the student population at Muswellbrook High School has exceeded 800.

Enrolments at St Joseph’s High School, Aberdeen, have stayed steady with only a few spaces left vacant across the school.

New students in the senior years have been taken in by the school to take the place of some who left to join the workforce as apprentices.

The new intake of year 7 students is full, according to assistant principal Joyce Smith.

“Students have settled in well and are ready for the journey ahead,” Mrs Smith said.

Six new teachers have joined the staff this term.