High School for Coburg Survey Report: Towards a Coburg High in 2015

Finally the HSC working group are happy to be able to share the results of our online survey with the community.
The survey aims:

• To get a quick snapshot of what the local community would like their local 7-12 high school to be like.
• To enable Minister Dixon’s request that the Department consult with the community “to map out what the new school will look like.”

Please take some time to read the verbatim responses included in full in our report. The HSC Working Party would like to commend the survey respondents for their thoughtful and considered answers. We are proud to be part of this community and are confident the expanded Coburg Senior High School – our local high school, will reflect all the richness that is evident in the survey responses.

Towards a Coburg High in 2015 by HighSchoolForCoburg

Post May 15 tour survey

There is a section of the Coburg Senior High School website dedicated to the junior intake from 2015. On the right hand side you can complete a survey. It is aimed at those who completed the May 15 tour but we have had confirmation that anyone can complete the survey. The survey will be up for another week and there are lots of open ended questions which allow you to have your say. HSC encourage parents and prospective students to be part of this dialogue.


The survey also asks parents for expressions of interest regarding participation in various focus groups in the following areas:

• Teaching and Learning
• Facilities
• Uniform
• Thinking Curriculum
• Community Building
• Sustainability and Environment
• Technology
• Other

Participation in a focus group would be another great way to have input into the community consultation process. You can complete the survey and nominate to participate in a focus group here.

A workplace of learning for the connected generation

by Janet Grigg

Last Wednesday, there were two tours of Coburg Senior HighSchool (CSHS) for parents of/and students commencing Year 7 from 2015. Both tours were very well attended with about 70 at the 10.00am presentation and over 100 adults and 40 or so children at the 6.00 pm tour. Over 150 parents on a cold rainy day! This should dispel any doubt that there is massive pent up demand for a local Year 7 option!

From the start it was clear that at CSHS, learning is student centred, that teachers get to know their students, and that at CSHS they really love learning. It was also abundantly clear from Don Collins’ manner and words that they actually really like the students too. There was a warmth there that I didn't expect but was very pleased to see.

Here’s a sample of what people said about the tours on the HSC Facebook page.

“I was very impressed with everything that was presented to us. A bit disappointed that there was no tour of the school as part of the tour.”

“I was very impressed too. And wishing they had grade 4 available so I could enrol my daughter next year! I think that their approach to learning will translate really well to the younger years. There might need to be a few tweaks along the way but I got the impression that CSHS would be on to that. Yes, very impressed.”

“Really great launch of sincere consultation process. Don the principal had a lot of time for the parents who were there. They seem legitimately interested in ensuring a positive development and transition to the CJHS intake of 2015. Still some financial battles to fight though, clearly.”

“I was very impressed too. Loved the open plan learning areas and the teaching style connected to this generation of children.”

“They currently offer many foreign languages via distance Ed. Which I have seen work well.
I wasn't expecting much but it came across as a strong school with a clear sense of what it is doing.”

“We felt very positive about the whole process-especially the passion and enthusiasm of teachers, students and parents alike. We would be happy to send Tara there in 2015, Great to see so many children and familiar faces from Child Care and Kinder days...”

“I also was really excited about the innovative teaching methods taking place at the school. I had a couple of concerns, that were probably nothing new - very little chance given to ask questions and I also got the view that the senior school was their "baby" and nothing was going to mess with that. However, it was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic teachers along with parents and students.”

More tours are planned for Coburg Junior High School for early term 3. You can register your interest here. 

New high school to bring Coburg community together

It is almost ten months since Minister Dixon issued his July 18 Press Release announcing the decision to expand Coburg Senior High (CSHS) in 2015. "This is an excellent outcome for the Coburg community," Mr Dixon said.

"Having a high school in the heart of Coburg will better support the community's long-term education needs. Expanding Coburg Senior High School is the logical choice for a new school, as it is in an ideal location, already has some of the necessary facilities and has access to a host of nearby sport and recreation areas."

The community of Coburg and surrounding areas greeted Minister Dixon’s announcement with great joy, relief and enthusiasm. Tours of CSHS for parents and students commencing Year 7 in 2013 have been recently announced and promise to be very well attended.

Minister Dixon also said the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) would work closely with the school and the local community to ensure the expanded school meets the needs of the community. "This is a big undertaking and I have asked the Department to begin consulting with the school and community to map out what the new school will look like," Mr Dixon said.

In term three 2012, HSC were invited to nominate two working party members to be part of a consultation subcommittee run by Coburg Senior High. The subcommittee first met in mid December and has met once since.

Late in 2012, in response to HSC's concern about the lack of action on the Minister's July announcement, the DEECD Partnerships Division of the Office of Government Schools advised HSC that the DEECD North Western Victorian Region, would begin serious planning in January 2013 - once positions were filled after major structural change. They said the Region would support the planning and community consultation for the year 7-12 project at CSHS. However in February 2013 HSC plus a director and manager from Moreland Council, met with the new Regional Director who informed us that the project would be managed entirely by the CSHS governing board.

Under advice from the Regional Director, who couldn't answer HSC’s questions about the project timelines, HSC wrote to the CSHS governing board members and principal in March 2013 asking them to outline the project timeline and advisory committees relating to the expansion of the school in 2015 with particular reference to curriculum, school naming and facilities planning. A response was not received and in May 2013, HSC wrote to Minister Dixon once again asking about this and requesting a clear timeline regarding consultation, planning, funding and refurbishment works.

In addition to the above meetings and letters, HSC have also:

• Had  a second meeting with Regional Director Jeanette Nagorcka.
• Met with the Moreland Mayor and Director Socila Development Moreland Council.
• Spoken to Craig Ondarchie Liberal MLA Northern Metropolitan Region.

The expansion and refurbishment of Coburg Senior High School does not appear to be in 2013-14 State Government budget. The DEECD assured HSC last year that the timeline would still be workable if funding for Capital Works wasn’t in the budget until 2014-15 as all planning and design work could be done with out specific budget allocation.

HSC strongly concurs with the words of Minister Dixon in The Age on 07 April 2013 “we want schools to really reflect their community and meet the needs of the local community” HSC believes that the DEECD's community consultation needs to be carried out in a broad and transparent fashion and fully utilised to shape an offering which needs to be finalised by the end of 2013 so that everything is in place for Year 7 enrolments in early 2014 to commence high school in 2015. Here in Coburg it is nearly ten months since the decision to expand Coburg Senior High was announced by Minister Dixon and the community is still looking forward to giving their ideas for the expanded Coburg Senior High.

HSC Civic Reception

A very big thank you to the Mayor, Cr John Kavanagh and Moreland City Council for hosting the High School for Coburg Civic Reception on the 29th of August. The evening was a wonderful and positive affirmation of the work done by so many towards achieving such a great outcome!

An early highlight  of the Civic Reception was the performance by Sue Johnson's twenty strong community choir, The Trolls. As the story goes their name came about when the choir were practising one evening under the Merri Creek bluestone bridge at Murray Rd - for the excellent acoustics. A cyclist passed by and called out "You should call yourselves the Trolls!".  Most of the members of the choir are local parents of potential Coburg High children and HSC thank them all for volunteering their time and harmonious vocal chords to make the night special.

 The large gathering (reported in the Moreland Leader as 80)  was a broadly  representative mix of our community's rich past, present and future.

Attendees included (in no particular order):

Education:

• The Vice Chancellor of La Trobe University, John Dewar.
• Many local school principals including from Catholic schools.
• School council presidents and representatives.
• High School for Coburg working group and families including parents of the first identified Year 7 student for 2015!

Elected representatives and Council:

• Our local Federal and State elected representatives - Kelvin Thomson and Christine Campbell.
• Moreland Mayor Cr John Kavanagh and many other councillors
• Darebin Councillor Cr Vince Fontana
• Moreland Council CEO Peter Brown, Director Social Development Andrew Day, Manager Early Years and Social Policy Barry Hahn and several others.

Our history represented:

• Coburg High Historical Group  member Tom Anderson who told us recently that the centenary of the old Coburg High will be 2016 - that is one year after the new school opens! Such a proud history associated  with this school - we hope the new school is called Coburg High! 
• Coburg Historical Society  Secretary Cheryl Griffiths who is also an ex-Newlands High student and education historian who has written a piece on the history of Coburg High Schools and has donated school paraphernalia to HSC.
• Coburg North Secondary College - Parents and Friends member Paula Hyndes who was involved in producing a study on what happened to the children once that school was closed and they relocated to farther away schools.  

 Our future:

• Local children!

We were looking forward to thanking government and Education Department representatives in person for all the work done and the fantastic decision but unfortunately none attended. This could possibly be explained by the fact that it was State Parliament sitting week and the extensive restructure the DEECD is undergoing.

The mood was very positive and reflected the general community's high level of interest and desire to be part of building the Family-School-Community Partnership with the 7-12 local high school! We are proud and happy to be part of such a community!

A high school for Coburg, at last!

On Tuesday 17/07/12 at 1.30, Cate got a call from The Age asking if we were celebrating yet? The journalist revealed the exciting news that the Minister for Education, Martin Dixon was about to announce the decision to expand Coburg Senior High School to include years 7 -12 in 2015. An hour or so later Cate got a call from the DEECD who confirmed this great news including a process of community consultation. So on Wednesday morning I got up early to read this article in The Age, Campaigners win fight: Coburg will have a high school. Tears streamed down my face. My seven year old daughter came and told me how great she thought it was that she'd be able to go to high school with her friends from primary school. The Moreland Leader quickly followed The Age with Community welcomes Coburg high school expansion .

Wednesday was certainly a day for celebration and amidst all the busyness, Cate posted this on our Facebook page which certainly sums it all up.

Thank you to Education Minister Martin Dixon for this excellent decision. You can read the minister's press release here. Thank you also to those at the DEECD who worked on this for a long time. We congratulate the minister for keeping the politics out of school provision - for seeing the need and responding accordingly.
The overwhelming response from all sectors of the community and parents tears of joy and relief flowing in primary school communities from Preston to Pascoe Vale vindicate the hard work by all! People now have some certainty that they can stay in this community and their children will have the option of active travel to a local school with their friends!
Thank you to all of you for your congratulatory messages and your crucial support over the the last four years!
Everything has changed! It suddenly feels like there will be a beating heart at the centre of our community.
Roll on the family-school-community partnership!!!
This incredible community, including parents, council, schools, businesses and organisations along with the wonderful teaching already occuring at the Senior High will build something very special - an education hub which will be a core part of our community!

Long live Coburg High!!

We are holding a celebration of the announcement of a 7-12 high school for Coburg on Sun 29 July, from 2-4pm. The Post Office Hotel, Sydney Rd Coburg have kindly given HSC the use of the old dining room. You may like to have a Sunday roast before hand or food can be ordered at the bar and taken into the room. Link to the Facebook event page here.
Thank you for your support and we hope to see you there!

Sydney Road Street Festival

Last weekend High School for Coburg had a stall at the Sydney Rd Street Party. There was a huge amount of strong support and interest from people who sought us out. A number of themes emerged when we talked with  parents and concerned community members.

• Concern that being a safe Labor seat works against us with both ALP and Liberal governments.
• Serious anxiety and worry for families about the lack of a local high school. Families don't want to or can't afford to move away but have no option for secondary education.
• Frustration. The obvious need for a high school in Coburg and the obvious suitability of the Coburg Senior High site provision solution 
• Concern, suspicion and anger about the Coburg Senior High as it is and as it sits in this community - wasted public facility with empty space which could be utilised. Low enrolments mean huge amount of public money being poured into the school is not the best use of public money. There is a strong perception that the school is selective and there were negative personal stories from prospective parents who have done tours eg being told if they can't buy a lap top to forget it or if they didn't find out about the school via the website forget it because they are not right for the school. Anger about having a low enrolment, effectively selective school with empty buildings sitting in the middle of an area of such desperate need. Many parents said this story needs to be "put out there".
• Of significance was the strong support from the very large number of Brunswick community parents who approached us.They all said they support a high school for Coburg and do not see it as a threat to Brunswick High. Most were surprised to hear a possible Coburg High had been portrayed as a threat to Brunswick High.They are very aware of the numbers coming through Brunswick Primary schools and are worried about whether they will be able to access Brunswick High when the time comes.

Another HSC community meeting - 24/10/11

HSC will be holding another Community Meeting – 7.30 Monday, 24 October, 2011 hosted by Coburg Primary School. HSC's last community meeting was a real success with parents from seven different primary schools attending. There were also many parents there whose children are not even at school yet. Everyone was very engaged with the issue and the meeting room buzzed with comments, ideas, questions and a few answers!

Do come along and we can all share our experiences, concerns and ideas regarding the lack of a local state secondary school for all the children leaving our primary schools. Coburg Primary representatives will speak, HSC will do an update and then we will take our lead from the parents as to what direction the meeting takes.

HSC will have on hand copies of our three reports:

• High School for Coburg Survey Report 2009 
• High School for Coburg Survey Report May 2011: Options for State Secondary Provision in Coburg 
• HSC Interim Schools Data Collection Report Oct 2011: More Primary School Children – Fewer Secondary Options

To quote Richard Teese, a professor of education at the University of Melbourne, in the Age last year -

“a new wave of aspirational, mobilised parents, who are not particularly religious and do not want to send their children to private schools, are demanding good, public education. ‘‘This is a really big opportunity for whatever state government we have to renovate the public system by building on the good will and cultural capital of these parents.’’

The parents and broader community involved in and supporting HSC need to be recognised as an asset not an inconvenience. The energy we put into our local primary schools and the ever stronger primary school network that is resulting from our campaign could also flow into a fantastic local high school which would be a vital part of our community and allow the much touted Family-School-Community Partnership to flourish for the betterment not just of our children’s education but our community as a whole. Our ideas, energy, school and community connections could also be of great assistance to the under-enrolled, low local profile and not-community-connected Coburg Senior High.

Walk to No School Day

On 19 October 2011, HSC held our Walk to No School Day. Victoria Walks to School Day also happened to be exactly one year since the DEECD’s Spatial Vision Report showing the need for further provision for Coburg and surrounds – a year of no action. Before Walk to No School Day we had coverage in the Moreland Leader and the Herald Sun -you can read and leave comments at both articles. We were very amused by Ivor from Coburg’s comment under the Herald Sun article – “The DEECD should be renamed the Department of Reviews of the Bleeding Obvious”!

As HSC have said before, the need for secondary education provision has been clearly established by the department’s own demographic study.The Minister for Education, Martin Dixon has acknowledged that need in parliament  and the community have very clearly shown their support for HSC’s preferred provision option – the under utilized Coburg Senior High site. There is no need for any more numbers reviews – what must happen now is a good look at the preferred provision option, a timely decision and then commencement of provision planning.

The Walk to No School Day was great fun – watermelon, lots of families, balloons, colourful banners and enthusiastic Bell Street drivers cheering us on and Honking for a High School!

HSC community meeting

The Community Meeting last Monday night (05/09/11) was wonderful! Thank you to all the passionate and engaged parents from at least seven primary school communities who attended. We had parents with children at schools in areas ranging from Moonee Ponds Central up to Pascoe Vale North and over to Brunswick East! It was great to meet you all and we discussed where the campaign is at the moment and strategies for the near future.

The High School for Coburg working group are thrilled that so many of you want to be involved, come to future meetings and pass on information to your school communities. On Wednesday 14/09/2011 HSC will be meeting with the Partnerships Division of the Office for Government School Education, DEECD. The purpose of the meeting is to clarify where we are with secondary school provision in Coburg and what the next steps are.  HSC is planning another community meeting to share what we learn at that meeting. We'll let you know where and when!

Rock N Roll High School

Well I don't care about history 

we want a Coburg High School

'Cause that's not where I wanna be

we want a Coburg High School

they must think that we’re all hicks

living out here in the sticks

we wanna we wanna Coburg High School

well we’re all thinkin’ ‘bout movin’ out you know 

we want Coburg High School

the kids are here but about to go

we want a Coburg High school

the people are here and it’s a principle:

you can’t have community without a school

we want we want Coburg High School

We want a Coburg High School

We want a Coburg High School

We want a Coburg High School 

( lyrics by Joey, Dee Dee and Benny Ramone)

Big thanks to the Post Office Hotel for hosting an awesome afternoon of music and chat. Not to mention total  kid mayhem. And for donating $3 from each roast to the HSC civic fund. Thanks also to Courtney Barnett, Boxty and the Short Order Schefs. You guys all rocked. And thanks also to Joey, Dee Dee and Benny, very special indeed. Thank you to the state election candidates who attended, Liam Farrelly Greens candidate for Pascoe Vale, Christine Campbell MP for Pascoe Vale and Phil Cleary, Independent candidate for Brunswick.  And thanks also to Moreland councillors, Cr Enver Erdogan and Cr Lambros Tapinos.

And most of all, thank you to everyone who came and made it such a great afternoon!

HSC response to OxYgen draft report

This is a copy of the email sent to Moreland councillors on 14/09/2010 regarding the draft OxYgen Youth report. This report is open for feedback on the Moreland Council website.

Hi Oscar, Alice and all

Congratulations on the OxYgen report which I just had a look at on the net. I note in the report that:

• Youth service providers identified Education as the biggest issue facing Moreland Youth
• Co-location was a highly regarded potential solution to provision of space for youth.
• Disengagement, mental health and the need for resilience are also big issues.

High School for Coburg are working very hard to come up with solution for a big chunk of Moreland youth and I see a lot of duplication in our arguments -the report cites, as HSC does, the benefits to the broader community of getting in early with help for young people. We have come to understand that the most vulnerable group in terms of potential disengement are middle years boys -this is the specific group that are let down by the current secondary school provision scenario in Coburg.

We also understand that while young people need their own spaces, the family-school-community partnership is also crucially important in terms of building resilience and education outcomes.This partnership cannot occur when schools are far away. Contrary to what some on the committee may believe not all in Coburg can get in to Brunswick High and Coburg North is out of what is effectively the enrolment zone for Brunswick High.

One of the solutions we are suggesting is a junior intake at the under utilised Coburg Senior High. While we acknowledge this school is doing some great work with young people - it would be put to wonderful use servicing a broader age range and opening the excellent facilities to more of the community.

One option we are considering is an education Hub however a Youth Hub could also be something to consider in relation to any new secondary school provision that arises in Coburg. We see an opportunity to work in conjunction with the Coburg Initiative ( right in the centre of Moreland ) to increase provision to our youth and to co-locate services with a Coburg High. I am writing to ask if HSC could be invited/involved in any discussions around this issue given that education has been highlighted as the major youth issue.

Kind Regards Cate Hall

How not having a high school in Coburg will affect my family

by Traci Stubbs
In 2005 my husband and I moved from Newcastle to Melbourne with our two year old son Lucien. I was 15 weeks pregnant with our daughter Charlotte at the time. We chose to live in Coburg North, near Merlynston. We made this decision because being able to easily access the train to the city was a priority. Affordability of a house was also a consideration. As I don’t drive, living near a gorgeous little village like Merlynston and being able to shop in Coburg but live in a quiet street was a plus as well.

Over time we made connections in our community through playgroup, swimming lessons and the various other activities I did with the kids. I began to find my way around and figure out how to get where I needed to be via public transport.

In 2009 Lucien started school at St Mark’s in Fawkner, Charlotte will start in 2011. When Lucien started school we began to think about where he would go to high school. While he is currently going to a Catholic school, this is because it is the best school close to us, also it is a small school as opposed to our family following a religious belief. We do not want to send our son to John Fawkner. That school has been rebranded but I am still yet to hear anything good about it.

• He will not get in to Brunswick as we live north of Bell Street.
• Northcote/Thornbury or Northland- well they are just too hard to get to by public transport.
• Parade- it’s just too far away, plus I have heard it is a big school over over 600 boys.
• Penola- again just too hard to get to by public transport.

Recently Lucien was diagnosed with mild Asperger’s syndrome. He is very smart but a bit socially awkward.  I do not want him going to a big school where he gets overlooked or branded a ‘troublemaker’ because there are not resources to give him a bit of extra support. My husband wants us to move to the Strathmore zone. I cannot justify buying a house that in 5 year’s time ‘might’ be in a position to get him into Strathmore. I also do not want to leave our community, our friends, our lovely parks. I do not want to be in a position of being uprooted again and having to learn where things are and how to get around and do all the things I need to. If he goes to a school that is far away, I am worried that if something happens to Lucien at school I would not be able to get there quickly.

This issue is a hot topic at our playgroup. One mother said to me recently that her family is considering SELLING their home in Coburg North and then RENTING in Parkville so her daughter (currently in year 3) can go to a decent high school. This is not acceptable. People should not have to sell their homes just so their kids can go to school.  So many houses are being sold around our area and then subdivided into two, three, even four lots. More and more young families are moving into the subdivisions of Pentridge, with more to come when the former Kodak site is built on.  It is ridiculous we do not have a high school in Coburg for our kids to go to.

Traci Stubbs has been following and supporting the High School for Coburg campaign via our Facebook page. Are you on Facebook? We'd love to have you and your friends join us! If you would like to share your family's thoughts on secondary education in the Coburg area, please contact us here.

Why a high school for Coburg matters to you

by Peter Raymond

Whether you have school age children or not, if you live in Coburg the provision of a proper high school here in Coburg is still important for you as it would reinforce the existing sense of community that is such an important part of living here. Many of us living in Coburg know of families who feel the need to move out of the area as soon as their children reach high school age because the available options in Coburg are scant and often inappropriate for the majority of families. The loss of these families is felt by those who remain, and undermines the long term commitment to the area that would otherwise be made by departing families.

First day of school, 2010 - will any of these children have the choice of going to the same high school?

Additionally, even for those children who elect to travel outside the local area for their secondary schooling, the lack of a local community of school age peers is a major inhibitor to the formation of strong local friendship groups. Because these children often attend a variety of other schools, there is a tendency for them to stick to friendship groups centred around their own relatively distant school zone, as opposed to being in Coburg itself. This also undermines the sense of community and civic pride in our school age children.

The loss of young families from the area and the destruction of local primary school friendship groups undermines our whole community.