HSC is organising a relaxed family fun day at Lake Reserve, Murray Road, Coburg on Sunday 14 March 2010 from 12pm – 3pm.
This is a free event with live music, children’s entertainment and a sausage sizzle on the banks of Coburg Lake.
Come and say hello, enjoy the music and show your support for an open entry high school for the community.
Add this date to your diary and we'll see you there!
More information – highschool4coburg@gmail.com
Proudly supported by Chemist Warehouse and My Chemist, Coburg.
HSC and Ride to Pool day this Sunday!
Come and say hello to some of the HSC working group as we sizzle sausages at the Ride to Pool day - we'll be there from 12 pm on Sun 21 Feb. You can enjoy the the beautiful Coburg Olympic Pool in its lovely, lush creek side setting.and a fantastic local band line up:
2.00 - 2.30pm Que Paso (bluegrass band)
2.45 - 3.15pm Nicola Lester.
3.30 - 4.00pm Nick Murphy
4.15 - 4.45pm Ross McLennan
5.00 - 5.40pm Short Order Chefs
Entry is free as Christine Campbell, the member for Pascoe Vale, is sponsoring the event. The pool will be open usual weekend hours from 11-6. Pass it on and see you there!
2.00 - 2.30pm Que Paso (bluegrass band)
2.45 - 3.15pm Nicola Lester.
3.30 - 4.00pm Nick Murphy
4.15 - 4.45pm Ross McLennan
5.00 - 5.40pm Short Order Chefs
Entry is free as Christine Campbell, the member for Pascoe Vale, is sponsoring the event. The pool will be open usual weekend hours from 11-6. Pass it on and see you there!
Rally for a High School
Last Friday, High School for Coburg parents group braved the rain to rally outside Minister for Education Bronwyn Pike’s office last Friday. Minister Pike has recently agreed to set up a task force investigate the demand for a new school in the Coburg area.
“We applaud Minister Pike and her commitment to look at this long standing issue and to encourage her to set up a truly independent taskforce to examine the issue now,” said Cate Hall, co-founder of the HSC group. However, in the Moreland Leader on Monday 1 February, the Minister was talking down the need for a Coburg school before a taskforce has even been formed. “Minister Pike said she is concerned a Coburg High would not be used. We remind her that 96% of the respondents in the HSC parental attitudes and intentions survey said they would send their children to a Coburg High. Her statistics are incomplete and misleading and her obvious bias makes it imperative that this task force has an independent chairperson and a mandate to be truly impartial." Hall said.
A High School for Coburg report card was presented to the Minister's office. You can read and/or download it here. There was also coverage of the rally in the Moreland Leader - with the opportunity to have your say! View more pictures of the rally over at our Flickr page.
“We applaud Minister Pike and her commitment to look at this long standing issue and to encourage her to set up a truly independent taskforce to examine the issue now,” said Cate Hall, co-founder of the HSC group. However, in the Moreland Leader on Monday 1 February, the Minister was talking down the need for a Coburg school before a taskforce has even been formed. “Minister Pike said she is concerned a Coburg High would not be used. We remind her that 96% of the respondents in the HSC parental attitudes and intentions survey said they would send their children to a Coburg High. Her statistics are incomplete and misleading and her obvious bias makes it imperative that this task force has an independent chairperson and a mandate to be truly impartial." Hall said.
A High School for Coburg report card was presented to the Minister's office. You can read and/or download it here. There was also coverage of the rally in the Moreland Leader - with the opportunity to have your say! View more pictures of the rally over at our Flickr page.
Opinion Ignored
by Cate Hall
This is HSC's response to the Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike's comments in the Moreland Leader (Pike says Coburg School may not be used - Moreland Leader - 01/02/2010). An edited version was published in the letters section of the Moreland leader on 08/02/2010.
*A visual representation of the DPCD statistics can be seen here. The raw data was sourced from the DPCD site, scroll down to the end of the page and click on detailed data files.
This is HSC's response to the Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike's comments in the Moreland Leader (Pike says Coburg School may not be used - Moreland Leader - 01/02/2010). An edited version was published in the letters section of the Moreland leader on 08/02/2010.
While High School for Coburg (HSC) thanks Minister for Education Bronwyn Pike for agreeing to MP Christine Campbell's call to set up a taskforce to look at state secondary education provision for Coburg, West Preston and surrounds, we strongly disagree with her comments in the Moreland Leader Monday 1 February 2010. Her obvious bias makes it imperative that this taskforce has an independent chairperson to present fair and reasonable results without outside influence.
Minister Pike says a Coburg High "may not be used” – she has obviously chosen to ignore the HSC parental attitudes and intentions survey results which show 96% of respondents would send their children to a Coburg High. She also says Coburg had a high school which parents chose not to send their children to.That is a complex story of school closures and amalgamations and it is arguable that some schools did not get the extra support required from the very beginning.
It is time to look to the future and provide valid options, not dredge up the past.The community is no longer willing to accept Coburg’s place in the education department’s too hard basket. They do not want to move suburbs or send their children far away to attend high school and many cannot afford this option .Equitable access to education is what’s required.
Minister Pike is fond of saying “it takes a village to raise a child" - one of the basic requirements of the village is a secondary school, and for this wonderfully diverse community it would be a hub, enhancing connectivity and sustainable development. Minister Pike refers to "early analysis" showing greater growth in student numbers in the Brunswick area than the Coburg area. That is either disingenuous or she is getting bad advice.
Her comments are at odds with the recent DPCD and Moreland Council projections showing much greater numbers of young people in the Coburg area right now and much greater expected growth in Coburg into the future. For example in the 10-14 yr age group there are roughly twice as many in the Coburg Statistical Local Area (SLA) ( 2,671 children ) than the Brunswick SLA. For 15 -19 yr olds Brunswick SLA decreases long term by 277 while Coburg's numbers grow by 681.*
And why is Minister Pike talking about Coburg and Brunswick numbers around the launch of Glenroy and Fawkner re-branded schools? Is it to justify the fact that the spending on secondary education in Moreland is occurring in the north and in Brunswick in spite of the greatest number of young people being in the Coburg area where there isn't even one open entry state high school?
HSC ask Minister Pike to make this “early analysis" available to the public, along with other data that we have repeatedly asked the department for, so that the community can see the whole picture.We have 22 primary schools, the greatest number by far of young children in Moreland now and into the future and no open entry state high school, what's the story?
*A visual representation of the DPCD statistics can be seen here. The raw data was sourced from the DPCD site, scroll down to the end of the page and click on detailed data files.
High School for Coburg Rally
If you are concerned about your children's education, the first High School for Coburg rally as an action group is on Friday 12 February at 10am outside Minister for Education Bronwyn Pike's office at 146 Peel Street Nth Melbourne, just near the Queen Victoria Market. Kids welcome.
The rally will run approx one hour, long enough to get a few photos for the Moreland Leader and hopefully the city dailies, answer a few questions for journalists and do a live radio cross.
Feel free to make your own banner or sign and wave it on the day; we need bodies to send a message to the Education Minister.
Unfortunately, the Minister is talking down a local high school in this weeks Moreland Leader so it is time to put some pressure on her in an election year and let her what you want for your community.
Your support would be much appreciated!
High School for Coburg – a community initiative
The rally will run approx one hour, long enough to get a few photos for the Moreland Leader and hopefully the city dailies, answer a few questions for journalists and do a live radio cross.
Feel free to make your own banner or sign and wave it on the day; we need bodies to send a message to the Education Minister.
Unfortunately, the Minister is talking down a local high school in this weeks Moreland Leader so it is time to put some pressure on her in an election year and let her what you want for your community.
Your support would be much appreciated!
High School for Coburg – a community initiative
The schools where 63 per cent of Australians are educated deserve better
In an address at Melbourne High School last Tuesday night, the former High Court Justice Michael Kirby said that he is fed up with government neglect of public schools, especially while private schools get extra public money.
As we move into the next phase of our campaign, High School for Coburg are looking to extend our use of social media, perhaps using Facebook and/or Twitter. If you are interested in these forms of communication and would like to help with this part of the campaign in particular, please contact us.
To listen to or read a more detailed account of Justice Kirby's speech, go to ABC online here.
The schools where 63 per cent of Australians are educated deserve better, and the time has come for all citizens to make it clear that they demand an end to the under-funding of public education, where the future of our nation will chiefly be written," he said.He also urged parents and citizens in public schools to learn the art of advocacy. We need to blog (tick), Twitter, text, lobby (tick) and argue (tick).
As we move into the next phase of our campaign, High School for Coburg are looking to extend our use of social media, perhaps using Facebook and/or Twitter. If you are interested in these forms of communication and would like to help with this part of the campaign in particular, please contact us.
To listen to or read a more detailed account of Justice Kirby's speech, go to ABC online here.
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