Fantastic plumber in the neighbourhood!

 Hey everyone! I just had to share the best ever experience I've ever had with a tradie. Michael, the plumber who lives locally did an absolutely fantastic job  for me the other day. Incredibly professional and efficient. I higfhly recommend him for anything you need! His direct number, 0408882164

Cheers, Asa

Coffee Chat with Cindy: Coburg High parents talk funding needs

As we know, education funding is a key issue in the upcoming state election. This is an opportunity for current and future Coburg High School parents and community to discuss our school's needs with the local Labor candidate for Brunswick, Cindy O'Connor.

Come and join us at Newlands Neighbourhood House, 20 Murray Rd, Coburg North, this Saturday at 10 am. We’ll have some coffee for you and there is a rumour of muffins.

And here's a link to the Facebook event, please feel free to share.

New year 7 class at Coburg High School

Last Thursday 164 students, the inaugural year 7 class arrived to join Coburg High's first Year 7 intake. An exciting and extremely gratifying moment for our whole community. We wouldn't have had this day, this result, this beginning of a public year 7-12 school in Coburg if it hadn't been for the hard fought campaign from High School for Coburg and the broader community. Up until this time, neither Coburg nor Preston, the most populous suburbs in Moreland and Darebin, had a 7-12 public high school. Now we have a high school in Coburg!

HSC would like to thank Don and the staff for all the hard work getting the school ready for Coburg High's inaugural Year 7 intake. This has been a huge undertaking over a relatively short period of time, and for which the community is very grateful.

Check out The Age article, New year 7 class to 'rock' Coburg High School, which also contains a wonderful video of the first day.

We were thrilled to see Don talking so much about active transport in the video! A key plank of HSC's argument for a school was that local provision enables active transport and all it's concomitant benefits. HSC are working productively to bring the the school, Moreland BUG, Moreland Council and Ride2School together to help grow the bike program at Coburg High.

Tara -  photo credit Wendy Dun

It was the "best day ever" according to Tara and her friends.

Steps towards a Coburg Year 7 in 2015

This year, on the first day of second term, Year 6/7 Transition forms went out to families with a Coburg option for the first time since Moreland City College closed.  Coburg gets its own nearest school secondary school boundary which certainly looks like it should always have been there. You can view the map at this link but if you want to see the finer detail, you'll need to download it. Surrounding school boundaries have also been redrawn.

image by BAADE HARBOUR AUSTRALIA ARCHITECTS

Our community has embraced the Coburg Junior option, turning up in massive numbers to school tours and responding with enthusiasm and excitement.

• At the end of last year, the December 10 evening tour and BBQ was attended by over 260 parents and students. 
• On March 27 over 430 families attended two school tours. 
• In April and May eight group tours over three days were nearly booked out. More tours were added for 5 and 9 May 

You can register for future tours of Coburg Junior High here.

image by BAADE HARBOUR AUSTRALIA ARCHITECTS

Even before the funding had been confirmed, over 90 students had already filled in the early enrolment form. When the funding for the Coburg Junior High building works was announced on Facebook, there was a huge response from the community: 95 likes on that post in one evening and many comments expressing excitement and relief! The Coburg Senior High principal, Don Collins, and staff continue to formulate the Coburg Junior offering and the community likes what they learn about it! The Coburg Junior will have some uniform items and according to Don many of the seniors also want to get the jacket!

Work on the building design is well under way and there is quite a lot of information on Coburg Junior website.  Other useful parts of the Coburg Junior website include:

• FAQ - lots of general information
• Curriculum - information about subjects taught and educational philosophy
• Information - an overview of what Coburg Junior High will be offering

There is also a Coburg Junior High Facebook page.

Reports coming in from local parents indicate there have been many transition forms handed in with Coburg Junior as first choice! Congratulations and thank you to the principal and staff of Coburg Senior High for the work in planning Coburg Junior. We are excited about promoting and continuing to help build community around our great local high school!

$3.5 MILLION IN FUNDING CONFIRMED!!!

Minister for Education Martin Dixon  announced today, Monday 5 May 2014, $3.5 million in capital funding to expand Coburg Senior High School into a full 7-12 secondary school. Here is the Premier's press release with all the details.

"This is a welcome announcement for the community, that will provide high quality facilities to current and future students and the Coburg community," Mr Dixon said. Craig Ondarchie MLC also welcomed the announcement, and thanked the community for their commitment to local education.

Six years after beginning to push for this, and following on from Minister Dixon's 2012 decision, we now know it is really happening!

High School for Coburg would like to thank Minister Dixon for listening to our community and recognising the case for a school. We thank him for taking politics out of the equation, and for making the right decision and following through on it. Minister Dixon also did the right thing in listening to us when we explained why our families really needed to know before budget day whether the funding was secure.

The funding announcement has been covered in the following media:

• Herald Sun - Leader North - 02/05/14 - Coburg Senior High School principal Don Collins confirms State Budget junior campus cash
• Herald Sun - Leader North - 05/05/14 - A breakdown of State Budget announcements and wish lists for Melbourne’s northern suburbs
• The Age -   05/05/2014 - Junior students added to Coburg senior school after community campaign

And when the funding was announced, the most common response from parents was - phew!!!

Parents and students can now tour the school and place it as number one on the transition form safe in the knowledge that Coburg Junior High is a fully funded option for 2015.

HSC would also like to give a heartfelt thanks to our community including: working group members, champions at individual primary schools, principals and school councils who wrote letters of support, families who showed their support in many different ways, Moreland City Council who were represented at most of our important meetings over the years, and businesses that wrote in support and/or pledged to our HSC Civic Fund. This result would not have happened if you hadn't been there to help us show the need and support for a 7-12 school in Coburg!

Along with the huge numbers of other families that have visited the school, and the 90 students who had already pre-enrolled before the funding announcement, we are excited about what will be on offer at Coburg Junior High and look forward to seeing the extended and refurbished buildings in 2015.

Coburg Senior High School expansion: Tour Tuesday 10 December at 6pm (with Free BBQ) and Principal's Progress Report

Here in Coburg a local year seven transition option in 2015 is getting much closer to a reality!

High School for Coburg continue to work with the Coburg Senior High School (CSHS) - attending CSHS Community Consultation Subcommittee meetings and assisting with promotion. For example we were able to help the CSHS get a story in this week's  Moreland Leader, page 11 of the 2 Dec issue to promote the upcoming 10 Dec tour and report on recent progress. A great result!

If you are interested in Coburg High as a Year 7 option from 2015  please consider coming to the tour on Tuesday 10 Dec at 6 pm. There will be a free BBQ provided - including salad and veggie burgers and the school cafe will be open for coffee and drinks.

For full information on progress with the expansion of the school  and to register for the tour, please follow the link to the update from principal Don Collins on the school website:

An excerpt from the post is as follows:

It is pleasing to report that the Master Planning for Coburg Junior is progressing well. We are on target to have building design and curriculum development in sufficient shape to share at the next CJHS Tour ~ which will be on Tuesday December 10 at 6pm.
The evening will commence at 6pm with a free BBQ outside our cafe (Bytes Café). Sausages, (we only ever use halal meat.) veggie burgers and salad will be provided. Bytes Café will be selling coffee and other drinks during this time. This event will run for approximately 90 mins during which time we will be sharing information on curriculum and organisational elements, facilities development and invite discussion around elements such as uniform, language, technology and sustainability.
Please register your attendance at:
Coburg Junior HS Tour
Baade-Harbour Australia (BHA) have been appointed as architects for this next stage of development. With a wealth of knowledge about our site having been responsible for the previous two stages, BHA is well placed to transform the existing spaces into learning spaces to facilitate thinking and learning in a range of ways.

Tara's story

I am in Grade 5 this year and we live in Coburg North. Next year I will choose my Secondary School. I am really excited about going to Coburg High School which will be accepting Year 7 students from 2015.
I am delighted about having a school which I can walk to and is so close to home. I think it’s cool that I can also ride my bike along the bike track too. I know there will be a few friends going to Coburg High and hopefully lots more might attend from my school but I don’t know yet…  I really hope they will be in my class!
And the big question I ask myself is what will the new High School be like? Well, I am hoping that there will be a huge library because I love reading and I am hoping for big traditional classrooms. I feel more comfortable in an enclosed area. I feel many other Primary students probably feel the same way as we are all  used to them.

Then, the question about teachers - I hope they are nice teachers - inspirational and playful too so learning can be fun.
There are some cool subjects that I am looking forward to like Cooking and all the Arts. I hope I may use some professional equipment to make movies. I love being behind the camera and directing scenes and performances.
I am not particularly keen on using computers all the time in the classroom because I am much faster at writing but least I will have to learn to type faster!  However, I would be delighted  to have my own laptop if possible. I think laptops are faster to download than iPads.
I think it’s fantastic that there is a real Cafeteria at the school as there isn’t one at my Primary School.
The other thing I hope for is that there is a uniform as it will be easier not to choose different clothes every day and nobody can tease anyone about their clothes.

Tara

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

Coburg Senior High School Forum - 8th of August 2013

Who's going to the Coburg Senior High School Forum on August 8 from 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm?

The CSHS website gives the following information about the forum.

"On August 8 will we holding small table group forums to continue to share the vision for the expansion and to seek feedback from interested members of the community. Registration for the Forum is now open.

This process will ask for each attendee to select a forum topic that most interests them. The choices will include Thinking Oriented Curriculum, Sustainability, Facilities and Community Building.
Once again our students will be on hand to assist along with members of staff and existing parents.
The evening will begin at 6.00 pm with a short presentation en masse, and then break into table groups. The Forum will conclude at 7.30 pm."

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. 

Coburg Senior High School tours

Coburg Senior High School is offering junior school specific tours on May 15, 2013 at 10.00am and 6.00pm.

The tour is for families considering sending their children to the school when they transition from primary school to Year 7. How wonderful to have a local option from 2015 onwards!

This is a great chance to see the school and give your feedback and ideas. Refreshments served throughout.

You can register for the tour here.

There is also quite a bit of information about the expected Coburg Junior High under the Coburg Junior High tab at the top of the page and the boxes down the side.

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.

Short survey : Towards a Coburg High in 2015

In July 2012 Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon announced that in 2015 Coburg Senior High School will be expanded to a year 7-12 secondary school. High School for Coburg group welcome this decision and thank the community for their wonderful support.

We are pleased there has been such a positive reaction from the community and now seek to gather your early thoughts and ideas.

Please take a moment to fill in this short survey - there are only four questions.
These include an opened ended question about how you would like a 7-12 Coburg High School to be and we ask if and when any of you children may attend the school. To access survey, click on link below.

Survey - Towards a Coburg High in 2015

High School for Coburg group will offer your feedback to any formal consultation process.

We plan to keep the survey open through December but may extend this to first term 2013 depending on feedback level and circumstances.

Thank you for taking an interest.
High School for Coburg working group
www.highschoolforcoburg.org
www.facebook.com/highschoolforcoburg

HSC Civic fund launch

HSC were excited to publicly launch the High School for Coburg Civic Fund at the Civic Reception.

The fund is based on the 1961 Coburg Civic Fund which gathered donations from individuals and businesses for the building of the Coburg Olympic Pool. It builds on Coburg's proud history of generosity but also a history of strong advocacy for local education.

HSC began this project in late 2010 gathering pledges which would be payable to the new school if/when we got one! We quickly reached a total near $20,000 -however $10,000 of that was from Equiset Grollo who are no longer partners in the Coburg Initiative. Since then our energy was diverted to other campaign tasks, however now that there is an actual school to donate to we decided to publicly launch the HSC Civic Fund.

Our plan is for  pledges to be converted to donations once the 7-12 school entity has a school council. The usual vehicle for such donations is called a library fund. Pledges of  $1,000 and over will earn the opportunity to use the Proud Supporter Seal in their promotion.

The High School for Coburg Civic Fund has several purposes:

• showing community support for the school 
• raising the sense of community ownership and therefore potential community partnerships with the school. 
• raising the profile/ marketing the 7-12 school to help grow the first intake in 2015 
• actual monetary benefit to the school.
• shows that HSC are committed to following through and helping build the school.

We have $8,300 in pledges so far from businesses, organisations and individuals ranging from $100 from John Macneil who attended Coburg High from 1939 -1943 (and who has promised to give more once the new school entity has a school council) to $2,500 from John Parisi the partner in My Chemist/ Chemist Warehouse Coburg and Brunswick.

Pledges over $1,000 earn the opportunity to use a Civic Fund "proud supporter" seal in their advertising.

If you would like to make a pledge please contact us by email highschool4coburg@gmail.com, facebook message or post (contact details and link to facebook on the website)and we will record your name on the list!

PROUD SUPPORTERS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL CIVIC FUND (so far)

• John Parisi, Partner, My Chemist / Chemist Warehouse Coburg and
•  Brunswick:$2,500
• Ahmed Haouchar, Owner, Al Alamy International Coffee and Nuts: $2.000
• Barry Plant, Coburg: $2.000
• High School for Coburg working group, $1,000
• Arabic Social Services: $200
• Axilleon Caffe Cake Shop: $100
• Sarah Sanders and family, West Coburg Primary: $100
• Little Dear Tracks Cafe: $100
• Elli's Deli: $100
• John Macneil, Attended Coburg High 1939-1943: $100
• Haas and Gray Indigenous Horticulture,  $100

 Total $8,300

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!

Population, planning and school provision: It’s high time for Coburg

Currently in Melbourne many middle ring suburbs have community campaigns calling for reinstatement of government school provision. The suburbs include – Richmond, Kingsville-Yarraville-Seddon, Oakleigh, Coburg, Prahran and a campaign for two schools for Port Phillip. 

A graph made using the Property Council’s new tool, Our Nation, shows just how many new class rooms will be needed in Melbourne to cope with projected increased numbers by 2021 – enough to make any State Government treasurer blanch. The suburbs needing schools now are generally those which have experienced school closures followed by increased numbers of school aged children as a result of increased births, suburb life cycle and an influx of first home buyers and young families moving a bit further out from the inner city.

Along with the above population factors some middle ring suburbs are experiencing urban renewal with plans and capacity for more. A recent Property Council Report Making the Numbers Stack Up: a study into major residential urban renewal in Melbourne has highlighted Coburg as being the only suburb in the top 20 for numbers of all three new housing types. 


Coburg Hill – the redevelopment of the old Kodak site is coming along nicely and was launched by State Government big guns like the Premier and Planning Minister.In a recent Moreland Leader article, the Moreland Council CEO Peter Brown said of the Coburg Initiative urban renewal project -“All the fundamentals are there. Even when we talk to the State Government they say of all the urban redevelopments around Melbourne this is probably as good as you’re going to get”.

HSC argue, with full council support, that the one fundamental missing is a high school which is essential for the economic viability of urban renewal in this designated activity area. If the State government back urban renewal in our area they should also back the provision of essential social infrastructure. Local school provision not only benefits economic development it is positive for community development, social development, well being, health and the environment. Of all morning peak hour car trips, 17% are parents taking children to school according to a recent report from the Vic Parliamentary Enquiry into Environmental Design and Public Health and the cost of congestion is set to double by 2010. HSC say planning for local school provision which enables active transport is the solution.

Recently the Minister for Education Hon Martin Dixon said on ABC radio that of all the areas in Melbourne needing a school Coburg is the most progressed. Since September 2008 Community advocacy group High School for Coburg (HSC) has been calling for the reinstatement of junior secondary provision in Coburg. HSC’s own report More Local Primary School – Fewer Secondary Options  shows very big increases in primary school enrolments in the area, for example a 50% increase Prep enrolments in the four years to 2012.

HSC await the census data with interest as one anomaly they cite is the low growth in numbers for primary school aged children in id forecast projections for Coburg North for instance compared with the actual primary enrolment increases at the local schools. Cate from HSC wonders if this is because it is hard to capture families who migrate into suburbs with children as they aren’t picked up in birth data for the area.

The group has put together this data map using the id website which shows the most secondary school aged persons in Darebin and Moreland are in Preston and Coburg –suburbs which do not have any Years 7-9 co-ed school provision. Two state governments have commissioned two demographic reports by consultants Spatial Vision on a study area roughly equating with the Moreland plus Darebin municipalities.
The 2012 report, with the added benefit of Darebin Council now being on board with id forecast showed even bigger projections than the 2010 report and found an immediate shortfall in spaces for years 7 to 9.

The Education Minister has this report and DEECD recommendations before him now and is expected to make a decision in the near future.

HSC say it would be a good idea for the Planning Minister to have a chat with him.

Cross posted on the .idblog here.

High School for Coburg Campaign Update June 2012

While the Minister for Education, Martin Dixon has been considering the Review of Secondary Provision in the Coburg Area, HSC has had extensive media coverage including:

• Moreland Leader front page article and five letters published in their Education Week issue. 
• Education Age.
• Melbourne Times. 
• Herald Sunday Sun.  
• The Coburg issue also featured in an interview with Education Minister Martin Dixon on Rafael Epstein’s 774 ABC Drive show. This elicited several calls about Coburg.

Here is a snap shot of comments from the Minister’s spokesperson:

• Expanding Coburg Senior High School to include year 7 to 9 students was one of two options under consideration to meet a shortfall of 301 year 7 to 9 places set to more than double in less than a decade
• The second option being considered was increasing infrastructure at existing schools.
• Minister Dixon would consult with the HSC group and other stakeholders and was likely to reach a decision in the next two months.
• “If there needs to be short-term solutions, such as relocatable classrooms, those things are considered and money is available,” 
• “But it may be that there are other schools in the area that also have capacity to take students.
• We’re certainly looking at a long-term solution for the Coburg area.
• Minister was willing to meet community groups. 
• "The minister is looking at a number of options to cater for short and long-term growth in the area and is expected to make an announcement in the next few weeks about preferred options," the spokesman said.
• He said the data had to be properly analysed before a preferred option could be explored.

Comments from Minister Dixon on ABC radio:

• Of the areas needing a school Coburg is the most advanced. A number of options with me right now. I am considering these.
• Looking at recommendations with options -we consider options then make decisions about timing. Depending on recommendations -may not be needed until next year or the year after.
• If recommendations say the need is immediate then it could be in the budget next year.

HSC RESPONSE 

The reports, including the Spatial Vision Report 2012 and the  HSC Response to the 2012 Spatial Vision Report, are on Minister Dixon’s table now and HSC are keen to meet with him. So we were pleased to read that the Minister is happy to meet with community groups and will be consulting with HSC as we have been unable to secure a meeting with the Minister or his advisor since January 2011.

It is excellent that the most sensible option (7-9 provision at Coburg Senior High) is being considered. We ask the Minister to choose this option now – it does not cost anything to make the right decision – and give our community some certainty.

Relocatables at schools outside Coburg are not a solution for this community as they would be mainly at Thornbury and Northcote – too far away – and in relatively small numbers, according to the Spatial Vision report, so would be quickly swallowed up by those communities.

A short term stop gap is not the answer and is not an efficient use of funds.

The money that is available now for relocatables should be spent on immediate implementation planning for provision in Coburg.

A “long term solution for Coburg” is not good enough – the Spatial Vision report found a significant and immediate shortfall. The need is therefore immediate and it is good to know that if the DEECD recommendations reflect this – the money can be in next year’s budget.

NEXT STEPS

• HSC have secured a very high level DEECD meeting – date TBA.
• HSC have reiterated our requests to meet with Minister Dixon and his advisor or chief of staff.
• HSC have an Information and Discussion Session booked for Moreland Council Directors, CEO and Councillors on Monday 25 June.
• HSC have pencilled in Tuesday 24 July for a community meeting at Coburg Concert Hall– details TBA.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

• Now is the time to write to the Minister. Contact details here
• ‘Like’ us on facebook – we have 674 followers currently
• Has your school or childcare written a letter of support? Have they backed the CSHS option?
• We have 12 schools and two child care centres among our 45 letters of community support. 

Coburg Provision Review handed to Minister Dixon

THERE IS NO HIDING FROM THE NUMBERS IN THE EDUCATION BLACK HOLE

A process looking at ways to manage the shortfall highlighted in the 2010 Spatial Vision Report  was announced in Jan 2011. Nothing happened. This was in part apparently due to DEECD re-structure. The 2010 Spatial Vision report was then deemed too old and a new process, The Coburg Provision Review was established in Oct 2011.

Along with DEECD brief, Minister Dixon was given:

• A "re-freshed' Spatial Vision Report. 
• Independent consultation with 23 schools. In Feb 2012, principals and school council presidents were asked about the provision issue in general and the HSC proposal to have junior provision at the Coburg Senior High site. 
• High School for Coburg (HSC) response to Spatial Vision report. At the end of the process, HSC were invited to write a response to the Spatial Vision Review 2012. (This was prepared at short notice by two mums in four days hence the typos).

We share our report with you here. The main points are:

• Much bigger numbers than the 2010 report. 
• Significant and immediate provisions shortfall, therefore HSC expects immediate provision planning. 
• The recommendation in the 2010 report was to manage the shortfall from 2016. The shortfall number for 2016 in the old report was already exceeded significantly in 2011 in the new report, so to be consistent the DEECD recommendation should be to manage the shortfall immediately. 
• Report states the pressure will be on the middle and southern schools. There are no open entry state secondary schools in the middle - Pascoe Vale, Coburg, Preston etc and southern schools are full

The minister was aware of the Spatial Vision report findings well before the budget so it is disappointing to see there has been no allocation for provision planning. However, budget allocation or not there is no hiding from the numbers. It is worth noting that the three previous consultant reports, including two Spatial Vision reports, and indeed the whole Coburg Provision Review, occurred without budget announcements. What is needed now is for Minister Dixon to make the decision to utilise the Coburg Senior High site as the most sensible option for managing the demonstrated shortfall in Year 7-9 provision.This will give our community some much needed certainty and enable the DEECD to begin implemantion planning as a continuation of the work already done.

The community, including the twelve schools who formally support HSC, are ready to be part of the solution.

HSC Response to 2012 Spatial Vision Report

NORTH or SOUTH OF THE RIVER?

Let's compare the outcomes.

Number of secondary aged persons at 2012 (id forecast) 

• COBURG suburb alone: 1,613 - High school closed 2004.......
• ALBERT PARK-MIDDLE PARK: 400 - School closed 2006 -already re-opened and full thus highlight the demand in inner suburbs for public education. (Port Phillip Council looking at the need for a second.)
• PRAHRAN: 372 - $200,000 in Budget to study sites (seemingly skipping the process to identify need, which the Coburg community has endured for years)

In other words Coburg has over four times the number of high school aged kids in Albert Park (and 40 times the growth) and Prahran.but still no sign of a high school.