High School for Coburg update - August 2011

HSC wrote to Minister Dixon in July 2011 stating the depth of community support for a general entry High School in Coburg. HSC recently wrote to Minister Dixon again outlining once again the need for a general entry High Scool in Coburg. You can read the full text of the letter here. Below are the key points.

Minister Dixon visits Coburg Senoir High on 02/08/11 see here for more images

REBORN SCHOOLS
On 15 August 2011 the Age published an article on reborn schools. This article highlights some key aspects of the HSC case:

• Schools running well below their capacity are expensive to operate. 

“We’ve got a lot of buildings that we’re paying to maintain –it’s a massive investment for buildings that sit there idle for a large part of the time.”  Wayne Craig, Northern Region.

• Exactly! This is why the ex-Moreland College site must be fully utilized – it is high time!
• We note that in the article the Coburg Senior High School was omitted from the education department’s list of inner Northern Region Schools with enrolments under 500. The CSHS has an enrolment of 218 and according to the Spatial Vision report will track at about that level through to 2021.
• Albert Park’s enrolment figures show there is plenty of pent up demand for quality state secondary schools in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. These figures call into question the current DEECD enrolment projection methodology which is based on assumptions of very low proportions choosing state schools and also the averaging of LTE’s back to 2006 even where there is consistently increasing numbers since then.
• The Albert Park story also highlights the inequity of the Coburg scenario:
• In 2006 Albert Park–Middle Park had only 418 persons aged 12-17, meanwhile Coburg had 1,503 (plus a further 349 in Coburg North) with about 10 times more expected growth in numbers than Albert Park-Middle Park. (id.forecast) Albert Park College closed in 2006 and re-opened this year in first class facilities. In Coburg where the numbers are, the high school closed back in 2004 and we still have no open state provision for children leaving the 22 primary schools in our area.

SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY

• Thornbury High School Council has written a letter of support which we will share once received. This makes a total of nine school councils that have either written in support of HSC or have written directly to you on this matter.
• Northcote High School – Acting Principal’s Report on challenges in managing the demands of high enrolments, latest school newsletter, page two.

“Last month Northcote HS received about 400 applicants for places in Year 7, well beyond our capacity to accept which is about 250”

• This is on the ground evidence that the need for an open entry High School in Coburg is there now – well before 2016.
• HSC facebook: 469 likers and 11,200 post views in one week, last week. We continue to show growing and engaged community support.

SPATIAL VISION REPORT
HSC appreciate that few would have had the time to read the very large Spatial Vision Report in detail so please find attached what we consider to be the three crucial sections:

1.  Key Growth areas map showing increase in secondary school aged persons 2006-2021. The greatest growth by far is of course in Coburg which has no school, followed by other areas which have full schools. The Minister for Planning was particularly struck by the starkness of this visual representation when HSC met with him last month.
2. Network Capacity Analysis – showing the projected shortfalls at schools in the Spatial Vision study area. Please note – if it is accepted that students do not and will not be travelling over an hour to attend schools to the north of the Coburg area – the overall shortfall becomes MUCH greater as it is concentrated in the southern schools.
3. Coburg Core Area – Spatial Vision did a study-within-the-study on the proposed Coburg High catchment (Coburg SLA plus West Preston) and it is clear that the area accounts for up to ten times the number of secondary aged persons as the surrounding catchments

High School for Coburg Survey Report 2011

Last year a shortfall in state secondary provision was shown by the Department of Early Childhood Development (DEECD) Demographic Study. This year HSC having been working well with the Education Partnerships Division of the DEECD. While the DEECD are looking at the provision options, HSC has asked the community what they think by rolling out a survey - Options for State Secondary Education Provision in Coburg.

You can see the results here by looking at HSC's Survey Report 2011. Thank you to Hidden Creek Neighbourhood House (nee Newlands Community Centre) for assisting with printing and binding the Survey report.
HSC Survey Report May 2011 Sml


KEY RESULTS:

• 430 respondents representing 803 children 
• 574 of those children are at primary school right now (and need a local secondary option). 
• 63.4% live in Coburg and Coburg North. 
• 64% preferred the option of an open entry Years 7 to 12 at Coburg Senior High School. 

You can read the comments from 197 respondents -the main themes were:

• Many families are considering moving away or have already due to the lack of a school. 
• Frustrated, impatient, incredulous and / or angry that there is no school yet. 
• Want the school to be excellent but not rushed at the expense of quality. 
• Sooner rather than later. 

HSC are heartened that our community has opted for the most cost effective, risk free and sustainable option. The site of the old Moreland College offers lovely park-like setting which could only enhance the learning experience and  is currently under utilised. It has room now for 1100 students.

The need is proven, the support is there, the site is obvious - let's go!

This community needs a high school – tell us what sort you think is best

HSC is right now involved in a series of meetings with the Department of Education about what a state secondary school in Coburg could look like, where it could be located and how it would meet the needs of the community. We need your help to let them know what sort of school we need for this community. Please fill in our survey and help shape the future of secondary education for Coburg.

After the Department of Education report last year showed a shortfall in places for students in and around Coburg, HSC believes that there is an imperative to act before it is too late. The issue isn’t political anymore; just a simple matter of doing what is right for people who live here – like you. The Department has written to us outlining their plans for the next year and we need to make sure your voices continue to be heard in the ongoing consultative process and filling in the survey is one way you can do that. 

The survey is here – please lend us five minutes of your time to shape the way local children access local education.

Ride to pool day 2011

Friends of Coburg Olympic Pool are hosting a free ‘ride to pool’ day on Sunday 23rd of January 2011. Members of the HSC working party will be on the barbeque, providing sausages for a gold coin donation.  People are encouraged to pedal to the pool to enjoy a free day of live music, food, kids activities and valet bicycle parking! Located on the shady banks of the Merri creek, the Coburg Olympic Pool is conveniently accessed by the Merri creek bike path.

Coburg Olympic Pool - Ride to Pool Day Sunday 23 January 2011


Bands and playing times are:
1.00 - 1.30 Newlands Community Childrens Choir
2.00 - 2.45 Jodi Galvin and the Tender Heart
3.15 - 4.15 Nick Murphy, Band and Guests
4.30 - 5.30 Short Order Shefs

Facebook event page here.

Last minute state election round-up

At the OurSay event on 22/11/10, three of the candidates for Brunswick answered the following question from HSC:

“A recent demographic study has shown there is a definite need for a high school in Coburg. We need a real commitment and action, not more bureaucratic wrangling over this crucial issue. How will the candidates ensure that a high school is reinstated to Coburg and its broader community in as timely a fashion as possible? ”

Watch their responses below:

Comments on the answers and the debate in general can be found on the OurSay site and on the report in the Moreland Leader, Brunswick candidates on the issues that matter (24/11/10).

The high school for Coburg issues has been receiving plenty of media attention including in the Age, 

All set for high school but closures leave no place to go, Northern Schools full by 2016, 

Veteran Cleary fancies his chances of election upset, Labour threatened across inner city, the Moreland Leader Boost for new Coburg school, Shaky Coburg school pledge. There has also been discussion of the HSC issue in the comments section of another Moreland Leader article, Planning a key issue in Brunswick.

HSC co-founder, Cate Hall made the following comment;

Marita and Ben I think it is wrong to look at planning as a separate issue to the others you mentioned. What is missing is a whole of government response to some of these issues. Planning necessitates parallel infrastructure and service provision . A good example is open entry state secondary provision in Coburg - there is none. High School for Coburg are painfully aware of the lack of communication between the departments of planning ,community development and education even though it is all inter-related. The Coburg Initiative have assessed that a school is required as a PRIORITY at 2010 -even before all the new dwellings are built. The DEECD report highlighted a "provision shortfall " This needs to be planned for in conjunction with TCI and is for the benefit of the whole community -local education provision positively impacts not just on education but on on health, transport, environment, economy, community development and even by increased youth engagement -crime.


The following response from Adrian was a fantastic and unprompted acknowledgement of the work that Cate (and the rest of the group) has been doing;

Cate Hall is absolutely right and I would like to congratulate you Cate on the energy and dedication you have brought to your struggle for a high school. All these issues are inter-connected and we need as many people as possible to ignore the party lines we are constantly fed and stand up for our vibrant suburb. Grassroots democracy is democracy at its best and most powerful.

The Socialist Alliance have also released their education policy.

Socialist Alliance Releases Victorian Education Policy

How will you be voting tomorrow?

2010 state election candidate profiles

by Janet Grigg
When you vote on November 27, how important is the issue of a high school in Coburg for you? I am concerned about climate change, social justice, healthcare, public transport and planning but the education issue has become very personal for us. I wonder whether my daughter and her friends in prep will be able to go to a high school in their community. Or whether they will be scattered amongst the various schools in the region with a little room here and there. I worry that for many kids in Coburg, getting into a state school of their "choice" will depend on how hard their parents can push the system. I want my daughter and her friends and all the other children in Coburg to have the option to go to a local high school. The local high school where many of their classmates go because it's the closest school. And because it's a good school. And because the school's in our community, they'll be able to walk or bike there. Families will be involved too, because the local high school is an extension of the community we already have.

I have gone through websites, facebook pages and other online or readily available public material and collated information for candidates in the seats of Brunswick and Pascoe Vale that refers to the issue of a high school in Coburg. At the bottom of each post are links to where you can find out more about the candidates, their other policies and where relevant, the political party they belong to.

Read all the candidate profiles here.

HSC strongly encourage readers to enter into debate about the issue of a high school in Coburg either by making a comment in the comments section of each post or on our Facebook page. Any debate will be moderated and although we are willing to engage with dissenting views, any offensive content will be removed. We will not publish responses to these profiles from any candidate or party as separate web post unless they or their party issue an official press release referring to the provision of secondary education in or for Coburg. Responses via the comments or Facebook are most welcome.