High School for Coburg

Playtime in the Park - Volunteers still needed!!

2010-03-07T15:51:00.001+11:00

On Sunday March 14th, HSC is hosting Playtime in the Park and it promises to be a great event. However we still need volunteers to help run the event. Most spots require only a short committment on the day.

Set up and pack down
Contact Darren - darren@djscommunications.com.au or 0411089209
Help set up sound equipment, the marquee and banners. Help pack it up at the end of the day. Volunteers required for either the beginning or end of the day, or for both.

Cake stall
Contact Morena - morena3058@gmail.com or 0425880342
Bakers - bake cakes, biscuits, slices and muffins etc to fill our cake stall. Savoury items would be great too. Please bring baked items to the stall on the day, presented on a plastic or paper plate with a list of ingredients. We ask that items be baked within the last 24 hours and that they do not require refrigeration to be food safe - so no cream or raw eggs.
Cake stall volunteers - we need people to take shifts and run the cake stall, serving cakes and accepting donation.

Sausage Sizzle
Contact David - davidnunns@optusnet.com.au or 0430384483
Cooking on the barbeque, taking orders or serving sausages.

Facepainters
Dianne - diannemhartley@dodo.com.au
Turn kids into spidermen and fairies. Face paints provided and we will have some designs to work from or you can use your imagination.

This is a great opportunity to get involved in the HSC campaign, meet like minded people and take action. Remember our goal - a general entry all ages High School in Coburg.

HSC submission regarding the Kodak Development Plan

2010-02-27T23:29:00.003+11:00

Below is the submission from HSC regarding the Kodak Development Plan (available for download as a word doc here). The Kodak site in Elizabeth Street, North Coburg is a significant infill housing development. You can read more about the Kodak development here.

State Planning Services
Department of Planning and Community Development
GPO Box 500
EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002

Monday 22 February 2010

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a submission by the group High School for Coburg (HSC) re the Kodak Development Plan in particular reference to infrastructure provision and need.

Early Years

The report states that demand for early years facilities will decrease to 2020 however the company responsible for Moreland council population data, Id, say there is nothing to support this assumption. In their projections the 0-4 age group increases in North Coburg over that time. Therefore taking into account Kodak population as well, which isn’t factored in by id until 2019 it is impossible to come to the conclusion that the demand for early years facilties will decrease to 2020.

Id projections which the report was apparently based on shows an increase of only 6 couple families with children in Coburg North from 2006 to 2021. This is a clear underestimate when you consider just the Newlands part of Coburg North which is the relevant portion for Kodak to be considering. Id tell me this figure was reached by an offset of families where adult children are leaving. That may be the case for whole of North Coburg but the Newlands portion is experiencing huge influx of families with children as first home buyers

The report incorrectly states that there is occasional childcare at Newlands Community centre, in fact this hasn’t been available for several years.

We ask that early years infrastructure provision and demand is looked at with more specificity and accuracy for the Newlands area.

Secondary Education Facilities

We note that there is no mention of secondary education facilities for this area.

This was also the case with the Coburg Initiative early on, until community consultation identified the need for a high school to be the biggest equal issue for the Coburg community. (CI Speak Out in the Mall 2009 ) resulting in it's inclusion in the previous two CI newsletters.

There are 22 primary schools and yet not one open entry state secondary school servicing the Coburg and West Preston area.

Justin Madden MP acknowledges a trend for families to leave the area when their children reach high school age, he uses this trend as justification for no high school. HSC say families leave because there is no school and would stay and help build this community if there was a local high school. We have two directors of local real estate agents who back this up – they say people are leaving and also not moving in because there is no secondary school.

HSC’s survey report representing 556 local children also backs this argument. Over 50% said they were considering leaving due to no high school, where as 96% would use it if one existed.

The new Precinct Structure Planning Guidelines for growth area developments (launched by Justin Madden MP) state that at a population of 30,000 planning for secondary school should be included. HSC argue that Coburg is a growth area and the population of Coburg plus Coburg North had exceeded 30,000 back in 2006. Yet still no secondary school planned.

The guidelines also call for the following design response –“How are children encouraged to walk or cycle to school ?”

In Coburg North and in fact Coburg and West Preston, walking or cycling to school is not an option as there is no state secondary school for this community. This appears to be at odds with State, Federal and council aims to reduce green house gas emission and doesn’t allow for the health benefits and greater connectedness to community that come from active transport to school.

Minister Bronwyn Pike, in a letter to Kelvin Thompson MP re HSC, said that "a provision plan is developed for each community."

Minister Pike said "data considered for the plan includes population data, current and future demand and local community education needs.

Redevelopment of the Kodak and Pentridge sites and the likely number of families and children who will live in these areas will be considered as part of the overall facilities planning for both primary and secondary schools in Coburg."

DPCD and ID projections show the Coburg SLA has the greatest number of children and the highest expected growth in Moreland - add to this the very large number of children in West Preston and there is clearly great level of need for a secondary school and many families being denied equity of access to secondary education.

HSC asks that the report considers the Darebin side of Elizabeth Street when considering provision and demand as there is a Natural Neighbourhood which spans the Darebin and Moreland border and indeed the border of Pascoe Vale and Preston state electorates.

The Kodak development is occurring within this secondary education black hole which represents a major gap in provision and can only add to the need.

HSC asks that the community infrastructure report reflects this.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Hall

Can you help us promote Playtime in the Park?

2010-02-27T22:45:00.001+11:00

Playtime in the Park is shaping up to be a great afternoon. Not only do you get to show your support for a high school in Coburg but the entertainment looks fantastic! We have comedian Justine Sless, music from Short Order Schefs, Ross McLennan and Boxty. There will also be a sausage sizzle, cake stall and face painting, all in the beautiful surrounds of the Coburg Lake Reserve. Why not make a day of it and attend the MCPEG Walk in the Park in the morning then mosey on up to the lake? You'll be in good company, that's for sure.The rentention of open space, the need for a general entry high school, both big issues for Coburg right now.
HSC Three to a Page DL

We have flyers which you can print out and pass around, perhaps at work, school or childcare. HSC is also now on Facebook and we'd love it if you could find us and spread the word over there too.

High School for Coburg presents Playtime in the Park

2010-02-22T21:54:00.006+11:00

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!

2010-02-18T14:27:00.001+11:00

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!

Rally for a High School

2010-02-17T23:02:00.001+11:00

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.

Opinion Ignored

2010-02-10T22:22:00.003+11:00

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.

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

2010-02-02T10:37:00.001+11:00

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 schools where 63 per cent of Australians are educated deserve better

2009-12-03T15:04:00.004+11:00

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.

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.

Where will your children go to high school?

2009-11-08T22:49:00.003+11:00

At the HSC Q & A night, a survey was launched to establish parental attitudes and intentions regarding current secondary education options available to the greater Coburg community (including Coburg and West Preston).

The survey was availble to complete at the Q & A night and then online. In total, 265 surveys were returned, covering 535 school age children. While the survey is by no means exhaustive, the main results are so strong that HSC believe it serves as an indicator of parental attitudes and highlights the very difficult choices that parents in Coburg and West Preston need to make regarding their childrens secondary education.

Click through below to read, download or email this survey.

High School for Coburg Survey Report October 2009

At the end of the survey, you can read what parents wrote in response to the open ended questions, giving a real insight into what people are thinking.

What are your thoughts?

Where will your children go to high school?

Emails to the education department

2009-10-22T22:14:00.007+11:00

So we can strengthen our case for a new local secondary school, HSC asked the Education department for some extra statistics. The email below was sent on 14 October 2009.

Dear Krys and Peter,

Thank you again for your time and attention at the meeting with Christine Campbell MP, Moreland council, Coburg primary and HSC.
I am writing on behalf of HSC to formally request the release of the following documents to HSC .

1) Provision Plan for the Coburg community ( As referred to in Bronwyn Pike MP's letter 26 May 2009, scanned copy available if necessary)
2) Enrolment data for Coburg SLA primary schools, West Preston schools-namely Bell, Newlands and Preston West and Brunswick East primary.
3) Exit data from the same schools showing which high schools the year 6 students have gone to.
4) When completed, the postcode analysis of the schools above which we thank you for agreeing to undertake .

At an earlier meeting with HSC you stated that the onus is on HSC to make the case for a high school for Coburg and as such we require access to the above data.
Information HSC have recently obtained and are able to offer the department in order to assist you in determining local community educational needs includes:

Catholic primary enrolment data and exit figures for Catholic grade 6 entering state high schools in 2009 West Preston population data.

Once released -The HSC survey including comprehensive verbatim responses from parents representing 556 children .

We respectfully ask that you please reply within a week acknowledging receipt of this request and that the data above (excluding the post code analysis) be made available by the end of October .

Kind Regards

Cate Hall
HSC

On the same day we received this reply

Hi Cate

Due to current urgent projects currently being undertaken at the regional and school levels we are not able to provide information to meet your requested timelines.

Will provide when time permits

Peter Enright

On 15 October 2009, we responded as follows...

Hi Peter

Thanks for your quick reply.

I do understand that you must be very busy with the with the re-branding ,stimulus spending etc etc.

In the meantime could we please have the data that is easily accessable and emailable?

By this I mean:

Exit data showing which high schools year 6 are going to in 2010 for Coburg SLA, West Preston and Brunswick East. Krys said this data would be ready for the HSC/dept. meeting 17 Aug but we didn't get around to discussing it as the main topics ended up being enrolments and population data.

Primary school enrolment data and projections for Coburg SLA plus West Preston and Brunswick East. These I presume are also easy to email as they appeared to be on a printout at our last two meetings

You may not have this data for the Bell and Preston West primaries yet but you do have the other West Preston school -Newlands.

So we will gladly take what you have at this stage.

Thanks again.

Regards
Cate Hall

The numbers stack up so where is the planning for a High School for Coburg?

2009-10-14T21:11:00.001+11:00

by Darren Saffin
The suburbs of Coburg and Coburg North meet the new Precinct Structure Plan guidelines for outer suburban developments announced by The Hon Minister for Planning Justin Madden MP.*

The suburbs have a combined population of over 30,800 (2006 ABS Census) not to mention the other suburbs in any new state secondary school catchment zone. The obvious difference is Coburg is not an outer suburban development, but Coburg has the greatest population growth in children of all suburbs in Moreland (iD Forecast population projections) and has the Coburg Initiative, Pentridge Prison development and old Kodak factory site development. All of which mean the continued growth of secondary school age children and a very real lack of local community options for secondary school education – an education blackhole.

Public consultation has begun for the development of the former Maribyrnong Defence Site, which Justin Madden has already said will contain schools. Meanwhile in Alphington, the Government is set to negotiate with developers to buy land to build a local government secondary school. These are both commendable actions. Where is the same consideration for Coburg and surrounds which have a great need already and more growth forecast? It is hard not to be cynical with a state election coming up and seeing the safest Labour seat in Melbourne being neglected while vote buying happens around it.

*The new Precinct Structure Plan guidelines for outer suburban developments state that for populations up to 30,000 the plan should provide space for a government secondary school. See Growth Areas Authority - Part Two - Page 31 - Key Principles for Designing Integrated Community Facilities.

City of Moreland birthrates continue to rise

2009-10-10T22:03:00.004+11:00

Moreland Birth rates went up again in this last financial year by 1.2% (from 2008). According to Robyn Mitchell at the City of Moreland,

This means birth rates have increased by 21.35% since 2001. Talking to other municipalities around Melbourne it seems this has been a bit of a trend - and if that is the case, it means the ability of surrounding municipalities to take Moreland's high school overflow is going to be severely compromised.

According to the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) "Suburbs in time " for Coburg, in 2006, 0-4 yr olds were almost back at the level they were in the 1980's when there were many more schools in the area. As shown below, births have continued to rise since 2006 with Coburg having highest birth rate in Moreland.

There has also been a big increase in tertiary educated residents, these in large part are the families who do not want to have to migrate out due to the lack of a state secondary school (as has been the pattern in these parts to date) because they value this community. There has also been a decrease in families who would classify themselves as religious, leading to increase in demand for state education.

Large numbers of young people in Coburg Statistical Local Area (SLA) are hard to refute now given the similarity between Moreland's ID projections and the DPCD projections.West Preston numbers can be added to the Coburg SLA numbers for the full picture.

West Preston by Census Collection Districts, drawn from Australian Bureau of Statistics CDATA.

Age Group	Males	Females	Total
0-4 years	687	647	1334
5-9 years	587	496	1083
10-14 years	505	460	965
15-19 years	499	480	979
0-19 years	2965	2083	4361

The Education Department count Newlands Primary which is actually in West Preston but not Bell Primary or Preston West. HSC argue strongly for these to be included in any analysis of the need for a high school in Coburg. Furthermore if Newlands Primary is included then the population of the suburb surrounding should also be taken in to account in demographic analysis, not just the portion attending from Moreland. Conversely, the Darebin schools mentioned above are attended by many Coburg children so should be included in school enrolment data being considered regarding the need for a high school in Coburg.

The need and demand for a quality state open entry high school for the local community which is the Coburg SLA plus West Preston is here now and will definitely be sustained into the future.

Looking for secondary school students to be interviewed by Class TV

2009-10-10T21:14:00.001+11:00

Class TV is a television show made by the students at Thornbury High School. They are interested in making a story on our push for a school and are looking for secondary school students to talk to about:

How far they have to travel to school
If they go to different secondary schools than friends from primary school
If it would be better to have a local high school

If you have any questions or if you know some students who can be interviewed by Class TV please contact us - highschool4coburg@gmail.com or Darren Saffin 0411 089 209.

September update

2009-10-04T01:04:00.003+10:00

Dear High School for Coburg Supporters,
Thank you for your support and assistance through the last busy month. There are currently over 1,500 supporters and together we are continuing to drive the goal of an open entry state secondary school for Coburg and surrounding areas.

New numbers show need for school
The good news is that last week the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) released new population projections for Melbourne which support Moreland City Council's (MCC) own forecasts.
Both sets of numbers show most growth in the suburb of Coburg. Both are at odds with the Northern Region Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) projections which show growth mainly in the north of Moreland and much less over all.
Once more we see valid population projections supporting the need for a High School for Coburg. Where are the plans for one?
In the last week, the Government has been seen negotiating to build a school in a new housing development in Alphington. The same happened in Maribyrnong earlier this year.
Coburg demands the same planning and respect for our children. Email the Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike and tell her what you think - bronwyn.pike@parliament.vic.gov.au

Meeting with DEECD and Christine Campbell
HSC attended the first of a series of meetings with Northern Region DEECD, Christine Campbell MP, school Principals and Moreland City Council.
Christine reiterated her call for Year 7 intake in 2011 at the Coburg Senior High School.
Everyone present also explained the level of public demand for a high school and the high numbers of families leaving or considering leaving the area (or have left already) because there is no school.
To help reinforce that case to the Department of Education:
• If you are in this situation (or know someone who is) and are willing to have your details recorded, please email us at – highschool4coburg@gmail.com
• Please fill in our online survey by the end of the September school holidays. We are getting very strong results but the more the better!

Coburg misses out on spending on secondary schools

In the Moreland Leader was mention of huge spending planned for Box Forest and Fawkner secondary schools including new subsidised uniforms. There is also a push for spending at Brunswick Secondary College to cater for more students.
This contrasts starkly with NO planning or spending on secondary education in Coburg.
Make your voice heard on this important issue. Email the Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike and tell her we deserve better - bronwyn.pike@parliament.vic.gov.au
Also let your local member know how you feel and make sure we get a local high school:
Christine Campbell, Member for Pascoe Vale - christine.campbell@parliament.vic.gov.au
Carlo Carli, Member for Brunswick - carlo.carli@parliament.vic.gov.au
Robin Scott, Member for Preston - robin.scott@parliament.vic.gov.au

Email us: highschool4coburg@gmail.com
Call us:

Denis Matson JP: 0419 747 748

Cate Hall: 9354 3053

Morena Milani: 9025 0839

Letter from Christine Campbell to the Moreland Leader

2009-09-11T16:13:00.013+10:00

The letter below is from Christine Campbell MP to the editor of the Moreland Leader, clarifying her position and calling for Year 7 to commence at Coburg Senior High School. You can view the original letter here.

September 8

The Editor
Moreland Leader
Fax:9481 2083

Dear Editor,

I wish to clarify for your reader, my call for Coburg Senior High School to be expanded to a 7-12 years secondary school. When CSHS opened in 2007 the initial three year plan was for 900 students in years 10-12 by 2010 - this equates to 300 students per year level. School facilities have been designed and developed accordingly. The schools website shows the latest enrolment figure as 207.

I have been advised that Department of Education guidelines require a critical mass of 200 students per year level for a new school to be considered. Analysis by Moreland City Council of population projection data supports the need for a high school but analysis of the same data by the Department of Education concludes that there is not a need. It is vital that we have the correct figures.

Currently, based on the most conservative analysis of the figures, there would be enough year 7 students seeking enrolment at a Coburg high school in 2011 to establish at least two classes, an approach consistent with the process approved by the education department for the commencement of CSHS. As with CSHS, the number of classes in subsequent years would increase. Incidentally, this would also assist VCE numbers at CSHS.

It can be concluded that with so much space already available at Coburg Senior High School and the Department's previous flexibility with their enrolment guidelines that the opportunity is there to meet the needs of the community. It would follow that Year would start in 2012 and Year 9 in 2013. The existing facilities are brand new, state of the art and designed to be expanded as enrolments require.

This is why I have written to the Minister for Education requesting that provisions be made for a Year 7 intake in January 2011 at the current CSHS site.

My constituents, particularly those in Coburg and many in Pascoe Vale are not eligible for enrolment in their closest secondary school and Pascoe Vale Girls College is under considerable pressure with a long waiting list. I will continue to bring my constituents' concerns to the Minister's attention.

Yours sincerely

Hon Christine Campbell
Member for Pascoe Vale

School zones

2009-09-09T23:48:00.007+10:00

by Darren Saffin

It is time to clear up the issue of school zones that has been muddying the waters recently in the Moreland Leader. Carlo Carli says in his letter to the Moreland Leader that right now different schools are having their pick of students from outside their zones and drawing many local students away (of course because there is no local school). He then talks about parents losing their rights to send their children to other schools if a new Coburg High School was to be built because zones would change.

On the website of the Department of Education is a resource called The Victorian Government Schools Reference Guide. In section 4.1 are the guidelines to what schools children can attend - It in no way, shape or form denies any child the right to apply to attend any school anywhere in Melbourne.

Section 4.1.1.6.1 says:

A child resident in the neighbourhood area has a right to attend the school if that is the wish of the parents/guardians. If the parents/guardians do not wish the child to attend either the neighbourhood school or the same school being attended by a brother or sister who resides at the same address, they have the right to choose any other school in which space is available.

A new school in Coburg won’t change this fact or affect parent’s rights and will offer another choice for parents. Parents can apply to send their children to any school and the children will be able to attend any school they are accepted into.

End of story.

Online comments in the Moreland Leader

2009-08-26T22:42:00.008+10:00

The online comments for the Moreland leader article - HAVE YOUR SAY: Brunswick MP Carlo Carli slates Coburg high school bid - have been running hot over the last two days. Interesting reading, I encourage everyone to visit and chime in.

Councillor Update from High School for Coburg

2009-08-25T22:11:00.003+10:00

This is the text of an email sent by Catherine Hall to the Moreland Council on 23/08/09

Dear Mayor and councillors,

Thank you to councillors John Kavanagh, Toby Archer and Kathleen Mathews-Ward and to Barry Hahn for attending HSC Q&A on 19 Aug. Special thanks to Cr.Oscar Yildez for being a panelist on the night. Apologies if we missed any other councillors.

On being informed councillors are to have a meeting with Wayne Craig from the education department Northern Region we thought it best to give you a quick update.

Families supporting HSC 1,250

1)NUMBERS DISCREPANCY BETWEEN MORELAND COUNCIL AND ED. DEPT.
High School for Coburg (HSC) have had two meetings with the department to date. At the July one with Kyrs Hendrickson and Peter Enright it soon became apparent that their numbers were very different to council's projections. ID who did council's, predict the only significant growth in youth demographic is going to occur in Coburg, which already has the greatest number of young people in Moreland. The department's demographers say the growth is going to be in the north of Moreland and don't predict anywhere near the same growth. HSC directed them to Robyn Mitchell, council research officer to verify the numbers we are using and they agreed to meet us again and review the discrepancy. When we met with them on 17 Aug we reiterated that ID have the best record for projecting accurately compared with ABS and DSE and are the only company that comes to council to do local research for their projections. The department response was to say that ID come and see what council want and gear the results that way because they want the work.

Apart from being a slur on ID and indirectly, the council this is a flawed supposition because why would council want inflated projections? This would entail expensive preparation for provision of services that aren't required. Also it doesn't explain the excellent record ID have for accuracy and the fact that 95% of councils use them.Example of projections done by the dept demographers: Moreland population will increase by 4,000 by 2031.This is patently extremely underestimated because there are 16,000 new homes estimated to be built in that time.

We say the numbers are here in the Coburg area now and even more so into the future.

2) EMPTY SEATS AT FAR AWAY SCHOOLS
HSC applauds work being done at Box Forest and Fawkner high schools to increase profile and enrolments and this should help enrich those communities however indicating that there are spaces at those far away schools is not a blow to the campaign for a high school for this community. I imagine there are also plenty of spaces at the Coburg Senior High site.

3) BRUNSWICK VERSUS COBURG??
There has been an idea put forward from a certain political quarter that the HSC campaign will work against Brunswick high school's submission for funding to enable 150 extra places.We do not wish to get into an either/or scenario but if forced into that corner, I will make a very big noise about the numbers for high school aged young people below:

12 -17 year olds in 2006 /2016 /2031.

The 2006 number is indisputable ABS, the next two are ID forecast projections.

Brunswick 739 / 807 / 883
Coburg 1,509 / 1,795 / 2,020

4) PRESTON WEST PRIMARY
This school is very big, has just decided they want to cap preps at 100 and the school council has voted in support of HSC. The department do not include it in their calculations but it is part of this community needing a high school. Coburg West Primary, which is beyond capacity, capped and zoned is the most represented school in HSC working party and furnished us with 100's of supporters at their fete. Brunswick East Primary parents are also big supporters and Carlo Carli has said that the increases in Brunswick primary enrolments are mainly Coburg families.

This is to illustrate to you the large area we represent which contains families considering moving away because their community has no high school. We will be able to show you evidence of that once our survey has been input and analysed and we thank council for assisting with that process.

Kind Regards and apologies for lengthy email,
Catherine Hall
HSC

Chris Bonnor's speech from the HSC Q&A

2009-08-24T12:56:00.002+10:00

If you were at our Q&A (or even if you weren't) and you want to know why a local school for the local community is so important, please read our keynote speaker's address below.

Chris Bonnor

Introduction
A couple of years ago I wrote a book with Jane Caro called The Stupid Country, how Australia is dismantling public education. We started with a fictitious letter from a principal to Year 6 parents saying in effect: if you want to enrol here you best be quick, because there are now fewer public high schools nearby.

Jane and I thought we were guessing about the future – but this future has already arrived for you, here in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

We said that more and more people would be forced to knock on the door of schools that set an entry test, charge fees, teach a particular religion or schools, which for other reasons, would turn them away. What we long regarded as one of our birthrights, a quality, free local secondary school, is progressively becoming harder to find.

Communities and social capital
Like many of you I grew up in a community with just one school – and the community poured all its energies into making it a quality school. I know some things have changed. Yes, most of us live in dormitory suburbs where people sleep at night and go elsewhere to work during the day. Families pay a big enough price for that. Many working parents often don’t see their kids in daylight hours. They no longer make a contribution to their community because they are rarely in it. We see the evidence of loss of community in so many ways.

But it shouldn’t be like that for our kids. Their growing years should be years they spend in their local community, growing up with their friends, enjoying and contributing to the networks.

This is a big part of social capital: friendships, professional and vocational circles, clubs, neighborhoods, churches and various other networks - when we can bond with others and bridge across the social and cultural divides. In this way we provide mutual support and benefit from learning from each other – and we welcome strangers in our midst.

This is the stuff of democracy. Strong social capital helps us all and each of us individually. It creates higher educational achievement, better performing institutions, faster economic growth, less crime and violence in communities and even better health and longer life expectancy. You can’t easily put a dollar value on all of this but there are certainly dollar costs when we don’t have it.

The importance of community schools
Schools are a big part of this because local schools are a focus for our interests, values and expectations. Schools are increasingly the most reliable source of stability and social support for many children and families.

But the effectiveness of schools in these ways depends firstly whether they exist and secondly on whether they are strongly supported.

When students travel to attend a school somewhere else the focus of the student’s family shifts to the other community. In effect the social capital in the home community is transferred to someone else’s school and community. This is especially noticeable when the student commutes away from a disadvantaged community because families don’t want to mix it with strangers. When this happens some communities, and their schools especially, suffer.

The new marketplace
Over the last two decades Governments have shown that they don’t fully understand what a school is. In one sense you can’t blame them. They have been driven by numbers and the idea that the economic marketplace will solve all our problems: if people don’t want to use public transport then let’s build freeways. If people don’t want to attend a school just close it.

Education changed from being a community and social benefit to being an advantage for individuals. To help families make individual choices we have now created a lopsided provision of things which we see as being desirable: selective schools, senior colleges, single sex, specialist schools, private schools.

Governments were also told to butt out of providing services. Private providers would do it better, we were told. The irony is that we did all this to increase choice, but in the process denied some communities of the most important choice of all: an accessible quality public school. Governments were told to save money and never go into debt. So many schools were closed.

Every time it happened it was couched in the free-market language of choice, advantage, diversity and opportunity. It probably made you feel all warm and runny at the time. We now know what the unregulated and rampant free-market did to the world economy. It’s been a shock. The same focus has also damaged our framework of schools. There are now worrying social and cultural as well as educational divides between schools – and as a result, between communities. We are going to pay a price for this.

Dollars or sense?
But tonight gives cause for so much hope. Maybe we’ve all had a big enough shock to prod us back to valuing community and social good – and valuing everything that schools provide. Maybe when we open or close schools we’ll also look at all the benefits and costs. A school is more than just a place of learning, more than a VCE factory. It isn’t a branch plant of a business, to be given the flick at the first sign of red ink on the ledger book.

Do we really save when kids have to commute to bigger schools in more distant locations - or has the real cost neatly been flicked from governments to parents? How do we measure loss of family time and community cohesion and the longer term costs and benefits in dollar terms?

Sometimes we have to carry smaller schools and remember one of the basics of urban geography course 101, namely that towns and suburbs go through phases of growth and relative decline and in so many cases re-growth – and that in this time there are fundamental services which will always be needed. It might be enticing to sell off a school – but they are extremely expensive to re-establish.

When you seek to establish a new school, as you are, you gather the figures to show that there is strong local demand. But we also have to re-educate political leaders about the whole purpose of schools. They need to re-learn about social capital and the part played by schools in creating the bonding and bridging between people within our community. A whole generation of leaders and opinion-makers have forgotten these things.

Taken for granted
In one sense this campaign in Coburg and in other places shows that communities cannot be taken for granted. The wake-up call is not only needed for governments but for us. We can’t just assume that the people and institutions which create communities, and become the glue which binds them together, will always be there.

We can’t just allow education to become a commodity or product - something that you might have to purchase to gain a private advantage. We’ve taken our schools, especially our public schools, for granted and we have lost many of them.

Sure, some public schools also had to relearn the meaning of service and learn about the value in having parents as part of the life of the school. But much of it comes back to us: we use it or we lose it.

So congratulations to the high school for Coburg campaign on its notable achievements to date and, I’m sure, the promise of much more to come.

Chris Bonnor

HSC Q&A forum

2009-08-20T21:53:00.008+10:00

by Denis Matson

Last night (19th August, 2009) about 170 people skipped dinner and found someone to care for the kids so that they could attend the High School for Coburg (HSC) forum at the Coburg Town Hall.

There is not one open-entry all-years high school between Brunswick Secondary College, which is bursting at the seams, and Box Forest College, miles away in Glenroy. The forum was a chance for parents in the area to exert pressure for the opening of a secondary school. While many parents want to have "choices" about the best school for their children, residents in & around Coburg don't have any choice.

Chris Bonnor, from University of New South Wales, made the trip to speak on the night. Chris is co-author of "The Stupid Country" about the dismantling of Australia's public education. He made a strong case for the government to improve its funding of public education and threw his weight behind the campaign.

Angry parents responded to ridiculous statements from the Education Department about there being "insufficient demand" for a school in the area. Cate Hall, from the HSC committee, said that there were already nearly 4,000 secondary-school aged children in & around Coburg who had to travel out of the area to go to school.

The forum was chaired by Rod Quantock and speakers included comedian and columnist Catherine Deveney and local identity Phil Cleary, all of whom went to school in the area. Ex-Education Minister, Barry Pullen spoke and added his support. Barry was heavily involved in the successful campaign to re-open Fitzroy High.

HSC representatives urged the large crowd to continue their vocal support for the campaign, which already has a subscriber list of more than 1,200 families. The HSC group has been lobbying the Education Minister, Bronwyn Pike, local politicians and the Education Department.

Join Education Minister Bronwyn Pike for a live Q&A 11:30am Wednesday 19 August.

2009-08-18T21:39:00.003+10:00

Education Minister Bronwyn Pike is making herself available on line tomorrow for a live Q & A on the Premier’s website. This is a great opportunity (on the same day as our own Q&A session) to fire in your questions as to why there is still no all-years, open entry High School in Coburg. Please send in a question now or tune in tomorrow at 11.30am tomorrow.

Policy background to the HSC story

2009-08-14T23:26:00.011+10:00

by Catherine Hall

The suburb of Coburg is at the epicentre of a big black hole with regards to inclusive, comprehensive secondary education. The northern metropolitan region contains 50% of the lowest socio-economic status (SES) government schools in Melbourne and Moreland has been ranked 7 in the top 10 disadvantaged suburbs. We know that successive government policies have resulted in a huge divide between rich and poor schools (see Stephen Lamb, School reform and Inequality in Urban Australia: A Case of Residualizing the Poor,2007)

The chart below shows how federal funding to private schools (the dark line) has been disproportionately greater than federal funding to government schools.

Figure 1: Commonwealth Government Recurrent Expenditure on Government and Private Schools: 1995-2004 ($’000,000)(see Stephen Lamb, 2007 page7)

Exposure to the free market has resulted in poor schools becoming small schools, further increasing the disadvantage. This needs to be turned around, with funding targeted where it is need most. The graph below shows the declining enrolments in poorer schools.

Figure 2: Changes in Mean School Enrolments, 1980-2004, by SES (quintile): Melbourne Secondary Schools with Enrolments in Every Year (see Stephen Lamb, 2007 page 19)

A recent survey by the The Equality Trust comparing 20 developed countries showed that those with the greatest divide between haves and have-nots had the worst social health outcomes, for example violent crime, teenage pregnancy, obesity and levels of trust across all levels of society, even in the upper and middle class (see the The SpritLevel: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, Richard L Wilkonson and Kate Pickett and as reported in The Age article on 20 April 2009 Shattering the myth of equality and again in The Age on 16 August 2009 Whatever Happened to the Classless Society?). According to the United Nations Development Programme, Australia is the fifth-most unequal developed country and unequal access to quality education is surely a big wedge in the equity gap. The whole community will benefit from the provision of a local, general access high school for the young people of the Coburg region.

Chris Bonnor , co-author with Jane Caro of The Stupid Country, Austalia's dismantling of public education, has shown that when a school is supported by all sectors of society, for example as happens in some remote country schools, it prospers (read Chris Bonnor at National Public Education Forum March 2009 -Schools and the Marketplace -fallacy and fallout for a description of such a school in Tumut). Closer to home, Debney Park Secondary College is an example of a school that has gone from one regarded by many as a "default school" for poor migrant families living in the nearby commission flats to a school that also attracts middle class parents, resulting in a more diverse school community and better educational outcomes for all the school's students. Read the full story of Debney Park's success here.

The High School for Coburg group believe that the families who have recently flocked to this region, including those with one or more tertiary educated parents, are very community minded and would strongly support a quality, all inclusive secondary school in Coburg in preference to crossing town for private education or moving to be closer to a public secondary school. Local state MP Christine Campbell's recent Intern's report showed 50% of grade 4 and 5 families who filled out her survey would choose a Coburg high school. We believe this school would be embraced by families from all walks of life, promoting social inclusion and providing local jobs and local spending. Reduction in car travel is also a more environmentally sustainable option. Helping to bridge the equity gap will result in better social, health and education outcomes for local students and the whole local community.

Can you help spread the word about the HSC Q&A forum?

2009-08-11T22:28:00.006+10:00

Next Wednesday night, the 19th of August 2009, High School for Coburg are hosting a Questions and Answers, forum panel and discussion evening at Coburg Town Hall. Full details are here.

Our poster is available for download in English and in Greek on our resources page over here.

Please help us spread the word! Thank you.

July update

2009-07-31T19:08:00.009+10:00

by Catherine Hall

The HSC working group have been everywhere! There are now 1,200 families on the contact list, with more being added every day!!

1) Awareness Campaign = Numbers = Action = High School for Coburg !!!

This is the ongoing process of informing families in our proposed school catchment of the realities of secondary education provision in this area and what HSC are doing to improve the situation.
To this end we have:

Obtained a Quick Response grant from Moreland City Council for printing purposes.
Distributed HSC flyers and petitions at schools, kinders and childcare centres, resulting in increase of our support base to 1,200 families.
Spoken at school councils and received a resolution of support from Preston West Primary School.
Promoted the HSC Q&A evening in many school, kindergarten and childcare newsletters, placing handbills for this event in kinder/childcare pockets.
Sought and been auspiced by Newlands Community Centre who have also assisted with printing and PR.
Given 250 Q&A evening posters to Coburg Traders Association for distribution to their shops and also in their newsletter.
Received a donation from a local parent of 11,000 household letterbox drop.
Received a donation of printing and pens for the HSC Q&A evening from Coburg Officeworks.
Catherine Hall and Chris Bonnor (by phone from Sydney) spoke on RRR radio show The Grapevine.
Leila Alloush from Victorian Arabic Social Services was interviewed on SBS radio on the High School for Coburg issue. She promoted HSC Q&A event and encouraged parents to be active and come along.
Morena Milani appeared in the Moreland Leader along with Chris Bonnor who will be the keynote speaker at the HSC Q&A evening.
HSC members have also been very active writing letters to the editor of the Moreland Leader.
There are now real estate boards in three locations for High School for Coburg in general and another for HSC Q&A evening.
We have had several meetings with Jenny Merkus , Barry Hahn and Robyn Mitchell at Moreland City Council to discuss how council could help with information gathering and the awareness part of our campaign, which they felt was very important.

2) Political Campaign

We have attended Moreland City Council meetings and obtained formal support for the High School for Coburg campaign.
We have sourced recent population and household projections by forecast id which were commissioned by Moreland council and have discussed analysis of those figures with a Moreland council research officer.
HSC representatives attended the Coburg Initiative design workshop to talk about need for a high school in Coburg and discuss importance of considering this in planning.
We have spoken to several local ALP branches and gained formal support from all.
We have met with Robin Scott, State MP for Preston further to meeting him last year to get help with West Preston population statistics.
There have been meetings with Justin Madden's chief of staff, Martin Dixon, Shadow Minister for education, Jenny Mikakos, Member for Northern Metro region Legislative council and Martin Ferguson, Federal Member for Batman.
We have had ongoing communications with Kelvin Thomson, Federal MP for Wills who established a working party around the HSC issue which several of our group attended.
Christine Campbell, State Member for Pascoe Vale attended an HSC meeting.
As a result of HSC action within the local ALP branch, a motion was passed unopposed at ALP State Conference:
This ALP State Conference therefore calls on the State Government to conduct an urgent review of the current and future provision of secondary schools in the Northern Region of Melbourne and to make specific provision from both a planning and financial perspective for the establishment of open entry public secondary schools with particular reference to Coburg and its surrounding suburbs.
HSC called for Carlo Carli and Christine Campbell to chair an open committee which would assess the case for a high school in Coburg.
We received a letter to Catherine Hall from Federal Education Minister, Bronwyn
Pike. This letter is interesting because it adds Thornbury High School to the list of schools our area could choose from - but it is too far away. She also mentions for the first time the threshold requirement of 1000-1100 pupils long-term, which is easily achievable going by council projections, for a new school and that Brunswick Secondary College did not get funding for new work which would have allowed for extra places>

3) Education Department

Morena Milani, Catherine Hall and Peter Sharples met with Krystyn Hendrickson and Peter Enright from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Northern Metro Region .We discussed our statistics work and the projections commissioned by Moreland City Council. While the ID forecasts show Coburg as the only suburb in Moreland with significant growth in youth demographic ,the department's figures show growth only in the north. Krys and Peter agreed to discuss the ID work with council and meet with us again on 5th of August when they will also have projected numbers from the primary schools.

Watch this space!