RESPONSETOSCHOOLPROVISIONREVIEW:COBURG NETWORK2012 April,2012

Authors: MeganEddy CatherineHall Contact: catherineahall@iprimus.com.au

 CONTENTS
WHYAHIGHSCHOOLFORCOBURG?...........................................................2 Maps:SecondaryEducationBlackHole.2 Graphs:LocalPrimarySchoolEnrolment.3 WHERESHOULDACOBURGHIGHBELOCATED?.........................................5 Photos:BoardedupdisusedroomsattheCoburgSeniorHighSchool..5 WHENISACOBURGHIGHNEEDED?............................................................6 RECOMMENDATION6 References.6

TheHighSchoolforCoburg(HSC)groupwelcometheopportunitytorespondtothe SpatialVisionreportSchoolProvisionReview:CoburgNetwork2012(herein referredtoasTheReview).Itisourunderstandingthiswillbesubmittedtothe Hon.MartinDixon,MinisterforEducationalongsidetheDEECDreport. WHYAHIGHSCHOOLFORCOBURG? InCoburgandsurroundsthereare22primaryschoolsbutnoopenentrystate secondaryschool

PrimaryschoolsinCoburgandsurroundsThesecondaryschooleducationblackhole Key:Greyrestrictedaccess(girls/senior).Whiteno
longerexists.Redno/reducedaccessforCCAstudents

HSCarecampaigningforanopenentry712highschoolforthepeoplewholivein theCoburgCoreArea(CCA)describedinthereview.ThisareaconsistsofCoburg, CoburgNorth,andpartsofPascoeVale,PascoeValeSouthandWestPreston: Thereviewstateswellover5000secondaryagedpersonscurrentlyreside intheCCA,withaprojectedriseto6000by2021.(pg11) Thesuburbsinthereviewwiththehighestnumberofsecondaryaged persons,andthehighestaggregategrowthareReservoir,Prestonand Coburg(Table1).NeitherPrestonnorCoburghasanopenentry secondaryschool. ThereviewprojectsastandardLongTermEnrolment(LTE)of2,073(Table5),6.25% higherthanpreviouslyprojected(2,474includingstatewideproviderdemand)pg 22,withintheCCA: ThisgreatlyexceedstheDEECD1,100LTEthresholdrequirementfora secondaryschool. TheDEECDbuildsnewschoolstomeetlongtermenrolments1 PrimaryenrolmentandbirthratedataclearlyshowthatthedemonstratedhighLTE willbesustainedandfurtherincreasebeyond2021.Thisisnotashorttermproblem: TotalenrolmentsinstateprimaryschoolsintheCCAincreasedby888 from200920132. 100%moreprepthangradesixstudentsin20122. 30%birthrateincreaseinMorelandCouncilandsimilarlyhighinDarebin Councilsince20003.

 Primaryschoolenrolments2Prepschoolenrolments2

Theabovedatarepresentsthe11feederschoolsBell,BrunswickEast,BrunswickNorthWest,Coburg,CoburgWest*, CoburgNorth,Moreland,Newlands,PascoeVale,PascoeValeNorth,PrestonWest*,ReservoirWest.*cappedschools. DatagatheredfromschoolsdirectlyandDEECD

Currently,thereareeight(notnine)standardschoolsintheCoburgNetworkof secondaryschools(pg5). Thereviewconcludesthatschoolsinthecentralandsouthernareasofthenetwork areexpectedtofacecapacitypressuresfor79programs(pg23).Wewouldliketo pointoutthat: TheonlystandardentrycentralschoolisStrathmorewhichhasastrict enrolmentzonethattotallyexcludesCCA(AppendixD). Thesouthernschools(NorthcoteHS,ThornburyHSandBrunswickHS) haveenrolmentceilings.ThornburyHShascappedyr7enrolmentsfrom 2012.Forthepast10yearsatNorthcoteHSthedemandforplacesat year7hasoutstrippedplacesavailable4 o CCAstudentsareincreasinglyexcludedfromtheseschools.They areintheeducationblackhole.ThismeansfamiliesintheCCA oftenhavetotravelpasttheirgeographicallyclosestschool. Permanentcapacityattheseschoolshasashortfallof379projectedin 2016(table14)whichisabiggershortfallthaninthe2010report. o Thereviewdemonstratesatotalcapacitysurplusof352in2016 (Table16).Thissurplusisonlyachievedbyinstallingrelocatables mainlyatThornburyHSandNorthcoteHS. Relocatablesareforshorttermspikes1.TheDEECDbuildsnewschoolstomeet longtermenrolments1Usingrelocatablesatthefarawayexistingschools,willnot providealocalsolutionandwillnotoffsetthelackoflocalYear79provision. Theremainingthreeschoolsinthenetworkarelocatedinthenorthanddonot provideasolutionforCCAfamilies: The2010report5demonstratednoevidenceoftravelnorthtoschools, thusahighschoolinCoburgisunlikelytohaveanegativeimpacton northernschools. o HSCdatasupportsthisfinding,withthecommunityindicating northernschoolsaretoofarawayandsimplynotintheir community.6

Theexcellentworkbeingdoneinthenorthernschoolswillbeofgreat benefittothosecommunitiesastheyrapidlygrow(seefigure1ofthe review).

Thefourstatewideproviderschoolsinthenetworkalsodonotprovideany meaningfulwayofaddressingcapacityshortfall: Therearenowtwoseniorschools(only2.6kmapartfromeachother)and twogirlsonlyschoolsinthenetwork,highlightingtheneedforopenentry 712provisioninCCA HSCcandemonstratesupportanddemandforlocalprovision.Thealreadyvery engagedcommunityisavaluableresourcetohelpensureaqualityschool: TwelvelocalschoolsformallysupportHSC. Ina2011survey428respondents,representingover803childrensupport ahighschoolinCoburg8. Thereareapproximately650HSCFacebookfollowersand830peopleon ourHSCemaillist. MorelandandDarebinCouncilsbothformallysupportHSCasdomany localgroupsandbusinessesincludinglargedevelopers. FortyfivelettersofsupportforHSCcanbereadonthewebsite www.highschoolforcoburg.org TherecentsuccessofAlbertParkCollegefurtherreflectsthatMelbourniansdesirea localpublicschool.AlbertParkMiddleParkareahas400secondaryagedpersons,9 thesuburbofCoburgalonehasoverfourtimesthisnumber. Weapplaudthegovernmentsnonnegotiableprincipleofschoolcommunity integration10.Whenschoolsareintegratedwiththeircommunities,theycantap intoexpertisefacilitiesresourcesandideasandthecommunitybenefitsaswell10 WeareproudofourCCAcommunity,butareworriedforourchildrensfuture.The lackofahighschoolhasmanynegativeramificationsforourwholecommunityand children: ThecrucialFamilySchoolCommunityPartnershipcannotbeenabled. Middleyearchildrenwhoarealreadythemostvulnerabletodisengagement wouldparticularlybenefitfromthispartnership. Itisconstantlybeingbrokenupasfamiliesmoveawayortheirchildrentravel toofarawayschools. Impactsoncommunityhealthandwellbeing,environmentandeconomy. o Highschoolsincreaseliveability,andattractfamiliesandincrease investmentintothearea.11 Importantlywehavebeguntheworkinbuildingaclusteroflocalprimaryschools. TheseprimaryschoolsinpartnershipwithaCoburgHighSchoolwouldbethebasis ofacollaborativeK12modelofeducation,economiesofscale,andnextpractice partnershipswithlocalcommunityorganizationsandbusinessandindustry. 4

WHERESHOULDACOBURGHIGHBELOCATED? HSCrecommendstheCoburgSeniorHighSchool(CSHS)sitebecause: Provisionfor79studentsatCSHSisthemostcosteffective,timelyand efficientwaytoprovideanopenentry712statesecondaryschoolforCCA. Ideallylocatedforthefollowingreasons: o Centraltoaclusterofalreadysupportiveschools,thuscreating opportunitiesforcollaborationandeconomiesofscale.Possibilities includealanguageorsciencecentre. o SituatedwithintheCCA o Easilyaccessiblebypublictransport,walkingandcycling. o CentraltoCoburgPrincipalActivityCentre. Thelandandbuildingsarealreadydepartmentowned. Thereisexistingcapacityinthecurrentbuildingsminimizingcosts. Thisexcellentfacilityisgoingtowasteanddeterioratingduetononuse. TheschooliscurrentlyminimallyengagedwiththeCoburgcommunity.

CSHSlosingitslustreCSHSthehiddenjewel Boardedupwindows.Boardedupwindowsanddoors. TheCoburgcommunitysupportsitbecause: o Ofthefourcanvassedoptions66%of430respondentssupported provisionatCSHS.8 o 159of202voters(representing300children)onarecentHSC FacebookpollwouldsendtheirchildrentoaCoburgHigh.Afurther thirtynineagreeweneedaschool,fouraremovingduetonoschool. AddressestheissueofpoorenrolmentsatCSHS: o Enrolmentwasprojectedtobe900by2011,buthasplateauedatlow 200s(withnegligibleprojectedincrease).Tables2and9 Wouldachievethegovernmentsnonnegotiableprincipleofschool communityintegration.10 Thesitecouldthejewelofthenorth,notjustahiddengem. 5

WHENISACOBURGHIGHSCHOOLNEEDED? ACoburgHighSchoolisneedednow.Thereisanimmediateshortfall(pg23): The2010report5recommendationwastomanageaprojectedshortfallof 218from2016.The2012reviewhasdemonstratedthisshortfalloccurred andwassurpassedlastyear(271)Table14.Thereforemanagementis requiredimmediately. The12stateprimaryschoolsinCCAwillhave398Grade6studentsin201312. o Thisnumberdoesnotincludethestudentsatcatholicprimaryschools inCCA.HSChaveshownthat30%ofthesestudentswouldattenda statesecondary13. o Thebirthrate,primaryschoolenrolmentandprojectiondataalready quotedinthisreportsupportstheassertionthatthenumberof studentstransitioningfromGrade6atlocalprimaryschoolswill continuetoincreaseatagrowingratewellintothefuture. RECOMMENDATION:AYEAR7INTAKEATTHECOBURGSENIORHIGHSITEIN2014, ANDIMMEDIATEPROVISIONOFFUNDINGFORIMPLENTATIONPLANNING. References 1. DEECDStuartTeather,LeaderNewspapers,17April2012 2. HSCNov2011MoreLocalPrimarySchoolChildrenFewerSecondarySchool Options 3. MorelandcouncilbirthrategraphsuppliedbyBarryHahn,MorelandCouncil. DarebinBirthrategraphsuppliedbyKatherineWositzky 4. NorthcoteHighSchoolWebsiteaccessed18.4.2012 http://www.nhs.vic.edu.au/index.php?q=enrolment/general 5. SpatialVision.SecondarySchoolProvisionPlanfortheCoburgSchools Network:DemographicAnalysesOct2010 6. HSCOctober2009HighSchoolforCoburgSurveyReport 7. ProfessorRichardTeesereporttogovernmentsThechangingroleofpublic schoolinginAustraliaandnationalfundingarrangements.Centrefor ResearchandEducationSystems.2011 8. HSCMay2011OptionsforStateSecondaryProvisioninCoburg 9. Forecast.idPortPhillipCouncilwww.idforecast.com.au 10. HonM.DixonMPVictoriaasalearningcommunity'November2011 11. MelbournesNorththeNewKnowledgeEconomyNorthLink/NEITL2009 12. 2011projectionsprovidedbyDEECD 13. HSCCatholicSchoolsnumbersreport2009