Page 2496 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I would be pleased if you could advise which night will be suitable to yourself, and your Minister, so that the necessary information can be sent home to all parents of both Campuses, and to the parents of Year 5 and 6 students of our feeder Primary Schools.
The meeting was also adamant that the S.H.S. Parents and Citizens Association is the only forum in which the Weston Creek Community should publicly discuss the fate, and structure, of OUR HIGH SCHOOL.
So, the consultation process, which the Labor Government supposedly supports vehemently, has taken place. The majority of the education community have given their support for the amalgamation to proceed. They obviously feel that it is best for the education of their children to have the Waramanga campus up and operating as one school, Stromlo, as soon as possible - that being the beginning of the 1992 school year.
Why is it that the Follett Government cannot grasp the community's concerns in this matter in the same way that they did for the few at Cook and Lyons? In all of this we are talking about the best possible education for students. It is unfortunate that the meeting that was called on Monday, 29 July, was attended by many people who were not from the local area. In fact, in the audience there were several people from both the Cook and Lyons communities and many elderly people who obviously no longer have children in the education system.
The vote of 116 to 97 taken that night - I have to say that that is hardly an overwhelming majority - really reflects a lack of understanding. The vote was, "Forget the amalgamation; now we want to keep Holder High open and we want to keep it open for five years". What if there are no students attending Holder High in four years' time? Does it matter if the students have limited curricula? The projected enrolment figures for students at Holder High in 1992 alone speak volumes. With year 7 student enrolments likely to be approximately 40 and year 8 only 75, the education program at the school becomes difficult to maintain, particularly in the specialised areas such as language other than English, physical education, possibly technology and the arts.
With enrolments decreasing at Holder, especially in year 7 and year 8, it becomes increasingly difficult for adequate specialist staffing levels to be maintained. This could have an effect on the elective program for years 9 and 10 - the most important years our children face in education. Some of the programs that could be affected include things such as agriculture, woodwork, music, outdoor education - who knows? We really do not know. We can foresee that the quality standard of education at Holder will have to be put at risk as enrolments decline.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .