Parents from Melrose Primary and other schools the Stanhope government is closing want the Education Minister to please explain how the decision was made.

Louise Evans from the Chifley Action group, says “The Stanhope government couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us what criteria they used to earmark our schools for closure in the first place. Then they wouldn’t tell us what criteria we needed to address in our submissions to try and save our schools and now they won’t tell us how they finally decided to close our schools. 

“The lack of transparency and feed back is galling.”

Louise Evans said parents and communities gave huge amounts of time and effort trying to save their schools, sweating over submissions, not knowing whether the arguments they were putting forward were the ones the government wanted to hear. “They have played us for fools. We are angry.  

“We want to know how the decision was made on a school by school basis, the criteria used and the process followed.

“Minister Barr, its time for you to please explain!”

A community survey of householders in Chifley shows the Stanhope government’s figures of projected future enrolments at Melrose Primary School are wrong and the school has a viable future.

The Government’s Towards 2020 plan projects only 55 student enrolments for the year 2010 compared to a recent community survey which indicates an intended enrolment of 93 students in that year.  That’s a discrepancy of 69 percent.

Even the figures for 2006 were wrong. The ACT Department of Education and Training project enrolments 2006 – 2010, July 2005 projected an enrolment of just 65 students in 2006, when the actual enrolment for this year was 26 percent higher with 82 students.

Looking further into the future, the projected enrolments increase to 184 students in 2015, exceeding the current capacity of the school.(see table below) 

“These figures show that Melrose Primary School has a viable and bright future,” spokesperson for the Chifley Action Group, Louise Evans said.

“We understand the government has to make tough decisions, but those decisions must be  based on accurate data.”

A door to door survey of households in the Melrose Primary School Priority Enrolment Area was conducted by concerned parents in August 2006.  It revealed strong and growing interest in the local pre-school, primary school and YMCA facilities.

The community survey figures follow ABS data earlier this year which revealed that Chifley has one of the highest rates of growth of pre-school age children in Canberra. (Population Estimates by Age and Sex, Australia by Geographic Classification (3235.0.55.001) issued 30 June, 2006.

Another recent ABS publication (Births, Australia 2005 (33010), issued 17 October, 2006) shows births and fertility rates in Chifley are growing rapidly and the fertility rate is one of the highest in Canberra, in contrast to most other parts of the Woden Valley.  

“Not only will the numbers of students continue to grow, within seven years the school will be beyond capacity.  The Melrose school community has also proposed several options which would result in the school reaching capacity sooner.

“It would then be very short sighted to close Melrose Primary, when conservative estimates show it has a long life ahead of it,” Louise Evans said.

Chifley Action Group lodged a submission last week on the future of Melrose Primary School. You can download and read the submission here.

Monday, October 30 2006

Melrose Primary School 7pm

Chifley Spring Fling is on at Melrose Primary School on Saturday 23 September from 10am til 1pm.

Come and have a look at your local school, and find out about businesses and community groups in the Chifley/Pearce area.

See the Events page for details.

Did you know that 13% of students at Melrose Primary School identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?

According to Trevor Cobbold at SOS Canberra, Melrose Primary is one of 10 Canberra schools where more than 5% of enrolments are indigenous students. And 7 of these 10 schools are proposed for closure, or being reduced to amalgamated or P-3 models.

Like all Melrose students from 2007, these students will also have to take more time and money travelling to school by bus or car, buy new uniforms to fit into their new school, and all the other difficulties that go with losing our local school.

But because inidigenous students are disproportionately affected by school closures, we also run the risk of taking a backwards step in improving educational outcomes for indigenous students.

Melrose is one of Canberra’s most inclusive public schools. As well as our indigenous students, we have a fantastic special needs facility for students with autism. Being in a district with so many diplomatic families, there are students from a wide range of cultures.

Equity is not about treating everyone the same. It is about treating everyone fairly. It is fair to ensure that everyone has access to quality public education.

On 16 August, Jon Stanhope is quoted in Hansard as saying that the consultation model being used in the Towards 2020 process was negotiated with the P&C Council’s former president, Dr Ian Morgan.

However, we have been told that this is not true. According to Trevor Cobbold of Save Our Schools, P&C Council at that time proposed that the consultation period should be 18 months, with a detailed consultation process outlined in the Act and/or in statutory guidelines.

So whose idea was the six month consultation period, ending on the last day of the school year for 2006, to decide whether Melrose Primary and Chifley pre-school should close at the end of 2006?

It’s about time the Chief Minister came clean and told us the full truth, and nothing but the truth, about where the “Towards 2020″ plan came from.

Extract from ACT Legislative Assembly Hansard
16 August 2006 Legislative Assembly for the ACT

MR STANHOPE:  The process the government is following in relation to consultation is the statutory process. It is a process that the then minister, Ms Gallagher, negotiated for almost a year with the then president of the P&C, Dr Morgan. It is essentially the P&C’s model. The consultation model included within the legislation took a year to negotiate because of the concern of the P&C council in relation to a model which was acceptable to the P&Cs of the school community.

It is Dr Morgan’s model. It was negotiated over a year, it was incorporated into the legislation and it is now being faithfully complied with by this government. It is passing strange that a model which was fully supported, fully negotiated and introduced into the legislation only after the most detailed consultation, only with the full agreement of
Dr Morgan and the P&C council is, now that it is being utilised, all of a sudden fatally flawed. It is the P&C’s model. We are fully abiding by it in good faith and will continue to do so. The motion will not be accepted.

Residents in Chifley will conduct their own Census as part of the communities ongoing push to keep  their local schools open.  

The door to door survey will take place on 25,26,27 August.    It will be launched on Friday 25th August, 12.30 pm, at the front of  Melrose Primary School, cnr Eggelston Cres, Chifley.  

The ACT Government has proposed closing Chifley Pre-school and Melrose Primary School for closure under its 2020 School reform plan. 

The community survey will help to find out exactly how many children aged 0 -12 live in the suburb and how many of them intend to attend the two schools. 

Recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics demographic data shows that Chifley has a rapidly growing number of children aged 0 – 4.  Elsewhere in Woden the number is falling.  

Statistician Keith Blackburn who has designed the questionnaire says the community survey will provide high quality up-to-the minute data. 

“By the end of the survey we’ll have a very accurate picture of the number of children in the area and where they intend to go to school. 

“It will provide information the Government simply won’t be able to ignore.” 

Chifley and Pearce residents can also fill out the survey form online at  savemelrose.wordpress.com.  It will also be available in some local shops and doctors surgeries. 

 “Chifley is a suburb in transition. With more young children than any other suburb in Woden,  the need to keep Melrose Primary and Chifley Pre-school open is greater than ever,” Chifley Action Group spokesperson, Louise Evans said. 

SURVEY LAUNCH: Friday 25th August, 12.30 pm, at the front of  Melrose Primary School, cnr Eggelstone Cres, Chifley. Contact: Louise Evans, Chifley Action Group, 0419 820 062.  

WE NEED YOU! Help us work out how many children in the Melrose Primary and Chifley pre-school catchment area really will need our schools in coming years. Details in the newsletter.

Here are the latest newsletters for Melrose parents.

Newsletter 2

Newsletter 3