President of SKY High, Melissa Horne, said now more than ever local families had to show the State Government and all political parties that they need a strong investment in a local school.

“The Government will ignore us if they can, so we need to drum up as much support for SKY High as possible,” Ms Horne said.

“This is an election year and it is our mission to get as many politicians as possible to put SKY High in their policies. We’ve had a great first start from the Opposition’s commitment in December to investigate ways to deliver a new school, let’s see the Government match it.

“At this week’s Yarraville Festival will be asking all parents and kids to sign our petition and add their  names to our ever increasing membership list.

“Local families know Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville are experiencing a population boom. But not everyone realises that those proud preppies heading off to their first day of school will need more local classrooms, teachers and other education facilities before they hit year 7.

Ms Horne said the SKY High working group had been working hard over summer to plan a range of  interesting and powerful campaign activities that would make Spring Street sit up and listen.

“This year our campaign will be fun and anyone thinking about lending their hand should come and find us at the Yarraville Festival,” Ms Horne said.

The Yarraville Festival is being held on Sunday 16 February.

…and all the while, spending on state school buildings is at the lowest level in a decade.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/spending-on-state-school-buildings-lowest-in-a-decade-20131205-2ytds.html

Something has to change!

Wayne Elly, partner of Greg Hocking today said he would sponsor SKYHigh’s 10 year anniversary as a way of putting pressure on the State Government to fund more public secondary education places for Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville’s kids.

“As a local real estate agent with 20 years’ experience in the area, I talk to many families who want to live near a high school,” Mr Elly said.

“We are seeing such growth in the area that there is no doubt that a high school in the Seddon, Kingville, Yarraville area is critical to accommodate this future growth for families with kids at high school.

“All local homeowners would get an immediate boost to their property values from a local high school option”.

SKYHigh welcomed the sponsorship by Greg Hocking Estate Agents for the 10 year anniversary celebrations.

President, Melissa Horne said the support represented a growing awareness by residents and local businesses that additional capacity in the public high school network is a boost for the entire community, not just those seeking high school educations.

“Now is the time for the State Government to commit to funding additional capacity in the local high school network as they determine priorities for next year’s budget,” Ms Horne said.

“One of the great things about living here is being part of a tight-knit community with great facilities and lifestyle so close to the city. It’s a tragedy for the community that people are forced to move away from the area they have chosen to raise small children in, because there is a massive gap in the existing public high school network.

“We thank Wayne Elly for his agency’s support of SKYHigh’s 10-year anniversary and call on the State Government to commit public, secondary school funding for the area in next year’s budget.”

The 10-year anniversary celebrations will be held at Beaton Reserve, Powell St, Yarraville on Sunday 1 December following a rally through Yarraville, from 11am. Media and local residents welcome.

Further Information

Melissa Horne: 0412 130 823

Wayne Elly: 0410 305 305

When: Monday, 23 September at 10:30 am

Where: The small park area behind Alpha Bakehouse and immediately East of Yarraville Station, Anderson St, Yarraville - http://goo.gl/maps/P9aEO

Contact: Melissa Horne, President SKYHigh – 0412 130 823

Inner West students ignored again – DEECD stands by flawed report

The Seddon Kingsville Yarraville (SKY) High Working Group (WG) has been officially advised the by the Department of Education (DEECD) that they will not be building a high school in SKY. The DEECD believes there is sufficient public high school capacity in the existing high schools in Melbourne’s inner west.

SKYHigh spokesperson Ms. Janine Lloyd says that “the finding is based on a seriously flawed provision report that appears to be designed to understate future enrolments in SKY”. SKYHigh has provided three critiques of the DEECD’s report to correct obvious errors. The DEECD’s final report actually forecasts a decrease in the number of SKY high school aged children despite a background increase in local population” says Ms. Lloyd. The DEECD has not provided a satisfactory explanation for their forecast decline.

The DEECD’s finding is at clear odds with 78% of 2011 grade 6 children attending a public high school. With 2,000 children enrolled in the four SKY primary schools, this equates to 1,560 children who need a local public high school, well over the 1,100 threshold set for a new school by DEECD. Ms. Lloyd says that the DEECD report “does not pass any basic reality test”, especially when SKYHigh forecasts Maribyrnong permanent capacity will be exceeded in 2016.

Over the past two years, SKYHigh representatives have repeatedly requested meetings with Minister Dixon to discuss the need for a local SKY high school. Minister Dixon has never responded. The 1,500 families that make up SKYHigh feel that there is no option now but to mount a political campaign. Ms. Lloyd says that “we would prefer to continue to work with the DEECD, but they are not willing to consider the gross inaccuracies in their reported modelling, and Minister Dixon won’t even respond to our meeting requests”.

Despite Premier Ted Baillieu’s recognition of local services being a necessity for his government’s vision of a 20-minute city (in the soon to be released planning scheme), SKY children continue to be disadvantaged with no local high school. SKY children have to travel “further than any other metro Melbourne child to get to the nearest co-educational high school” says Ms. Lloyd.

It just doesn’t make sense that western Melbourne private high schools are increasing their enrolment capacity with new buildings and infrastructure, yet the State Government chooses to honour the findings of a flawed EECD report that states there is no need for more co-education high school capacity in Melbourne’s inner West.

For further SKYHigh information, please see www.skyhigh.org.au or email info@skyhigh.org.au.

Media Enquiries: Janine Lloyd m: 0424 646 595 e: davenene@optusnet.com.au

A POP-UP school will return to Yarraville next Saturday as parents enter the next phase of their campaign for a return of a high school to the area.

Participants in the December 15 SKY High community event will film a video Christmas message to Education Minister Martin Dixon, who has refused to meet parents.
 
Children will decorate the pop-up schooland have their faces painted while parents discuss the renewed campaign for next year.

SKY High spokeswoman Janine Lloyd said the group would meet Education Department officials on December 21 to discuss an updated high school provision report for theSeddon, Kingsville, Yarraville area.

“This is the third time the department has undertaken a provision study for the SKY area, and SKY High has provided the same feedback on each occasion,” she said.SKY High is calling on families to create their own version of “All we want for Christmas is a local high school” and post it on YouTube.

The pop-up school will be in Railway Park on the eastern side of Yarraville railway station from 10am-1pm December 15.

SKYHigh parents frustrated over stalled process for a new high school

The SKYHigh Working Group is concerned that progress towards a new high school in Melbourne’s inner west has stalled since the Liberal government was elected almost two years ago.

“There are now unexplainable delays on the part of both the Education Department and the Minister’s office that are creating frustration amongst our group and it is increasingly difficult to tell our  membership of over 1,300 families to be patient,” SKYHigh spokesperson Ms Janine Lloyd said.

“Families in the SKY neighbourhood are leaving due to the lack of a high school.  The fracturing of our community is no longer acceptable says Ms. Lloyd.

Parents of the Seddon, Kingsville, Yarraville (SKY) High Working Group have now been working towards increasing secondary college provision in Melbourne’s inner west for nearly 10 years.

Ms Lloyd says that “with the population forecast to increase by 50% in Maribyrnong, the need for local high school places is only going to grow. SKY parents are committed to public education to fill this gap.

She says that “the need for a high school in the SKY area is obvious. Our primary schools are zoned and bursting at the seams with over 2,000 children enrolled. Last year 78% of these children went on to a public secondary college and now must travel around 5 kilometres each day to get to school. Some 1,560 SKY children need a high school. It’s a no brainer that a high school is needed here.”

Ms Lloyd says that SKYHigh members have worked co-operatively with the Education Department for about five years and the current Education Ministers office for close to two years after the current government was elected in December 2010.

“It is particularly frustrating” says Ms Lloyd, “given that in August 2010 the previous  Government had organised stakeholder forums, identifying solutions to our education black hole, for presentation to the SKY community in early 2011 – 1 ½ years ago”.

“Unfortunately the group sees few signs of progress since the current government was elected,” says Ms Lloyd.

Parents of the SKYHigh Working Group have been working with the Department of Education since June 2011 to produce an updated high school provision report for the SKY area. SKYHigh representatives provided comments to the Department’s third report on 19 September – two months ago- but have yet to receive a response or advice on the next steps in the process.

SKYHigh has written to the Education Minister the Honourable Martin Dixon requesting a meeting to discuss moving the process for a new high school to the feasibility study stage. “Other areas such as Prahran have progressed to high school feasibility study stage, without a provision study, yet SKYHigh continues to experience delays,” says Ms Lloyd.

The SKYHigh Working Group will hold their next public meeting on Monday 12th November at 8pm at the Yarraville Club in Stephen St Yarraville. Please come along to participate in our plans for our Christmas high school campaign.

Stay tuned for the SKYHigh Christmas video message to Minister Dixon!

For further SKYHigh information, please see www.skyhigh.org.au or email info@skyhigh.org.au.

Media Enquiries:  Janine Lloyd m: 0424 646 595 e: davenene@optusnet.com.au

SKYHigh Working Group media release 

25^th October 2012

SKY Highest public school support

Analysis of the 2011 Census reveals that parents in Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville (SKY) have the strongest support for public schools across Melbourne.  This is despite the area not having a local high school.

Research undertaken by the SKYHigh Working Group (WG) has identified that secondary college yield in SKY is 40% higher than the rest of Melbourne combined.  SKYHigh spokesperson Ms. Janine Lloyd says that “the SKY secondary college yield of 50% demonstrates the strong commitment to public education in this area, especially when compared to the Melbourne metropolitan^ average of 36%”.  She says that, “SKY children do not have a local public secondary college, our nearest public college is at least 5km away, the furthest that any children in Melbourne has to travel to a public high school”.

SKYHigh Working Group media release 9th August 2012   SKYHigh survey launch

The Seddon, Kingsville, Yarraville (SKY) High Working Group (WG) is launching a new survey of the community to determine the demand for a local high school.

SKYHigh WG is hoping to get as many families as possible to complete the survey to obtain an accurate view of how many families would attend a local high school.  The group has a membership of over 1,300 families and is calling on these families to complete the survey.

The survey focuses on the lack of a local high school in Melbourne’s inner west, with the objective being to understand what proportion of children would attend a local high school.

SKYHigh WG spokesperson Janine Lloyd says that “currently students from Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville have to travel at least 5km to the nearest high school.  Our students are further from a public, co-educational high school than any other secondary student in Melbourne”.

Ms. Lloyd says that “we already have evidence of the need for public schooling in SKY“.  Currently four in five children from the local primary schools in Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville attend a public high school despite the closest one being five kilometres away.

The previous SKYHigh WG survey found that 64% of families would definitely send their child to a local high school and 97% of SKY families would consider sending their child to a local high school.

This survey is timely as members of the Working Group are expecting to meet with Education Minister Mr. Martin Dixon in the next couple of months to discuss findings from the SKYHigh secondary college provision report.  The results from the survey will be presented to Minister Dixon to help demonstrate the strong support our parents have for public education in this area.

The survey will be distributed to local primary schools, kinders and child care centres and will also be available on the SKYHigh website and facebook.

SKYHigh WG will be holding an AGM at 8pm on Monday 27th August at the Yarraville Club in Stephen St Yarraville.   Ms Lloyd added, “please come along to hear an update on progress.  We are looking for new members to help with the next phase of our campaign”.

For further SKYHigh information, please see www.skyhigh.org.au or email info@skyhigh.org.au. Media Enquiries:  Janine Lloyd m: 0424 646 595 e: davenene@optusnet.com.au

Plan for a school of their own