TRACI GAMBLIN started High School Options for Fremantle to lobby for better secondary schooling options in the area. In this week’s THINKING ALLOWED she urges parents to attend a meeting with WA education minister Peter Collier to make sure his department is looking at all the options, not just a quick-and-easy merger.
ON Wednesday evening WA education minister Peter Collier will host a public meeting at the Fremantle town hall, responding to the gathering storm of community concern about high school options.
This is an issue that can no longer be managed behind closed doors: Fremantle parents are watching too closely for that.
But for all the public scrutiny, we are still entering the danger zone.
Beware the quick fix. The minister will likely use the forum “for parents to have their say” to soften us up for a merger between Hamilton and South Fremantle SHSs, for that to happen on the South Fremantle SHS site and to call it “Fremantle College” or the like. All sorted.
No surprises there; we understand school closures have been on the cards for many years as enrolments at both South Fremantle and Hamilton have steadily dropped.
Best of both worlds
Decadal, structural changes in secondary education mean schools do need to be much bigger to provide the diversity of courses that families want, on-campus. This goes for vocational and academic options, and particularly for parents who would like the best of both worlds to give their children the opportunity to follow their interests and talents.
Unfortunately, even if every student from Hamilton SHS and South Fremantle SHS were to enrol in the amalgam, it would still be a relatively small school, far short of the critical mass for the breadth of courses students enjoy elsewhere. To tap the areas of growth in the region, the school would need to be further south.
Combining small schools does not automatically create a school with stronger academic and vocational standards. Adding a Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program to the amalgam has also been touted and while it would be a step in the right direction, it would still not provide an academic program for the general student body and would have to be quite large to have an impact.
Next week, we should all ask for the feasibility study that fleshes out all options. Was this ever done? The online community survey the government released missed an opportunity to scope all the main options, which is both a shame and concerning.
Teachers and parents have been putting their shoulders to the wheel in local high schools for too many years to let this opportunity pass. Their efforts have earned great respect.
Our all-volunteer, High School Options for Fremantle parent group has spent countless hours poring over hundreds of pages of data from the WA education department. We have spoken to hundreds of families, school and government representatives. Most parents involved have young children; they are the future of Fremantle education.
We believe a two-pronged approach is the safest bet: allowing more locals into John Curtin (children living even a stone’s throw away are not considered local intake) and a strong, comprehensive school with academic and vocational courses to the south.
Some parents would like this located at the current South Fremantle SHS site, while others are keen for the government to build a new, state-of-the-art school in the bigger southern catchment, of the ilk of Shenton College, as was established after school closures in the western suburbs. This would create more diversity in the student populations at both schools and the size to offer the courses and options students deserve.
We must not rule out any options or allow them to be taken off the table without serious and fair review. We must demand that the minister consider each option against the community’s requirements. This week, Fremantle council wisely voted to support this sentiment.
Expediency
If we make the most of the current public interest in this debate and take it up to government, we can resist the threat of political expediency which could cost Fremantle region children—and the wider community—for generations.
There is a strong case that something needs to change, as distressing as this can be. It seems everyone agrees that that we must raise our sights. We need to be very careful not to accept the option the government might see as the easiest and least expensive.
Instead, we can inspire the minister and the premier of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure investment in Fremantle schools, to exact real change and create a proud legacy for this region’s children.