Wednesday, 17 June 2026

 Mathew HILAKARI (Point Cook) (19:22): (1718) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is for him to consider the results of the P–9 school model survey that we are currently undertaking. The survey is to understand the community sentiment around whether P–9s are the right model for metropolitan Melbourne and particularly Point Cook, the community that I represent. The survey is in its early days, but we have had almost 1000 responses, including 13 per cent of those responses from teachers. Here is some of the feedback that we have had. One mother said:

For kids who go to P–6 schools they have to transition twice – I feel this is very overwhelming for them.

Others cite the challenges of campuses being too large because there are 10 year levels on the campus, not seven. One parent and also a teacher said:

School size too large, kids attend p–9 but I work in a p–6 and P–6 has a much more cohesive community feel.

Secondary teachers cite that they cannot teach to the peak of their VCE profession, and many cite that they look at the non-government schools in the area because the P–9 model does not work for them. One mother said:

My daughter is in grade 8 … Now she has to move somewhere else. It is always better if everyone can finish high school from same place. I don’t really understand why this P 9 model was implemented in the first place. And we don’t have enough options … in southwest other than going to private school which is not affordable for everyone.

One father said:

My children have finished school. I had twins that went to separate schools in year seven. I found the development opportunities for the child that went to 7–12 school helped to excel them academically compared to the one that stayed at the p–9 … We subsequently changed the other twin to a private school …

Secondary teachers are talking about whether they can teach to the peak of their profession, something that is important to me and to them.

Thank you to the community for the rich feedback that we have received so far. For a growing community that is building many more schools, now is the right time to get the model right. Our question is not: is your school great? We have great schools in the community I represent – great leaders, great teachers, great education assistants – but it is whether the model is right. So it is over to the community. Once we have those results we will pass them on to the department. They will deeply engage with our school communities in what will probably be a decade-long process if accepted by government. We welcome the community’s responses because we will listen and act.