Thursday, 10 March 2022

Greater Shepparton Secondary College

Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:58): (1813) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action that I seek from the minister is for him to publicly acknowledge the many and varied problems that have arisen since the opening of the Greater Shepparton Secondary College and also for him to inform the Greater Shepparton community what action he will take to resolve these issues.

The new Greater Shepparton Secondary College was the brainchild of Minister Merlino and the Labor-voting independent member for Shepparton, Suzanna Sheed. Many reasonable concerns raised by the community about the new school prior to its opening were simply dismissed by Ms Sheed and her Labor mates. Since its opening at the start of 2022 numerous issues and incidents have occurred at the college that the minister needs to acknowledge and address immediately.

Incidents of student violence are a regular occurrence, with incidents occurring from the very first day all students attended the new campus, including nine police units responding to an incident and reports of a student being arrested. Despite the minister and Ms Sheed promising a small-school experience for students, using the 300-students-per-neighbourhood model, this has been impossible to implement because of the class timetable, meaning students are engulfed in a large-school situation.

Staffing issues have arisen, with families reporting that no permanent teachers have been appointed for some English and Italian classes in years 7 and 8 and reports of teachers giving students work and then leaving the classroom for the remainder of the period. I have been informed that twice in one week up to 40 teachers took stress leave at the same time and that on one day this week 69 teachers were absent—an indication of the enormous pressure being experienced by staff at the school.

Despite government reassurances the school was not completed, with families reporting that woodwork and metalwork rooms are not operational as they have not passed occupational health and safety inspection. There is a lack of shade for the students, the student lockers are too small and the school oval could not be used because the grass had to be re-sown. The school does not have a functioning canteen, and vending machines have been installed instead. There are reports that year 8 PE classes are being bussed to the old Wanganui campus so as to not damage the new gym floor. The lack of student welfare services at the school is a major concern, with year 12 students forced to mentor younger students and each of the school counsellors assigned 300 students.

Vehicle traffic around the school is a nightmare, with the lack of appropriate parking forcing parents to stop in the middle of the road to drop off their children. The disabled parking spots are quite a distance from the main office of the school, and the residents surrounding the school are unable to park outside their homes because of staff parking.

The minister will claim these are teething problems, but they are much more serious than that, and he needs to finally acknowledge these issues and take action to make the Greater Shepparton Secondary College a safer and more improved environment for students and staff.