POINT Cook parents say they’re sitting on an “education time bomb” set to explode when massive numbers of children now between prep and grade 3 reach the suburb’s only senior school.
Wyndham council and members of the Point Cook Action Group have reignited debate about a failure to plan for new schools running beyond year 9 in the fast-growing suburb.
Point Cook, Carranballac and Alamanda colleges run from prep to year 9, with Point Cook Senior College the suburb’s only campus offering years 10-12.
Worried parents have launched a letter-writing campaign to state ministers and MPs, hitting out at the “lack of foresight” in failing to plan for a new senior school.
The Education Department has confirmed it is aware of continued population growth in Point Cook and is working with council, the Growth Areas Authority and developers to ensure land is set aside for future schools. “The department is currently undertaking an assessment of senior secondary provision in the Wyndham growth area,” a spokesman said.
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Point Cook Action Group’s Alice Osborne said the suburb’s primary schools were at breaking point and, as the housing boom continued, “the situation will go from bad to worse”.
“We can’t simply turn around in 10 years’ time and say we need to build another senior school when there has been no land set aside to do so,” the mother-of-two said.
Although Point Cook Senior has space for new enrolments, principal Greg Sperling last year warned of a shortage in high school spots once a “bubble” in primary enrolments reached year 10.
‘‘What’s really scary is looking at the prep enrolments . . . in 10 years’ time capacity will be sorely tested.”
Mayor Heather Marcus welcomed April’s announcement of two new primary schools at Wyndham Vale and Truganina but said the government needed to understand that education didn’t stop at year 9.
