NO new senior schools are planned for Point Cook despite thousands of additional houses slated for construction in the suburb’s west, according to Planning Minister Matthew Guy.
The state’s Growth Areas Authority, which is finalising plans for more than 2000 new homes in Point Cook’s west, says the suburb will be adequately serviced by current and proposed schools.
A $10million school, Point Cook South East P-9 College, will be built south of Sneydes Road and is expected to cater for 675 students.
But Mr Guy said no new schools continuing beyond year 9 had been pencilled in for the area.
“The demographic of Point Cook doesn’t demand schools running from prep-year 12,” he said.
“More high schools will happen when the demand comes.”
This comes as Wyndham mayor Kim McAliney is organising an information night with the Education Department to talk with residents about the absence of a new senior school to cater for growth in the area. A date is yet to be set.
With 59 babies born in Wyndham each week, Cr McAliney said the government needed to provide enough primary and secondary schools and understand that “education doesn’t stop at year 10”.
Point Cook Senior College, a year 10-12 public school, and Emmanuel College’s Notre Dame campus, which runs years 7-11 and will include year 12 from next year, are the only schools providing VCE education in the suburb. Emmanuel College’s pastoral co-ordinator Shaun Pearce said there was “no question” that Point Cook would need a new school for VCE students in coming years.
He said the school’s Point Cook campus, operating since 2008, had faced higher than expected demand. More than 1000 students will be enrolled next year.
“In 2009, we took in 145 students and the projection was that we’d do that over the next three years,” he said.
“But for the 2012 school year we finished up taking 203, and the two years before we took 179, based on the public demand.
“We have a waiting list, and we’ve had one each year, there’s about 25-30 students who don’t get accepted.”
Education Department spokesman Stuart Teather said the department was aware of continued growth in Point Cook.
But the area’s existing schools network had the capacity to cater for more students, he said.
“Point Cook Senior Secondary College, the area’s designated senior secondary school, still has plenty of space for new enrolments,” he said.
The department had referred to data from the census, school enrolments and council population projections to determine that Point Cook didn’t need a new high school.
