Critical Year - progressing independent report and working towards a high school election promise

Last Monday’s SKY High meeting involved planning for the year ahead. This is a critical year for our campaign and we will be looking for some commitment from the government to our school. Over the next months we must boost our supporter numbers so as to publicly demonstrate to Education Minister, Bronwyn Pike, that there is a strong, ongoing community need for public education in the SKY and neighbouring area. To this end we are planning a strong community presence to increase awareness and boost our membership. Activities include:

• Yarraville Festival 13th February - kids activities with prizes!
  The Yarraville Festival will be held on Saturday 13th February. The SKY High Working Group will have a stall to gather more members. Come and visit us we’ll have SKY High balloons and a competition to ‘Draw your school’ for kids. Prizes will be awarded 3.00 PM.
• Seddon Festival on 27th - February SKY High WG will look to have stall there too.
• Spotswood, Kingsville South, and Newport - we need your ideas on which festivals etc we should have a presence at in this area. The WG is keen to increase it’s supporter base south of the Westgate Bridge; Spotswood, South Kingsville and into Newport. This area would also form part of our schools catchment area. A stall at Newport market is being considered.
• Year 6 secondary school mid May
  In May families of year 6 children will need to complete their preferences for secondary school enrolment. This presents us with an opportunity to highlight the anxiety parents go through in selecting a school when there is no local option available.
• We are looking for ideas on how to boost our membership and would really love your thoughts on this.

Draft Report

Joint review of consultants report with DEECD, SKY High and local MP's on Feb 10th.

This coming Wednesday your representatives will met with the consultants Spatial Vision and the DEECD to discuss the draft report. Depending on the outcome of the report, and more importantly the response from DEECD and the minister, the WG will explore options for a political campaign.

November State Election

A state election will be held this year on Saturday 27th November. The WG needs a commitment from government to build our school. At the same time as increasing our community support, The WG is looking at ways over the next few months to get that commitment. This will include a poll of our members: “Would the lack of a local high school change your vote?” This will feed into any future political campaign and decisions on political action and alignment for the State election.

Celebrities who may be able to assist in increasing the support and profile of our campaign

Do you know any celebrities that are passionate about public education in our area? Please contact us with any names and details.

Ideas & next meeting

Most importantly... if you have any ideas for SKY High for the coming year we’d love to hear from you!

Next meeting will be held this Monday 8th February at the Yarraville Club, Stephens Street Yarraville at 8:00 pm all are welcome.

SKY Working Group