Council backs Warragul North Primary's classroom campaign
 Baw Baw News   By // 14:04, Tuesday 2 September 2014

wnps save our classroom warragul baw baw citizen B

BAW Baw councillors have thrown their support behind a campaign run by Warragul North Primary School community members to retain a portable school building marked for removal by the state government.

Above: a banner on a fence at Warragul North Primary promoting the campaign.

The school was informed last month that the building, which houses two classrooms, was to be removed in the near future.


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A group of concerned people formed to campaign against the removal, creating a petition asking that the building be left as-is and a Facebook page to promote their cause.

At a council meeting last Wednesday Mount Worth ward councillor Peter Kostos moved a motion calling on the council to get behind the school and write a letter to Premier of Victoria Denis Napthine and Education minister Martin Dixon calling for the building to be left where it was.

Cr Kostos said Baw Baw was experiencing unprecedented growth with a rising birth rate and removing the building would be short-sighted.

“There’s going to be an increase [in students] pretty soon, in my opinion, [given] there’s been a lot of houses built in this area by young families,” Cr Kostos said.


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“A lot of our growth area has been to the north of Warragul.”

The letter to the minister will also raise the lack of kindergarten places available in the region.

Members of the group have used the example of Crib Point Primary School’s successful petition to retain one of its portable buildings as proof WNPS’s campaign could be effective.

The motion was supported unanimously by councillors present.

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3 responses to “Council backs Warragul North Primary's classroom campaign”

  1. Kelly Morrison says:

    While I don’t agree at all with removing class rooms from Warragul North Primary, this article fails to mention when referring to the growth of Warragul, that there are 2 public schools in town. Warragul Primary currently has empty class rooms. There is plenty of room at this school.

    Then in regards to kindergarten places where there is a shortage of spaces in Warragul’s shire run kinders, I understand St Andrews Kindergarten still has spaces available for 2015 4 year old program. So hopefully no Warragul kids miss out next year.

  2. Leisa Meyer says:

    Kelly I don’t believe that WNPS or Warragul Primary school can refuse any child enrolling at their school. Although it might sound like an easy solution to say that people should just enrol at Warragul primary school it really comes down to parental choice and families are currently free to enrol at whichever school they prefer. The enrolments numbers are rising at WNPS and the school needs to keep the demountables to avoid overcrowded classrooms.

  3. wombat lyons says:

    I guess in reading this i agree its hard for a school community to loose a classroom, but its not like these portables are going to a yard, they are going to schools where the growth as already occurred and their isn’t the classroom for the students