MAY 22, 2018 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
Calls for class action By Serena Seyfort
Stars in their eyes
(Joe Mastroianni)
Parents in the Romsey and Lancefield areas are ramping up their calls for a secondary school. The push for a local secondary school has escalated after funds were allocated in the 2018-19 state budget for consultation on extending Romsey Primary School to cater for years 7 to 9. Lancefield father Jason Norris said he was planning a petition to take to the state government, urgently requesting that it build a secondary school. He said consultation plans were not sufficient. “There was a petition for a school … 20 years ago when I moved here,” Mr Norris said. “Now the area is growing rapidly.” Mr Norris said children living in Lancefield and Romsey should not be forced to travel half an hour on buses to secondary schools. Presently, children who attend Romsey, Lancefield, Bolinda and Hesket primary schools have to travel to Kyneton, Gisborne or Sunbury to go to state secondary schools. A Romsey mother told Star Weekly that residents “absolutely need a school in the area”, particularly because of transport demands. She said her daughter, in her final year at Sunbury Downs College, often had trouble securing a ride to school. Her daughter catches a bus organised by private school Salesian College, but there’s not always room on the bus. The mum, who does not want her name used, wants her son to start at Sunbury Downs College next year. But she said she has been told he was behind 18 other students on a waiting list. Macedon MP Mary-Anne Thomas said she had spent a lot of time talking to Romsey families about the issue. “I know parents are concerned that their children have to leave town to go to high school,” she said. Ms Thomas said that was why funding had been allocated in the state budget for the education department “to work closely with the school community to understand the aspirations of Romsey parents and determine a timeline for the school to transition to year 9”. “This is a big step and we need to get it right because the one thing we don’t want to compromise on is a first-class education for Romsey kids,” she said.
Hundreds of stargazers are expected to gather at Gisborne Secondary College tomorrow night to participate in a national attempt to break a Guinness World Record. Residents will each take their own telescope or binoculars to the school grounds to look at the moon for a 10-minute period, at the same time as thousands of other Australians. Run by the Australian National University and the ABC, the event is an attempt to beat the world record for the Most People Stargazing Across Multiple Venues, which currently stands at 7960 people across 37 locations. Event registration will take place at 7pm (on Wednesday, May 23) at the school. The world record attempt will happen between 8-9pm. Anyone is welcome to join the event, but participants must each have their own telescope or binoculars to be included in the world record setting. Entry is by gold coin donation. SIDNEY AND CHLOE
Serena Seyfort
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