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School bid gathers momentum By Charlene Macaulay Williams Landing residents have started an online petition calling on the state government to build primary and secondary schools in their suburb. The change.org petition, launched last week, is aimed at getting the government to build a prep-to-year 12 campus at Williams Landing and dedicated primary and secondary campuses. The petition had 341 signatures by the time Star Weekly went to print. A co-initiator of the petition, Aaron An, said
residents were also keen for Wyndham council to lobby the state government on their behalf. “Many families like us are forced to move out [of Williams Landing] because of the lack of schools and options in this fast-growing suburb,” he said. “All relevant bodies and politicians have known about this issue for at least two years now.” Fellow petitioner Kaivalya Jani said he was keen for a primary school to be built in the area in the next three years so that his daughter would be able to attend a school in the suburb in which she lives.
Currently, Mr Jani’s daughter is zoned to attend a primary school in Laverton. Last year, about 240 primary school pupils and 130 secondary students from Williams Landing were enrolled at government schools in the area. Most of the primary school pupils living in Williams Landing are enrolled at Truganina South Primary School, while secondary students are spread across Hoppers Crossing Secondary College, Laverton P-12 College, Point Cook Senior Secondary College, Suzanne Cory High School and Werribee Secondary College.
A spokesman for Education Minister James Merlino said the state government had invested “an unprecedented” $101 million in Wyndham schools in the past two budgets. “This investment will mean land can be bought for the proposed Truganina East P-9, while stage two of the Truganina P-9 school upgrade can start, with both schools servicing the nearby Williams Landing community,” the spokesman said. “The Education Department annually reviews the need for new schools … and works with state and local planning authorities to identify and plan future school sites.”
Wyndham, willing to help
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Wyndham residents dug deep for this year’s Red Shield Appeal, donating about $44,000 to the Salvation Army in last month’s annual fundraiser. Salvation Army captain Kim Haworth said a team of 100 volunteers collected the money at main intersections across Werribee and Hoppers Crossing, at shopping centres, Bunnings stores and train stations. She said she anticipated the figure would go even higher once cash collected from door knocking had been tallied. “The people of Wyndham were amazingly generous,” she said. “We were definitely well received. “I spent most of my time collecting at Werribee Central and people were very willing to donate.” She said that, based on need, the Wyndham branch of the Salvation Army would receive a
financial boost of almost three times as much as the figure raised locally. “The money goes directly to providing emergency relief, mainly food parcels and vouchers to people in need,” she said. “We rely heavily on funds raised through the appeal to provide a helping hand to families and individuals who are struggling financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually. “We take very seriously our mandate to care for people without discrimination. “The Red Shield Appeal provides us with the means to give that helping hand.” Adem Saban Captain Kim Haworth, Captain Joel Clifford, Kaitlyn Pollitt and Daniel Scordia say thank you. (Joe Mastroianni)
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Hogans Rd. Reserve, Hogans Road Hoppers Crossing 9748 6699 www.hopperssports.com.au 11 WYNDHAM STAR WEEKLY \ JUNE 22, 2016