School’s plan to limit students

Officer Secondary College.

By ALANA MITCHELSON

AN OFFICER secondary school will prioritise students enrolled at feeder primary schools beginning next year.
Since its initial opening, Officer Secondary College (OSC) enrolments were open to students from all schools and suburbs, but this year the college has announced a series of feeder schools.
Beaconsfield, Officer, Lakeside and Cardinia primary schools have been identified as the new feeder schools, from which students will be granted priority during enrolment for OSC.
Principal Michaela Cole said the new school was growing in popularity.
“We are a brand-new school and are proving incredibly popular. So popular in fact, we are encouraging people who live closer to other secondary schools to consider them first,” she said.
“This includes saying to parents asking about our open evenings that if their children attend a primary school closer to another local secondary school that they should consider attending its open evening first.
“At no point have we told parents they are not allowed to enrol at Officer.”
But the parent of a Pakenham Grade 6 student has claimed students who attend primary schools other than the feeders are being discriminated against.
Dorothy Edwards said that two weeks ago her child returned home from school with an OSC information pack detailing the new feeder schools.
“A child is expected to be enrolled in the nearest secondary college. This is based on geographic boundary,“ one of the documents read.
“Officer Secondary College feeder primary schools are Cardinia, Beaconsfield, Lakeside and Officer primary schools.
“If your Grade 6 student has a sibling at Officer Secondary College and attends Pakenham Consolidated Primary School, you will have a reasonable chance of attending OSC, however there are no guarantees. This will be based on student numbers and the geographic location of the child’s residence.”
Ms Edwards said she had made attempts to contact the school over the phone to determine when the open day information session would be held.
“I called up the school the other day to ask when the open night was and the first thing they asked was what school my child was at,” she said.
“Then they told me that my child’s primary school wasn’t one of OSC’s feeder schools and that I would need to go to my local open night. They wouldn’t even tell me when the Officer Secondary College open night was.
“It’s been 30 years or more since there has been a new school in our area. I made the decision 12 months ago to send my child to Officer Secondary and he was already getting excited about it. Now we have to re-think our options which are limited since a private schooling isn’t on the cards for us.
“Everyone’s excited about the new school and everyone wants to send their kids there, so I understand that they’ve got to draw the line somewhere. But why only now after two years where they’ve accepted anyone? And why hasn’t this been publicised? It’s very disappointing.
“There are already students at the school from within Casey council and even students from my child’s school, so it’s just poor planning and naive for them to not have foreseen its popularity.”
A Department of Education spokesman said eligibility for a secondary school was not based on what primary school the student attended.
“The situation around Officer Secondary College is unusual because it has been built in a growth corridor to meet expected demand but currently has a low population within its school boundary,” the spokesperson said.
“It is already proving very popular. Because of this, the school has been encouraging people living closer to other nearby secondary schools but who want to enrol at Officer to attend their local school’s open evening first. If they still want to enrol at Officer they can.”