A meeting by the Ballerrt Mooroop College Support Group representatives in the college cultural area on Sunday 22nd April 2012.
A motion of 'No Confidence' in the BMC Principal, Megan Lewis, for failing to consult and negotiate with the Community about the future of the school was passed by consensus. Many at the meeting felt they were betrayed by her appointment and failure to deal with important Indigenous education issues.
Decisions were also made to retain the site for our people and establish a 'Community Hub' as developed in the Master Plan which is to be pursued with the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) and the Minister of Education (The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development - DEECD).
Community and Supporters Gathering 1.00pm this Sunday 22nd April, 2012 at the College to consider the issues and future strategies relating to:
1. The Closure of the Ballerrt Mooroop College without our informed consent. 2. The possible Closure of the Mildura, Swan Hill and Morwell Pathway schools.
Authorised by Broadmeadows Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.
Address: 208 Hilton Street, Glenroy VIC 3046 This is a lock-out so you will need to provide all of your own refreshments and a chair. - A local resident/supporter has offered the use of his toilet.
Barbara Williams-Weston at the College in Glenroy
(Aaron Francis Source: The Australian)
Forced to share its grounds with a special school for disabled students, Ballerrt Mooroop began this year with two students, which quickly became one. After several weeks, the sole remaining student was removed to another school.
According to Aboriginal activist Barbara Williams, the boy "was happy with the school and when he was told it was closing, he was crying his heart out".
But the Victorian Education Department says Aboriginal people have voted with their feet, enrolling their children in mainstream schools. There are almost 1200 indigenous students in Melbourne's north.
Activist Gary Murray said Ballerrt Mooroop had been allowed to become a "poor black school that takes in naughty black kids".
Ballerrt Mooroop College Protest - January 2011
(Moreland Leader)
In a recent 2012 Media Realease by the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) they put forward a recommendation that any proposed review of the Koorie Pathways School model be conducted in meaningful consultation with the relevant local Koorie community, and take into consideration alternate models of schooling with a strong focus placed on early years learning support and engagement.
The association wrote that in light of the recent de-staffing and proposed review of the Glenroy Koorie Pathways School in the Northern Metropolitan Region, the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) advocate the need for further consideration to be undertaken into alternative schooling models that are best suited to local needs and educational outcomes for Koorie students in Victoria.
Activists in Melbourne rallied on March 16 to save Ballerrt Mooroop College, Melbourne's only Aboriginal specialist school. In the past fortnight, the education department expelled all the students, demolished some school buildings and is now claiming the school is "unviable".
The other three Aboriginal specialist schools in Victoria are also under threat from this decision.
Barbara Williams Weston, from the Save Ballerrt Mooroop College campaign said: "Our children at Ballerrt Mooroop have been bullied and used and abused. They deserve a hell of a lot more than they have bee given."
The Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development have stated they are closing down the Ballerrt Mooroop College, the last surviving Aboriginal school in Melbourne.
The Ballerrt Mooroop College Support Group will be staging a peaceful community protest on Friday, March 16 at 12th midday at State Parliament Building, Melbourne, marching to the Department of Education on Collins St, to resist the closure of Ballerrt Mooroop College and protect our right to teach culture to the next generation.
Aboriginal parents have worked hard to have the opportunity to send their children to a school that has significant cultural values and a culturally appropriate learning program - but the school has consistently been set up for failure by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and their agencies.
The Federal Government commissioned businessman David Gonski to do a review into the school funding systems and his report highlighted the negative effect that socio-economic disadvantage is having on children within the current system and overall there are serious unbalanced outcomes. He found that success in going through the school system depends on how wealthy you are.
Gonski said there was an unacceptable link between between low levels of achievement for disadvantaged children, particularly amongst students of low socio-economic and Indigenous backgrounds.
A two week notice of the closure of Ballerrt Mooroop College last week shocked the local Indigenous community and the school committee members who were not even invited to the closure announcement. An urgent support group meeting on Sunday concluded that instant action was required and they immediately drafted a letter to the Minister of Education with a set of demands.
Although the support group is still analysing and considering this farcical situation, they have regrouped and put some plans into place to save Melbourne's last Aboriginal school.
The Ballerrt Mooroop College Support Group met on Sunday 4th March to discuss action in response to the imminent closure of the Ballerrt Mooroop College.
As a first reponse they decided to draft and send a letter to the Minister of Education demanding a moratorium on any decisions affecting the school or the cultural area site and also that an appropriate consultation process commence concerning the future of the site.
The support group urges community groups, organisations and individuals to send a letter to the Minister supporting the letter
We need People Power for the Sit-In and Protest Letters We need Firewood and Food supplies for the Sit-In and Blockade We need the Unions Support to help us enforce the Protest We need Pro Bono Lawyers for the complex legal issues
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We need People Power for the Sit-In and Protest Letters
