Westgarth Primary School redevelopment

It's a win.

We are thrilled to tell you that our submission to the Victorian State Government Budget has been successful – with WPS awarded a whopping $12.97 million for building and infrastructure to ensure our Masterplan is achieved, with a full-size gym, and replacement of the portables with a multi-purpose, modern and flexible learning space.

Thanks to everyone for your incredible ongoing support of the campaign over many, many years.

We look forward to keeping you updated on the next steps, but for now, let's celebrate what the community has achieved. Go WPS!

Thanks to the WPS school community’s incredible efforts, the funding petition got more than 500 signatures and Kat Theophanous MP spoke to the issue in Parliament last Thursday. Her speech referenced a persuasive and heartfelt letter penned by WPS school captains to Minister Merlino — you can read it below.

Dear Mr. Merlino,
The students of Westgarth Primary School would like to let you know how important it is for us to have improved learning facilities such as a full-sized gym and new classrooms. We need a full-sized gym because we cannot play proper games such as basketball as the court is not competition sized and the outdoor court has large puddles in the middle. When it rains, we can’t have assemblies or watch performances as a whole school, because we do not have an undercover space large enough for everyone to fit. The portable classrooms are very old, some have leaking roofs and they are all very noisy which is impacting on our ability to hear and concentrate. Our students have all signed this petition to let you know how important this is for us. We are celebrating 100 years as a school in 2024 and it would be great to be able to show everyone what a wonderful school we have. Please consider funding Westgarth Primary School to make our school even better.
Kind regards,
Grace, Fergus, Lola and Simon
Year 6 School Captains 2022
1 April, 2022

And read Kat's speech here:
https://beta.parliament.vic.gov.au/parliamentary-debates/Hansard/HANSARD-2145855009-15931/

Help boost the petition!

There are over 200 signatures on Kat Theophanous MP's petition in support of increased funding for WPS infrastructure – sign now to push it even higher!

Kat will raise the issue of WPS' building and infrastructure needs and our budget submission in Parliament later this week, so the more names and support she has to show, the better.

Sign up and spread the word.

https://www.kattheophanous.com.au/westgarth-primary

Show your support for the WPS redevelopment petition.

Thanks to everyone who attended the virtual town hall last night.
💪🏼 The fight continues!

Kat Theophanous MP has launched a community petition to add further momentum to our push for funding. This will be used to highlight the depth of community concern to Minister Merlino and Treasurer Pallas and other colleagues ahead of the May budget.

Sign on to SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL.

https://www.kattheophanous.com.au/westgarth-primary

Did you QR at drop off this morning?

If not, never fear, the link to register for our virtual town hall with Kat Theophanous MP is here:
https://parliament-vic-gov-au.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50pce6uqj4qGdRDgw5RsUAEp5npeJAZmMng

This is a vital phase in our redvelopment funding campaign, so the more faces and voices and interest and questions we have on Thursday night the better.

What to know more?
To read the funding submission, see posts below.

Questions?
[email protected]

The fine print again?
Date: Thursday 24 March
Time: 7-8pm
Where: via Zoom

Further to our budget submission to the state government, we’ve got the opportunity to meet (virtually) with local member Kat Theophanous to find out more and press our case for greater funding for WPS building infrastructure.

Date: Thursday 24 March
Time: 7-8pm
Where: via Zoom

Register here:
https://parliament-vic-gov-au.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50pce6uqj4qGdRDgw5RsUAEp5npeJAZmMng

This is a vital phase in our funding campaign, so the more faces and voices we have the better.

Want to know more?
To read the funding submission, see below.

Questions?
[email protected]

Hope you all had a good break and are settling into some form of a school routine!

Last year, the WPS Redevelopment Committee developed, in collaboration with Kat Theophanous MP and her team, our next capital works funding submission to the State Government. The submission was delivered to the Minister for Education before Christmas. See link below.

We are seeking an initial $4.5 million commitment from the State Government in the May 2022 budget to fund the development of a full-sized gymnasium and eight new classrooms on the Clarke Street site.

We will communicate further with the community through FB, Compass and other channels during Term 1 in relation to our campaign ahead of the budget. In the meantime, please contact any member of the Committee if you have any questions or would like to get involved.

onedrive.live.com

REMINDER you’ve got just four days to make your voice heard with the WPS Redevelopment survey.
It will only take five minutes, plus there are prizes!
Check Compass updates for your survey link.

The WPS Redevelopment survey is now open – until Nov 14.
Check Compass updates for your survey link.

Have your say about buildings and infrastructure at WPS, as we develop the next round of advocacy and submission to government. It will only take five minutes, plus there are prizes!

WHERE WE ARE
WPS has grown considerably over the past decade, however, that growth has not been matched by government investment in the school’s buildings and infrastructure.

Our comprehensive Masterplan, developed in 2015, has guided the implementation of some upgrades to existing facilities using community-raised funds through events like the WPS Fiesta. Extensive consultation, advocacy and lobbying by the WPS school council and community has also enabled us to secure grants to fix defective roofing and to establish a new outdoor inclusive learning space at Clarke Street, and a ‘rolling facilities evaluation’ to assess the condition of the school’s infrastructure was brought forward by 12 months.

Over the past few months, we have been in close consultation with local member Kat Theophanous MP, working on a process for a funding submission ahead of the state budget in May 2022 – the next major opportunity to attract capital works funding.

We have been asked to submit a high-level funding request this week. We see this as a positive development and are keen for input from the school community to inform our next steps.

WHAT NOW?
We will continue to advocate for funding and anticipate a full submission will be required towards the end of the year.

It’s vital that our submission and future advocacy reflects the views of the school community, so if you can, before Sunday 14 November, please:

TAKE THE FIVE MINUTE SURVEY via the Compass update.


Did someone say prizes?
Yes! There are goodies on offer for some lucky survey participants, so get into it. And share the love – or at least this page with other WPS parents/carers. The more voices, the stronger our campaigns.

To find out more:
*see the Redevelopment Masterplan:https://www.wgps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/masterplan.pdf
*get in touch via direct message
*email us: [email protected]

We're gearing up for another funding submission and will be asking the school community for their say soon via a quick 5 minute survey. Be sure to follow us for updates – and share with other WPS parents and carers.

As a quick update:
Since 2015, WPS has worked to secure government support for major upgrades at both the Brooke and Clarke Street sites. This has involved the development of a comprehensive masterplan, implementation of the initial stages of the masterplan using community-raised funds, and extensive consultation, advocacy and lobbying.

We have had some wins along the way including grants to upgrade defective roofing and to establish an outdoor inclusive learning space at Clarke Street. A ‘rolling facilities evaluation’ to assess the condition of the school’s infrastructure was brought forward by 12 months and the school was recently selected to participate in the government’s expedited ventilation assessment program.

The next opportunity to attract capital works funding is the May 2022 state budget. Ahead of that – and already underway – is work on a high quality, community-influenced submission. This will be put to government well ahead of the next budget and backed by a strong community campaign to drive home the need for significant investment for the WPS school and most importantly its students.

The survey will be sent out to the school community shortly and will underpin our submission and campaign.

To lend your support, particularly in the areas of graphic design, photography, acting as a class contact/advocate or letter writing, please get in touch via direct message or at [email protected].

To see the Redevelopment Masterplan, visit:

www.wgps.vic.edu.au

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our redevelopment campaign. You were amazing.

Whilst we had some wins during the last year with school roof maintainance funds and the Brooke Street inclusive playground grant, we have been again missed out on Masterplan implementation funds.

We are disappointed but will regroup and continue this important work to advocate for the needs of our school.

If you are interested in joining the Redevelopment Working Group, or have some ideas for the next phase of campaigning, send a private message on the page or contact us via wps [email protected].

I am really pleased to report that over 120 families have written to the Acting Premier and our local MP over the past couple of weeks driving home our message that our school needs major capital works investment and we need it now.

This is a huge response – thank you.

Regrettably, we are aware that some people have been receiving responses to their emails from Minister Merlino and the Victorian Schools Building Authority (VSBA) which seek to make a virtue of the comparatively small investment the government has made in our school in recent years while failing to provide any comfort that our concerns are being listened to.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hncu89y5ima70t7/COR2174046_Response_Major_to_Bridges May 2021.pdf?dl=0

Despite that, we are confident our campaign is gaining traction and we are being heard where it matters.
In the lead up to the state budget, we have one last request.
Please respond directly to the Minister for Education this week – see suggested email.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9mt07slus5ey0lvh201lk/Minister-Merlino-suggested-letter-5-May-2021.docx?dl=0&rlkey=z0g2354y6ws8uqzw9b3gita4j

COR2174046_Response_Major_to_Bridges May 2021.pdf Shared with Dropbox