School Council Update

Over the past few months, our School Council has been working hard behind the scenes to advocate for something our school community has needed for a very long time: significant investment in the buildings and facilities at St Kilda Park Primary School.

As we shared in last term's newsletters, SKiPPS has been left behind when it comes to government investment in school infrastructure. Over the past decade, almost every other government primary school in our local area has benefited from significant building upgrades, with many receiving multimillion-dollar investments that have transformed their facilities.

We certainly don't begrudge these schools their new buildings. Quite the opposite! We are delighted to see governments investing in public education and recognising that children deserve modern, well-equipped and inspiring places to learn. We simply believe that the children of SKiPPS deserve the same opportunities.

Despite being a thriving school with a proud history stretching back to 1882, our facilities have not kept pace with the needs of a modern education. Our toilets are outdated and in desperate need of improvement. We have no indoor hall or gymnasium, meaning our students miss out on facilities that most neighbouring schools take for granted. We also lack dedicated specialist classrooms for important curriculum areas such as Science and Italian.

These are not luxuries. They are the facilities that a contemporary government primary school should reasonably expect to provide for its students.

We also see the potential for any newly built facilities to be accessible to the wider community outside of school hours - providing much-needed spaces for community sports groups and clubs.

Taking Our Message to Government

Since launching our advocacy campaign, members of School Council have been meeting with representatives from all three levels of government, making the case for investment and building support for a long-term solution.

We are pleased to report that our message is being heard, and some significant commitments are beginning to emerge.

A $3.77 Million Commitment from the State Government

We were delighted by the recent announcement from our local State Member for Albert Park, Nina Taylor MP, that a re-elected Carroll Government would commit $3.77 million towards upgrading facilities at SKiPPS.

We are enormously grateful to Nina for her ongoing support, her willingness to listen to our concerns and her commitment to making our school's infrastructure needs her number one priority for the Albert Park electorate ahead of next month's state election.

This is an important breakthrough. After years of limited investment, it is encouraging to see a substantial financial commitment being made to our school.

At the same time, we recognise that $3.77 million represents a first step rather than a complete solution. Delivering the new hall, specialist learning spaces and broader facilities upgrades our students need will require a much larger, longer-term investment. Nevertheless, this announcement is a very welcome step in the right direction.

A $12 Million Commitment from the Greens

We also recently met with Sonya Semmens and Angelica Di Camillo, the Greens candidates for Albert Park and Prahran, the two state electorates in which almost all of our school families live.

We were extremely encouraged by their engagement with our campaign and delighted that the Greens have made an election commitment of $12 million towards the SKiPPS facilities project.

School Council believes that a commitment of this scale is much closer to the investment required to deliver the facilities our school genuinely needs. It would allow us to think beyond short-term improvements and work towards the kind of substantial transformation that many neighbouring schools have already experienced.

We are grateful to the Greens candidates for recognising the scale of the challenge and putting forward a commitment that reflects our longer-term ambitions.

City of Port Phillip Adds Its Support

Another particularly encouraging development has been the strong support we have received from the City of Port Phillip.

At its most recent meeting, Council unanimously passed a motion supporting our campaign and committing to join our advocacy efforts. Every councillor supported the motion, sending a powerful message that improving the facilities at SKiPPS is not simply a school issue, but a priority for our wider local community.

Council are epecially interested in how they could work with the school to utilise any new faclities for the wider St Kilda and Lakeside communities to use at evenings, weekends and school holiday times.

Members of School Council have also met with councillors and senior council officers to begin exploring how we can work together to progress this important project.

We are particularly excited by this partnership. A new school hall and improved facilities would not only benefit our students during the school day, but could also provide valuable opportunities for community sport, recreation and gatherings outside school hours.

Support from Our Federal Member

This morning, we also met with Josh Burns MP, our Federal Member for Macnamara, to discuss the school's infrastructure needs and the progress of our advocacy.

Josh expressed his support for our campaign and a willingness to help put our case forward and work with us towards achieving our goals.

Having the support of representatives across local, state and federal government is incredibly valuable, and we appreciate Josh taking the time to meet with us and hear our concerns.

Building Momentum, Together

It has certainly been a busy few months for School Council, but we are increasingly optimistic about what lies ahead.

We now have commitments from different political parties, unanimous support from our local council and growing engagement from representatives across all three levels of government.

Importantly, we are also beginning to build a shared understanding of what our school needs and why these improvements are so overdue.

There is still a long way to go. Election commitments are an important start, but our ultimate goal is to see those commitments translate into funded projects, detailed plans and, eventually, the modern facilities our students deserve.

We will continue to advocate strongly, constructively and persistently for an investment that brings SKiPPS into the 21st century and provides facilities comparable to those enjoyed by children attending neighbouring government schools.

Our message remains simple: SKiPPS students deserve the same investment, opportunities and quality of facilities as their peers across our local area.

You Can Help: Sign Our Petition!

One of the most powerful ways our school community can support this work is by adding your voice to our petition calling for investment in SKiPPS facilities.

If you haven't already signed, please take a moment to do so. Every signature helps demonstrate the strength of community support behind this campaign and reinforces the message we are taking to government.

Sign the petition here: 

Thank you to everyone who has supported our advocacy so far. We are beginning to see real progress, and with the continued support of our wonderful school community, we are determined to keep this momentum going.

Elisa Webb School Council President 

& Kara Barbuto School Council Vice-President