From the Principal

Walkways official opening 

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of opening our secondary walkways. The project opening was affected by covid, and so two years later, we were joined by some of our founders, the local Federal member for McEwan Mr Rob Mitchell and other guests to hold the slightly delayed opening ceremony. After already having used the walkways for almost two years, we decided to have a low-key event, that was significant, nonetheless. We are very grateful to the Australian federal government for contributing a substantial sum of money to this project through their capital grants program to schools. 

I love that we had four guests who were part of the group of parents who met together in 1968 to dream about building a Christian school when there were no Christian schools in Victoria. None of them got to see their children attend the school because there was no government assistance and fundraising took time. The college did not open until 1981 when their children were too old to attend the new primary school.  

I wonder how many of us today would have the vision, faith and drive to raise money to build a school, knowing that there was little chance that their own children would be able to attend? It has been a blessing that some grandchildren attended Plenty Valley and now their great-grandchildren also. 

An important discussion about school funding. 

How are independent schools funded? 

You may have read media reports that non-government schools receive more funding from the government than state schools. That is simply not true! While the statistics quoted are correct, they do not give the full story. With tongue in cheek, I offer you the following quote from Benjamin Disrali (British PM 1870s) expression “There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies and statistics.” 

Our states are responsible for education under the Australian constitution. They write and require all schools to follow state curriculum, set the plethora of regulations and fund the schools they own – government or state schools. While they regulate all non-government schools, they choose not to fund them to any great extent. The Whitlam government (early 1970s) recognised that Catholic and other independent schools contributed an incredible number of resources to education, and they would not survive with the meagre state funding, so they stepped in at a federal level and bore the greatest part of funding of non-government schools. 

Media reports often only reflect federal funding, which gives an unfair representation of independent (non-government) schools. When both state and federal funding are examined together, independent schools actually receive less per student from the government in total, than the per student rate received by government schools. That is why schools such as ours, need parents to pay fees. This makes up our income to about the same as the government schools receive per child (in Plenty Valleys case). 

Should government schools receive more funding? 

I think they should. It would be good if the press could highlight the need for more funding from school owners. It is not that non-government schools take money away from state schools, (we actually save governments money per child) but we need more money put into our government schools. I would prefer that the right issue is addressed, rather than mistakenly blaming non-government schools. 

Christian school numbers are growing quickly 

In the four years leading up to 2022 Christian school’s numbers grew at about 5% per year. The fastest growing group except for Islamic schools that average about 6%. Government schools were growing at a small 0.5% (approx.) during this time and in 2022 the government school numbers fell slightly for the first time ever. 

While the media seems to be critical of non-government schools, and misused statistics certainly sells papers; the reality is that about a third of Australian students do not attend government schools and parents are willing to pay fees, so they have a choice of the type of school their children attend. 

Governments of all political persuasions, know that non-government schools save the public purse when it comes to education and do not really want to curtail the contribution of non-government schools to the Australian education landscape. So, in recent years we can see a change from restricting non-government schools’ growth, to controlling what happens in those schools. Already the second most regulated industry in Australia, behind health, we now have more and more government control over what we teach. 

Plenty Valley has its unique culture, because it has a strong Christian basis that all staff believe. This creates a perspective on  

the role of parents,  who children are created to be,  their inherent worth, and  how we express our individualism and potential as human beings.  

The Victorian government has passed legislation that restricts our ability to hire staff based on their faith and subsequent lifestyle. Christian and faith schools alike, are hoping that the soon to be released, federal Religious Freedom Bill will allow us to continue to support the community of faith by being allowed to hire staff whose beliefs align with the college's stated beliefs. 

Please pray about this. 

If you would like to let our political representatives know how much you value Plenty Valley Christian College, hear some stories from other Christian schools or get some more information - you can find it at My Christian Schools website. 

John Metcalfe

Principal