Political promises fail to match need for more schools in Victoria

By Jewel Topsfield
Updated October 18 2014 - 12:08pm, first published 7:59am
 Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Hands up who needs an education?
Hands up who needs an education?
 Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
 Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Hands up who needs an education?
Hands up who needs an education?
 Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
 Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Hands up who needs an education?
Hands up who needs an education?
 Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
 Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Alice Osborne at her Point Cook home with children Lucy (3) and William (6). Photo: Paul Jeffers
Hands up who needs an education?
Hands up who needs an education?
 Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
Janine Standfield poses for a photo with her son Ethan at Docklands on October 7, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. As there are no primary schools in Docklands, Janine has had to send Ethan to the sixth nearest school. (Photo by Wayne Taylor/Fairfax Media)
Premier Denis Napthine high fives students at the opening of Woolsthorpe Primary School. Photo: Leanne Pickett
Premier Denis Napthine high fives students at the opening of Woolsthorpe Primary School. Photo: Leanne Pickett

When Janine Standfield began searching for a school for her son three years ago, she was amazed to discover Docklands was the suburb that school planners forgot. It seems an extraordinary oversight given the harbourside precinct was supposedly meticulously planned in 1995. But Docklands was outside the enrolment zone of the closest primary school - Port Melbourne - and Standfield's son Ethan was denied access. It didn't end there. Albert Park Primary, Middle Park Primary, North Melbourne Primary, and Carlton Gardens Primary were also full. Ethan's 'local' school was Carlton Primary - located on the opposite side of the city and the sixth closest state school to Docklands. "I thought this is ridiculous … this isn't fair and right," Standfield says. She began a one-person campaign for a school for Docklands: "I lobbied and lobbied".

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