Education

INVESTMENT ASKS

  • Support the challenge of delivering early years education
  • An incentive program to encourage skilled professionals to work in growth areas where demand for learning is the highest
  • Build the new schools our community needs and upgrade existing ones
  • A Tech School for our area
  • English language secondary school for our diverse community

It is no secret that a good education has the power to change a life. It shapes us not only as individuals but is important for social and economic development.

As a rapidly growing community, securing quality, well located early years, primary and secondary education opportunities for our residents is paramount.

Melton City Council acknowledges the significant investment in education by the Victorian Government and seeks assurances that this investment will continue in line with growth, so that all residents have every opportunity to reach their full potential.

EARLY CHILDHOOD GIVING CHILDREN THE BEST START IN LIFE

Early childhood education has been shown to increase cognitive abilities and is linked to higher achievement at school.

The City of Melton is Australia’s fastest growing municipality, and our rapidly expanding population will see the need for at least 1,370 kindergarten teachers and new facilities to support the 36,060 children who will be under 5 in 2051.

Melton City Council owns 25 kindergarten facilities, with six new centres built in the past five years. 4,292 children attended a Council owned facility in 2022.

Council is committed to working in partnership with the Victorian Government in the delivery of its Best Start, Best Life program, however we seek the commitment from government to:

  • Increase Building Blocks funding to fully cover Council's costs for delivering additional kinder rooms required because of the Best Start, Best Life Reforms
  • Also increase Building Blocks funding to fully cover provision of rooms for additional early learning programs including playgroups, vacation care, family day care and children’s groups
  • Extend the Building Blocks grants to beyond 2032, so that precincts soon to be planned can be planned with sufficient kinder infrastructure and land to support it
  • Funding to expand our workforce capacity, and support service delivery
  • The inclusion of early learning in the course delivery within the new Melton TAFE.

 

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION CHANGING LIVES

Many schools in the City of Melton exceed capacity and need upgrading. We welcome recent commitments to build new schools and upgrade existing schools, however we estimate that we will need eight new secondary schools to cater for 8,795 new secondary students expected by 2031.

Planning for the delivery of additional schools is critical and we work closely with the Victorian Government to identify future school sites. We seek an increased investment to match the needs of our rapidly growing community.

We are also seeking the establishment of a Tech School in the City of Melton and a STEM-focused curriculum in our secondary schools.

A Tech School and STEM focussed curriculum would give secondary students access to high-tech, hands-on programs, giving them the skills they need to navigate the future workplace.

 

LANGUAGE SCHOOL – HELPING NEW COMMUNITIES GET THE BEST START

A significant part of our population growth is from overseas migration or recent overseas arrivals moving in.

69,725 residents, or 39 per cent, speak a language other than English at home and 63,763 residents, or 35.7 per cent, were born overseas.

Access to intensive English language classes can make a significant difference. The Western English Language School (WELS) provides a specialised curriculum and has campuses co-located at mainstream schools in Maribyrnong, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Wyndham.

Students who attend mainstream school after studying at WELS have a higher rate of academic success and Victorian Certificate of Education completion.

In the City of Melton, schools have reported that a large percentage of students who were entitled to receive 6-12 months of intensive English language instruction through WELS did not enrol due to the long public transport round-trip journey.

In 2023, a new WELS prep – year 6 campus opened, and we now seek investment in a secondary school equivalent.

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