It's not unusual for government schools to cop a fair – or rather unfair – share of bad press. Those who teach in them, or lead them, are constantly bombarded with accusations of low-achieving students, of falling standards and of substandard teaching.
So it's a rather curious state of affairs when suddenly we are being set upon for our successes, for "lifting our game" and creating the type of school that families are eager to get their child into.
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As a state school, Melbourne Girls' College accepts all local students within its neighbourhood area. This area is based on each girl's home address. That is a given. So it is disappointing when we are accused of denying places to 12 local students due to their race or their public housing address. The students were in fact outside the Melbourne Girls' College area. Their local school is another state school, also working hard for all of its students.
Melbourne Girls' College is academically ambitious for its students but also socially inclusive. After all, isn't that what we all should be demanding from our schools? All of our schools? Our girls come from families largely spread throughout Richmond and wider Melbourne, a healthy mix of public and other housing, a wide range of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. It is sad that in response to recent media attention we have to use these labels to describe our fantastic girls, who are unique and individual to us.
There are a number of schools that fit the description of ambition and inclusion, primary and secondary, in Melbourne. Not all are in the inner suburbs as you may have been lead to believe, although it is probably fair to say that these schools are often in the public eye due to the changing demographic that has resulted in unprecedented waiting lists coupled with the fact that governments of all levels and all persuasions can't resist tinkering in the business of schools.
Furthermore, due to population changes beyond the control of the public education system, schools in the inner area have become political footballs. Some of those schools do have a higher number of children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, but to suggest that parents are opting out these schools purely for that reason is simplistic beyond belief.
As an educator who has worked in lower socioeconomic schools for most of my 25 years as a teacher, I find this insulting and just plain wrong. I have spent my career in public education in order to make a difference, to improve outcomes for all students. At the heart of this commitment is the social justice Australian democracy is founded upon.
I do not shy away from the fact that there is a growing gap between wealthier and less well off students. I have witnessed that in the schools I have taught in over the years and continue to do so despite the fact that suburbs such as Richmond have undergone gentrification in the period since Melbourne Girls' College commenced in the early 1990s.
But importantly, Melbourne Girls' College, like every state school I have worked in, finds the money to support our students who need assistance with uniforms, books, camps and wellbeing. With limited funds, we make it our business to support families who may struggle to find money for the essentials. That said, I am frustrated by the lack of will to seriously grapple with the equity funding issue more broadly so that every school is adequately resourced and so that every child and every teacher is properly supported.
As the principal of Melbourne Girls' College I make no apology for the success of my school. It's been achieved over 22 years of hard slog and input from a number of teachers, principals and a wonderful local community.
Similarly, I make no apology for expecting students to work hard and take equal responsibility for their learning just as I make no apology in enforcing a strict, equitable uniform code. Having these expectations of all students is where true equity and inclusion lies.
If you believe recent reports, such success has only come about through adopting "quasi private school" tactics of "shutting out" certain students and cherry-picking middle-class high-performing students or because some parents are gaming the system at the expense of the struggling families.
Unfortunately, such assertions only serve to polarise rather than shed light on the complex choices parents are faced with when choosing a school for their child. To suggest that certain schools are socially engineering their cohort mix and deliberately entrenching social disadvantage is absurd and once again flies in the face not only of the personal and professional principles I hold dear but also ignores the obvious diversity that exists at schools such as Melbourne Girls' College.
So here are some facts: MGC has 1356 students from 126 postcodes and from 55 countries of birth. Our selection processes are posted on our website and are consistent with the vast majority of Victorian state schools.
Our motto at Melbourne Girls' College is Lead and Achieve and that's because that is what we expect of our students. No matter where they come from.
Karen Money is principal of Melbourne Girls' College in Richmond
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