Meridan State College Year 12 formal change sparks outrage

Parents and students at a Sunshine Coast high school have been left fuming after a last-minute change to the 2023 Year 12 formal was announced. Have your say in our poll.

Parents and students at Meridan State College have been left outraged after it was announced the 2023 Year 12 Formal would be moved to Term 2 instead of the last week of Term 4.

Parents and students at a Sunshine Coast high school have been left outraged after it was revealed the Year 12 formal would be moved to earlier in the year.

Meridan State College traditionally held their formal in the final week of term 4, but the school has since announced its plans to move the highly-anticipated event to term 2 in 2023 and then term 1 in 2024.

This was announced to students in their final week of school, and then in an email to parents two days later.

In the email, obtained by the Sunshine Coast Daily, the school said it would benefit the students academically.

This included by minimising distraction particularly at “crunch time” during external exams and will improve the focus on student learning achievements at the Graduation Celebration and Awards Nights held at the end of the year.

An excerpt of the email sent to parents from Meridan State College. Photo: Contributed

Students wanting to leave school before graduation to pursue other pathways would also benefit from having the formal earlier in the year, it said.

But students and parents did not agree, and were left outraged with some backing an online petition from an anonymous student.

One Year 11 student, who asked to remain anonymous, said their cohort had a visceral reaction to the news.

They said the late notice added insult to injury.

“I know people from past years are spending at least a grand on their car, their dress, their suit … so to be shortened down to four months notice, it’s kind of hard,” they said.

They disagreed with the school’s claims the event would distract students from their studies, saying it served as “incentive” to finish their final year.

“People are going to have schoolies and graduation on their mind anyway … but I find formal more of a positive distraction,” the student said.

One parent of a Year 11 student, who also asked to remain anonymous, said they were disappointed at the lack of consultation, given according to the email it had been considered for two years.

“(In) Term 2, most of us are still recovering from Christmas, and school fees and new uniforms … so it’s a horrible expense for parents with the cost of living going up, and now you’re telling us we need to pay for a formal?,” they said.

Meridan State College traditionally held their formal in the last week of Term 4, but have announced plans to hold it in Term 2 in 2023, instead. Photo: Patrick Woods / Sunshine Coast Daily

They said Term 2 for Year 12s was a “critical” time, and did not understand how such a big event could benefit the students more than at the end of the year once everything was complete.

A Queensland Education spokesperson said it was up to individual schools to make decisions on their formals.

“Meridan State College has made the decision to shift the 2023 formal to the end of Term 2, with discussions ongoing regarding the possibility to move it to Term 3,” they said.

“The school holds two awards nights and a graduation ceremony at the end of Term 4 as a celebration of students’ 13 years of learning and academic and sporting achievements.”

Parents and students have a minimum of six months’ notice for the change to the formal date, they said.