Queensland Football School withdraws plans for Gold Coast site amid controversy

A controversial speciality soccer school set to open on the Gold Coast later this year has gone back to the drawing board.

A CONTROVERSIAL speciality soccer school will no longer open at its proposed Clear Island Waters site, despite assurances given to parents late last year.

The Queensland Football School established by director Martin Calvert was originally advertised to open at the Italo-Australian Club at Fairway Drive in January.

However, the Bulletin can reveal the school has since withdrawn its application to State Government agency, the Non-state Schools Accreditation Board (NSAB), to open at the site. It leaves a major question mark over its future.

A Bulletin message to QFS had gone unanswered by deadline.

This is not the first time the goalposts of QFS have been shifted.

BEHIND THE QUEENSLAND FOOTBALL SCHOOL PROJECT GOLD COAST

Martin Calvert (right), Chair of the proposed Queensland Football School with students.

In November last year, parents who forked out $150 for their children to trial for a spot at QFS complained they had not heard from Mr Calvert, despite multiple attempts to contact the school administration.

A month later Mr Calvert issued a notice to parents stating the opening was postponed from January 2020 until mid 2020 due to “requirements needed due to flood zoning.”

The Bulletin has also revealed former Kimberley College director Kevin Ferguson was spruiking the QFS to Gold Coast City Council in June, three months before he was charged over a $4.6 million embezzlement scheme.

QFS has previously said Mr Ferguson had never been employed by the school.

In September, Mr Ferguson was one of three people charged with allegedly siphoning $4.6 million from Kimberley College over seven years.

Mr Ferguson is facing one count of fraud, dishonestly gaining benefit or advantage as an employee where the yield is greater than $100,000, and dishonest application of property of another greater than $100,000.

It is not suggested that the charges against Mr Ferguson had any connection to QFS.

Artist impressions of the Queensland Football School proposed for the old Italo-Australian site.

QFS is not the only new school to have withdrawn or changed its application with the NSAB.

The Men of Business (MOB) Academy, an alternate all boys high school was set to open in Southport last month.

The MOB academy has since moved its open day to April 20.

Hayley Clearihan who had applied to open the Modern Waldorf School, a distance education school in Nerang, said she had decided to go in a different direction and withdraw her application.

“What was required of us eventually made the school unviable both financially and logistically.

“Disappointing for so many, since there are long waiting lists for distance education schools.”

The educator has instead launched a National Online Tuition service that specialises in working with homeschoolers.

“It’s already going very well,” she said.