Family flees town to escape violent Shepparton ‘super school’

Parents say a violent culture at Greater Shepparton Secondary College is running families out of town as one mum prepares to sell her house and leave.

Kirsty Hughes and her family are one family considering leaving Shepparton as she runs out of school options. Photo: Alex Coppel.

Goulburn Valley families are prepared to leave Shepparton to escape the trouble-plagued “super school”.

More than 2400 students from four government secondary schools will be crammed into one campus from 2022 under the Victorian Government’s controversial education plan to lift lagging results in Shepparton and Mooroopna.

Parents say they have no other option but to send their children to Greater Shepparton Secondary College (GSSC) with private schools at capacity and no longer taking 2022 enrolments.

Families face travelling to nearby towns to get educated to avoid the school’s toxic culture fuelled by allegations of bullying and racism.

But that isn’t an option for Shepparton mum Kirsty Hughes who is legally blind and says the situation is so dire she is preparing to move.

Her oldest child Tylar will start high school at GSSC next year if she doesn’t.

“I’ve been in Shepparton my whole life but now we are potentially selling our home and moving — that’s the level of desperation we’re at,” she said.

“I’m unable to drive and my partner can’t afford to give up hours at work because he is supporting our family,” she said.

“Sending Tylar to GSSC simply isn’t an option for us.”

Kirsty Hughes has been in Shepparton her whole life. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Ms Hughes said she would be shattered to leave her home behind.

“All of our support is here,” she said.

“My mum isn’t in a position where she can just up and leave. Everything we know is here, whether it’s our friends or our medical appointments.

“And we might have to make a big decision because our choices have been taken away from us.

“When I was growing up all of the different schools were stronger than the other in different areas.

“It meant people could go where their needs were being met.”

Another Shepparton mum Shandi Barker is preparing to send her first of seven children to secondary school.

Ms Barker will have three children enrolled at the super school by 2023.

But she fears they will be lost in what is one of the biggest school’s in Victoria.

“My oldest daughter has some complex learning difficulties and those will be lost in this school,” she said.

“We’ve had a look at other public schools in Kyabram and Numurkah but as a family we need to weigh up whether the travel costs and time would be worth it.

“I’m anxious about my daughter being the first child and that is only heightened by the fact all the students are moving into the new school next year.

“We can’t even prepare her mentally because no one knows what to expect.”

Ms Barker said the possibility of a limited education for her daughter was frightening.

“Limiting education for students doesn't help them break the poverty cycle,” she said.

“It doesn’t push them to want to be better.

“A negative learning environment isn't going to help these kids flourish to their full potential.”

Shandi Barker says she is worried by the lack of options for her seven children.

The government will spend $119 million combining the four schools and some parents say their children have already been enrolled at the super school — despite not enrolling them themselves.

One Shepparton parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said she had tried to enrol her child at another school but missed out.

And now they have been enrolled at GSSC.

“Given where we live it also restricts me to how much I can work as a single parent,” she said.

“I looked into the private schools but they are far too expensive for my situation. I went to the year 7 information night for GSSC and they couldn’t even provide us with information on fees, they told us to call the next day.

“The school is too far away for my sons to ride because it isn’t safe enough.

“Our choices and options have been taken away from us and it means our whole life has changed.”

Under the government’s policy all children are entitled to be enrolled at their closest neighbourhood school.

“In Victoria, every child has the right to enrol at their closest government school or at another school of their choice, provided that school has sufficient space to accommodate them,” a Department of Education and Training spokesman said.

“Where a family of a Year 6 student does not submit their application for Year 7 placement to their child’s primary school, primary school staff will submit the form on the student’s behalf for enrolment in their designated neighbourhood school. For students residing in the Guthrie Street Primary School zone, this is Greater Shepparton Secondary College.

“This practice is consistent across the entire state.”

Supplied Editorial Works on the Shepparton super school are progressing.

Another parent, who already has two children enrolled at GSSC and asked to remain anonymous, said her children had faced many problems in recent months.

“My daughter has been accused of being a racist,” she said.

“There have been nasty things written about her on social media and on some of the walls at school. She is scared to go to school in the morning because she’s worried about what might happen.

“Last year she was bullied horrifically and the only option I really had was for to move classes. It only happened because one of her friends was in the class.

“Why should my daughter have been moved in place of the bullies?”

The school will combine Shepparton High School, Wanganui Park Secondary College, McGuire College and Mooropna High School to form Greater Shepparton Secondary College.