Greater Shepparton Secondary College Year 12s banned from wearing McGuire, Wanganui, Mooroopna or Shepparton High uniforms on last day
Year 12 students after a bit of ‘last day’ fun were banned from wearing old uniforms from the four high schools merged to create at Greater Shepparton Secondary College. HERE’S WHY.
Goulburn Valley
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School dress-up drama has plagued the last day for Greater Shepparton Secondary College Year 12 students, who were banned from wearing their old school uniforms and discouraged from doing a “gender swap”.
The Goulburn Valley News understands Year 12 students were warned not to show up to school on Monday wearing their uniforms from four old high schools, which were merged to form Greater Shepparton Secondary College this year.
And in Facebook posts seen by The Goulburn Valley News, college staff told students: “the dress up theme for Monday will be formal/semi-formal, the theme with the most votes – not gender swap”.
Last week, a high school in Wonthaggi kicked students off campus when they came to school wearing gender swap costumes, where boys where girls uniforms and girls wear boys uniforms.
A Year 12 student, who wished to remain anonymous, said after the school vetoed students wearing old uniforms, students decided they wanted to do gender swap instead.
“Everyone wanted to do gender swap and it ended up being the most popular choice – there were votes online and everything.
“Then the teachers said no it was not one of the themes that could be chosen, so they forced it to be semi formal.”
Parents have slammed the school decision as “ridiculous”.
“Let them have some fun – they have missed out on so much this year,” Greater Shepparton Voice 4 Choice Public Education spokesperson Robyn Boschetti said.
The student said Year 12 students were also not allowed to sign their current uniforms on their last day.
College executive principal Genevieve Simson defended the decision to ban old school uniform.
“The whole school community has worked hard this year to ensure consistency in our new Greater Shepparton Secondary College school uniform,” she said.
“Through this, we have successfully built a sense of student pride and inclusion in their new school.”
Ms Simson said students were able to sign each other’s uniforms after Wednesday’s graduation ceremony, and had to keep them “neat and tidy” in the meantime.
She added: “Our school has a strong inclusion culture and a gender-neutral uniform policy. Any student can wear any item of the specified uniform, consistent with the guidelines that apply to all students.”
At the beginning of 2020, Shepparton’s four public high schools were merged into one school called Greater Shepparton Secondary College.
The new college is being built on the old Shepparton High site, which has recently received a $119 million boost in state government funding for its completion by 2022.
In the meantime, college students are spread across the Wanganui, McGuire and Mooroopna campuses.
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