3AW radio host Simons Owens fights Lilydale West Primary School’s proposed name change
A PROPOSAL to change the name of Lilydale West Primary School has left a former student and 3AW radio host fuming.
Outer East
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A PROPOSAL to change the name of Lilydale West Primary School has left a former student fuming.
3AW radio presenter Simon Owens, a student at the school from 1977 to 1983, said a move to change its name to Victoria Road Primary School was “ ridiculously stupid”.
But the school’s principal has defended the move, and said it would better reflect the school’s location.
Mr Owens said through his role on radio, he had learnt the importance of not changing things unnecessarily.
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“Every time a change is made, there goes something that meant something to someone,” he said.
“To change a school’s name is to take away its history.”
The school has been called Lilydale West since it opened in 1973.
Mr Owens, who runs the Facebook groups “Lilydale West Primary School — Past Students and Teachers”, and “I Grew Up In Lillydale”, said there were about 30 Victoria Roads in state, and the name change would make the school harder to find.
“It’s just an unnecessary change and it’s not going to benefit anyone and is just going to upset those who have an affection for the time they spent there.”
School principal Lisa Branch said early last year, the school had developed a new vision outlining a child-centred and research-based approach to education along with building strong community relationships.
“Since we’ve been rebranding our school with a new uniform, logo and motto, we thought it was a good opportunity to start a conversation on whether our name reflected our identity and vision,” she said.
“We decided on the proposed name of Victoria Road Primary School after significant community consultation that gave students, teachers and families the chance to have a say on school names.”
She said as there was no Lilydale West suburb in existence, the school council believed a new name would better reflect the school’s location.
Ms Branch said after thoroughly considering the feedback, the school council made a formal application to the Department of Education and Training to change the name and was awaiting the outcome.
Department of Education and Training spokeswoman Linh Salisbury said the department was assessing the school’s submission.
Ms Salisbury said a number of steps were still required before a name change could occur, which included seeking the endorsement of the Registrar of Geographic Names and final approval frpm the Education Minister.
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