Challenges, transition, opportunity: how students are shaping Shepparton's super school

The News sat down with five senior students from the Wanganui campus. They were free to speak their minds and what they had to say might surprise you.

Racism

Year 12 student Farzana Alizada has an infectious smile and bubbly personality, but as a Muslim with an Afghani background, she has experienced racism in the community, at primary school and in her senior years.

She said the conflict between students at the campus in Term 1 was a turning point.

“I did get offended, everyone was just being racist towards each other, it was horrible,” she said.

Because of the violence and a report finding systemic racism, Farzana helped organise a recent Harmony Day to build understanding between different cultures.

“I do feel it has calmed down, not 100 per cent, but it has improved.”

“This term has been calm because we are trying our best, we are working really hard,” she said.

Joy Parnell missed Harmony Day due to an excursion, but recalls returning to a different atmosphere.

“It was just amazing,” she said.

“The stuff that has happened has brought us together in a way, but it has also been hard.”

House meetings continue to engage students in cultural awareness.

Fights, lockdowns and security guards

Caitlyn Glasson said fights lockdowns and disruption in Term 1 may have been instigated by small groups of students and outsiders, but it had a much bigger impact.

“Obviously there have been negative things that have happened, and we all had to go through that but we did it together, we all witnessed the same things and it has created a more united front,” she said.

As senior students, they have taken on self-appointed leadership roles to repair the damage and rebuild respect.

“When the fights happened, it wasn’t just because of racism, there were gang issues from the past but the media just hypes them (the perpetrators) up even more, we need to find a solution and we are working really hard on that,” Farzana said.

Chloe Butcher, who has spent all her secondary school years at Wanganui, was particularly hurt by the violence.

“It was disheartening because it has always been my school, it is my home,” she said.

“It didn’t need to be brought into the school, it wasn’t fair on other students and the teachers.”

“Now I think things are better than ever, we are finally at peace again and we don’t have to worry about there being another fight at lunch or being put into lockdown again or threatened when out on the school grounds.”

Joy said she actually liked having security guards.

“I befriended a chunk of them,” she said.

“It was actually really interesting having them around because those who felt scared were made to feel safe and nothing really happened while they were there.”

Caitlyn also misses the presence of security guards but says it shows how far the campus has progressed.

“It is good to see that we can function without them now, and that we don’t have to rely on them.”

The transition

Joy admits when she was at school last year, she spent a lot of her time outside classes alone, reading or studying.

“I came from Shepparton High, so I had mixed feelings about it, I do miss Shepp High a lot and it did mess up a lot of friendship groups,” she said.

“Personally, because I’m not always sociable I spent a chunk of that first year reading on my own, this year has been easier with having a friendship group and knowing people in the classes.”

Much of 2020 was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and home-schooling, which meant there was little opportunity for whole-of-school interaction and the development of a strong culture suffered as a result.

“I was one of the students that had to move from Mooroopna to Wanganui last year, so obviously it has been difficult and there have been challenges but overall it has been a positive experience,” Caitlyn said.

“I’ve made new friends and I have so many more opportunities than I had at Mooroopna, really it is not that bad, I love it here, but I miss Mooroopna because it was my home away from home.”

Asked if it was worth trading her school for better educational opportunities, Caitlyn doesn’t hesitate.

“At Mooroopna we had low numbers so low funding and small class sizes, so I didn’t really get to do pretty much any of the subjects that I really wanted to do and the majority of subjects I’m taking now wouldn’t have been run at Mooroopna, I would have had to do them online or travel anyway.”

Joy also misses her old school (Shepparton High) and would have tackled the transition differently.

“I would personally have split Shepparton High up and sent them to different campuses and then moved students around the campuses instead of messing around with everyone, that would have made it easier for the majority of students,” she said.

Joy would also have found a different, greenfield site for the new school.

Chloe didn’t have to move schools, but she did have to deal with the arrival of a host of students from other schools.

“When I heard other kids were coming to our campus, I was a bit nervy about it disrupting the peace,” she said.

“Now, I couldn’t be happier because I’ve met new friends, I’m now friends with different people from cultures and religions, people I didn’t think I’d be friends with from other campuses, without being joined together I never would have met those people.”

School culture

Year 11 student Rowan Farren has a vested interest in building a strong culture for the new Greater Shepparton Secondary College. He is the only one of the students around the table that will make the transition in 2022.

Rowan said the school didn’t have a chance in the first year to develop.

“In 2020 because of what was going on it didn’t really have time to form and settle, the little bits we were at school means we are only finding our identity now,” he said.

“It will have some bumps along the road but in the end, I think we will all be better for it.”

Caitlyn said she thrived during remote learning, but it also meant she didn’t really feel part of the campus she was learning from.

“I had a good home situation where my learning excelled but I think it did set back the school as a whole because moving from Mooroopna to Wanganui was a big transition and I didn’t feel I was part of the school yet,” she said.

“I felt like an outsider that was attending the school for a few minutes, not a student that was immersed in the culture of the school. It took this year and the events in Term 1 and seeing the community outlook on the school for me to see it more as my school,” she said.

“It made me feel that this is my school, something I had to protect and look after.”

Negative publicity

Fights, threats, and lockdowns are not the focus of the students as they discuss the year at school.

Instead they are more concerned about the adverse publicity it continues to generate and the impact that is having on the perception of their school in the community.

Joy said it had consequences beyond the impact on the wellbeing of students and teachers.

“I recently got a job and one of the first questions was, were you involved in the fights?” she said.

“Because of the negative publicity people don’t want to be involved which makes it harder to organise the massive events we want to do like we did with Harmony Day.”

Caitlyn said when she mentions where she goes to school, she is often met with sympathy for what she is going through.

“We are more defensive of the school now, this is our school, this is our education, seeing such negative press all the time is debilitating, we are getting knocked down all the time without ever acknowledging the good stuff.”

“It is almost more traumatising than the event itself.”

Rowan reserves his displeasure for the public campaign against the school model.

“It is disrupting the progression of the school and it isn’t really helping the main cause which is forming a new school,” he said.

“It is not going to go back to the four schools, it just won’t happen, and they are hindering the progression of what is inevitable.”

The future

Nearly all the students at the roundtable won’t get to experience the new school. They will graduate this year and head off to university to continue their studies.

Despite this, they are all determined to help shape a strong culture for the rest of the student body to carry on at the new single campus school.

“One hundred per cent I would like to go to the new campus, it will be so cool, I love the buildings and the bright colours, I’ve been on two tours,” Caitlyn said.

“I am so jealous, I feel like for one year I want to repeat so I can go to the super school,” Farzana said.

Joy doesn’t want to deal with the ghosts of Shepparton High School.

“I have mixed feelings because that was where Shepparton High was and I would probably be really upset going there, the majority of the memories I have were in buildings and areas that are no longer there,” she said.

Rowan will complete Year 12 at the new school and despite the disruption, he is convinced it will be worth it.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it with the better facilities and everyone unified,” he said.