Parents in tears as Tirranna Public School faces uncertain future

Five years after celebrating its 150th anniversary, Tirranna Public School south of Goulburn faces the prospect of closing.

Parents were told on Monday morning (2 December) that unless more pupils enrolled for next year the school would be put into recess.

According to the Department of Education, the seven students enrolled at the school include six that are out-of-area enrolments.

Tirranna Parents and Citizens Association spokeswoman Sybil Lucas said the announcement left parents in shock, in tears and frustrated.

“On Saturday our principal sent us a message; we were requested to come into a meeting on Monday morning,” Sybil said.

“When we arrived we were greeted by Vicki Stokes, the director of education for our area and were told then our school would be put into recess at the end of this year and into next year unless we could gain a significant amount of in-zone enrolments,” she said.

The parents were not told how many more pupils were needed to keep the school open in 2025. Any newcomers had to be from the Tirranna catchment.

“We (the school) have one child leaving at the end of the year, he is finishing Year Six, but we had another Kindergarten student starting next year which would keep us at seven,” Sybil said.

The announcement has left parents scrambling to find an alternative school for next year.

“Admittedly our principal was not told until Thursday (last week); she didn’t know about it either until Thursday afternoon,” Sybil said.

“We are disappointed as well with the Education Department, that they would do this, this close to the end of the year and now we are left trying to find schools for our children next year,” she said.

“It feels like they have made this (requirement) impossible, so that it is unreachable for us and then they can close the school down,” she said.

The five families with children attending Tirranna Public had worked hard to make the school the best it could be, holding working bees throughout the year to create play areas and spaces to enhance the pupils’ learning.

They also met for morning tea for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

‘‘Our major fundraiser for the year is manning the gates at the Goulburn Rodeo; we all band together for that,” she said.

Sybil has two children at the school, a daughter to go into Year Three in 2025, another daughter going into Year One and her third daughter starting in Kindergarten in 2025.

“It’s quite a personal thing for me as well,” she said, recounting her days at Tirranna Public School. Her brother, and before that her father and uncle were students at Tirranna.

“I have been in contact with another school threatened with closing down, Avoca Primary School near Moss Vale,” Sybil said. “They were also told at the beginning of the week that they were being closed down.”

Parents were trying to combine their efforts with other parents from 28 other schools throughout NSW that face a similar fate and together “make a noise”.

The Department of Education said community consultation in term four was about the potential of placing the school in recess, not closing the school.

“Placing a school in recess means that, while the school grounds and facilities are maintained, there will be no staff or students attending the school,” the department’s statement said.

“Should prospective enrolments rise substantially, the decision to put a school into recess can be reversed, at which point the school can become fully operational again.”