Project Overview

In response to feedback from parents, students, staff and the community, the NSW Government announced upgrades for all four schools in Murwillumbah Murwillumbah in 2023, to enable a return to two high school sites in Murwillumbah for the start of the 2025 school year.

These upgrades are now complete.

Foreword

From NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar

I would like to thank the students, teachers, parents, and stakeholder groups, across all four public schools in Murwillumbah who provided frank and honest feedback during the consultation process.

As part of the consultation 265 students, parents and staff gave up their valuable time to contribute their perspectives in face-to-face meetings. We also received 482 responses via the online feedback forms as well as 14 written submissions.

This wealth of feedback demonstrates how much the people of Murwillumbah care about their public schools and want to see their students succeed.

The past few years have been particularly challenging for the Murwillumbah school communities, with bushfires, floods and the pandemic all adding to the challenges faced by students and staff as they negotiated the mergers.

As we move through the process of returning to four public schools in Murwillumbah, the department’s priority will be supporting our staff and students.

While this report highlights the many and varied views across the communities, one thing is crystal clear: staff, students and families all want frequent, transparent, clear and detailed communication about the transition process.

We will be working hard to ensure the school communities, particularly those connected to the high schools, are kept informed along the way.

I want the community to know that we will be working closely with you at every step in this process. Your input matters and will shape the return to four public schools in Murwillumbah.

As a parent whose children attend public schools, I know how important our schools are to our communities. I want your local public schools to be your first choice. With the return to four public schools, we will continue to ensure ongoing, excellent public education provision.

Overview

The NSW Department of Education conducted a consultation process in relation to implementing the NSW Government commitment to return to four public schools in Murwillumbah. The consultation, from July 2023 to August 2023, included the following:

• In person engagement with approximately 265 students, staff, parents and carers, and community members across 9 separate face-to-face consultation sessions held at Murwillumbah Learning Community (MLC) High School, Murwillumbah East Public School (MEPS) and Murwillumbah Public School (MPS).
• Provision of 6 online feedback forms tailored to each stakeholder group, generating 482 responses from students, staff, parents and carers, and community members.
• Direct engagement via phone and email with key stakeholders including the NSW Teachers’ Federation, P&C Associations, school principals, Tweed/Wollumbin Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, Mayor of Tweed Shire Council, and principals of partner primary schools in the Murwillumbah school network.
• Review of 14 written submissions provided at consultation sessions and 26 emails received at the murwillumbahschools@det.nsw.edu.au email address.
• Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning meeting with key stakeholders, including the Member for Lismore, staff and P&C Associations.

The open nature of the consultation generated a large volume of predominantly qualitative data reflecting a diverse range of views. Feedback received has been analysed to extract findings in relation to the key stimulus questions posed during consultation.

Consultation feedback and department outcomes

The consultation report can be found online here: https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/about-us/strategies-and-reports/media/documents/Murwillumbah_Schools_Full_Consultation_Report_2023.pdf.

The printable version of this summary page is also available at: (https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/about-us/strategies-and-reports/media/documents/Murwillumbah-Schools-Consultation-Summary-2023.docx).