Amberley School Closure Website Online

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On the 22 February 2007, our school community was told our 145 year old school must close because the Amberley Defence Base was to expand to make our current site unviable.The Action group fought hard and argued well. We secured $26.8 million from the Federal Government to RELOCATE Amberley School to a suitable site, in the local area.The QLD State Government has, one year later, failed to make any announcement about the future site of Amberley State School. THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE! 

Please help us get the message to Mr Welford that we need an answer now. The School will be within the secure perimeter fence of the Defence Base by July 2009.

We are asking for our school to be built in our community. It is very hard to believe a school for approximately 330 students, in a country environment, will cost the entire $26.8 million. The rest of the money is at the disposal of the QLD Government. We are just asking the QLD Government to honour the agreement made in March 2007 when Mr Welford promised to relocate the school if we helped to secure the funding.

MR WELFORD IS NOT LISTENING!

Media release 27/6/2007.

If you notice weird behaviour or display issues, please contact Ryan Blunden on 0413 214 666 or email rascals@gil.com.au

Last Modified: Thursday, February 14th, 2008 @ 13:15

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2007 at 4:07 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

43 Responses to “Amberley School Closure Website Online”

  1. Amberley State School is a special school made up of a combination of children from the surrounding area and the children of personnel employed on the nearby RAAF Base.

    This school provides special support to those who defend our country. This support is provided by teachers, ancillary staff and other all the other children of the school. If you were sent overseas to a place of danger for a period of 6 months I am sure you would feel better knowing your child was in a safe caring and nurturing environment.

    Parents from this school have deployed to a variety of places and situations including Timor, Lebanon, Middle East, Solomon Islands and many areas of Asia in support of Tsunami victims.

    We now ask the government that sent our parents to these places to support the families by relocating Amberely State School.

  2. Myranda aged 9 Said on March 16th, 2007 at 1:16 am quote

    PLEASE SAVE AMBERLEY SCHOOL. My name is Myranda and I am in grade 4. I want to see my friends. Please tell Mr Howard to build us new school. Can you ask them to build the new school with love and care. I want it out of the RAAF’s way.

    I learn lots at Amberley. I love my teachers and my friends. This school is a part of me. I do not know where I will be if this school closes. The sun shines brightly on Amberley school. It is the best school I have been to. This is my third year at Amberley.

    Churchill School is very crowded and it is not as good as Amberley. It is not as nice so I don’t want to go there.

    PLEASE SAVE MY SCHOOL COMMUNITY

  3. The closure of Amberley School is not just an issue for the children of Amberley. If a new school is not built then these children will be educated at other Ipswich Schools. Most of these children will be forced to attend Churchill, Brassall or Raceview Schools. All of these schools are already overcrowded and under stress from the rapid population growth of Ipswich and it continues to grow. The personnel from the expanded base will live in Flinders View, Raceview and Brassall. There is currently 162 new Defence houses that will be ready to be occupied in September, the children from these house will also be going to Churchill. The Education Department has not planned for this population growth (civilian and military) or future population growth in the area.

    Amberley is a school with a long history, it would not be closing if there was not a need to expand the RAAF Base. The Federal Government needs to pay for this school and the State Government needs to spend all monies received on replacing Amberley School, by building a new school in the Amberley / Willowbank area.

    Ipswich deserves more schools in the area not less. PLEASE RELOCATE AMBERLEY SCHOOL

  4. Amberley State School is the most beautfiul school. My two my children aged 9 and 10 have absolutley thrived there.

    It is such a tragedy that the State Government is prepared to let such a unique and devoted school community dissappear.

    We need this school to be relocated close by so that our children can continue to have an exceptional education in a loving and secure environment.

  5. I will have 3 children at Amberley State School next year in Year 7, Year 3 and Prep.
    We love Amberley State School and are very sad that due to the RAAF Base expansion we can’t stay where we are.
    I hope the Qld State Government hurries up and realises how valuable a school in our local community is.
    Please help our community secure the relocation of our school into the Willowbank/Amberley vacinity. Please sign our e-petition.

  6. Natasha Age 8 Said on March 16th, 2007 at 2:48 am quote

    Please do not close my school .It is special to me because it is beatiful and i do not want to leave my friends .I don’t know where else i could be besides Amberley .All the students are very nice especially my brother Lucas and my friends Mali,Terri,Tiarna and Myranda .Although some students are not going to be there they still care about the other young students .If the school isn’t moved. Me and i’m sure all the other students will miss the teachers .

    PLEASE DO NOT JUST SHUT OUR SCHOOL PLEASE MOVE IT!!!

  7. It is outrageous that the federal gov. would allow the defence dept to shut this school without consideration to the pupils and community. Whatever happened to forward planning considering that the RAAF base will have an increased population. I will support any action to force the gov. to reconsider and relocate the school; as it should do.

  8. Due to the Amberley RAAF base expanding children in years prep to grade 5 will be unable to attend Amberley State School. This is the reason why I want Amberley State School to be relocated. If it is not relocated 231 will lose their friends and school. All kids in grades 6&7 may not be there when the school is closed in 2008 but I’m sure they’ll feel for the ones that will be.My sister will still need to go to Amberley when they want to close it. I may only be in grade 6 but over the years I’ve seen many reasons why Amberley State School should be relocated, here are some of them.

    • Wildlife
    Wildlife is a huge thing at my school. Everyday we see at least 20 kangaroos on our oval. We also see about 2 koalas a year. We don’t see them very often but when we do there a good sight to see.

    • Friends
    Some of them have 1 some of them have 20 but everybody at Amberley has a friend.

    This is why they need to relocate Amberley State School.

    Please Help Us!

  9. HOW DISGRACEFUL

    The government should be ashamed of themselves. This sounds like a lovely school. What a shame. I will definately sign the e-petition.

    I hope you get lots of support.

  10. Our son is in year one at Amberley and is loving it. He has made friends and his teacher is wonderful. Our daughter is due to start Prep next year. We looked closely at four local state schools and chose Amberley because of the atmosphere when you walk in, because the parent feedback was so great, and because it has a small country feel.

    Changing schools is big deal for young children. Please help us to send a message to the Government that schools are not about measurable outcomes and economies of scale. Schools are about nurturing and encouraging young people to meet their potential in a caring and safe environment.

    Please don’t let the State Government take the Commonwealth money and disperse our children into other school communities. Sign the petition. Write letters. Please help keep this 145 year old school in tact.

  11. We have a son in Year1 at Amberley SS and another to attend Prep in 2008. We have only been at this school for a short time compared to most of the above families but we feel exactly the same.

    This school is unique, full of history, it is surrounded by trees, kangaroos, frill neck and water lizards and the occasional koala or two. The children,teachers and admin are what makes this school fantastic. Our sons have thrived and have made new friends and feel safe and happy.

    This is is a disgrace that the school community and their families have to face this uncertainty. I hope no future families have to endure the same anguish and frustration that this is causing us.

    The Willowbank/Amberley community will be loosing a Primary School, Outside Care, Kindergarten and childcare. This effects the whole of Ipswich not just us. Our children will be forced to your overpopulated, under resourced schools. You do not want anymore students and our children want to stay at Amberley State School in our local area of Willowbank.

    The willowbank community you may not have children at Amberley but this still affects you too. No school and it’s facilities means value of home decreases!

    Just think if this was happening to your children and they were facing loosing their school due to poor planning. What would you want us to do to help. Please sign our e-petition or let our government and ministers all know that this is not on!!!!!!!!!

  12. Recently I drove a Nigerian national to Willowbank to view the properties there. He has two young girls who will be coming soon to join him as he hopes one day soon to be an Australian citizen so I took him out to look at the school. No person could put a monetary value on his reaction, he saw his first kangaroos eating on the school oval we had to slow down as they crossed the road his first site of Australian lizards and spoke to a mother of three children who attend the school I explained to him that half the children there have parents in the defence force and half are civilian, I told him that it was a really nice balance between rural and metro life. He responded by stating this was the place for him and his family, Nigeria wasn’t an option nor London where he had been four years prior. He wanted a school like this for his children as it was a perfect balance and meeting place of all things Australian. I told him too bad it was going to close. He was shocked to him he had just seen the perfect example of what Australia is all about all sides of life met in this one place. I agree with him even if they relocate the school it would have to be in close proximity of it’s current location to be able to achieve the balance that already exists. Since hearing of it’s impending closure I have tried my best to encourage support for the willowbank sites that the parents have come up with, I wish the community the best of luck in keeping the school, it’s facilities and its history together.

  13. My sister is married to a member of the defence force and they have kids, I’d like to know what the hell the Defence Force is doing to ensure that the facilities are relocated as they are obviously the ones to blame here. “Family Matters” “personnel first” ” we make sure our members are well looked after” (bullshit) if half that student population is defence kids who go through enough during the posting cycle imagine the impact on these kids if you take their school away. My niece has been to four schools because of the defence force and she is nine years old. I would hate to think of the impact it would have on her to know that she has to go to yet another school and her friends which she would have had trouble making have to go somewhere else. I’ll sign your petition and screw the government they should make sure every cent is coughed up so you guys have your school.

  14. I am shocked and dismayed to hear that Education Queensland would even consider closing the school. Relocation is morally and ethically the right thing to do and the Defence Force or Minister should pay 100% of the relocation costs so that Queensland State can continue the high quality of care and education that my grandchildren receive at Amberley State School and the Out side School Hours Care that is located there. My daughter tells me that if it weren’t for the staff at that facility she would have lost her sanity, as she is married to a defence member and does not have the support network of her family close by, she is left in a position that requires community support and she really truly feels that the staff have become extended family, more then just people she entrusts her children to. It is rare by anyones standards to find a school and Care facility that make you feel like family, that have a sincere interest in your family and therefore become a family. That type of thing happens only in remote areas where you are all probably family anyway ensuring education to little ones. The Government on all levels should be ashamed of themselves, not only are they taking a good quality education provider away from the community the are essentially tearing families apart.

  15. Jennifer Age 4 Said on March 17th, 2007 at 2:33 am quote

    I don’t want Amberley State School to close because it is not far away and I want my big brothers to stay there. I don’t want to go to a school a long way away because it will take too long to drive there. My brothers go there and all my friends like Immy, Tash, Luke and Ains. When I go there next year I am going to wear a dress like Tash. I like it when my brothers have homework. I like it when i see Talia we are going to be in Prep together next year. Don’t close our school because I want to go to it. Bye.

  16. I like to play soccer and football and other games with all my friends. I like to go to my school because my friends are really nice and I like to have tuckshop. At lunch time I like to sit next to my friends. I will miss my friends if they close my school and I like my teacher. I like to play sport and go to music. I like to get Student of the Week. I like wearing my F111 sport shirt, it is light blue. Please don’t close my school Mr Prime Minister.

  17. Please don’t close our school because we have lots of wildlife in our playgrounds and I have lots of good friends. If you close our school and it is not relocated I know my brother and sister will miss their friends. I will be going into High School the year after our school is due to be closed. My Dad goes away a lot and my teachers know that sometimes I miss him.

  18. Tiarna aged 8 Said on March 17th, 2007 at 4:27 am quote

    Please do not close our school because there is some really caring teachers . There are 331 children in our school and we do not want to split up all of our friends. If the school does’nt get built again I will miss my friends and so will my brothers who also go to the school. We moved from Everton Park State Primary School and we didn’t have wildlife on the school grounds there.

  19. Please do not close our school because I love all the animals that live there. I am only eight years old, my teacher is a lovely teacher and my friends are special to me. I do NOT want to go to a new school because probley all the alther schools are
    fulled up. I WANT A NEW SCHOOL near my home!
    SOOO BADLY!

  20. I don’t understand why we should have to fight so
    hard to get a new school to replace our beautiful
    Amberley school - that we all love and cherish so much. It should be a Given - without any drama or trauma caused to the families in the school community. To think, in this day and age, a perfectly
    viable school is about to CLOSE and there is no plans already put in place to accomadate the students who attend Amberley School,let alone the ones on the way…how bizarre!! By the way - well done to the team fighting so hard on OUR behalf.

  21. There is so much talk today about the education our children receive and yet the education dept. seems to have such little regard for our children at amberley school. When considering which school to send our two children, it was important to us to choose a school with high standards and consistency and a school where they wouldn’t get lost in the system. Amberley offered all of this. I fear my daughters may not receive the same standard of care and attention they currently receive. Will someone out there PLEASE listen to us and give us what we want - RELOCATION OF AMBERLEY SCHOOL!!!

  22. PLEASE Build us a NEW SCHOOL!! Hi my name is Ainsley and i am in grade 6. I hope someone says one day that they will build us a knew school.I will miss all my wonderful freinds when it closes.see ya!

  23. I cannot believe that the state government is going to close this wonderful school. I have seen students blossom under the one on one relationship they enjoy with their teachers. It upholds a high standard of education and it fosters an excellent sense of community among the students, teachers and families. Strong friendships have been formed, which will now be torn apart. Dispersing the students will force them into surrounding schools where larger class sizes prevent them from receiving the one on one time and attention they deserve and where behavioural problems and bullying reside. Amberley is a viable and happy school and the government should be held accountable for forcing parents to make an unnecessary choice of finding a new school for their children when the existing school should be relocated. The government needs to put our children first and not get lost in bureaucratic red tape.

  24. This would be a tremendous lost to the community to have this wonderful school shut down after so many years of great service to the families of the defense force. In 1999 I move to the area and choose Amberly State School over all the schools in the Ipswich region. I wasn’t of the defense force my self. Friends would ask why I would send your children there. The kinship in that school was so unbelievable the staff and families where so welcoming and supportive. No child was treated different. I noticed the most important thing about this school was that most of the children understood and supported each other as they were all going threw the same loss as each other . One of there parents would be away for lengths of time supporting our country. This school isn’t just a school it is a very special place that families that are left behind need the support of such a school in our community. It is two easy to say shut it down put it in the too hard to do basket. So do what ever it takes to make sure that these children don’t have to give up any more then they all ready do for this country. When my children found out they were so upset. All they could think of was what will happen to them they won’t have each other. So to whom it concerns relocate the school! So take a stand to support the community that is the strength behind our men and women who protect our great country.

  25. Amberley O.S.H.C. provides the very best care for children who attend Amberley State School and also children from other schools during vacation cares.
    Amberley State School and O.S.H.C. are unique and special places in children’s lives that should not be placed in jeopardy because of governments.
    The warm, safe nurturing environment here is irreplacable and rare. At Amberley State School children receive an excellent education and at O.S.H.C. our children feel loved and valued. The school and O.S.H.C. work together as a team and support each other and because of this our children thrive.
    Please relocate our school, O.S.H.C. teachers & staff to the local area so that our children will continue to come first.
    % defence families, % civilian families don’t come into our equations. We care for !00% CHILDREN.

  26. terence murphy Said on March 20th, 2007 at 3:11 am quote

    The outside School Children are very fortunate to have such dedicated Staff caring for them and it would be a great loss to the area if the School were to close down. It is a discrace that a labour Government is causing so much stress in the Amberley area it seems that they have been in power to long and forgotten the people that put them there

  27. The Qld State Government made a big mistake when it thought it could close this school and OSHC without a fight!! Sock it to them Action Group!!!

  28. Having been a deployed member of the Defence Force I took great comfort in knowing that my children were being very well cared for by the teachers and the other students at Amberley State School. It would be a shame if children of deployed members in the future missed out on the opportunity to be at Amberley State School and receive the same attention my children did.

  29. (this is what Keeley said when I Kim her mum told her that the school was being closed keep in mind Keeley has Autism Spectrum Disorder)Keeley started to cry and said:-Thats not fair mum I will never see my teacher or friends ever again.

  30. I have two girls attending Amberley SS, who are fourth generation of the Heit family. My grandfather went to Amberley SS about 1945 when the school reopened after the war. Pop has lived at Willowbank all of his life and still does so today. My dad went to Amberley SS along with his three brothers and two sisters. Myself aswell as my sister attended and we also had a teacher by the name of Gary Cuthbert whom also taught my dad and his siblings. When I married and my husband (Brett) and I had a decision on where to live and raise our children and think of their future the obvious choice was Amberley area so they could attend a school that means alot already to our family and also to the community. You never hear of any bad comments about the school its like having an extended family. I have a daughter with Autism Spectrum Disorder and when she first attended Amberley pre-school she would sit by herself not play or even talk to anyone and always cried about the smallest thing. She repeated preschool and that was the best thing for her as her improvement was thanks to the beautiful staff that helped her through and never gave up I’m sure there would have been times when they wanted to but thats what you get when you send your child to Amberley SS, people who care and are truly dedicated. As you can see Amberley SS means alot to me and my family and all that I want to say is please dont just close our school lets make 231 kids and their families and the whole community happy and relocate our school to the Willowbank area. At present I have a child in year 4 and one in year 1 with another child who has just turned two and Brett and I dont want her to miss out on going to the best primary school there is. I haven’t had to use the OSHC but if I had to I know they would be going to the best ( my eldest has asked me if she can go because they have so much fun )I hope the person who makes the final decision on our schools future takes into account every last story about a school that truely is worth saving!!!!!

  31. Jacob Aged 6yrs Said on March 26th, 2007 at 10:27 pm quote

    I love Amberley State School because it has alot of native wildlife and I like them. I like my teacher and my friends and I do not want to go to another school.

  32. Nicholas Aged 3yrs 9mnths Said on March 26th, 2007 at 10:30 pm quote

    I am looking forward to going to Prep next year at Amberley SS as my big brother is there already and my friends from pre-prep will be going to Amberley State School with me.

  33. Brooke aged 8 Said on March 28th, 2007 at 1:10 am quote

    Please dont close our school it means so much to me. I dont want to go to any other school because all of my friends are here at Amberley. I like it when I go out to play and see all of the kangaroos and sometimes koalas and also lizards in and around my school. I am in year four and I have had great teachers since I started in preschool. Please Mr Howard make us another school in the Willowbank area.

  34. Closure of the school does not make sense on any level. I have heard and read some silly comments in the press over this issue, none more so than “the loss of a school is a small price to pay for the defence of the country”. This has nothing to do with defending the country. If the federal government want the school’s land for the base - fine. Just replace what you’ve taken. If this happened to private residents, and the government took their home without compensation, would they just stand back and say “the loss of my home and all I’ve worked for is a small price to pay for the defence of the country”? I THINK NOT!!!!!
    My daughters are doing so well at Amberley because it is a small country school. I don’t want their future to be compromised because of State and Federal political buck-passing!!

  35. I have read a fair bit about this school in the papers and it seems as though there is a fair amount of passion surrounding this issue. The most important thing is the poor kiddies that will be without a school and that they are facing an uncertain future.

    I plead to all members of the community to remember these children when you write your comments and letters to the editor. We have come to live in a society where we only seem to care about ourselves, and how a situation will affect or not affect us.

    We desperately need more schools - not less. Something that we without young children seem to forget. Schools need to be built somewhere and we have to trust in our government that it will be built where it is needed.

  36. Hi I have 4 children at Amberley. I sent my children to Amberley state school because they where at a bigger school ( I won’t mention the name of the school) this school was getting to big to control bullying. The teachers just did not have the resourses to keep on top of it so in turn my eldest son was getting into so much trouble. So the move to Amberley was the best thing i have ever done, he has done a complete 340 (not everyone is perfect haha).
    Look i could go on and on about our gorgeous school our teachers really care about our kids, the wildlife is a lesson for our kids’ in it’s self.
    I do not understand how hard it is to see we need another school and dispersment would be detrimental to our kids.

    So I guess what I am saying is HELP us HELP our kids and get our school RELOCATED…..

  37. Hi, my name is Tamika and I am going to tell you about Amberley State School. I have 3 younger brothers, one is in grade 5 and two are in grade 3 so in 2 years my brothers will be in grade 7 and grade 5, it would be sad that my brothers may have to go to another school in Ipswich eg. Rosewood. Away from their friends.
    The wildlife around the Amberley area is amazing we have Koalas,Kangaroos and lots of Lizards.
    I have lots of friends like Ashlee,Kailan,Rose,Kamia,Ainsly,James Lucas and well really everyone at school are my friends. The teachers are really nice and at my old school we had lots of bullies but at Amberley there are no bullies.
    My cousin went to Amberley and everyday he would tell his mum what he had done that day and so my aunty told my mum and that is how I came to be at this wonderful school. So that is why you should help us save our school from closure!!!

    SO PLEASE HELP US SAVE AMBERLEY STATE SCHOOL
    AND HELP THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE………………

  38. It would be a shame to see the school close its gates, forcing families to send their children to other over crowded schools in the Ipswich area!!
    Kids need a great enviroment like Amberley State School to learn, just check out the wildlife, where else can you learn about animals while watching them out of the window?
    I understand the RAAF and defence force are behind relocating the school to the local area, great to see, its just the governments that stands in the way. ( Typical red tape!!) It makes sense to leave the school in the area for so many reasons.
    The simple solution is to relocate the school to the local area” Willowbank” that not only helps the kids by keeping them with their friends and teachers that they know and trust but also the community.
    We all need to take pride in the fact that the kids of today are our future and what happens now affects them for the rest of their lives. Especially the education that they receive.
    I believe that the bean counters went to school once and may have forgoten what it was like to be care-free.
    The defence kids especially need stability as their parents are away more often than not for most of their early years, they depend on their teachers and friends when this happens.

    MONEY should be no object when it comes to EDUCATING the next generation of AUSTRALIANS .

    RELOCATE THE SCHOOL AND HELP THE KIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES and the COMMUNITY too.

  39. I have been married to the RAAF for 16 years and I have 5 children. The Defence Force always states it is there to support the family, well it’s time to put words into actions and the RAAF should be relocating Amberley State School because it is part of the Defence Family.
    My oldest 2 children attend Amberley State School, and the friendship that were built then are still the friendships I have today. The dedication and caring of staff at primary and preschool level is second to none.
    My oldest child had attend other schools in the area before coming to Amberley. At these schools he was labeled as ADHD. It was the amazing staff at Amberley who cared enough for the child to find out that he was in fact Gifted and Talented.
    It is the nature of Amberley to care for the kids, look into the kids and discover who they really are. More schools need to be like this. They could all learn something from Amberley. Why take this away from our children? The Defence Force must relocate Amberley our children need it. It has always been my number 1 choice if I we were to be posted back to that location.
    Where else can our children receive 1 on 1 care, in a relaxed environment like Amberley?

  40. IT IS SUCH A SHAME TO HEAR ABOUT AMBERLEY PRE-SCHOOL CLOSING AT THE END OF 2008.
    MY WIFE AND I WERE PLANNING TO MOVE TO THE AREA NEXT YEAR SOMETIME.WE HAVE A THREE YEAR OLD WHO WOULD LOVE TO ATTEND YOUR SCHOOL. WE HAVE A DAUGHTER AT IPSWICH HIGH AND WE WOULD LIKE TO SEND OUR OTHER DAUGHTER TO ROSEWOOD HIGH NEXT YEAR.
    VERY DISAPPOINTING TO HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER PRE-SCHOOL IN THE AREA IF YOU CLOSE DOWN.

  41. Please visit Ian Rickuss MP, Member for Lockyer’s website (www.ianrickuss.com.au)

    To view the Honourable Rod Welford MP, Minister for Education’s response, concerning the relocation of the Amberley State School.

  42. I AM SO SORRY TO READ ABOUT AMBERLEY STATE SCHOOL HAVING TO CLOSE DOWN, BECAUSE THE RAAF BASE WANTS TO EXTEND.IT IS NOT REALLY FAIR TO THE CURRENT STUDENTS OF AMBERLEY STATE SCHOOL IF THEY HAVE TO AJUST TO ANOTHER SCHOOL IN THE AREA.

  43. None…

    None…

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