Petition to Save Tharwa School
The ACT Government is set to close Tharwa Primary and Pre-Schools. Tharwa is the oldest school in the ACT with much historical and heritage value. Tharwa primary delivers real educational outcomes for families who have chosen to educate their children in a small school environment.
To close Tharwa would be to ‘close down’ the Tharwa community, which has been recovering from the devastating 2003 bushfires.
Please sign our petition to support the Tharwa Primary School and the Tharwa community.
Tharwa School Motto - Students In Harmony With Each Other And The Environment Experiencing Success and Challenge - A Century of Learning 1899-1999
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:41 pm
Our children’s primary school, Brunswick South Primary School in Melbourne, was one of the schools that Jeff Kennett tried to close because it was too small. The community resisted the closure, and the school, the children and the community are now thriving.
When I collected my son on his very first day, two older children called out goodbye to him from across the playground. I was astounded that THEY KNEW HIS NAME.
This year, our son started High School. He is going to Fitzroy High School. Jeff Kennett did manage to close that school, but even then the local community did not give up! Fitzroy High School was re-opened due to community pressure. It too is thriving.
We are so grateful to those parents before us who fought so hard to keep these wonderful small schools open.
Best of luck and a big thank you for the wonderful work you are doing.
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:33 pm
save this historic school
June 23rd, 2006 at 2:16 pm
PLEASE SAVE OUR COMMUNITIES, HELP OUR CHILDREN, SUPPORT FAMILIES.
June 23rd, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Canberra will no longer be called the bush capital as we won’t have any bush schools. Tharwa and Hall might be small schools but we have big hearts and super minds. Don’t destroy our heritage. You could say “if the bush fires didn’t get you Stanhope will”.
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Schools are at the centre of our community, especially Primary Schools. The closure of any School damages a community, but none more so than small country communities such as Tharwa.
I don’t live in Tharwa - my kids go to school on the north side of Canberra, but that doesn’t matter. This is a community issue for all Canberrans. Does the ACT want to become known for destroying small communities? Aren’t our communities, be they in the suburbs or in the bush, the heart of our Australian society?
Make some different choices Mr Stanhope and Mr Barr.
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:09 pm
Dear Mr Stanhope,
In a recent conversation (at the Ministers afternoon tea in Tuggeranong) you mentioned your children were past the primary school age. I ask you to please think back for a moment to when they were about to start school and remember the things that were important to you as a parent, not a politician, when chosing their school.
Was it somewhere that provided a quality education? Was it a school that would make your child feel safe? Did you want your child to be nurtured by both his/her teachers and fellow students? Did you want your child to have good solid values and to respect others?
I am sure all of these things were important to you, as they are to most parents. They are the things that are extremely important to me. They are just a few of the wonderful things that Tharwa Primary school has to offer. Your children may be finished with the system - mine aren’t. PLEASE DON’T TAKE THARWA AWAY FROM THEM.
June 22nd, 2006 at 7:55 pm
tharwa school is a very important part of our heritage and should not be lost to political gains or mismanagement
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:55 pm
All 3 of our children went to Tharwa Primary. We as parents watched them flourish as members of the school and of the wider community. They as children look back on their primary school days with fondness - knowing they had privileges that come with greater adult contact, greater outdoor educational opportunities and seeing themselves as contributing to the community. It is a wonderful school, unique in the Canberra region - closing it would effectively close down a vital part of the Tharwa community.
June 21st, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Why can’t I have a choice in where I send my children? I may live in Banks, but I work in Tharwa, my husband works on a property in Tharwa, my in laws own a property near Tharwa, I consider myself a local. The fires of 2003 didnt know when to stop at a state border, so why should our schools only be offered to ACT residents?
I have seen my daughter grow into a very bright, happy little girl, but if I was made to send her into one of the two schools on offer, that bright, happy little girl would disappear. Would I then be able to send the government the bills for the therapy sessions?
I want my son to go to PreSchool at Tharwa next year. I dont want him having to fight to be heard at another preschool. He needs to be able to go to school at Tharwa.
We need to get as many people as we can to sign this petition, we need to put Tharwa on the map as actually being in the ACT. If our police think we are in NSW, what hope have we got.
June 21st, 2006 at 9:42 am
First the school, what next Mr Stanhope? The shops, then the community like is happening in Canberra suburbs?
Whilst we live in Kambah, my best friend and her young family live in Tharwa and we are out there almost every weekend relishing the country life. The community spirit out there is just amazing, moving from a country town myself to the ACT I deeply miss the interaction that is achieved in a small community and my husband and I are planning to move our family out that way in the near future.
AND YES, I too have a young family who WILL BE GOING TO THARWA SCHOOL during their primary school years.