14 September 2007

Cook Primrary School

| Mike Crowther
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Just a notice to any Canberran people who are former students of Cook Primary school. The place is scheduled for demolition (despite what Sonic is publicly saying about holding ‘community consultations’) and so a web space has been created for any current or former students/staff to stay in touch…network…plot revenge etc. It’s a my space group, but you’ve got to start somewhere. If you know any former Cook kiddies, send em our way eh?

http://groups.myspace.com/cookfriends

Thank you for your attention.

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VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt9:01 am 18 Sep 07

Schoolfriends is a great place to get started, as you can search and match.

It’s free unless you want to report a reunion etc.

Apart from that, it’s not too bad.

Mike Crowther10:11 pm 17 Sep 07

Because Snahons_scv6_berlina, schoolfriends.com is not a free wheel.

I’m a former student of Cook Primary and was saddened by the news of the closure.

A few months ago, people at my child’s school (unaffected by the closures) found out that someone was spreading untrue rumours at the pre-schools in the area that our school was closing.

It made me wonder who would have something to gain from such a rumour and to wonder at the ethics and morality of some people.

Lead poisoning? I use a lead puch to keep my film safe from x-rays. Oh no…. I am so screwed!!!

Actually Mr Evil, the tin foil hat theory may actually work, albeit it could serve in completely the opposite intention; to focus the electromagnetic radiation using the same concept as a car antenna picks up radio signals.

For best effect, I would recommend a lead helmet, with an inner and outer layer of tinfoil to prevent unnecessary exposure to lead (the tinfoil hat being the necessary prophylactic against lead poisoning, akin to dealing with lead based paints, sniffing leaded petrol etc).

Mike Crowther10:33 am 17 Sep 07

Thank you for the information Stephen. On the matter of only members of organisations being welcome to attend, I stand corrected. However, do you think there may be some merit in you posting this information say, in the general news section of the RiotACT, rather than in the comments page of a post about a contact club for Cook children? Perhaps Purdon might even deign to take out an ad in the Canberra Times prior to the meetings next week?

I’d trust Hargreaves with my life – he is a good and honest man. He is also a complete teetotaller.

He and all the other ACT MLAs only have our best interests at heart.

I also believe in the Tooth Fairy, Bunyips, Jesus, Scientology and wearing a tin foil hat will stop you getting cancer from mobile phone base stations.

Snahons_scv6_berlina9:38 am 17 Sep 07

why not stay in touch via http://www.schoolfriends.com.au instead of re-inventing the wheel ?

A bit more information about the meetings for those who are interested. There are three meetings scheduled to be held on Monday 24 September (Wanniassa), Tuesday 25 September (Bruce) and Thursday 27 September (Phillip).

The meetings are open to anyone from the public, you don’t have to be an official of a community organisation to attend these meetings. But you do need to register on the website.

(Note that there was a briefing targeted at community groups last week, but this was just to ensure that we had advance notice of upcoming consultations to spread the word — it wasn’t intended to be a consultation in its own right.)

The meetings are to discuss the suitability of four main options for school sites. In essence, the four options range from leaving all buildings and grounds intact and leasing the buildings for other purposes, right through to complete demolishment and re-development of the site.

However, as it was explained to me, there are no proposals to develop land already classed as open space (eg. school ovals) — these will remain regardless of the option chosen.

Stephen Bounds
President
Belconnen Community Council

Mike Crowther10:06 pm 15 Sep 07

OK asp…it wasn’t my intention to use this page to get into a rave about the rights and wrongs of forced community school closures. My original intention was simply to inform Cook kiddies, past and present that there is a forum which will allow them to stay in touch with each other. However, since you asked the question, Cook, like many of the others that got the chop, is a perfectly good, functioning school. The buildings are sound, the spirit is excellent and the staff as dedicated as any if not more so.

John Hargraves has employed (at your expense) a consultancy named Purdon and Associates to allegedly ‘consult’ with the entire Canberra Community about what they want done with the buildings. These meetings have not been publicised, you can only attend by registering on the Purden website, you must be part of a recognised community group (the Housing Industry Association and the University of the Third Age being but two who have secured invites) and upon registration you consent to having your details passed to the Government. In addition the meetings are scheduled for next week which gives the community little time to even discuss the process among themselves

If you check the Purdon website you will see at the bottom of the page the words “Please be aware that the only two options that cannot (my italics) be considered are the re-opening of the schools or the conversion of the land to open space.” On my reading, the Government has already decided and this ‘consultation’ is a sham.

Now it may well be that you’ve no interest in the whole topic. It’s schools today but the time may come when the same process is used to destroy something you do care about. You may well wake up one morning to find that a crooked political process is quite a multi-functional tool.

There is nothing that can be done this side of the Territory elections when hopefully all acts of political bastardry will be remembered. However in the interim, I believe the kids affected deserve a forum to stay in touch with each other. Now you can get back to volunteering to tutor remedial English or whatever it is that you do to contribute to the community.

Cook isn’t ‘old’. It was/is well taken care of. It is near the shops, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it became a block of townhouses next year.

You can be as facetious as you like, but I sure as hell don’t take to correcting people’s spelling/grammar on here unless they are being an ass, which you were.

I was being facetious.

Mike, “just a parent who left school at 15.”
I assume you weren’t actually a parent when you left at 15:)

But why do you want to save an old school building. I would hope all the buildings for the olds schools, if they are not to be used, are demolished. That would prevent them becoming derelict drug addict hang outs and mean any future additional schools would have nice new buildings.

You have a point Mike, they did the same with the schools from the Spence/Melba area. The school (I can’t remember which one) became a target for vandals.

asp, when finishing a sentence, you should use a full stop.

As for this little gem:

“my space” should be “My Space” and ideally have trademark icon

It should read “have a trademark icon.”

Cook PS won awards and they also were well known for their literacy programs. Your ignorance astounds me.

Mike Crowther9:44 am 15 Sep 07

Dear LIC and asp, thank you for your thoughtful, and no doubt, loving corrections. For the record I’m not a Cook alumni, just a parent who left school at 15. Hence my desire for quality education for the next Gen. I hope you will forgive my barbarism. Also hope that if ever your drowning your lifesaver passes the literacy test before you allow them to put their hands on you. 🙂

Spectra. One piece of evidence is the Governments behavior towards other closed school’s buildings. Since December 06 they have been left unguarded, and are being vandalized without even minor repairs being undertaken. If it quacks like a duck….

asp: Actually, as long as we’re being pedantic, it should be “MySpace” (ironically containing no space).

On the topic at hand, do we know for sure that the place is scheduled for demolition? Or is this just one of these things that gets said without any evidence, and eventually becomes a “widely believed fact”.

Let’s spell and style check this post:

“Primrary” should be “Primary”

“a notice to any Canberran people”
should read “a notice to any Canberrans”

“my space” should be “My Space” and ideally have trademark icon

“em” should be Them

“eh” you guess is as good as mine. I guess “hey”

Couldn’t resist …no wonder they are closing it, their spelling performance is shocking. “Primrary”?

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