Capricornia distance education families able to use Outstation after three years

News that families who use the on-campus accommodation had been successful in their two-year lobby to have access returned was made public over 12 months ago, in March 2022, but it took another year for the required upgrades to be completed.

The Outstation and The Shed, built with funds raised by the school's P&C, were closed down by the Queensland Education Department in February 2020, citing fire safety and workplace health and safety concerns.

The closure, described as a 'knee-jerk reaction', affected 40 families, or about 80 children and their home tutors.

Families concerned at the impact the closure would have on their children's socialisation, their budgets in having to pay for alternative accommodation in peak tourism season, and disturbed by the lack of departmental consultation, mounted a petition in 2021.

It culminated in an extensive meeting between departmental representatives and parents of the school in March 2022, after which an agreement that all SDE sites that provide overnight accommodation for specific purposes - Cairns, Charters Towers, Longreach and Emerald - would be made compliant for the start of the 2023 school year.

Internal work is still being carried out at the fully renovated and extended Quarters on the Longreach campus, which was shut down two years earlier, in 2018, but it's expected to be ready for the term three round of clusters.

The re-established on-campus accommodation at Emerald now has capacity for 102 people, and has new bathrooms as well as practical, safe fittings and fixtures, ensuring compliance with building codes and fire safety requirements.

Outstation president Hayley Howe said that to make certain the buildings were renovated to continue to support families' needs, parents worked closely with the dedicated design team.

"Not only is the occupancy and use as it was, the facilities are tastefully upgraded and families appreciate the substantial financial and time investment the Department of Education has made," she said.

She was full of praise for the many people who'd supported their children on many levels.

"People are no longer isolated - they have a 'home base' to either stay or just sit and have a cuppa with familiar faces during mini-school," she said. "They're no longer staying all over Emerald in motels and caravan parks, and are no longer burdened with the costs to attend mini-schools."

An invoice from one Emerald serviced accommodation provider shows that a group of CSDE families outlaid a total of $16,349 there in 2021.

"We would try to stay together at one place - it was almost impossible with our numbers - but Stayz on Sullivan, normally mine workers' accommodation for short term stays, took us in for two mini-schools and gave us a special deal," Ms Howe said.

"For some it was still too expensive, and we noticed families stopped coming.

"After two stays, families dropped off as it was too costly."

That was when the Central Highlands Regional Council offered the use of the council's McIndoe Park Function Centre for a week.

Mayor Kerry Hayes said at the time that while it was an unconventional use of the facility, council was glad to step up to support the children and their families.

Ms Howe said the two campus buildings were now safeguarded for the future needs of the school community by the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding between the school's P&C and the department.

She understood that burgeoning online enrolments continued to swallow designated areas for teacher spaces at the Rockhampton campus due, she said, to an unprecedented exodus of students from mainstream education.

"Replacement is slow - the Rockhampton campus has received new buildings meaning primary students can once again attend mini-school onsite, but secondary students still require the hire of off-site facilities to be able to attend face-to-face opportunities," she said.

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