ERA School, Victoria

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The ERA School was an 'alternative' or 'progressive' co-educational secondary school that opened in Melbourne in February 1971, drawing inspiration from Summerhill School in England that was founded by A.S. Neill.

ERA stood for 'Education Reform Association', a name proposed by Journalist and foundation parent, John Pinkney.

The most obvious difference between Era and traditional schools at the same period was the relaxed disciplinary environment in which students could wear what they want, call teachers by their first names, attend only classes of their own choosing (or none at all ) and take part in much of the school's decision making process. ^[1]

[edit] History

In 1971, Era started in temporary quarters at the 'White House', a big, white, rambling building in Warrandyte, with five teachers and eighty nine students, initially with forms one and two only.

In 1972, Era moved to its permanent site on 13 acres of bushland in close vicinity to several working orchards in the suburb of Donvale, which was an undeveloped outer suburb at that time. Prior to occupation of the new buildings, numerous working bees were conducted to clear the blackberries and get the new buildings ready for habitation.

A new form was added each year so that by 1975 it offered a full secondary education, culminating in what was then 'matriculation' at year 12.

In 1975 the Era primary school was established at the same location, so that parents could give their children the same style of education during their primary school yeards if they so wished.

By 1986, social and economic changes in Australia resulted in Era's enrolment numbers declining and years 11 and 12 were dropped from the school syllabus.

In late March 1987, an anticipated second mortgage deal fell through and in April 1987 the school was forced to close for financial reasons, ending perhaps one of the most radical 16 year educational experiments in Australia's history.

[edit] Achievements

Over the years Era was forced to overcome crises on many fronts, philosophical, interpersonal and financial. Despite its troubled history, Era had many triumphs, including pioneering a new style of education in Victoria. Many of the founding parents and staff were very courageous in pursuing their vision of a better quality of education.