Sunbury downs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sunbury Downs College is a public secondary college located in the north-west regional town of Sunbury, Victoria, Australia

Opening in 1992, Sunbury Downs has approximately 600 students enrolled (mostly in the middle school). Recently enrollments have dropped from over 120 in 2002 to 70 new students a year.

The current principle is Brett Moore, arriving from Greensborough College.

Previous principals were John Shaw and Graeme Brown.

The 2007 School Captains are as follows -

Female Captain - Danielle Baxter

Male Captain - Joel Worth

Female Vice Captain - Jessica Torr
(It is rumoured, but not confirmed that she has been stripped of the title.)

Male Vice Captain - Robert Graf

[edit] Community Perception

Sunbury Downs College, or "Downs" for short, has suffered a perception of being a "second" rate school.

A few years ago it featured in the Herald Sun's "Victoria's Worst Schools" article, where it placed the college the top 5 worst schools in Victoria.

In more recent months, however, new principal Brett Moore has begun to try to turn around Sunbury Downs' reputation by enforcing uniform policies and rules in an effort to instil discipline and a new respect for learning.

This decision has attracted considerable media attention due to the actions of one particular student who chose to court publicity in the form of appearing on current affairs programs and interviews in various newspapers and magazines when she was asked to remove her necklace.

[edit] Recent Controversy

In August 2006, new principal, Brett Moore's enforcement of school uniform rules initially drew criticism from religious groups and certain sections of the media.

A student was refused permission to her class and threatened with suspension for wearing a necklace that was a pink-diamond covered crucifix; as in the current school uniform policy no visible necklaces are permitted.

The student claimed that the crucifix was an important item obtained on a family pilgramage to England, obtained after her baptismal necklace had been lost.

Upon further examination of the case, it emerged that the school did not prevent the wearing of a crucifix as the student simply had to request a religious exemption (as other students had done).

Media coverage of the case began to support the school's enforcement of the rules in an effort to turn around perceptions of the school.

The courting of the media that the student and her family engaged in raised questions about the true motive behind the student's decision to approach the media.

[edit] External Links

http://sunburydowns.vic.edu.au/ - Official School Website

http://www.sunburyleader.com.au/article/2006/08/15/3534_srv_news.html - Sunbury Leader Article (newspaper)