The Anglican School Googong parents claim fees not value for money

Parents of students at The Anglican School Googong have raised the issue of a lack of resources to the school board and principal at various times and some have pulled their children from the school in favour of homeschooling, public schools or other religious schools.

Board chair Reverend Ian Marshall said the young school enjoyed a "high level of resourcing" and there would be further investment in the facilities and staff.

"The board, our community, and most importantly, our students, are extremely positive about our school as we continue to expand and flourish," Reverend Marshall said.

Trudy Taylor withdrew one of her children from the school after they were unable to have him at school for a whole school day.

Mrs Taylor presented psychologists' and doctors' reports at the interview before enrolling her two children in the school.

"We were assured that yes, the school could definitely cope with him and it was the right place for him," Ms Taylor said.

"From day one, he never did a full week at school".

Her son spent only short periods of time in the classroom and was largely segregated from his classmates.

From the beginning of 2021, Mrs Taylor would get a call to collect him early two to three times per week. The calls became earlier and earlier until eventually the family were told he could only attend between the hours of 8.30am and 10.30am while still paying full school fees.

Mrs Taylor said she had to give up work as a result.

"It puts stress on us as a family because we lost income," she said.

"We were at our wits ends. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. We didn't know what we were doing wrong, what we could do to help him."

The school initially had three teacher's aides assisting the primary school teachers with supporting children with additional needs, however two resigned in 2021 and were not replaced.

The child was moved to Jerrabomberra Public School where with the help of a teacher's aide he was able to stay in the classroom for an entire day.

"He's such a different child. To me, that just shows that not having those resources in this school is detrimental," Mrs Taylor said.

"The classroom teachers [at The Anglican School Googong] have been my children's best advocates. They've really worked hard with my kids and they'll do anything for any of their children. But they're just not getting the support that they need to do their jobs properly."

Kathleen Kennedy enrolled her three children in the high school in February 2021 and was told her son with additional needs would get one-on-one mentoring.

However, she is now withdrawing two of her children from the school after raising concerns over a lack of study periods for senior students, behavioural issues with other students and shortage of teachers.

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Her children's maths classes have been regularly left without any teacher supervision, while in one instance the entire year 10 science class failed a test.

"We don't get anything over and above the New South Wales public curriculum," Ms Kennedy said.

"For the privilege of all of this, we get to pay more, which is unacceptable.

"I'm as a parent wondering who's supervising my child and [I'm] paying for the privilege of my child not being educated and not being supervised."

Parents have raised concerns about the high turnover of principals and increasing school fees. Fees range from $8000 to $11,900 per year with no sibling discounts.

One mother told The Canberra Times said many parents weren't happy with the school but had no alternatives.

"We're all happy to pay the fees ... not when they don't have any facilities," she said.

"Most of the parents aren't happy, but there's no other schools around here."

Reverend Marshall did not directly answer a detailed list of questions regarding resources at the school.

He said any people with concerns should contact the new acting principal of the school, Dr Clayton Massey.

"An experienced principal across a range of schools, Dr Massey has already reported positively on the high level of resourcing that TASG enjoys," Reverend Marshall said.

"I am confident our dedicated staff would be delighted to show the school in action and to talk about the important work they undertake in supporting students on their personal educational journey from kindergarten to the senior years."

Reverend Marshall said further work would be done on the grounds and facilities next year, the same year it will have its first cohort of year 12 students.

He said the school will appoint a permanent principal by the end of the year. Dr Massey is the school's third acting principal since Merryn Clarksmith suddenly resigned mid-2021.

The school opened in 2015 and is run by the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

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