02 Aug 2022
The new names for the primary school and high school that will be built as part of the Murwillumbah Education Campus project have now been announced.
The merged primary school will be known as the Murwillumbah Learning Community Primary School and the merged high school will be known as the Murwillumbah Learning Community High School.
Peter Howes, the principal of the future high school, said the names reflect feedback from school communities and stakeholders.
“Late last year we gathered ideas and suggestions from students, staff, parents and the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.
One of the themes that always comes through in consultation and was reflected in the naming suggestions, was the idea of ‘community’ and how important it is to create that sense of care and connection which people value,” Peter said.
Joanna Henderson, the principal of the future primary school, said having the names confirmed was an exciting step forward in the process to build the learning culture, pedagogy and identity of the schools.
“We know that the name Murwillumbah Education Campus or ‘MEC’ didn’t feel right for many in our communities so it is really great to now have names that reflect what’s important to students, staff and parents.
Although the new names won’t be formally adopted until the schools start operating, we will start using them now as part of our educational and operational planning for the schools,” Joanna said.
About the naming process
The process to formally name the schools started in December 2021. Principals consulted with key stakeholders, to collect suggestions that reflect what they want our schools to be known for.
An initial shortlist of names was developed and the wider community was invited to have their say by completing a school naming survey, which was open from 15 December 2021 to 1 February 2022. The survey attracted hundreds of responses, with a much higher response rate than most school surveys.
In early 2022, all feedback received from consultation was considered and the final proposed names were submitted to the Geographical Names Board (GNB). The GNB confirmed that the names complied with all the necessary guidelines and policies and the NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning then approved the gazettal of the names earlier this month.
The consultation process was conducted in accordance with the department’s Naming of New Schools and Facilities Policy and the requirements of the Geographical Names Board. In line with the AECG-Department of Education Partnership Agreement we also sought advice from the Tweed/Wollumbin Aboriginal Education Advisory Group (AECG) who led the naming consultation with the Aboriginal community.
The feedback collected through the consultation process represented a diverse range of views andthe diverse nature of our community, however some common themes were clear and this provided strong advice for us and the department’s executive to consider in determining the final recommendation for the GNB.
For the time being, Murwillumbah Education Campus, or MEC, will continue to be used to refer to the infrastructure project that is underway to build the facilities for our schools. The project name will change to align with the school names at a later date.