By Parker McKenzie
Students returned to school at Upper Ferntree Gully Primary School on Tuesday 31 January, with the newest cohort of preps featuring just three students.
Tabitha O’Brien has been the Principal of Upper Ferntree Gully Primary School for the past eight years. In that time, the student body dropped from around 140 to 69 in 2023.
Ms O’Brien said while it was an exciting day, there are challenges presented by having small class sizes.
“For the parents, as we are a suburban school, having siblings in the same class can be a challenge,” she said.
“There’s also the uncertainty surrounding what is going to happen from year to year.”
Upper Ferntree Gully Primary School previously had a nearby local preschool run by Knox City Council, which is currently no longer running.
Knox City Council said “Upper Ferntree Gully Pre-School is not operating this year as there were not enough children registered. We will assess registrations again this year to plan for 2024.”
Despite this, Ms O’Brien said the benefits of small class sizes shouldn’t be overlooked.
“We’ve got an awesome community that keeps the school going. The families we do have here are very supportive,” she said.
“Every teacher knows every child; all the children play together and support each other. All our events are whole school excursions because we can facilitate that with the small numbers.”
Ms O’Brien has applied for government funding to establish a preschool within the Primary School’s grounds to help assist with student numbers.
She said there is an education department grant that the school has applied for, however, you are required to prove adequate numbers to receive it.
“We will look for ways to try to find out how many families would use a service like that,” she said.
“We are aiming for the end of 2024, which would give us time to organize everything and ensure it is sorted out.”
