Merrivale Primary School
Merrivale Primary School was established in 1924. It is situated in the south west area within the City of Warrnambool. It has a rural and coastal vista, yet to the north, it is predominately industrial. Warrnambool is approximately 266km South-West of Melbourne, with a population of around 30,000 people.
In 2002 a major refurbishment of all existing buildings took lace and a new school was built. Staff and students now work within modern facilities, larger sized classrooms with the latest technological equipment and within an environment that is conducive to improved student outcomes.
School enrolments have increased and have exceeded the enrolment ceiling of 225 students. Currently, students must reside in a strict neighbourhood boundary to ensure enrolment at the school.
Merrivale Primary School is a “Tribes” School. Tribes is a democratic group process, not just a curriculum or set of cooperative activities. The Tribes process is a sequence of events that lead to the achievement of an outcome. The outcome of the Tribes process is to develop a positive environment that promotes human growth and learning. It requires learning how to build community through three stages of group development using five agreements among students and adults (attentive listening, appreciation/no put-downs, the right to pass, mutual respect and doing ones personal best).
The Tribes process not only establishes a caring environment for cooperative learning, but provides structure for positive interaction and continuity for working groups whether in the classroom, the school, the administration or the parent community. The goal for a Tribes school is to engage all teachers, administrators, students, and families in working together as a learning community that is dedicated to caring and support, active participation, and positive expectations for all students.
In the last 3 years, Merrivale Primary School has become more conscious of its impact on the environment, and has begun incorporating strategies to reduce its carbon footprint into the curriculum and community. Initiatives include regular “walk to school” days, a middle-years bike education program to encourage riding to school, “Merrivale Earth Day” - instead of Earth Hour no power is used for the entire day in all classrooms, “Wrapper Free Lunch” days, calculating the carbon footprint of the school - including: travel, food scraps, rubbish, utilities and paper waste, composting food scraps with a tumbleweed compost bin and a worm farm, as well as installing two water tanks to service the school toilets, oval and vegetable gardens.
