Shock closure of school leaves parents of additional needs kids in a bind

Shock closure of St Philip's School in Melbourne leaves parents scrambling In short: Parents have been left scrambling to find a new school for their children after a school in Melbourne's east announced it will close at the end of the year. Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools told families at St Philip's in Blackburn North that a decline in enrolments had meant the school was not viable. Parents at the school say they were shocked by the decision and given no warning by the school that closure was a possibility. The sudden closure of a school in Melbourne's east has left parents and staff stunned, with families now scrambling to find their children new schools for the coming year. In a letter sent to parents in early September, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) said the decision to close St Philip's School at the conclusion of the coming term was made after a review into school's long-term sustainability. A review found the Blackburn North school was "not sustainable in its current form" due to enrolments having been in "steady decline for many years", the letter said. "Despite genuine effort to strengthen the school's position and some recent interest from prospective families for the 2027 prep intake, enrolments remain critically low at only 33 students for 2026," it said. The letter, signed by St Philip's principal Michelle Worcester and MACS regional general manager Marwin Austerberry, said neighbouring MACS schools would have sufficient capacity for displaced students and that it would support with the transition process. But several parents told the ABC they selected the school for the support provided to students with learning difficulties and neurodivergence, making suitable alternative schools difficult to find. The ABC has contacted MACS and St Philip's for comment. Anthony Navaretti said he and other parents were blindsided by the closure announcement in early September. "There was no communication that this might be anywhere near a possibility," said Mr Navaretti, who has two sons enrolled at St Philip's School. "They haven't asked for any fundraising or raise concerns or given any sort of deadlines, it just kind of came out of the blue." '33 lives' affected by closure Mr Navaretti's eldest son lives with autism and has been able to attend the same school as his brother due to the support offered by St Philip's. Sudden closure meant the two boys may need to split up, he said. "There's not a lot of time to find a school. I know one school near us said their enrolments were already full," Mr Navaretti said. He said he believes teachers and support staff were also notified on the same day as parents. Angi Hill was devastated by the news of the school's imminent closure. "I can only speak for my own family, my son was very upset, there were tears," Ms Hill said. "So there's a lot of processing to do, obviously for ourselves as parents, but also for the children as well." Her son has been enrolled at the school since prep and she said his challenges would have made attending a mainstream school very difficult. While she could understand the financial aspect of the closure, Ms Hill said the school meant so much more to the community than raw numbers suggested. "If you were just looking at spreadsheet of numbers of kids in different schools under MACS, it's kind of no-brainer to say: 'Hey, 33 kids, let's just shut that down'," Ms Hill said. "But it's not just 33 children, it's 33 lives. "We have families in our community who have shopped around for schools for a long time, they might have been on to their sixth, seventh or eighth school." Ms Hill worries the closure will send the wrong message to children that have struggled in mainstream schools. "'What if the next school I go to is going to shut down? I better not even bother or make friends or try too hard," she said children might think. "With these children who finally find a school that feels emotionally safe, for them to hear this school has closed down it only exacerbates the anxiety and their fears."