Janine is on a mission

Janine Stanfield is a Docklands crusader and her mission is to make sure Docklands gets a school.

Janine and her family have lived in Docklands for the past seven years and she is passionate about the need for a school in the area.

Janine has a six-year-old son and when the time came for him to attend school, Janine and her husband found out he was not zoned to attend any local state schools.  

Luckily he had been accepted into a private school in South Melbourne but this too was at capacity.  

According to Janine, the need for a Docklands school is one of the reasons she joined the Docklands Community Forum as a parent representative.

Janine said although she and her husband were able to find a private school for their son, many families weren’t able to and were forced to move out of Docklands.

“It’s just not fair for so many families,” Janine said.

Janine said her family might eventually be forced to move out of Docklands when her son reached high-school age because they weren’t zoned into any local secondary schools.

But Janine has found the forum to be a step in the right direction in raising the profile of the school campaign.

The group has taken up the cause and it was discussed at the last forum meeting in January.

“I think the forum is a really positive group and I felt very supported when I brought up the school issue,” Janine said.

Although Janine feels Docklands is lacking in some community services she said she had certainly seen improvements in the past seven years and hoped this continued.

Janine said her family loved living in Docklands.

“It’s been great living here because you are so close to everything,” she said.

Janine said she enjoyed spending time in Docklands Park, particularly on sunny days when plenty of people were out and about.

“And of course, I love the view across the water,” Janine said.