Public meeting in Mt Isa, 7 October 1999 - notes
Participants at the meeting included school principals and deputy principals, teachers, the District Director of Education, staff of Education Queensland and community members. From HREOC: Chris Sidoti, Human Rights Commissioner; Lady Pearl Logan, Queensland Co-Commissioner; and two Commission staff.
School attendance
School attendance was perceived as a very important issue by participants. They described a range of strategies that have been implemented to improve school attendance rates.
"If students are absent without explanation for more than two days a member of the church follows up the matter with the student and his or her family. This system works well. The current attendance rate at the [independent church-based] school is 89%."
"The school works closely with local health services to address health problems like scabies and poor nutrition that can hinder children's attendance at school. The school also works with students' families. We play a referral and co-ordination role between families and local health services."
"Our school purchased a mini-bus. We use it to help locate children who have not arrived at school after a certain time in the morning. The bus also assists children who have difficulty with transport needs."
"Our school that experienced fairly serious attendance problems so we appointed a home liaison officer. The liaison officer visits families and is available to discuss issues of concern with both students and parents. She has developed good relationships with families who feel that they can speak freely with her about issues affecting school attendance. The scheme has been very effective in addressing non-attendance. It has been expanded to cover a number of schools in the local area."
"The stress of exams is one of the main contributing factors to non-attendance. Our school has tried to address this by making extra support available to students during the exam period."
"Different attendance strategies are needed for primary and secondary students. At our [high] school a roll call is undertaken in every class. This procedure is not always necessary in primary school where students often stay in the one classroom for most of the day. High school students have a more flexible timetable including some free classes and this needs to be taken into account when monitoring attendance."
"At our school we conduct an attendance audit several times each term. Any student with an attendance record of less than 80% is sent a letter. The letter gets stronger with each audit. This procedure has helped lift attendance rates significantly."
Staff-student ratio
"The current staff-student ratio in the district is 24 students per teacher."
Indigenous issues
"Indigenous students face particular issues in relation to school attendance. Some Indigenous families move from place to place for cultural and ceremonial activities. To accommodate this, my school [a remote school with a high proportion of Indigenous students] developed transitional programs to enable new students to settle in quickly. This requires good communication between schools so that relevant information about students can be passed on quickly and easily to facilitate their smooth transition. My school also implemented breakfast and lunch programs to address the nutritional problems that can hinder students' concentration."
"Placement processes need to be more flexible to cater for those Indigenous families and communities that re-locate themselves during the school year. Schools should be give greater flexibility and autonomy with regard to the scheduling of the school year. Some significant activities such as funerals are unpredictable and require particular flexibility. Other ceremonies and activities are more predictable and can be planned for."
"Climate is an important factor affecting attendance for Indigenous students and remote students generally. In many remote areas the wet season cuts off access to school for months at a time. Schools in these areas would benefit from having greater flexibility to plan their school schedule around the weather."
"The Catholic Education Office has an annexe based in a local Indigenous community. Most classes for Indigenous students are conducted in the community. We endeavour to fit in with the community's needs and circumstances with regard to timing of classes and other matters. Classes generally start later at around 10.00am each day. Indigenous family members are encouraged to participate. Cots and other facilities are provided for mothers with small children."
"Children from remote Indigenous communities who proceed to high school often experience problems when they move to a larger town or city for that purpose. If they have no friends or relatives in the town they may find themselves isolated and unsupported. This could be avoided to some degree if local TAFE colleges were prepared to take on younger students. Because of insurance issues TAFE colleges generally do not take students under the age of 15."
Literacy
"Literacy is a big problem among young people in Mt Isa. Addressing literacy problems requires a lot of one-to-one tuition but that the cost of hiring extra staff for this purpose is prohibitive."
Sharing resources
"A common problem faced by schools in Mt Isa is the high cost of funding specialist teachers for subjects such as music, languages and sport. This often results in generalist teachers instructing children in specialist subjects. This can undermine the quality of education and in some sports like gymnastics there are safety issues. The system should allow for sharing of specialist teachers between schools in circumstances where individual schools cannot support a 'whole' teacher in a particular subject."
"We need to develop strategies to encourage greater sharing of resources between schools. For example
- schools in remote locations such as Doomadgee and Normanton using technology to communicate with teachers in other communities
- temporary placements for remote students to travel to schools in larger centres to undertake training in specific modules
- teacher rotations."
Retention rates
"The national rate for rural and remote students going on to university is 16%. This has dropped from 25% several years ago."
"In discussing retention rates it is important not to focus exclusively on the percentage of students that proceed to university. On average, approximately one-third of my year 12 students go on to university. However, completing year 12 is not the "be-all and end-all" for every student. If completing year 11 and getting a good apprenticeship is the best option for a student than the school should support him or her in that goal. Schools need to develop "multiple pathways" for students. They must not be purely academic in their focus but should also cater for students who wish to pursue TAFE training and other avenues."
"My school appointed an Indigenous Educational and Vocational Officer. His role is to develop a network of 'Indigenous friendly' employers to work with young Indigenous people, support their training needs and act as mentors."
"Many Indigenous students came from families with third and fourth generation unemployment. These young people often have no motivation to stay at school because they feel there is no future. They need special encouragement to help them get out of this mindset of hopelessness regarding their future."
"For some Indigenous young people, year 11 and 12 programs set unrealistic expectations. In doing this, they may be contributing to student failure and, in some cases, suicide. This could be avoided by schools developing more flexible pathways including avenues for less academically inclined students to develop practical skills that are more relevant to their needs and their abilities."
"One strategy for dealing effectively with at-risk students is to establish 'time-out' facilities where they can get the space and the specialist attention they need. This is especially important for children who have difficulty coping in the main school environment. A number of positive programs have been developed in Mt Isa including Youth and Community Action (YACA) and Healing for Harmony. However, they have not been able to secure long term funding. Programs of this type are usually very difficult to fund. It is very hard to convince school councils and P&Cs to take money out of core activities and put them into these programs."
Students with disabilities
"For students with disabilities, access to specialist support in schools is a big problem."
"There is an increasing trend of children with disabilities going to special schools in preference to mainstream schools. This is a sign that integration is not working. Schools are not coping well with disability access and many teachers lack the knowledge and skills to deal with disability issues."
"A student was repeatedly suspended from school for disruptive behaviour by teachers who did not realise he had an intellectual disability and attention deficit disorder. He is now on medication and doing well in his studies, but it took the school a whole year to understand the true nature of his condition."
"There needs to be better assessment of students. Some students are placed in classes above their true level of ability."
"There are some positive programs in Mt Isa that provide support for students with disabilities. 'Bush Children' is a community based health program that provides psychologists and other professional support for students with intellectual disabilities. However, its funding is very limited and it also has restrictive age and eligibility requirements. In addition, it is subject to parental consent and parents are sometimes reluctant to admit that their child has an intellectual problem.
Last updated 2 December 2001.
