Meeting with teachers' aides at Normanton School, 5 October 1999 - notes
This meeting was attended by a number of teachers' aides, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. From HREOC: Chris Sidoti, Human Rights Commissioner; Lady Pearl Logan, Queensland Co-Commissioner; and two Commission staff.
A number of issues were raised, some relating specifically to teachers' aides and some relating to remote education generally.
Training and support for teachers' aides
"Teachers' aides sometimes want to enhance their skills and qualifications. However, we have very limited opportunities for training and development. Some support is available under the RATEP [Remote Area Teacher Education Program] scheme. Some part-time programs were to be conducted through the local TAFE College but they were cancelled due to lack of numbers."
"When teachers' aides do courses the extra skills and qualifications they obtain do not translate into additional pay."
"Teachers' aides don't get the same recognition or have access to the same incentives as teachers when they undertake further study. For example, we don't have the same entitlement to study-time."
"I did a disability education course by distance but it was very difficult because there are no reference books out here."
[A number of teachers' aides were concerned about whether they had the same access as teachers to counselling and other support when problems arose at school. It appeared that some support was available but the level of support and how to access it was not clear.]
Students with special needs
"More assistance is needed to address the special needs of remote students."
"The education system often assumes that remote children have the same needs as mainstream children. They don't."
"The school has a high proportion of children with special needs. The staff here do a wonderful job but they don't have the specialist training they need to support the children effectively."
"Some students in Year 10 at Normanton school are practically illiterate."
"Eligibility for intervention services such as speech therapists and guidance officers does not start until Year 2. This means that Year 1 children often miss out, yet their need is just as great."
"Sometimes it is very difficult to access medical reports relating to children with special needs and learning problems. We need this information to be able to support these children and monitor their progress effectively. When a student sees a speech therapist or other professional we generally don't receive copies of the reports. When we request them we are told that the information is confidential. There needs to be better co-ordination between the hospital, community health services and the school to ensure that this information is used in a holistic way for the benefit of the child."
"Sometimes I see a child in my class and I know he or she has a serious problem - a learning difficulty. But I don't have access to the medical information to support the child. I don't know what I should do to help the child. It's very frustrating."
"There should be more flexibility in school levels to take account of individual circumstances and learning needs. The ideal structure would be to have three levels - lower, intermediate and advanced - and allow children four years to get through each one. The quicker students could complete the lower level in three years but there would be no stigma attached to those who wished to take the full four years. Some children start Year 1 without having gone to kindergarten so they need to take things a bit more slowly in the early part of their schooling. This would be preferable to the current structure which is divided into individual years and where the student is pressured to progress from one year to the next."
Health issues
"Access to medical professionals such as ear, nose and throat specialists is very erratic. It depends very much when they are available to visit the community. Their visits tend to be very random. You get a fax a week beforehand telling you they're coming. Then there is very little follow-up afterwards. Sometimes you don't hear from them until 6 or 12 months later. In the meantime you're tearing your hair out wondering what you should do to help the child."
"Sometimes when medical professionals visit the community they are heavily booked and it is very hard to get an appointment."
"We are usually not able to arrange a medical person to visit the community at a time that suits our needs. Mostly we are at the mercy of their timetable."
School attendance
"School absenteeism is a problem in Normanton. The average attendance rate here is around 75%."
"We have tried a number of preventive strategies to address absenteeism. One strategy is to build better relationships between the school and the parents through informal meetings and gatherings. For a while we tried having barbeques and other social events. However, this did not last. Not many parents turned up."
"Home visits is another option for addressing absenteeism. However, we don't think parents would be amenable to teachers dropping in on them."
[Commissioner Sidoti described an ASSPA sponsored program to address absenteeism in Bourke, NSW, where there is a high Indigenous population. Under that program each teacher is required to visit the parents of each student in his or her class during the first term of each year. If a student is absent from school without explanation on two consecutive days, an ASSPA representative or the school Aboriginal liaison officer visits the parents again. This has resulted in the attendance rate increasing to 92-5%.]
Indigenous issues
"We wanted someone to come into the school to teach Aboriginal languages. The school was prepared to offer the space and other facilities but we were not able to get a person in to do the teaching."
Financial assistance for parents
"More assistance is needed for parents whose children are away at boarding school. Some support is provided to parents of Year 11 and 12 boarders but not to parents of younger ones. Even though schooling is available up to Year 10 in Normanton, some parents feel compelled to send their children to boarding school earlier because of the lack of subject choice here."
Sport and community activities
"Boredom is a major problem for kids in this town. They don't have enough to do. There is a need for more sport and other activities in the community to keep them occupied. It would be great if they had a gym, a recreation centre or a playground."
Last updated 2 December 2001.
