Meeting of students from Port and South Hedland, 21 May 1999 - notes
Schools represented were
- St Cecilia's College (Primary and Secondary to Year 10)
- Hedland Senior High School
- Port Hedland Primary School
- South Hedland Primary School
- South Hedland High School
Benefits of school in Hedland (Secondary)
"We mainly go for the social scene."
"The classroom is a friendly environment because here knows each other and people seem to work together better. This is a very multi-cultural place and there are lots of people coming and going."
"We have a lot of computers and we have access to the Internet. We are learning to program computers in Years 9 and 10."
"We do some electives like metalwork, woodwork and cooking and we like that. Our school (St Cecilia's College) is small, there are only about 100 students at our school so we know everyone. We feel listened to at our school."
Benefits of school in Hedland (Primary)
"We like playing sport and art and craft and drama."
"We look at physical health and hygiene at school."
"We do Aboriginal Studies and we learn about the rainbow serpent."
We have a classroom meeting, an SRC and a School Captain's meeting."
Language
"We are learning Indonesian but we would prefer to learn the native Aboriginal language in our area. We used to be able to study it in Year 4 but you can't do it any more. We don't have any say over the languages that we do at school. The teachers choose them."
Tertiary study
"I will have to leave the Pilbara to go to university. I'll probably go back to my home town in NSW."
School facilities
"We want to run bare-feet on the oval but we can't do it because of the prickles. Some kids wear 3 pairs of socks so that they can run without hurting their feet. The School Representative Committee has complained but nothing gets done about it."
Sport
"Because we are so isolated, the one thing that we do like to do is play sport. It is a big thing here in Hedland. We play football, cricket, soccer and baseball. We have school carnivals. Our school is going to Karratha for a carnival."
"There are no whole school activities for the High School. We tend to do things at the year levels. There are not enough people to compete against. Out of school sports is pretty good here. I play T-ball out of school and I've been to Karratha and Paraburdoo."
Canteen food
A number of students had complaints about the food available at the school canteen. With the exception of South Hedland High School, the students felt that there was not enough variation in the selection of canteen food.
Toilet facilities
Students had a number of criticisms of the school toilets. Though the toilets are cleaned every day, they are vandalised regularly, doors and other facilities are broken and they are generally unhygienic. Many students do not use the toilets as they say that there are 'other kids hanging out there' and they don't feel safe. The students also complained that the toilets were full of mosquitos.
Need for shower facilities
A number of students recommended that showers be installed at the schools. Showers would allow students to wash and cool down after sport and school breaks. It would be one way to assuage the effects of the extreme heat in Hedland.
Geography curriculum advantages South West students
Approximately 60 to 70% of the Year 12 Geography curriculum and assessment is based on the South West region of Western Australia. Students in the North of Western Australia have to travel South in order to be competitive with students who actually live in the areas that they study. The Education Department of Western Australia does not provide funds for isolated students to travel. This puts a financial burden on families and means that time is spent fund-raising by the school community. Given that the costs of air travel are so high, students travel for 40 hours and more by bus.
Cultural experiences
Students at Hedland do not have access to the vast array of resources available to students in Perth. By way of example, the students claimed English and English Literature students have no access to the theatre unlike children living in Capital cities.
Inexperienced teachers
The senior students claimed that the majority of their teachers are young and inexperienced; many of them first year out of university. This has an effect on the subject choice available to students. They are only able to study subjects matching the expertise of the staff. Very few students choose the option of Distance Education and they claim that it is not promoted at the school.
Senior secondary students
Those students wanting to complete Years 11 and 12 from St Cecilia's will travel to Perth to complete their secondary education. Students at the meeting estimated that 70% of Year 10 students would go to Perth. A number of St Cecilia students relocate to Perth after primary school. Some students go to boarding schools while other families relocate when their children reach secondary education.
Last updated 2 December 2001.
