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Rural and Remote Education - Qld

Rural

and Remote Education - Qld

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.