Rural and Remote Education - SA
Rural and Remote
Education - SA
Public Meeting at Wudinna,
11 August 1999 - notes
Wudinna is a small
town located on the central Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, 577 km west
of Adelaide. The population of Wudinna is 650.
Wudinna Area School
has approximately 225 students from Reception through to Year 12. The
school's catchment area extends over a distance of approximately 45 km
in a north-westerly direction through to Kopi in the south and Koongawa
in the east. The majority of parents are involved in farming and associated
industries.
The meeting was attended
by 12 community members from Wudinna and other towns on the Eyre Peninsula
including Kimba, Whyalla, Elliston and Warramboo. From HREOC: Chris Sidoti,
Human Rights Commissioner; Dr Alby Jones, Inquiry Co-Commissioner for
South Australia; and two Commission staff members.
Jean Fulwood and
Veronica Matthews from the Wudinna Area School Council presented a paper
outlining their major concerns for school education in Wudinna. The major
point was that "All children are entitled to the same choices and opportunities
therefore the same resources and facilities, regardless of location if
we are to be fair and equitable for kids in education". They discussed
senior secondary school, distance education, learning styles, vocational
training, skilled teachers and educational standards, Country Areas Program,
buses, parent involvement, accessing personnel. These comments are incorporated
into the discussion below.
Secondary schooling
It is a feature of
the area that parents send their children away for schooling in the senior
secondary years. This impacts on the school and community as numbers at
the school decline which affects the quality of education for the remaining
students; fewer teachers, fewer students for other students to interact
with, and an inability to cater for special needs students.
Changes in funding
formulae affect the provision of secondary schooling.
"Smaller schools
like Elliston which is qualified as a Reception-10 school, lose one year
of our access into upper senior secondary because we are qualified as
R-10 and senior secondary is supposed to be 10, 11 and 12. So we do not
get that first year of support to go away, so those students miss out
on those lead up subjects."
Distance education
"For many parents
distance education is not seen as a good way to learn because there is
no face to face contact. Some students find this really difficult because
it relies on good time management skills and good research skills. So
obviously their learning styles are important."
It was suggested
that time management skills and research skills should be taught in primary
school so that students will be prepared for the distance education style
of learning.
Students learning
by distance education need adequate teacher support and face to face teaching.
Subject choices
Students have to
pick up a range of choices through Open Access because the subjects are
not available locally. But for students who want to do Publicly Examined
Subjects (PES) this can be difficult to cope with and it is preferable
to do it face to face with teachers in the school.
"Should our students
have to take a less favoured goal because they cannot cope with doing
PES Open Access or it's unavailable ... We are limiting their potential.
We feel that they should be able to achieve the same goals as students
in metropolitan areas can achieve."
"If you lose your
choices, parents lose faith and this flows on to the whole community and
they become negative towards the school. It becomes important to keep
that positive feeling there."
"We have a right
to have our children educated. We are people here. We are educated people
too. We have a right to hold a family unit together too. We know that
once kids leave home that whole family cohesion is not there. People are
forced into breaking it at a much earlier age for their children because
the choices are not here."
Vocational and technical
education
There is a small
TAFE unit in Wudinna. Some students at the school work in tandem with
TAFE, for example as part of a hospitality or agriculture certificate.
These modules can be assessed for the South Australia Certificate of Education
(SACE) level. However, there are some difficulties in trying to coordinate
the delivery of TAFE and school programs.
Teachers need to
be accredited as Workplace Assessors so that students can get their dual
credits for both the TAFE and SACE certificates. Teachers need to be supported
to access this training.
"I think what the
Education Department doesn't realise is while students are doing home
economics and technical studies they are still reading and writing. All
they see is the cut piece of wood. They don't see them measure it, they
don't see them taking some off it, they don't see them making a mess and
doing it again, all things you learn from experience. My beef is that
these things should be available in all country schools, because the kids
that aren't academically inspired are still getting their reading and
writing, and doing something that they like . country students want life
supporting lessons."
It was suggested
that the Education Department should make a point of basing TAFE and technical
teachers in a rural area rather than in Adelaide, so that students studying
these subjects have access to face to face support and assessment. A technical
teacher based in one town would need to travel over the whole area. The
government needs to commit to the costs of travel for teachers in a rural
area.
"It costs them cheaper
to have 50 or 100 teachers in Adelaide in one campus and get them all
to send their lessons in than it does to get them to do some face to face
teaching."
"A moderator for
this area in a practical technology subject was informed that he couldn't
attend moderation in Adelaide at the end of last semester and therefore
couldn't support the students from the wider area in those subject areas
because there was no money available to send him to Adelaide. This disadvantages
our Year 12 students because there has been no moderator to go around
and see their work and support them."
Special education
assistance
There is a lack of
preventative help for students with special difficulties, especially those
who are only just below average or who fall behind. Poor students need
help before they get worse.
"We had a psychologist
come and assess one of my children and he was assessed as having learning
difficulties. He is in Year 10 now and his spelling is atrocious. So even
though he is identified, there is no help for him."
School Support Officer
(SSO) hours have been cut. The allocated hours of SSO time differ according
to the type of school. For example Area Schools have fewer SSO hours than
secondary schools. This is seen as unfair.
Health services
The lack of mental
health services in the region impacts on the health of children.
"Currently I have
to travel 200 km each way. Earlier this year it was once a week. Now it
is once every five weeks. We don't get funding for the simple fact that
we are not seeing a psychiatrist but a social worker. The SA Health Commission
ruling is that we are not entitled to Isolated Patients Assistance. And
why can't someone come into our communities to have a little chat? There
is nothing to support them."
Attracting suitable
teachers
There is a shortage
of skilled and specialist teachers in the area. It can be hard to attract
teachers to both temporary and permanent positions.
"It is always a problem.
If we advertise we don't always get someone. If we don't get skilled teachers
we have limited choices for students in terms of the subjects they do."
"I suspect that in
some cases we only get one applicant for the job. Therefore the school
will take that applicant because they don't get a choice. And that person
may not be fully qualified for what they are required to do. But what
else are you going to do?"
Currently a specialist
teacher in agriculture at Wudinna is on long service leave. Although they
advertised statewide and nationally, the school has been unable to attract
a replacement teacher. That particular subject has had to be postponed
until the teacher returns from leave.
Teachers do not always
have the skills to teach technical subjects at the senior level, such
as automotive engineering and computer aided design.
The School Council
suggests that there needs to be a system of sharing of teacher expertise
between schools. To be effective and viable this system would need to
be properly resourced because of the transport and travel costs.
There are few incentives
for teachers to come out to rural areas. "They don't get rent assistance
as they used. What is the incentive to come out here? Why not get a job
in Adelaide?"
The possibility of
bonded teacher training was raised. It was suggested bonded teaching training
or for a range of professions may be more attractive to country students.
"What's the difference
if a student has the choice of paying for their course, taking a HECS
or a loan out, or being bonded? They have three choices to get them through
college. To me the bonding is much more of an advantage if they either
don't want to be jammed into HECS or don't want it or can't afford to
in time."
"To me, if you are
going to become a teacher you must know that there are schools outside
of Adelaide. If you are a teacher you should be expected to go there."
Warramboo primary
school is currently trying to attract a Principal. They have 2.6 teachers
but it is hard to attract people in leadership roles. "It is very hard
to attract a principal to a small school of 20 students and there is not
much in the town itself, just a school and post office that is open three
days a week in the morning. That's basically it service-wise. It's a beautiful
school and the kids very keen and its very well supported by the community,
but how do you attract someone to take leadership roles?"
It is essential in
a small community that teachers want to participate in the community.
If they do not participate in the community it builds up a negative attitude
towards the teacher and eventually towards the school. "It makes it very
difficult to rebuild a positive attitude and confidence in the school
and staff."
Specialist schools
There are currently
two specialist schools set up on the Eyre Peninsula: Cleve with an agriculture
course and Cowell with an aquaculture course. Students who want to attend
these from outside the area, however, do not get Assistance for Isolated
Children (AIC) if it is determined that they can access local secondary
schooling. This 'bypassing' rule means students miss out the opportunity
of these courses.
"My son is going
to apply next year to Cleve to study agriculture. Not only is he going
there because of the Ag. He actually wants to go on and do agronomy or
be an Ag. teacher. Kids like that should have an incentive - especially
now that we are lacking specialist teachers - to go and achieve this expertise
and bring it back to country areas. At the moment the only assistance
he'll get will be rent assistance on Youth Allowance. And he will be staying
down there 7 days a week because we cannot afford for him to commute backwards
and forwards."
Partnerships 21
"Partnerships 21
[a South Australia Education Department initiative] is a worry for us
at Warramboo. We are a small farming community and the call on parents'
time to turn into accountants and lawyers and such and to have to work
out how to run the school . Who's going to have the time to do it?"
School fees
"It's not a bottomless
pit. We really do have to put money in. Parents should be forced to pay
at least something. That's a personal opinion. I don't think we'll make
up the balance without it."
"Someone has worked
out an average that should be applied statewide but that doesn't seem
to take into account isolated country schools. We pay a school fee, but
then when our children need to go on a trip, our trips are to Whyalla
or Port Lincoln, and we have to pay out money for that anyway."
"Personally I disagree
with the school fees. Unless it's something that parents want to put into
a school to make their school kids' life a bit better. But why should
parents and school councils be paying for school computers, be paying
for playgrounds, paying for school building? That's where it's going.
If they were getting something extra, maybe. But here we have no choice
between schools, so to me I disagree. We're not getting the services and
we're paying for the little bit we are getting."
Mixed classes/staffing
formulae
"Sometimes you get
down to having three classes in a group - Years 2, 3 & 4. If a child is
a bit slow in learning, we don't have much choice where to go. The teacher
is quite stretched having three levels of learning. In metropolitan areas
they can get someone to take these children aside. Here you have a volunteer
coming in to try to assist the child. There are some advantages to mixed
classes, as some kids can do higher study, but for slower kids that's
a problem in junior primary."
"The school has X
number of kids for X number of teachers. It's a formula. We have to use
the same formula that city schools have to work by. In the city schools
you have more numbers so you have one teacher for a whole level, whereas
in country areas you have to do vertical grouping. This stretches the
teachers much further in coping with all the needs of those kids in mixed
classes, even with special aide assistance."
Cultural activities
"Sport is seen as
the only community cultural activity. If you are in a rural community
often kids are disadvantaged in a cultural sense. We think they need to
have greater exposure to a diversity of cultural experiences within the
school and the community."
"Many students are
limited in their educational experiences as often parents have only gone
to perhaps Year 10 or 11 at school and this frequently means that the
kids don't aspire to any higher level or have higher goals . We think
this imposes limitations on children's potential. We need to expand the
horizons of the students."
"The children who
are not creative in the sporting area often have abilities in music. One
family I visit, they are paying out of their own pocket for music lessons
for their daughter, and she has a lot of talent. But that family shouldn't
be paying. It would be great if there was more available across the whole
of the Eyre Peninsula."
Music classes
It is very difficult
to study music throughout the Wudinna area. Some students travel to Cummins
every week to get a face to face music lesson. Although there are 'Share
vision' programs where the students study lessons using a video link-up,
there are technical difficulties. The picture drops out and the students
have to go back to DUCT (voice and sound telephone link) to finish their
lessons.
"How can students
learn to play saxophone over a telephone line? Share vision was supposed
to solve some of that, but it always drops out."
Students at Warramboo
study music through Whyalla. However, the previous time the teacher came
out to visit, he arrived too late in the day to visit all the students
on time.
"Currently we are
also severely limited in our music expertise. We were time sharing a music
teacher but because of funding cutbacks we now have students learning
musical instruments over the DUCT and it hasn't been successful because
they see that there isn't the number of students to run a course."
Students with High
Intellectual Potential (SHIP) program
Schools which deliver
the SHIP program only exist in Adelaide, which means that high performing
students are forced to leave school in Year 11 to go to Adelaide. It was
suggested that students could study some of those specialised courses
through Open Access.
Information technology
There is a need for
adequate technological infrastructure, service and expertise to be able
to take advantage of the global environment.
Access to the internet
is more costly than in Adelaide because of the STD charges outside the
local area.
Educational standards
There are few standards
of comparison available to reassure parents that the standard of education
at the school are as good as national standards.
Country Areas Program
The funding of education
under the Commonwealth Country Areas Program in South Australia has been
changed to the Griffiths model. Under the new model, the definition of
rural has widened which has the effect of reducing the amount available
to existing areas. CAP needs to be administered more equitably.
Buses
"My children leave
home at 7.30 in the morning to catch the school bus and some kids don't
get off the bus until 5.30 at night. We know that we can't change the
times these kids are on the bus but we believe that there should be greater
consideration of children's comfort when you are looking at the climate
conditions. Last week it was minus 5 degrees in the morning for winter,
and we have possibly 2 to 3 weeks of between 40 to 47 degrees heat."
Parents are asking
for a reduction of noise levels on the bus, two children to a seat instead
of three, adequate space for school bags and air conditioning on the buses.
"We had to fight to get off-road tyres on the buses as a trial. Some of
the roads we have to drive on are atrocious. Metropolitan people would
be surprised we have to do it. Yet we have to fight to get simple tyres,
let alone air conditioning!"
Another parent raised
bus conditions as a safety issue. The children travel on roads for an
hour and a half with big grain trucks passing by and yet the buses do
not have seat belts. There are also lots of kangaroos on the roads. Children
sit three to a seat when it should only be two to a seat.
There have been a
number of attempts to get the Department to put air conditioning on buses
in the area, without success.
Although parents
have offered to put cooling systems in buses themselves, the department
has not guaranteed that the bus will be not be sent to another school
in the future.
"We've always had
problems in Elliston because they forget that the other half of Elliston
is dirt not sea and once you get over the hill, you might as well be in
Kyancutta. So we have a bit of credibility lack there. It is regularly
over 50 degrees heat."
Many parents travel
by car to meet school buses. They get reimbursed 14c per km by the government
to do this, yet government employees can get up to 50c per km for their
travel. They cannot get school buses extended to meet these children.
Some travel over 30km one way to meet a school bus.
Parent involvement
Parents are very
involved in the school and their voluntary work is relied on in various
capacities, including transporting children to various events. This can
put too much pressure on parents.
"Currently we are
in real dilemma. We have a planned Year 12 trip to Adelaide to see a performance
as part of the English curriculum. Now a parent that had volunteered to
take the bus to Adelaide can't go, and we can't find anyone to go, which
puts the trip in jeopardy. Parents feel responsible, but should they feel
guilty or should this be solved by other agencies? In the city this would
not occur."
Education bureaucracy
It can be frustrating
for parents on the school council to deal with the education bureaucracy.
They feel isolated and powerless when they try to tell the department
what they want or are promised changes or work which fails to get done.
School maintenance
Local tradespeople
can be overworked and may not have the facilities to deal with particular
school maintenance problems. However to hire someone from outside town
can take weeks.
Last
updated 2 December 2001.