Rural and Remote Education - WA
Rural
and Remote Education - WA
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.