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Rural and Remote Education - Tasmania

Rural

and Remote Education - Tasmania

Queenstown secondary students

meeting, 4 November 1999 - notes

Murray High School

students met with the inquiry at Queenstown. Murray High School is the

only secondary school on the West Coast. Students from Zeehan and Strahan

travel to Queenstown to attend this school. A number of secondary aged

students from the West Coast go to boarding school for their secondary

education.

Students at Murray

High School wanted more subject choices and more options to study the

arts. The students also felt that there was a lack of social activity

with other schools.

The buses

A number of difficulties

with school transportation were raised in the meeting. Many students spend

8 hours per week on the school bus. In order to get to school on time,

students from Zeehan and Strahan have to catch the bus at approximately

7am. This was considered to be too early for most. The travelling students

complained that they had no time for breakfast. As a potential solution

to this problem, the students suggested a change to the school starting

hours to allow time for travel.

'The buses are gross

and the bus drivers are mean. The buses are dirty and there is too much

travelling. The drivers just sit there swearing and beeping the horn.'

'I leave my house

at 7am and then I get home at 4pm. I spend 8 hours a week travelling when

I could be spending that time doing much better things. It cuts into your

homework time too and we all get really tired.'

'Every now and then

the buses break down. And the other thing is that if you miss the bus

you don't get to go to school. My dad just takes off in the morning and

if you're not ready he goes without you because if you're not there for

the bus it will go without you.'

Sporting and social

activities

'We don't get to

play any sport with any other schools. No-one comes here. We don't have

any sports teams. There's nothing really.'

Teachers

'We get all the young

teachers and they are pretty bad here because they force them to come

here in their first years of teaching. They are not as qualified as the

other teachers and this has an effect on you because you don't feel like

you're worth it. They stay for just as long as they have to and then they

go after 3 years.'

Breakfast club

'They used to have

a breakfast club for the kids who had to get up really early, but they

have stopped doing that. I think it was the same old story, there was

no money.'

Retention

'Most students don't

go to school because they hate the teachers. The teachers are so strict

and they don't make it fun. Kids just hang around on the streets and there

are some drugs as well.'

Last

updated 2 December 2001.