Kalkaringi school meeting, 13 May 1999 - notes
Staff issues
"The turnover of staff is huge in this school. This means problems in terms of lost organisational knowledge and lack of curriculum continuity."
"Teaching staff leave the school community for every holiday and this becomes costly."
"There is a need for experienced teachers. New recruits are most likely to be inexperienced teachers straight from university."
"Special training is required to teach in rural and remote areas and this is currently unavailable."
"Cultural training is required for non-Aboriginal teachers."
"More publicity is required in urban centres to encourage appropriate staff who want to teach in rural and remote areas."
"Staffing levels are determined by the number of students at the beginning of the school year. When attendance is temporarily low at the beginning of the year the staffing ratios can be a problem. It can take time for additional staff to fill positions during the school year."
"The high rates of staff departure have implications for the ways in which literacy is taught. The 'Whole Word' approach can be problematic. Curricula can be endlessly repeated when there is no continuity of staff."
Staff incentives
Incentives for teachers in rural and remote Northern Territory include the following:
- 3 full return fares to Darwin each year
- There is a tax rebate of $173 per year
- A special Schools Allowance of $1,200 per year
- Free rent and electricity
- After 4 years of service, 6 months of paid training is available.
School resources
Internet access is available at Kalkaringi Community Education Centre [CEC] though there are a number of problems with its provision. The server is in Katherine. People have to travel 4 hours in order to provide maintenance. This causes delays.
There are no English as a Second Language (ESL) trained staff at Kalkaringi CEC. Two of the 8 staff have completed short ESL courses.
"A school-community liaison officer is needed at the school. This is currently not an option for the Kalkaringi School. The NT Government has not allocated funds for this position. Nevertheless, it is often family problems that keep the children at home. It is also important that this role promote the benefits of schooling throughout the communities."
Classroom management
"Single sex classes work well at the school though due to relatively small numbers of children, it is often impractical to run these classes. Culture and tradition dictates that male teachers should teach male children and visa-versa. This is not always practical and due to the large numbers of female teachers clustered in this profession, there is often a real shortage of male staff in general."
Professional development
"A staff of 8 full-time teachers with 80 pupils is just adequate to cover the levels and age ranges of the children. This means that it is not possible for staff to leave the school to engage in professional development. There are no relieving teachers in the community to cover when staff are out of town."
"All staff need to be trained in 'student screening' in order to determine the support needs of the students. Rather than have the staff travel for this training, it would be more practical and cost-effective for the professional development to be delivered in Kalkaringi. This 'student screening' training should be subsidised by the NT Government."
"Professional development decisions are made from Katherine and Darwin. They are often inappropriate. Recommendations from staff have gone unanswered. First Aid courses are a high priority for staff, yet they have not been offered in Kalkaringi. The school principal has made recommendations to Regional Council for First Aid courses. These courses have not been delivered in Kalkaringi and staff have had to travel to complete the training. The training has been paid for from the school budget."
Last updated 2 December 2001.
