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.