Public meeting in Port Lincoln, 10 August 1999 - notes
This Port Lincoln meeting involved a discussion about the provision of educational services for children with disabilities and the curriculum offerings for children in the community.
Disability and primary education
Port Lincoln has 3 primary schools: St Joseph's school, Port Lincoln Junior Primary School and Lincoln Gardens Primary School. At Port Lincoln Junior Primary School there is a small class of children with special learning needs. These children are situated next to a mainstream classroom separated by a sliding door. There is regular integration of the children across these classes.
After Year 2 the children with special needs move from Port Lincoln Primary School to Curtain Point. This is not an ideal situation for children who have difficulty with change and work well with routine.
The Special School at Port Lincoln is another option for children with disabilities. The Special School in Port Lincoln is situated on the campus of Lincoln Gardens Primary School. There is only one hour per week of integration with the children from the main school.
"My child should have the right to sports and the right to subjects such as religious education. She is currently at the Catholic school for 6 hours per week for religion, music and drama. At the Special School she would learn life skills like washing and cooking, but she can learn that at home. It is far more important for her to be integrated with her peers."
"The most important skill for my child is the ability to relate with children her own age. Ideally I would like her to attend primary school until Year 5 when she can no longer keep up with the other children."
"The Curtain Point School was only set up as an interim measure anyway. It looks like they may close it. It was supposed to be a place where the children needing special intervention could receive remedial support and then be referred back to the main school or to the special school. I don't think this option will be available for very long. It sounds like they don't want us to have this option any more."
"I have had my child in Callisthenics and I was told that other children were leaving the class because they couldn't deal with my daughter. I thought about pulling her out and then decided that she had a right to be there. She certainly got the biggest clap at the performance and I'm not sure that it was because of her timing."
Curriculum options
The two secondary schools in Port Lincoln are Port Lincoln High School and St Joseph's Port Lincoln. These schools both have areas of speciality and are able to resource the children wanting to pursue particular curricula options. The High school has an extensive music department and a recording studio. The Catholic school has a well staffed language department.
"The schools should be able to work together. St Joseph's has a pathetic music department and the High School has a terrific department. The High School has very limited second language offerings and we have a good language department. I'd like to see a sharing of the resources."
"Pressure should be put on the schools so that each child gets the best possible curriculum offerings, the best teachers and the best resources."
"There is some sharing between the schools but at this stage it is on a very small scale. We might find that there are some zealots at the Catholic school who don't want their children mixing with the State school kids but I think that the priority should be the learning needs of the children."
Last updated 2 December 2001.
