I went to a place called Endeavour Sports High School where they have one of the largest populations of Aboriginal students in the state. There were 58 students enrolled as of yestereday. They have implemented the policies established by the Department of Education related to Aboriginal Education and just 2 days ago were recognized by the government for having the lowest suspension rate for Aboriginal kids in all of New South Wales. The very proud Principal is a great guy named Dale Palmer (see below) who was kind enough to let me spend the day touring around his school, meeting folks and getting the low-down on whats being done and whats working for the kids.
There is a "koori" room at the school which is a place for Aboriginal kids to gather with each other. In addition, there are two Aboriginal Liaison Officers who help the kids to manage whatever it is that needs managing so they can succeed in school. I got to see the process for establishing Personalised Learning Plans which are completed for every student and which are monitored on a regular basis. There are two Aboriginal teachers at the school and I got to sit in on an Indigneous Studies class during the day. In addition, I got to see a mural painted by the girls' group (Strong Sister) and saw the area where the boys, through Stong Brother, and girls get to engage in traditional dance. The best part is that, for the first time, the school captain is an Aboriginal boy. This is a BIG deal here.
Check out the article on him: Kingslee
It was jam-packed agenda and I think....at least in terms of the research aspect, this one day will have made my entire trip worth while.
Trying to process all of the information now....so I guess I'd better get to it. :(
Comin' at ya from the future!
C
No comments:
Post a Comment