Page 1154 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 7 May 2014
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With the rapid growth in the Gungahlin region and with many public schools at or near capacity, I suggest that in years to come the ACT government will be relieved to have additional non-government schools like John Paul College, the expanding Burgmann college and others that are in the planning stages.
But that does not mean our government schools will lie dormant and neglected, because while we have many of our non-government schools at capacity, and with waiting lists even at the primary school level, we have similar situations in some of our public schools. I have visited and I have been approached, as has the minister, by parents about some schools with class sizes that are getting up above 25 consistently throughout the school. There are other schools, some geographically close to these at-capacity schools, that by comparison have much lower numbers, but parents choose not to send their child there.
It comes to parent choice and what parents feel is best for their child. That parental choice and range of key elements that go to the parents deciding the school for their child applies to both government and non-government schools. And what are the important factors for parents? Parents want to ensure, first and foremost, that their children will be educated in a safe and caring environment. It is not about which school has the most modern buildings or the biggest playground, or whether the playing area has a picket fence. They want to know that the school is a safe and caring environment. They want to know that the teachers are well trained, well supported and are able to continuously update and upskill their knowledge.
Parents want true engagement with the school community, not just a newsletter sent home in the schoolbag and a once-a-year parent-teacher interview lasting minutes, if the parent is lucky. They want a true partnership where the school community and the parent community are integrated and each supports the other.
When students move into high school, parents want to know that discipline will be there for those students who require it, and that the school community will be a tolerant community, but not at the expense of those students who want to learn. Why do we know this? Because parents tell us, and school census data supports that.
We see children in families moving in and out of the government and non-government sectors throughout the schooling, but the highest movement is for the first four years of high school. Here in Canberra we have the largest percentage of students of any jurisdiction in non-government schools, and it is discipline and school values that determine that choice.
That was no better demonstrated than several years ago, when the principal of one of our southern suburban public schools, who knew the importance of discipline, tried to enforce it. He had students who were cutting classes, leaving the school ground and going to local shops. He spoke to the local shopkeepers and got their support to not serve these students during school hours. That principal understood the importance of discipline and establishing an appropriate, respectful school culture. But those on the other side of the chamber did not, and claimed what the principal was trying to do breached the human rights of the students.
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