Working systematically: Bourke Public School

'A needs-based community school'

We have endeavoured to structure our curriculum to meet EVERY child's need in all areas.

We appreciate where every child is coming from.

We do everything we can to support any child to come to school, because you can't teach a child if they are not at school.

We make sure every child can do the work they are asked to do.

We cherish self-esteem and, as teachers, we treat our students the same way as we would like them to treat us.

We just keep trying to raise the bar of expectation.

— Principal, Paul Loxley's summary of Bourke Public (primary) School's operating principles.

The school's Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population achieve at much the same level. This has been achieved over a decade by working systematically.

The model we use here could be put in place anywhere. It just so happens that 50 per cent of our kids are Aboriginal. All the literature shows you they're behind. But we've proved you can get nearly equal outcomes for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal kids in the same environment by just treating them as kids.