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Retention
from Year 11 to Year 12
What's
still not working
Attendance
and retention
While our attendance and retention is quite good in comparison
with overall rates, it still does not match that of our non-Indigenous
student population.
Parent
participation
While many of our parents support sending their children to
Kormilda College and want them to be successful, many do not
understand what is required for children to be successful
in secondary education. At the same time we still have difficulties
connecting with our parents in remote communities and fully
understanding what our parents want and need for their children.
Programs
We still have difficulty finding appropriate curriculum/programs
for all of our students because the understandings and needs
they bring to the College are different, complex and vary
so greatly from the understandings and behaviours required
to be successful at school. Building bridges between the child
and the school in order to foster learning is a complex task.
Many of our programs are successful, but some are not. We
are still looking.
Read
about VET developments in 2003...
Literacy/numeracy
progress
Each year our Year 8 intake of Indigenous students usually
numbers around 80. Of those new enrolments, about three-quarters
are reading and writing in English at Profile levels 1 - 4
(equivalent to primary-aged literacy of Transition to Grade
4). Many of these students are aged 13. Most ESL learners
(with good conditions for learning) take around seven years
to learn a second language. Most of our students have an opportunity
to progress for five years while they are with us. As a result,
many of our students will not achieve high levels of literacy
and numeracy before they leave the College.
Health
issues
Many of the issues or problems we face which undermine our
potential for educational success are related to health. We
are funded, quite rightly, on the basis that we are an educational
institution. Few resources are available to us that assist
us to provide ongoing support for the development of the good
health of our students. With strong collaboration between
the Hospital, a Health clinic, various child welfare organisations,
Churches and extremely committed staff, we struggle through
- but is still not enough.
Read
about the new Student Services Centre in 2003... |
