Academic performance the true indicator | Australian Teacher ...

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YOU ARE HERE: FEATURE FEATURE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE THE TRUE INDICATOR
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SPECIALIST SCHOOLS ARE BECOMING AN
INCREASINGLY ATTRACTIVE CHOICE FOR
PARENTS. JO EARP FINDS OUT THERE’S A
LOT MORE TO THIS EDUCATIONAL MODEL
THAN MEETS THE EYE.
WITH eight Olympians on site, Melbourne’s
Maribyrnong Sports Academy has a wealth of
expertise when it comes to guiding students in
their athletic pursuits.
Fantastic facilities — including indoor and outdoor
pitches and courts, state-of-the-art rehabilitation, training and conditioning areas, and a performance
analysis laboratory — add to the appeal.
But Victoria’s first specialist government sports academy has also been the fastest improving school for
overall VCE results in the state in the last two years.
Director Rob Carroll says it is that record in achievement across the curriculum, rather than the promise
of a career as a top class athlete, that is luring students.
“Sports specialism doesn’t mean you’re AFL High School. We don’t sell false dreams that kids are going
to compete in the Olympics if they come to Maribyrnong,” Carroll says.
“Some of them might, but at the end of the day your ATAR ranking and movement into the university
system is as important to us as your sporting achievements.”
He admits the facilities are the icing on the cake, but adds the real value of the academy can be found in
its staff and education model.
“It’s quite a dynamic, exciting environment. A traditional school operates with teachers, year level
coordinators and assistant principals going about their business but alongside them are the elite
coaches, physiotherapists, the fitness staff, sports scientists, the sports psychologist and dietician.
“I’m not trying to downplay the facilities because they are amazing and I’ve not seen anything like them
in the Australian school system,” Carroll reflects.
“The closest in my [international] visits was perhaps some of the Finnish sports schools ... but really the
value is in the coaches, teachers and the program. That’s what keeps the kids here.”
Maribyrnong Sports Academy has retention rates of over 90 per cent as athletes move through the year
levels. “In comparison to some of the German sports schools I looked at, where there are 40 per cent
retention rates, that’s pretty amazing,” Carroll says proudly.
The flexible model of learning allows students to concentrate on a traditional curriculum, combined with
additional athlete development programs.
In Year 9 or 10 they can spend a third of their week in specialist components — including strength and
conditioning, media training, and life skills — and two thirds in the academic curriculum.
The sports specialism commitment expands as students move through the school, but contracts as they
hit VCE. In all cases, though, the model is built around an extended school day.
“There’s no doubt that to specialise to the level they do they have to spend more time on it. Some days
start for student athletes at 6.45am, other days don’t finish until 5pm and that becomes a regular part of
their routine,” Carroll explains.
“The model gets them training with elite coaches either before or after school or a combination — they
do up to a 90 minute training session three times a week.”
This year the academy has opened its senior study hall on the first floor of its new sports building and
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Carroll says this largely self-managed learning environment sends a powerful symbolic message that the
school is serious about its VCE results.
Mitchell Mackay, principal of John Curtin College of the Arts in Perth, agrees. “Without the focus on the
academic performance parents won’t send their children to a specialist college.
“Probably the first question that parents ask is ‘we love the arts, and that’s wonderful, but what about the
academic performance?’”
Like Maribyrnong, John Curtin College of the Arts has a strong record across the curriculum — regularly
placing in the top 20 schools in Western Australia and top five public schools in the state for academic
performance. Last year there were 850 applications for the 250 Year 8 places on offer.
Mackay says the key to success is using the specialist focus to enhance and complement wider
academic performance, and open up opportunities for students far greater than they would have had
going to a normal school.
Far from pushing students down a particular career path, Curtin’s aim is to use the arts to build
confidence and creativity to stand students in good stead at university.
“We find our students are far more confident in their ability to present in front of people — they’ve been
speaking in front of 400 and 500 people here ... and they get to university and can easily speak to 40 or
50 people in a lecture theatre to present their work,” Mackay says.
“But also, [we] combine that with a sense of creativity through all subject areas that is in the forefront of
world thinking in terms of best practice in education — so we’re far from being a training organisation to
continue on [into an arts career].
“Our visual arts students may go into architecture or graphic arts, but they could just as easily go into
business, public relations or something altogether different.
“Our dance students get into physiotherapy and our drama students into law and medicine.”
The amount of hours spent on specialist arts each week varies from course to course. A talented ballet
student, for example, can get up to 18 hours of tuition.
Mackay says the amount of specialist study depends on ability of students to cope, and the starting point
is always to make sure academic studies are on track before adding extra arts components.
Rather than having to sacrifice maths or literacy time, students end up having more tuition in those
areas. “We usually put an extra hour in their subject times, especially for the older students,” Mackay
points out. “We also include lots more writing within those arts areas. The final exams for arts in Year 12
are 50 per cent writing in most cases, so you have to bring them to a really high level of written and
analytical ability.”
He adds the college also provides many more opportunities than normal schools for parents to connect
with students and teachers. It hosted 52 public evening performances in its theatre last year, and another
40 information evenings, exhibitions and events involving the community.
“It’s a harder job when you’re here as a teacher … but they realise they wouldn’t want to work in other
places.”
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