01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

School reports on theimplementation of the AboriginalEducation Policy indicate that theTraining and Developmentresource has stimulated a greatinterest in Aboriginal history andcultures, thus encouraging moreschools to join the program. Thereis a heightened awareness ofAboriginal issues and a generaldesire to implement the AboriginalEducation Policy successfully.Aboriginal Education consultantsreported that, while schools are veryenthusiastic about the policy and itsimplementation strategy, there is aneed to augment teachers’knowledge and understanding ofAboriginal issues.Learning Outcomes forAboriginal StudentsAboriginal and Torres StraitIslander (ATSI) students continuednot to perform as well as otherstudents in the Basic Skills Tests.However, ATSI students haveshown a greater improvement inLiteracy than other groups whencomparing Year 3 1995 with Year5 1997 results. Across the State theaverage growth was 8.0 points onthe BST scale, while ATSI studentsrecorded a growth of 10.2 points.These differences are based on ananalysis of matched pairs ofstudents.ATSI students are also underrepresented at higher achievementlevels in the School Certificate.However, as a group they haveimproved their position with areduction of their representation inthe lower end of the scale.For example, in 1995, 67 per centof ATSI students were placed in thebottom 30 per cent of schoolcertificate grades. In 1997 this wasreduced to 61 per cent.Complete details of theperformance of government schoolstudents in Basic Skills Tests andthe School Certificate are providedin the section Monitoring StudentProgress later in this volume.Retention rates for ATSI studentsremain considerably lower thanthose of the general studentpopulation. In 1997 a total of 437ATSI students enrolled in Year 12,an increase of 15 on the previousyear. This represents a Year 7-12apparent retention rate of 31 percent, up one percentage point on theprevious year.Several programs are designed toencourage more ATSI students toremain at school to the end of Year12. These include the support ofhome school liaison officers,additional teaching and assistantstaff, community liaison officersand a focus on literacy andnumeracy in the primary school.Aboriginal CulturalProgramsThe Aboriginal Programs Unit, incollaboration with the Art Galleryof NSW, presented an exhibition ofstudent artworks celebratingNational Aborigines’ and TorresStrait Islanders’ Week andReconciliation Week. The artworksby both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students highlighted thepositive aspects of integratingAboriginal and Torres StraitIslander content and perspectivesin the school curriculum. Thirtyfive art works from students inKindergarten through to Year 12were selected for inclusion in theexhibition.Seven primary, central andsecondary schools from acrossNSW were selected to participatein a performance which celebratedSchools receiving training anddevelopment for implementation of theAboriginal Education Policy 1997DistrictsNo. of SchoolsAlbury 19Armidale 21Bankstown 15Batemans Bay 18Bathurst 5Blacktown 15Bondi 5Broken Hill 20Campbelltown 15Central Coast 16Clarence/Coffs Harbour 5Deniliquin 16Dubbo 5Fairfield 15Granville 5Griffith 19Hornsby 18Lake Macquarie 5Lismore 5Liverpool 15Maitland 17Moree 15Mount Druitt 15Newcastle 15Northern Beaches 15Orange 5Parramatta 15Penrith 15Port Jackson 5Port Macquarie 5Queanbeyan 15Ryde 12Shellharbour 15St George 30Sutherland 26Tamworth 8Taree 15Tweed Heads/Ballina 5Wagga Wagga 16Wollongong 15TOTAL 536DSE Annual Report 1997 79