Palmerston Annual Report 2012 - Palmerston Girls Academy

They have also been a great help to myself asthe girls teacher by;• Communication about the work they havecompleted while in PGA• Communication on where the girls are in theirassignment and if they are on task, anyquestions that they girl may have and theyare unsure of how to answer• Additional support in the classroom• Constant updates on progress• Communication so they are aware of the workthe girls should be completing.Teacher Testimony(Rosebery Middle School)The PGA is a really effectivecombination, responsible for thedevelopment of real pride in being anIndigenous girl at Rosebery MiddleSchool (RMS).When I first started as a Relief Teacherin 2011 at RMS (the commencementyear) I came across small groups ofindigenous girls especially in the Year 8group that sat together and would tellme they were the black kids. I tried hardto build self-esteem in the groups andbuild their self-confidence and sense ofbelonging whenever I would take theirclasses as a Relief Teacher.The PGA was the start of the great turn around with these students and the PGA Staffleading by example and setting up a space in the school that the Indigenous girls couldinstantly recognize as theirs and feel comfortable, accepted and secure in their culture.The smiles on their faces and the pride in being Indigenous was immediate and so wastheir improved performance and engagement in the classroom. The introduction of theinstantly recognizable uniforms also gave the girls so much pride in their Identity andtheir place in the school.The PGA gave me something to talk to the girls about and a support system that I couldutilize to support my teaching. I could refer to the PGA for the best way to support eachand every student. PGA ensures teachers are kept informed on what the PGA girls areachieving in sport and this allows teachers to build on these successes andachievements in the classroom lessons with positive reinforcement.Even today I congratulated some Year 7 students on their good work and theirimmediate response was to “please send an email to PGA they will be so proud of us.”This is just so important in the classroom as they are focused on their learning tasks andas a teacher I can focus on teaching and not on behavior management.The PGA provides the students with a support where they know someone is interestedin their performance at school and actually cares for their future. Too many of thestudents do not have a stable home life and may not be living with their immediate familyand the PGA substitutes for this and keeps them focused on learning. PGA takes on thesubstitute family role to a degree in school and works through issues with the girls in aculturally appropriate way that ensures their identity and place in RMS is strengthened.Some senior girls declare they don’t need PGA now as they are grown up. This iswonderful that they have developed sufficient confidence to be secure in a normalclassroom. However these senior Indigenous students still know that the PGA is therefor support if there are issues. There is a saying used by Adult Educators “When thetraining is over and the job is done they will say, ‘we did it all ourselves without the helpof anyone.’”©RM&LA Palmerston Girls Academy Annual Report: December 2012 pg 5