Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Hon. Christopher Pyne, Minister for Education, for taking the time to visit Albany last week. I was proud to show him one of our flagship independent public schools and host an education forum for local education professionals to discuss regional and rural education issues.

My electorate of O'Connor has 22 independent public schools. Mount Lockyer Primary School became an IPS in 2011 and is a glowing example of the success of this initiative. Since commencing her tenure in 2006, principal Maxine Augustson has worked hard to coordinate not only the educational needs of her students but also their social and cultural needs in the broader context of their community. Adopting the IPS system has been the perfect vehicle to achieve this vision for the school.

Mount Lockyer Primary School is situated in a lower socioeconomic area of Albany, with only four per cent of students falling into the top quarter of the Australian Index of Community Socio-Economic Advantage. The student body at Mount Lockyer numbers 545 and ranges from pre-primary to grade 7. Fifteen per cent of these students are of Aboriginal descent and three per cent are of Filipino origin. There is a significant refugee component—most recently displaced Karen children from Thai refugee camps—and five per cent of their students are not primary English speakers.    A small proportion of their students are from outlying rural areas. A 'one size fits all' approach was never going to work for a diverse student body which is a subset of such a varied community.

IPS has allowed the school the autonomy to identify and work towards solutions for the students' needs. These include social and emotional needs,    poor parental engagement in their children's education, absenteeism and truancy, school readiness, health and nutrition status, behaviour problems and poor literacy and English skills. Prior to the school becoming an IPS, Mrs Augustson was already finding ways to engage the Lockyer community in their children's education. The inception of an elders circle, where a group of selected Aboriginal elders became the connection between problem students and disengaged parents, opened up the lines of communication between the community and educators. Community members also became involved in the sharing of Indigenous culture within the school environment, and families entered into a community partnership with the school. With these innovations, Indigenous school attendance rates jumped from 42 per cent to 86 per cent.

The Mount Lockyer area has a below-average result on the Australian Early Development Index. Mount Lockyer Primary School, therefore, also strategically targets education at the playgroup years, from birth through to three. It also offers parental support, information and empowerment through its Communities for Children hub. The overall goal is to engage parents in their children's early education and to achieve school-ready children at the kindergarten intake.

Health and nutrition outcomes are supported through the breakfast clubs, which are hardly attended, and a school pantry from which children can prepare lunches if they have not been provided with lunch from home. The autonomy of the IPS system has allowed the principal, with the support of the school board, to employ appropriate staff to address specific learning and social issues. The school has a dedicated behaviour intervention centre, staffed by appropriately skilled individuals, to cater for students with emotional and social development needs. Poor English and literacy parameters have been recently targeted and have significantly improved since employing teachers with strengths and experience in this field.

Since becoming an IPS, the My School data reflects a marked improvement in the Lockyer student outcomes. In 2008, Mount Lockyer performed below 'like' schools in almost every NAPLAN category for assessment in years 3, 5 and 7. Last year, they ranked above the average for similar schools in every category and every group.

The main criteria for staff selection at Mount Lockyer are based on the school ethos and goals. They note that the applications for teaching positions have trebled in the three years since the school became an IPS, and staff turnover has very much reduced. With this stability of staffing comes continuity for the students and a sustained focus on student outcomes and school goals.

Like all independent public schools, the principal, in consultation with a board comprising parents and community members, operates autonomously to set their own strategic priorities for the social and educational outcomes for their students. The Mount Lockyer board comprises representatives of the school teaching body, the P&C, parents and the wider community—including the Aboriginal community. Together, they adhere to a strategic plan formed by the school for itself and meet regularly to audit whether these goals are being met. Parental feedback is also a critical measure of the success of the school, as well as a tool for greater parental engagement. While still having significant obstacles in the social issues of their community, Mount Lockyer feels it is achieving greater parental involvement.

The Mount Lockyer Primary School motto is, 'Care, Compassion and Excellence. A place to learn and grow.' I am proud to have such a passionate team working towards favourable education outcomes in my electorate. I truly believe that, despite their challenges, the innovation and determination of the school principal, board and staff, in conjunction with an engaged community, will allow the students to develop into well-educated and valued members of society. (Time expired)