Harristown State School (Toowoomba) is a PY-07 campus of 386 students with an increasingly diverse multicultural background including 75 Indigenous students and 19 Sudanese students. Currently, there is a staff of 39 teachers and teacher aides and one Indigenous teacher aide (fraction 0.2).
The school is currently undertaking a Parent School Partnership Initiative (PSPI) federally funded through the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST).
In 2006, Harristown became an IDEAS school and is currently in the Envisioning Phase.
Harristown principal, Margaret Gurney, has been the driving force behind this initiative getting up and running. She has a deep commitment to meeting the needs of the students at the schools. She has also built strong relationships with and amongst the staff at the school over the two years she has been principal there. She has created a passion for Indigenous education within the staff at the school.
Louise Alexander is the Advisory Teacher for Indigenous Education for the Darling Downs Region and has led the process to date. Louise is responsible for writing classroom materials, delivering workshops and running web-based classes for Indigenous students. She is also based in Toowoomba and is a member of the Indigenous Education team in Darling Downs Region. It has made a significant difference to the region focus on Indigenous Education to have a team of people driving the agenda.
Merinda Thompson is the Project Officer for the Indigenous Education team in the Region. Merinda is based in Toowoomba and works on specific projects and support for Indigenous students and communities.
Maree Toombs is lecturer in Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and is based at the Kumbari/Ngurpai Lag Education centre in Toowoomba. Maree came on board as coordinator of the PSPI project for Embedding Indigenous perspectives in a cluster of schools in Toowoomba. Maree has made a valued contribution to the project and has developed a strong partnership between the university and the school communities in the area.
This process began in 2006 when Maree Toombs and Louise Alexander conducted cross-cultural training (Hidden History) for the whole staff.
During conversations in the latter stages of 2006, it emerged that there was a strong alignment between the IDEAS Framework and the four areas outlined in the EATSIPS document. One of the challenges highlighted in the Diagnostic Inventory (IDEAS process) was in the area of Cohesive Community. This provided a springboard for action in Term 1, 2007.
Maree and Louise had been asked to develop specific units of work to support schools to embed Indigenous perspectives into their curriculum. This was a challenge and did not sit well with the process they were hoping to achieve. They went to the EATSIPS document to see how they could unpack the framework and focus on embedding perspectives within all four areas of the practices and process of the school:
On the Pupil Free Day January 2007, the staff participated in further cross-cultural training (Everybody's Business) and unpacked the EATSIPS document. In groups the staff considered where they were in terms of the four focus areas of the framework and considered where they needed to focus.
School principal: 'Teachers at Harristown State School are the key to our students' success. We are all aware that Indigenous students and a majority of our other students all have a lot in common - that is, very low levels of experience with literacy prior to commencing school and very specific needs in relation to learning once they are in the school system. Our staff is very keen and open to new ideas and skills and knowledge that will help us maximise learning outcomes for all our students.' - Margaret Gurney
For Term 1, 2007, Harristown has focused on activities related to Community Partnerships. The three key activities for Term 1, 2007 are presented below:
Year 4 teacher: 'The best part about the PFD workshop was the awareness that everyone is developing. Crossing cultures is not just about including Indigenous studies in our planning or organising special events. Rather, it is more to do with an understanding of how our views and teaching must change to accommodate and cater for the needs of everyone in our class. The whole school approach works well as it helps us come to terms with our beliefs and future changes.' - David Mayes
There was a high interest shown by new Australians to learn about Australian history and the parallels that exist.
P and C president: 'The presenters were very good and the content excellent. I learnt a lot of very relevant information which was put across well and in an interesting way using the posters. The workshop highlighted the cultural differences which gives a greater understanding to how and why students are taught or learn differently.' - Rod Lindsay-Holley
Year 7 teacher: 'Participants actively participated with a high level of engagement from both students and parents. There was a great deal of surprise and interest at the information learned. It certainly raised awareness of issues.' - Maureen Meehan
Year 7 student: 'That was fun and interesting. I learnt about when Captain Cook claimed Australia. I learnt about some of the famous Indigenous people for sport. I also learnt about reconciliation. The posters were great to look at.' - Ashley
Year 6 parent: 'A lot more happened to Aboriginal people than most people realise and the suffering was widespread. It makes you think about what you know about Australian history and how the European coming has affected the Aboriginal people. Education helps us not to repeat what's happened and realise the value of Indigenous knowledge.' - Toni Gray
Year 6 student: 'It was really good because now I know a lot more. The posters were different from other ones I've seen for NAIDOC Week and they had a lot of information on them.' - Brooke
While activities relating to Community Partnerships will be ongoing, the focus for Term 2 will be in the area of Curriculum and Pedagogy. The school's participation in the IDEAS project will enable us to develop a meaningful vision for the future, underpinned by community-derived and owned values and beliefs. The Envisioning Process will provide further direction for professional conversations related to the uniqueness of our school context.
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© The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and Employment) 2008.