Alternative Curricula B

Case study: Warriappendi School

Rachel Seager
Background of the program/school context
Warriappendi is a small DECD school with a focus on re engaging
Aboriginal students who have been unsuccessful in a mainstream school
setting. (DECD !"#$% says &Warriappendi is a uni'ue school. (ur main
purpose is to support young Aboriginal people to re)engage in formal
education processes.& (*randwood !"#$% says &Warriappendi is a
secondary school which provides individual education plans for each
student with the aim of each student being able to complete their SACE
upon the completion of year twelve.&Warriappendi was +rst founded by
Aboriginal elders in appro,imately #-.- as a wor/shop for disengaged
Aboriginal students. Warriappendi +rst became a DECD in #-0" at which
time it wasn1t a school e,clusively for Aboriginal students however over
time it has again become a school e,clusively for Aboriginal students.
(*randwood !"#$% says &2he dynamic of the school 3ust wouldn1t wor/ if
there was a mi,ture of Aboriginal and non)Aboriginal students.& *ecause
of the si4e of Warriappendi the students receive a very intimate and
individualised education. (*randwood !"#$% says &Warriappendi is a very
small school with a total of 55 students. 2he class si4es are also very small
with a #)0 sta6 to student ratio and with attendance at ."7 it is usually a
#)5 ratio.&
Eligibility criteria and student profle
2here is no speci+c eligibility criteria to attend Warriappendi School and
each case is assessed on an individual basis. Students can however be
recommended to attend Warriappendi School by their current mainstream
school. Similarly students can approach the school directly and put
forward a re'uest based on several reasons one of the main being
generational 8.e. siblings9 other family members have attended the
school. (*randwood !"#!% says &students come to the school see/ing a
second chance to achieve success in secondary schooling. Students have
had previous di:culties negotiating secondary school with non
attendance behavioural and social and emotional challenges.& *ecause
one of the aims of Warriappendi is to provide a safe learning environment
for all students accepting students with severe behavioural problems will
put this aim at ris/ and so 8t should be noted that Warriappendi is not a
school for Aboriginal students with severe behavioural problems and that
a student must come to the school wanting to learn. 2here are high
e,pectations of the students that go to Warriappendi one of the main
being attendance. Students are e,pected to attend school on a regular
basis which is something they are not used to doing. ;ow attendance can
be put down to several factors including family commitments unstable
home life and minimal family support. (<overnment of South Australia
Department for Education and Child Development !"#=% says &regular
attendance at school is universally ac/nowledged as a fundamental and
very signi+cant factor in successful learning. 8mproved learning outcomes
for Aboriginal students are ine,tricably lin/ed to improved attendance
rates.&
Policy, strategy and curriculum frameworks that underpin the
program
Warriappendi aims to support their students so they can achieve their
SACE upon the completion of year twelve. 2he SACE board recognises that
Aboriginal students are from very diverse bac/grounds and has an
Aboriginal Education Strategy in place in order to encourage and assist
aboriginal students in completing their SACE. (nce such aim of the SACE
board is to (SACE *oard SA !"#!% &wor/ in partnership with the school
sectors and school leaders to promote Aboriginal student achievements in
the SACE including students receiving an A2A> and 2A?E Selection Score.&
2his aim of the SACE board is very much in line with the goals at
Warriappendi. 2he sta6 wor/ very closely with the SACE board to modify
student assignments to ma/e them achievable and relevant to the
students. (ne such e,ample is the &hoody pro3ect& which replaces the
research pro3ect underta/en by students in mainstream schools. 2he
hoody pro3ect re'uires students to research their cultural bac/ground and
design a hoody that best re@ects their heritage. 2he school also involves
students in several AE2 programs. According to (iAE2 !"##% &Aocational
Education and 2raining in Schools (AE2 in Schools% are programs
underta/en by school students as part of the senior secondary certi+cate
that provide credit towards a nationally recognised AE2 'uali+cation
within the Australian Buali+cations ?ramewor/.& Students at Warriappendi
are e,posed to numerous AE2 opportunities including business
administration automotive and hospitality. Warriappendi has also received
a large grant to build a trade s/ills centre where these AE2 courses can be
run. 2he building is set to be built ne,t year !"#5.
Program structure, content and assessment
See appendi, #. 2he program structure at Warriappendi has a strong
literacy and numeracy focus as this is an area most students are
struggling in. 2he school also provides other sub3ects that are very much
relevant to the students and their needs. 2here is a big focus on health
and teaching the students about how to ma/e good choices to best loo/
after themselves. Classes run for forty minutes and in the 3unior school
the classes are gender split as the school has found that the studentCs
best learn this way in the middle years. (nce they reach the senior school
they are split based on ability and sub3ect choice. 2here is a morning and
an afternoon home group session where the home group teachers can
touch base with their pastoral care group and have any concerns bought
to their attention. Every student at Warriappendi has an 8ndividual
;earning Dlan and because of the 8;D1s each student also undergoes
di6erent assessments based on their ability. 2hese assessments di6er in
terms of level of sca6olding topic and level of di:culty. Each student is
also assessed on what they attempted to complete as opposed to the tas/
as a whole. 2he students at Warriappendi are sometimes from very
di:cult bac/grounds and the sta6 realise this. *ecause of this
assessments are very much @e,ible and with the success of the student
as the focus of each tas/.
Diferentiated teaching personalised learning! and resources
Every student at Warriappendi has an 8ndividual learning plan. Epon
enrolment each student underta/es a basic literacy and numeracy test to
see what level they are at after which an action plan can be created for
the student. According to (<overnment of South Australia Department for
Education and Child Services !"#"%
&2he 8ndividual ;earning Dlan (8;D% is for all Aboriginal students
in DECS preschools and schools. 8t is a @e,ible wor/ing document
that informs the planning delivery monitoring and evaluation of
educational programs for Aboriginal children and young people. 2he 8;D
is developed through a collaborative planning process involving
educators in preschool9school parents9families and other relevant
agencies and services. 2he 8;D is monitored and reviewed in
collaboration with families.&
2hese plans are reassessed regularly and altered as re'uired. 2he school
doesn1t limit themselves to using one teaching resource and rather draws
upon several. (ne resource that they +nd very useful is 1Dare to ;ead.1
According to (Drincipals Australia 8nstitute !"#$%
&Dare to ;ead as a part of Drincipals Australia 8nstitute is a
pro3ect which supports school leaders and their teams to
improve the educational outcomes of their Aboriginal and 2orres Strait
8slander students and to promote reconciliation amongst all
students.&
2he school uses this to help understand how Aboriginal students learn
best and how the sta6 can best accommodate students with very speci+c
learning needs.
"tudent and achie#ement outcomes
(ne of the main aims of Warriappendi students is that they will complete
their SACE and then go onto further study or employment. According to
(*randwood date un/nown% FWe focus on GfuturesC thin/ing and support
students to try new e,periences that will lead to the completion of SACE
and the development of goals and plans.& Buite often graduates will move
onto wor/ in Aboriginal serving acting as a mentor or social wor/er. (ther
students will move onto employment or further study i.e. 2afe or
Eniversity. Warriappendi students are usually successful in meeting their
goals as they receive support from the school even after they have left.
Warriappendi has an open door policy and if a student +nds they are
struggling being outside of the e,tremely nurturing environment of school
the school will continue to provide them with assistance to help them stay
on trac/ or +nd them an alternative course to start.
$iteracy, numeracy and %&' strategies
Warriappendi has a large focus on literacy and numeracy as many
students +rst start at Warriappendi with the literacy and numeracy levels
of a year # student. (<overnment of South Australia Department for
Education and Child Development !"#=% says F;iteracy and numeracy
attainment and re'uirements to be a /ey focus in the development of
individual learning plans and personal learning plans and to inform all
counselling and mentoring of Aboriginal SACE students.& 2o assist in the
development of literacy s/ills Warriappendi uses the ;eveled ;iteracy
8ntervention program. According to (Heinemann !"#$%&;eveled ;iteracy
8ntervention (;;8% is a small group supplementary literacy intervention
designed for students who +nd reading and writing di:cult.& (*randwood
!"#$% said &the sta6 had seen great success with this program.& Similarly
to assist in numeracy s/ill development students at Warriappendi use
DA2Iaths to assess all of the students. DA2Iaths assesses against the
Australian Curriculum and provides scores for teachers to analyse and
compare achievement. According to (Australian Council for Educational
>esearch !"#$% &DA2Iaths is a thoroughly researched Australian test
designed to provide ob3ective norm)referenced information to teachers
about the level of achievement attained by their students in the s/ills
and understanding of mathematics.& Students underta/e formal
assessments for literacy and numeracy in terms one and four. 2he
studentCs progress is mapped and discussed amongst sta6 so their 8;D
can be ad3usted as re'uired. 8n terms of 8C2 students often use 8C2 to
complete their assessments. Buite often students use video cameras to
+lm their assessments this is due to the poor literacy s/ills of the
students. 2he classrooms also mostly contain computers and there are
portable laptops that can be bought into the classroom should the need
arise. 2he use of 8C2 particularly the video cameras has seen to be
e,tremely successful in the classroom.
"tudent and staf wellbeing strategies
Warriappendi provides a lot of support for both sta6 and students.
Students are often from very poor families and will come to school with no
food and not having had brea/fast. 8n order to support this the school
provides brea/fast recess and lunch to all students every day. Similarly in
order to assist getting students to school there is a bus that pic/s students
up from the region between Dort Adelaide and the school and also
provides bus tic/ets for students outside of this area. According to
(*randwood date un/nown% &2he school provides a morning and
afternoon bus run for students who live between Dort Adelaide and the
school. 2hose who live outside this area are provided with bus tic/ets.&
Epon completion of year twelve at Warriappendi all students are set up
with some form of further training employment or study. 2he school also
has an open door policy and so if a student +nds themselves on the wrong
path they are always welcome bac/ to the school where they will be set
up on a new path. 2he school has employed a coordinator of student
wellbeing who is trained and ready to respond to any emergencies that
occur. *ecause Warriappendi is such a small school sta6 become 'uite
involved in the lives of the students and at times this can be a very
draining process. All sta6 at Warriappendi attend a debrief session at the
end of every school day. 2his process enables sta6 to discuss any
concerns see/ help from other sta6 and enable them to get anything that
is worrying them of their chest before they go home for the day. Sta6 also
underta/e an annual psychological wellbeing survey.
(amily and community engagement
&Engaging aboriginal families and communities is a di:cult tas/& says
(*randwood C !"#$%. 2his is something that the school is actively trying
to improve and they have implemented several strategies to help improve
community and family engagement. ?amily and community engagement
is crucial to student development. According to (Iinisterial Council for
Education Early Childhood Development and Jouth A6airs !"#"% &Schools
and early childhood education providers that wor/ in partnership with
families and communities can better support the education of Aboriginal
and 2orres Strait 8slander children.& 2he school has hired several
Aboriginal mentors and one Aboriginal teacher so the children are
surrounded by good role models that can support them with their
education. Similarly if an incident occurs where the parents need to come
into the school they are provided with bus tic/ets to get there. Darents are
invited to school events throughout the year such as the year twelve
achievement day where the year twelve students are celebrated. Similarly
twice a year there is a student conference where students discuss what
they are up to in terms of schooling. 2he school is currently in the process
of creating a +lm of studentCs perceptions of Warriappendi which will be
showed to parents. (*randwood C !"#$% says &8 would li/e to welcome
>owen Dullen an e,perienced +lm ma/er who we have employed to wor/
with students on +lm pro3ects and document student perceptions on 1life
at Warriappendi.1&
Professional learning to assist teachers deli#ering the program
Drincipal Christopher *randwood says that the school re'uires a very
speci+c type of sta6 member to be successful. 2herefore unli/e most
DECD school Warriappendi interviews all sta6 prior to employment. 2o
ensure new sta6 members are successful they complete an intensive
induction process. *ecause there is such a small sta6 cohort at
Warriappendi they rely heavily upon each other to deliver a creative and
@e,ible curriculum. 2he debrief process that occurs at the end of each
school day enables sta6 to participate in professional discussions as to
how best approach certain concepts. ?or further information on Aboriginal
education sta6 are directed to the 1Dare to ;ead1 program and Agnu
Education Service or AES.
(uture directions for the program
Drincipal Christopher *randwood says he has many hopes for the future of
the program. (ne of the biggest being the new trade s/ills centre that will
be built beginning ne,t year !"#5. 2he school is preparing for this by
beginning the AE2 training some students. (*randwood !"#$ % says &8n
Semester ! Warriappendi begins delivering Cert 8 Hospitality to a select
group of Jear #"s and ##s in preparation for when the 2rade S/ills Centre
is built in !"#5.& (*randwood !"#=% says &we will be establishing a
commercial /itchen and cafe facility which will allow us to deliver a range
of AE2 certi+cate courses to our students and the community.& 2his
pro3ect hopes to involve the wider community in developing s/ills in
hospitality. 2he school also hopes to develop a more focused senior school
program for the students. While this may be seen as limiting studentCs
options it aims to ma/e more students successful at completing year
twelve with their SACE. 2he school hopes to achieve this through the
dedicate sta6 who want to see the students reach their full potential.
)eference list of primary and secondary resources*
Australian Council for Educational >esearch !"#$ Progressive Achievement
Tests in Mathematics, ACE> viewed !# (ctober !"#$ K
http:99www.acer.edu.au9patmaths9overview L.
*randwood C date un/nown What is Warriappendi, Warriappendi School South
Australia.
*randwood C !"#$ Warriappendi Newsletter Term2 201 !ssue ",
Warriappendi School South Australia.
*randwood C !"#= Warriappendi Newsletter Term 201" !ssue "",
Warriappendi School South Australia.
*randwood C !"#$ Warriappendi #chool Dersonal 8nterview #.th (ctober
!"#$.
*randwood C !"#! #chool Conte$t #tatement, viewed !$ (ctober !"#$
Khttp:99www.warriappendi.sa.edu.au9docs9warriappendiMschoolMconte,tMstateme
ntM!"#=.pdfL.
Department for Education and Child Development !"#$ #ite !n%ormation
Warriappendi School viewed !" (ctober !"#$ K
http:99www.warriappendi.sa.edu.au9siteMinfo.htmL.
<overnment of South Australia Department for Education and Child Development
!"#= Attendance Aboriginal Strategy !"#=)!"#N South Australia.
<overnment of South Australia Department for Education and Child Services
!"#" !ndividual &earning Plan '!&P( ) A*original children and students, 8ndividual
education plan for children and young people under the guardianship of the
Iinister sta/eholdersC manual South Australia.
Heinemann !"#$ Turn #truggling +eaders into #uccess%ul +eaders With
Teaching That Wor,s With -ountas and Pinnell &iterac. !ntervention +esources,
Heinemann IiOin Harcourt viewed !# (ctober !"#$ K
http:99www.heinemann.com9fountasandpinnell9reading)intervention)
resources.asp, L.
iAE2 !"## /0T in #chools iAE2 information shared viewed !# (ctober !"#$ K
http:99www.ivet.com.au9a9.$.htmlL.
Iinisterial Council for Education Early Childhood Development and Jouth A6airs
!"#" 0ngagement and Connections, Aboriginal and 2orres Strait 8slander
Education Action Dlan !"#"P!"#$ Aictoria.
Drincipals Australia 8nstitute !"#$ !ntroduction, Dare to ;ead Drofessional
Services Australia.
SACE *oard of SA !"#! #AC0 Board A*original 0ducation #trateg. 2012 )
2011 <overnment of South Australia viewed !# (ctober !"#$
Khttps:99www.sace.sa.edu.au9c9documentMlibrary9getM+leQuuidRN0d#a6.)!d$0)
$#c")b-ba)N#=5dad=6abSgroup8dR#"==NSvR#L.