The Australian education system

Here you'll find a summary of our chat with Mrs Cheryl Kerr, an Australian teacher. She teaches at the Beenleigh State School near Brisbane, Queensland. Have a look at the site of her school, created by herself: http://www.beenleigss.qld.edu.au/index.html

Read our questions and her answers.

• And what about schools... do they compete among themselves, offering different services, for example?
  

We have a state school system which is free. Even our state schools offer different services. We have a high profile in technology for example. Private schools charge fees and advertise for students.
We tell students that competition can be a healthy thing in the right context. However, if everybody is doing their personal best that's all that matters.

• It would be also interesting to know how you use technology with your students

The net has enormous potential for teaching. My homework for my Year 7 class is on the net. My students are 'net' savvy and they love using computers for all aspects of their learning.
I use sites on the Internet in teaching all subjects. My teachers create new sites to interact with current sites.
I've also used email projects for collaboration with other classes.
Creating web sites is just a vehicle to present information. As an alternative to paper I guess.
It certainly motivates students. They love to go home and open these sites for their parents. It is colourful and satisfying.
I don't teach computers. There is no such subject in our primary schools. We use the computer as a tool to teach subjects such as English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science. We integrate the computer.

• We'd like to know how many subjects do an aussie student study and what are about.

We study English, Mathematics, German (Beenleigh's choice of second language), Science, Social Studies, Human Relationships Education, Music, Health and Physical Education.
In primary school our students learn English and one other language. Many schools teach French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. It just so happens that we teach German here.
Human Relationships Education: It means social skills, health and hygiene. Of course it includes the students' favourite topic: sex education

• What time does school start and finish?

School starts at 9 a.m. and finishes at 3 p.m. in both primary schools and high schools.
We have two breaks at our schools, one for 45 minutes, and one for 15 minutes. Our schools day is 6 hours long with 1 hour out for eating/playing/chatting.
The school year goes from the 27th of January until the end of the second week in December. We have four terms. After term 1, we have 1 week's holiday, after term 2, 2 weeks' holiday, after term 3, 2 weeks' holiday, and after term 4 (Christmas).

• Do you have afternoon activities after school?

Not at the moment. But I will be starting a homework centre shortly at my school, which means the computer laboratory will be open after school for students who wish to access the net for their homework. I run a computer club at lunch time, there's a skipping club and a Harry Potter Club - all lunch time activities.

• How many students attend privates schools?

I would say about half the students in the school system.

• How many hours a week do you teach?

I teach approximately 6 hours each day. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are two breaks totalling 1 hour. I teach three days per week and I have two days per week for computer related activities in the school.

• Do students wear uniforms?

At state schools, uniforms are not compulsory, but are strongly encouraged. At private schools, uniforms are compulsory. There are punishments without uniforms.
Students are usually proud of their uniform and wear it with pride, particularly in private schools. Uniforms can be read as a symbol of going to an affluent school. In that sense, it can be a snobby thing. Not usually though.

• What about the others rules, what generally are they?

Rules vary from school to school. We don't have detention at our school. We run a Responsible Thinking Classroom, where naughty students get sent to think about the consequences of their action and how they can change their behaviour.

• We'd like to talk about Aboriginals integrations in Australian modern Schools

Our indigenous population have some difficulties in many areas of Australian life. We try to adapt our curriculum for these students. They enrich our classes. The history of Australia is a sad and sorry one for our aboriginal people. We have a reconciliation policy which white Australia is just coming to terms with. We are ashamed of our White Australia Policy

• And what about "the School of the air"?

We are such a big country (a continent!) and many people live in remote areas. Imagine how the Internet is changing education for their people! Some kids can't get to schools, so they get their lessons over the air waves (ISDN now!). Australia is a very urban country. Most of us live on the coastline because inside our continent is very hot and dry - almost uninhabitable.