Page 2781 - Week 09 - Thursday, 8 August 2013
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How easy it is to talk so positively about all of our schools. The beautiful art deco buildings and sense of history that Ainslie North Primary School projects—not complaining that their school is not the most modern or whether it has the best heating. The minute you walk into their outstanding foyer and are greeted by a very proud principal you sense how excited they are to be teaching in a place so full of Canberra history. You see the wonderful artefacts such as the punishment book—and I apologise if that is not its correct title—that lists, in beautiful copperplate hand, the various crimes committed by students over the decades. That, of course, was in a different time, and how things have changed since then. I dread the day when all learning will be from Wikipedia. Of course, that was in a different time, and things have changed since then.
The same school has a beautiful library with a ceiling almost three times the normal, and reputedly also has a resident ghost. It boasts among its former pupils a number of sporting heroes, including James Hird. Its canteen is a beautiful example of how parents can be truly engaged with the school, and the fathers’ curry days are very popular by all accounts.
Weetangera Primary School has a beautiful new area for all sorts of activities, with a heap of ideas for making their outdoor areas even better. Their new flight simulator computer room will surely produce top pilots or astronauts in years to come, if they do not produce a swag of multilingual interpreters through their language programs.
Florey Primary School is justifiably proud of its new science facilities and its EALD program, Canberra Primary School of its support for National Tree Day and Forrest Primary School has embraced the International Baccalaureate program. At Majura primary they have a wonderful garden that not only teaches the pupils about growing things and cooking food they have produced, but it is also a place of contemplation for students under stress.
Each of these schools is unique in their own way, but have a common theme, with dedicated teachers and amazing pride of the staff in the students and their accomplishments, however big or small.
My interest in school librarians and teacher librarians should be well known, and of course it is one thing I look for in every school I visit. It is disappointing that about one in three ACT government primary schools does not have a librarian. Here in Canberra we have a very strong and dedicated group of teacher librarians who will continue to battle the fallacy that now that schools have access to online learning and e-books their work is done. Anyone can type a word into Google, but without proper guidance in the early years especially, students will not develop the skills to gain background knowledge to delve into the substance of a topic. I dread the day when all learning will be from Wikipedia via the internet.
I thank all the schools that have hosted me when I have visited them. I also thank the education directorate and their various area coordinators for their support. But I have to say that I am disappointed with the ministers for education—and there have been four of them so far during the past five years—who have tried to make it as hard for me as possible to complete these visits.
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