Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / NT Council of Government School Organisations President Tabby Fudge says support for indigenous people is the way to make the Tennant Creek school safer for staff and students

Transcript

NT Council of Government School Organisations President Tabby Fudge says support for indigenous people is the way to make the Tennant Creek school safer for staff and students · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Last week, we did, indeed speak about the fact that
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  Speaker 1: teachers at Tenant Creek High School had signed a letter
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  Speaker 1: to the Northern Territory Education Department stating that every one
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  Speaker 1: of them felt unsafe at work, describing those conditions as
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  Speaker 1: traumatizing for students and staff. There have been reports of violence,
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  Speaker 1: assaults and danger for students and staff who've accompanied Will
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  Speaker 1: have accompanied the letter with desperate calls made for more support.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me to chat about this and what's being
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  Speaker 1: felt in the community is the President of the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory Council of Government Schools Organizations, Tabby Fudge. Good boarding
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  Speaker 1: to you, Tabby, Good morning Katie, and good morning to
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  Speaker 1: your listeners. Tabby. Have you spoken to members of the
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  Speaker 1: community and indeed parents of that school and what are
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  Speaker 1: they telling you.
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  Speaker 2: I've spoken with our regional rap out at the Berkley Region,
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  Speaker 2: and yeah, there is some negative behavior going on in
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  Speaker 2: the schools over there, and obviously, you know we've seen
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  Speaker 2: the culmination of that in a quite a desperate plea
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  Speaker 2: for help from the teachers at our school over there,
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  Speaker 2: which is quite heartbreaking.
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  Speaker 1: It is bloody heartbreaking, Tabby. To put it, you know,
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  Speaker 1: to put it mildly. What are they saying is going
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  Speaker 1: on at the school.
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  Speaker 2: Well, essentially, as described in the letter from the teachers
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  Speaker 2: is that you know, they're concerned about their personal safety
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  Speaker 2: and also the safety of the students in a in
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  Speaker 2: the learning environment. So you know, it's not a good situation.
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  Speaker 2: There have been quite a few suggestions of things that
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  Speaker 2: could help the situation out there in TenneT Creek, and
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  Speaker 2: that would be things like, you know, having cultural advisors
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  Speaker 2: in the school and you know, ideally that would be
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  Speaker 2: something that would be happening in every single classroom, and
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  Speaker 2: it's something that COGSO has been advocating for years because
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  Speaker 2: you know, we've got to remember about in the remote communities,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of these students, English is not a first language,
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  Speaker 2: sometimes not even a second, third or fourth language, so
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  Speaker 2: it's really it's absolutely essential that we have somebody in
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  Speaker 2: those classrooms that can speak the local language and is
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  Speaker 2: also cognizant of the local sign languages. We've got to
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  Speaker 2: remember too, that a lot of these kids have some
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  Speaker 2: degree of hearing loss. Up to eighty percent of them
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  Speaker 2: have a degree of hearing loss. So it's a really
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  Speaker 2: it's a challenging environment out there and We've known these
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  Speaker 2: things for a long time and we need, you know,
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  Speaker 2: a certain provision in the classroom to overcome these challenges.
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  Speaker 1: And tabby By. The sounds of it, like some of
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  Speaker 1: what you're saying there doesn't sound as though it's you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's so hard that it's not going to be able
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  Speaker 1: to happen. It actually sounds like it's quite doable. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I think a lot of the issue it always comes
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  Speaker 2: back down to funding, you know, to supply you know,
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  Speaker 2: an extra teacher aide in each classroom, depending on how
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  Speaker 2: many classrooms you have in a school. You know, that
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  Speaker 2: can add up. And we know that our education system
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  Speaker 2: is underfunded. You know, we don't have enough funds to
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  Speaker 2: meet the need in our schools. But I think too
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  Speaker 2: we need to see greater partnerships happening between community organizations,
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  Speaker 2: particularly you know, our indigenous organizations and a pinch and
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  Speaker 2: see what partnerships can be formed there with the Department
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  Speaker 2: of Education and these peak indigenous groups. Because it's only
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  Speaker 2: when we get community involvement and community buying are we
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  Speaker 2: going to see any change. You know. And as I've
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  Speaker 2: always said, and it's probably getting a bit cliche, a
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  Speaker 2: you know, our schools are a microposm of our society.
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  Speaker 2: If we can get it right now schools, we'll see
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  Speaker 2: that really positive flow on affect into our wider communities
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  Speaker 2: and tabby.
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  Speaker 1: If we can't get it right, do you think that
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  Speaker 1: we're going to find it difficult to recruit and retain
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  Speaker 1: staff but also you know, to get families to move
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  Speaker 1: to Tenant create.
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  Speaker 2: I think absolutely. You know, this kind of publicity is
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  Speaker 2: out there around what's happening in certain schools, it's not
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  Speaker 2: going to be incredibly attractive to people who were considering
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  Speaker 2: locating to Tenant Creek, and you know also for families
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  Speaker 2: living there. You know how you know, you want your
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  Speaker 2: child to feel safe at school, You want your child
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  Speaker 2: to be in a positive learning environment at school, and
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  Speaker 2: you know those you know, very basic elements aren't there.
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  Speaker 2: You would question, you know, the viability of remaining there.
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  Speaker 2: And I think too, you know, Michelle Air is the
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  Speaker 2: president of the AEU, brings up some parely valid points too.
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  Speaker 2: You know, when it comes to you know, teacher pay
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  Speaker 2: and you know the current EBA it's under negotiation, and
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  Speaker 2: you know, effectively teachers are looking at a pay cut.
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  Speaker 2: So you know when you've got southern states like New
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  Speaker 2: South Wales and Victoria offering incentives to relocate. You know,
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  Speaker 2: you've got a question how attractive does that make that
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  Speaker 2: particular school, or any of the schools in the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory for that matter. And you know, we are suffering
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  Speaker 2: a shortage of teachers nationwide, and you know, for a
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  Speaker 2: small system like the Northern Territories education system, you know,
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  Speaker 2: staff shortages, you know, it makes things really really difficult.
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  Speaker 1: It most certainly does well, Tabby. I wish we had
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  Speaker 1: a bit more time. It's always great to talk to you.
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  Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Katie, have a great day.