Defiant Mount Druitt High Down But Not Out
By Amanda Phelan And Stephanie Raethel
9 January 1997
Sydney Morning Herald
Students and teachers hit back yesterday over the low TER results at Mount Druitt High School, which were highlighted in a front-page media report yesterday.
Reports that students at the school were sharing books prompted the Minister for Education, Mr Aquilina, to announce he will investigate how funds in the school are distributed.
The school had been given a substantial textbook allocation and library funding, the minister said. "What I am going to look at is the financial management of those funds by the school.
"I am going to be looking at the range of subjects offered and the effectiveness of the teaching in the school."
The NSW Teachers Federation condemned a media report which labelled the future of Year 12 students at the school as "severely limited".
"If we are going to have this speculation, schools are going to be encouraged not to let the battlers go on," said federation president, Mr Denis Fitzgerald, said.
Mount Druitt High School was given almost $800,000 in 1996 to meet the cost of educational and administrative programs.
But the school's principal, Ms June Richards, said she felt "humiliated" over a report in The Daily Telegraph highlighting the school's TER record -the highest score was 44.4.
Most of the pupils, teachers and parents were defiant in their defence of the school yesterday.
Sarah Chalmers, 17, who has just completed her HSC at Mount Druitt High says she got a bit weepy when she showed up to her part-time job yesterday and other young staff teased her by chanting "failure".
"It was really embarrassing when people teased me," said Sarah, who wants to be a hairdresser.
"But I wasn't aiming for a high TER. I want to start working and I've been really happy at the school.
"The teachers have been really willing to help me, even after hours."
Ms Richards said a lot of Year 12 students had already lined up jobs and apprenticeships, and one pupil had been selected to train for the Olympics at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Many of her students use Mount Druitt as a springboard to go on to schools with a more academic focus after Year 10, she said.
"The TER isn't the be all end all, it's certainly not the only measure of six years of education," she said.
"We have a diverse range of kids, and a lot of them already have jobs and apprenticeships lined up - I know they will go on to make a valuable contribution to our society."
Mount Druitt High School is a small, quiet, brown brick building with a green tin roof and a goat tethered in a neighbouring stretch of parched grass.
Awards are proudly displayed on the walls - scientific achievement, a certificate of excellence from the Director-General of School Education, a prize for raising funds for research into heart disease, media reports on a racial harmony program. Sports trophies jostle for space in a big glass cabinet.
Lawrence Tauasa, a champion boxer who has already been selected for the Olympics, says the teachers at Mount Druitt have given him tremendous support with his sporting career.
"I couldn't have got where I am without the teachers' help and encouragement," said Lawrence, who has already won several championships, both here and overseas.
Shaun Juckes, 18, who starts an engineering course this week, said he was worried the controversy over the school's TER results would prejudice employers.
"People are saying 'oh, you guys are the dumb ones from Mount Druitt'," he said. "But a lot of us didn't go for a high mark, we didn't need one."
Elizabeth Carroll, whose daughter has just finished her HSC at the school, said it was unfair and destructive to give young students a message that they were hopeless.
"These kids have just spent 12 months feeling sick and stressed, and working really hard for the HSC," said Ms Carroll, a local primary school teacher.
"My daughter did her best, and that's enough for me. I love her and I'm really proud of her."
