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Elliott the new benchmark for schools around Australia

15 August 2014
Children and Schooling
Congratulations to Elliott School for reaching 90 per cent school attendance after becoming part of the Remote Schools Attendance Strategy.

It’s a small town on the Stuart Highway between Katherine and Tennant Creek, but Elliott has become the inspiration for communities around Australia seeking ways to get kids to school.

It’s a small town on the Stuart Highway between Katherine and Tennant Creek, but Elliott has become the inspiration for communities around Australia seeking ways to get kids to school.

After Elliott School was identified for inclusion in the Remote School Attendance Strategy (RSAS) in December 2013, it quickly became the first RSAS school to reach ninety per cent student attendance.

According to Josiah Nuggett, Elliott’s School Attendance Officer, the town’s success is due to the close working relationship between the school, the night patrol, Joshua Jackson the Australian Government’s Indigenous Engagement Officer in Elliott, elders and the community, as well as the many locals volunteering to help kids get to school in the morning.

“The community as a whole has really gotten behind this,” Josiah said.

“All the locals want to help our kids get to school and get educated so it was easy to increase attendance this term.”

While he’s modest about his own role in the school’s success, Josiah has been identified as one of the main reasons behind Elliott School’s rapid rise to ninety per cent attendance. It’s certainly a hectic schedule for him, ensuring that students attend and remain at school all day but Josiah says he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I start work at 8:00am and I really enjoy supporting parents getting their kids up in the morning and off to school,” Josiah said.

“We have an assembly at 8:30am where we do a roll call and then chase up the kids who aren’t there. I like to get the kids excited about going to school because it’s so important for their future.”

If that’s not enough dedication to helping kids, Josiah also volunteers for three hours a day after school as a coach and umpire for the school’s sports programme, where he hopes to unearth another top footballer in the mould of Port Adelaide’s Elliott star, Jake Neade.

Josiah’s hard work has been recognised by Elliott School, which has employed him to work three hours a day as a teacher’s aide, firstly with a student with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and now with other students with special needs.

Josiah isn’t one to rest on his laurels though.

“One hundred per cent school attendance is achievable,” he said.

“Everyone here is determined to get one hundred per cent attendance so our kids can have the best possible future.”

 

Find out more

Getting children to school is the Australian Government’s number one priority for Indigenous children and their families. That’s because going to school and being at school every day gives every child the best chance for a good start in life.

The Remote School Attendance Strategy is about working together – with schools, families, parents, and community organisations – to ensure all children go to school every day.

In five schools across the Barkly region, the Australian Government is working closely with the RSAS service provider, the Papulu Apparr-Kari Aboriginal Corporation (PAK), to ensure that the implementation of the Strategy is culturally appropriate and tailored to the needs of the community.