Year 7 concerns still real say parents

Immediate past ICPA WA president Liz Sudlow said the move had created a divide that was getting bigger.

Ms Sudlow said as many rural communities continue to decline, the enrolments at rural schools were reducing.

She said in many areas, the community was losing faith that the system was able to deliver a suitable education for their children.

ICPA WA had reports of some primary schools no longer having cohorts of Year 6 students.

Coupled with the budget reductions, many schools were finding it difficult to offer adequate curriculum delivery, according to Ms Sudlow.

"Schools are getting smaller," she said.

"We are reaching critical point, the government is going to have to approach things a bit differently.

"Whether that be a more flexible approach for some Year 7s to remain in (rural classrooms) or are more flexible with allowances, I don't know."

Ms Sudlow said some families were choosing to relocate to other towns, or relocate the mother and children to Perth as they believe their child was too young to be sent away.

She said when they do this, they also take their younger children, which had a negative impact on school numbers.

Lisa Brennan of the ICPA Central Wheatbelt branch, said she was just one parent affected by the Year 7 change.

She said she moved her children from the local Ballidu school to Kalannie.

"Our children moved to Kalannie school a year before the Ballidu school closed, because the numbers were so low," she said.

"It was becoming too difficult for us to remain at that school."

At that point Ms Brennan said her son could utilise the exemption and attend Year 7 at the school.

"Being in that environment and having my son stay home with the family, as opposed to having to go away to school a year earlier has made a huge difference to us, but it has also helped many other families," Ms Brennan said.

Ms Brennan said she supported an extension to the Year 7 exemption.

"With the change of government it is our big hope now to have the exemption extended or taken away all together so we have the option," she said.

"Then children can stay with their families for longer.

"Year 7 needs to be offered in the primary school setting for our kids."

Ms Brennan said there had been no scientific evidence of any benefits for the change.

She said the association had received feedback from boarding schools and private schools stating students who had moved away from home for Year 7 had suffered emotionally.

"Eventually they do settle in, but they were almost in Year 8 by that time," she said.

"We have heard from family and friends too and are also hearing of students burning out.

"Six years at boarding school is a massive commitment for these kids. Five years is already enough.

"It is also a huge financial burden on families."

Having Year 7s at local schools supports local communities, according to Ms Brennan.

"Children can be nurtured by their families and their communities," she said.

"The local communities are then more viable, because at the moment a lot of families are leaving."

Areas where local schools were experiencing extremely low numbers of students include Beacon, Miling, Bencubbin, Cadoux and Kalannie.

"When you take away the Year 7 option, it leaves schools with less kids and more families leaving town," Ms Brennan said.

Ms Brennan said her family was lucky as they didn't have to relocate homes and could access a school bus.

"Not many people are fortunate to have that," she said.

"Looking at other families, it has impacted them. Not everyone has the option."

Ms Sudlow said there had been a number of cases where the Year 6 class numbers had been impacted the worst.

"When the cohort gets too small (one or two students) that's what some families are not happy about," she said.

"Level three schools were being affected the worst, around the Mid West and Esperance region they are reaching critical points as well as some district high schools."

Ms Sudlow said there were some members who felt strongly that "six years of senior education was too much".

"I can particularly understand the plight of people in the Kimberley," she said.

"If you're on a station outside of Broome, it is a long way to send your child into Broome, but even further if you choose to send your child to Perth, which is also expensive."

The ICPA WA said they were working through these issues and lobbying government.

Ms Sudlow said there needed to be quality teachers and an increase of teacher training to ensure staffing levels in high schools was adequate.

"We need to also ensure there is support for principals," she said.

"They need to feel supported and hopefully will stay longer.

"In many of the schools, there has also been a high turnover of principals."