Two principals based in regional South Australia have shared their experience of working in country schools in a new podcast episode.
Stirling North Primary School Principal Adam Wilson is joined by Bordertown Primary School Principal Tobias O’Connor on the SA Primary Principals Association (SAPPA) podcast to talk about the Country Education Strategy.
They explain their role in the Country Education Strategy 2021 to 2028 as members of the reference group, and how it was shaped with input from the field.
The strategy was developed through consultations and in-depth conversations in country schools and preschools, along with input from students, parents and carers, teachers, principals, leaders, Aboriginal support staff and school associations.
The discussion details the reasons for the strategy’s goals and initiatives, what’s been delivered for country schools and preschools so far, the benefits for these sites and country teachers, and the longer-term plans.
SAPPA podcast on country education topics:
- An introduction to the Country Education Strategy, its development and goals (0:30).
- Supporting more temporary relief teachers (TRT) in country areas, including fly-in fly-out TRTs trialled to cover more than 1000 days up until May 2022 (7:01).
- Supporting pre-service teachers to complete country placements and transition to paid employment in the same school or region (9:25).
- Incentive payments for teachers in country sites (14:51).
- Quality housing for teachers in country regions (16:30).
- Effective and sustainable delivery models for specialist teachers in regional areas (19:20).
- Addressing a shortage of support services in rural areas (21:50).
- Increasing access of telepractice for speech pathology and psychology (24:00).
- Successes so far: Fly-in fly-out temporary relief teachers in 2022 (27:45).
- Successes so far: ICT upgrades, co-investment, and on-going support in regional sites (29:40).
- Optimistic for the future – where to next for the Country Education Strategy? (33:50)
- What are you reading, watching, or listening to that gives you motivation? (36:06)
- If you were Minister for Education, what would you do? (37:50)
- What makes the teaching profession in country schools amazing? (41:10)
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