A review of schools, services and programs will be undertaken to look at how to engage students who receive their education outside of mainstream public education.
The sites, services and programs being reviewed, provide education and support programs for children and young people unable to attend mainstream sites for a variety of reasons, including disability, behaviour, geographical isolation, mental health concerns, long-term illness, incarceration, attendance or other complexities.
It comes as the South Australian Government earlier this year announced it was strengthening laws to ensure students attend school.
The proposed legislative changes will include the introduction of a legislated statutory warning letter that would be sent to parents for failing to enrol a child or failure of a child to attend and will look at the potential to introduce expiation fines.
Attendance at schools nationwide fell in the wake of the global COVID pandemic and have been slow to return to pre-2020 levels.
In 2023, the state government established a specialist attendance team to tackle student absenteeism as a response to a trend of student disengagement.
It has also invested heavily in anti-bullying initiatives, $50 million into mental health and allied health supports on-site and have banned mobile phones from schools to tackle social media harassment and violence, in order to make schools safer.
Non-mainstream education is a large part of ensuring students can remain engaged in education and finish their schooling, even if it’s not in the traditional sense.
The review of non-mainstream schools, to be undertaken by the Department for Education this year, will take an in-depth look at a range of alternative education options, including:
- Bowden Brompton Community School
- Home Education
- Hospital School SA
- Learning and Behaviour Unit
- Better Behaviour Centres
- Learning Centres
- Open Access College
- Youth Education Centre
Each of these has different purposes, funding arrangements, structure and governance processes, all of which will be considered under the review.
Of the 174,000 students enrolled in South Australian public schools across a year, about 10,000 engage in a non-mainstream program, with more than 4,000 of those attending Open Access College.
Home schooling and the Better Behaviour Centres have high enrolments from children and young people with disabilities, so it is pertinent the review looks at schools or areas with high referrals and see what common barriers exist for young people with disabilities, to determine if this is a localised or system wide issue.
This work follows the recent announcement of $14 million for special options classes, in the wake of the Disability Royal Commission.
Among the oldest of the non-mainstream programs is the Hospital School program, which was first established at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in 1930, and now provides education to sick children at three locations.
Another service with a long history is Open Access College which was established in 1991 as an amalgamation of the SA Correspondence School, which was opened in 1920, and the School of the Air which began in 1958.
The review, which will be completed by the end of the year, is intended to ensure that sites, services, and programs outside mainstream education are delivering on the promise of a quality public education for every child and young person.
“The work follows on from other significant work undertaken by the Malinauskas Labor Government including reviewing the Suspension, Exclusion and Expulsion framework, toughening the law to protect teachers from abusive parents, banning mobile phones and steps to combat bullying.”
He said all of these actions have been about making schools a safe, inclusive experience where young people can access the best possible education, to ensure their own pathway into productive work.
“Many of these sites have evolved over time to meet specific needs, but without a broad framework to help shape the service delivery, so this review is long overdue and is an opportunity to shape a responsive, and inclusive approach that meets the complex needs of learners today and builds a stronger, more just system for the future.”
Open Access College Deputy Principal Ms Jeane Schocroft said the school looks forward to participating in the review and building on its outcomes in the future.
Open Access College is predominantly an online R-12 school, with some opportunities for face-to-face learning such as practical workshops on site, excursions, visits to homes and to client schools.
“We are welcoming of this review, which will look to identify what is working well at our site – and others – and build on that to support the learning of young South Australians who might have complex and diverse needs,” she said.
“Our students meet a number of different criteria which can be broadly categorised as distance; medical or psychological; vocational; travellers; or curriculum choice. Our program looks to reconnecting students with learning with the aim of transitioning many students back to mainstream schools.”
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