Amy, your school's location and context will affect the academic and social skills of your students!
As a classroom teacher you need to implement the right strategies so that your students are supported to overcome any challenges and barriers they may face. As 94% of your community's housing is public, you can expect that out of your 24 students, most will be living in public housing. And remember these students live within one of the most socially disadvantaged suburbs in Sydney with high levels of crime.
What is Social Disadvantage?
Social Disadvantage refers to ‘a lack of material resources that encompasses the idea of living below an acceptable minimum standard' (Habibis & Walter 2009 p60). It is vital that at school and in the classroom, teachers understand and acknowledge all student's backgrounds and cultures to ensure they are socially included and are provided with access to social resources that they may not have access to outside of the school. In doing so, teachers have the ability to break down social exclusion and disadvantage and give all students an equal chance of success.
Characteristics of Socially Disadvantaged Suburbs
· Relatively low average household incomes
· An age profile disproportionally younger or older · More households headed by a female · High proportions of households relying on government benefits as their principal source of income · Higher proportions of government renters · Higher proportions of sole parents (Habibis & Walter 2009 p80) |
Where to start
Amy! Read your school's Annual School Report! This will provide you with a great deal of information about the context of your school and the students that it is catering for. It should also outline the programs that have been put in place at the school to support students' needs. You should be able to access a hard copy at your school or find it on the school website.
Useful websites
Supporting Low SES School Communities
This website is a NSW DEC page and will provide you with resources and research that are contributing to low SES school communities closing the gap in learning outcomes. The teacher resources page will give you access to a wide variety of websites as well as strategies that you can implement in your classroom to support students.
School Locator
This website, like your school's Annual School Report will provide you with a good starting point. The information about your school on this page will give you a brief overview of the general aims and culture of the school. It will also provide you with a list of other schools in the area which may be useful in finding more resources and programs in place in your local community.
Smarter Schools National Partnership
This website will provide you with information about what schools are doing to address social disadvantage under this national government initiative. You can locate your own school on the website as well as more schools in the local area to find out what initiatives are proving successful.
Helpful documents
The document below provides you with links to a number of websites that will help you to understand more about the context in which your school is located and the students who you will need to cater for within your classroom. |
The NSW Priority Schools Program document will provide you with an outline of the achievement gap between students from low-socio economic backgrounds compared with those who are not. It will also provide you with information about what programs your school may be implementing.
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