A record number of Aboriginal students have completed Year 12 in Coonamble in 2017.
Coonamble High School (CHS) has reported that of the fifteen students who completed Year 12 this year, eleven identify as Aboriginal, the highest proportion to achieve their Higher School Certificate.
In addition, eight of these students completed the requirements to gain an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR), which is the ranking system used to allocate university places.
The students graduating this year are Hayden Stevens, David Doolan, Malcolm Thurston, Kale Bake, Bill Farrugia, Dwayne Forrest, Tahlee Milgate, Amber Baker, Kaitlin O’Meagher, Shanaye Kennedy, Brandi Smith, Shania Tjahjana, Tim Ibbott, Jack Lane and Lucy Buckley.
CHS currently has an indigenous student population of 68% and this is the first time the proportion of Aboriginal students successfully completing Year 12 is in line with number of indigenous students enrolled at the school.
CHS has been part of the Connected Communities Program since it became operational in fifteen rural and remote schools across New South Wales at the start of the 2013 school year.
The Connected Communities strategy aims to “ drive improved education outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people in some of the state’s most complex and disadvantaged communities.”
The progress of the Connected Communities program is yet to be fully evaluated but some of the initiatives have potentially contributed to the retention of indigenous students at Coonamble High.
A fair proportion of the 2017 graduates have also benefitted from participation in the Clontarf Indigenous Boys Academy, which opened in Coonamble in 2012 and the Girls Academy of Role Models Australia Inc that began work at the high school in 2013.
Both academies have school attendance, engagement and educational success at the core of their priorities.
The High School has various strategies to support Aboriginal students including dedicated Aboriginal Education Officers who work closely with the students and their families, breakfast and transport to school, differentiated learning experiences, broad range of curriculum choice and small roll call groups.
“ I am very pleased with our year 12 graduates,” said Dot Panaretos, Executive Principal.
“They have made their school, community, families and teachers very proud”
