Bayles Primary School principal Sue Goodall.By Paul Dunlop
AN innovative bid to help slower learners read and write at Bayles Primary School is in jeopardy.
Insufficient funding for the program has forced the school to seek donations from the community so it can continue.
The volunteerbased Making a Difference program was introduced last year to complement class lessons and help students overcome difficulties with speech, oral language and basic literacy.
But the program needs a qualified teacher to coordinate it, and finance provided by the State Government will only pay somebody for one day a fortnight for 40 weeks.
“It’s a real shame,” Bayles Primary School principal Sue Goodall said.
“We have the expertise, we have the community volunteers and we have the children who would benefit.
“What we don’t have is the money to implement the program.”
With just 105 pupils, Bayles is the smallest school in the region and so commands a much smaller slice of state funding – which is based on enrolments – than other local schools.
Ms Goodall wants the program she describes as “invaluable” to run on a weekly basis.
She said this would cost more than $10,000 and the state’s contribution amounts to just $2928.
Ms Goodall said it was disappointing that the school’s smaller numbers, which were a positive in many other ways, meant Bayles did not have the flexibility with governmentsupplied funding that bigger schools enjoyed.
“Our children deserve all the opportunities of those in larger, more populated schools and areas and we will endeavour to do our utmost to provide these opportunities for our children and families,” Ms Goodall.
She said the school was still striving to raise the $8400 needed to maintain the program and hoped service clubs or other groups would consider donating money.
The Making a Difference program gave pupils oneonone teaching and made the community part of the school, Ms Goodall said.
The program is designed for small groups of children and helps develop selfconfidence as well as language skills.
It ran four days a week last year and resulted in some impressive gains, Ms Goodall said.
“Children who were previously slow to offer opinion or contribution to class discussion do so now,” she said.
“Children who would rather be swallowed up by the floor rather than read aloud now volunteer to do so as they realise that it’s okay to make a mistake and the only way to learn is to have a go.”
>>> For more details or to donate, phone the school on 5997 7261.
