A TUTORIAL Centre currently administered by Peel Technology High School, will next year be launched as an autonomous school for secondary students with behavioural problems.
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The May state Budget allocated $46.2 million over four years to be spent statewide on 11 new facilities for disruptive students on the verge of expulsion. The plan follows a pilot program at two schools in Sydney’s western suburbs.
Department of Education and Training Tamworth district superintendent Rob Lewis said the Tutorial Centre had been in place for 10 years, operating out of a three-bedroom house in Denison St.
Bathurst-based department properties manager Janice Martin will inspect extensions to the house today before handing over keys to Peel Technology High School principal Greg Hyde.
A review of Tutorial Centre operations in late 1998 recommended it be established as a school in its own right and this will become a reality in 2002.
“A name consistent with the Tamworth area will be gazetted and announced by the Minister, an establishment grant and increased budget allocated, and staff appointed, including a principal, teaching and clerical staff and a general assistant,” Mr Lewis said.
“All teaching staff have completed special education courses in behavioural management, and once advertised the new school will attract staff with similar expertise.”
The new school will maintain the Tutorial Centre’s capacity for 18 students from throughout the Tamworth district, however not all students attend the school at once.
Students are referred following a long process, which aims to keep students at their home school if possible.
Student services and equity coordinator Eric Patatoukis said the tutorial centre experienced many successes, including reintegrating students into their home school to complete their higher school certificate or introducing them to vocational training or employment.
“If they had not been referred to the Tutorial Centre they may have dropped out of school,” Mr Patatoukis said.
“Students at risk of not completing school are gone by the time they get to Year 10, we’re targeting Years 7 to 9.
“We aim to get them through their problems with an appropriate curriculum to give them a second chance.”
