A GROUP of Sydney teaching students got a taste of life and education in the country.
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The Western Sydney University regional tour, run in collaboration with Sydney school St Andrews, visited Peel High and Hillvue Public schools, and aimed to show the mix of primary and high school teachers-in-waiting the many opportunities available in regional schools.
Peel’s head teacher of teaching and learning, Chris Keenan, said the “best possible outcome” would be to have some of the students eventually landing in the bush.
“We hope some of these fantastic students will be teaching at Peel and across regional centres, because we need lots of great, enthusiastic teachers in country schools,” he said.
“This is a chance for them so see Tamworth is a thriving city, with lots of choices in terms of schools, that have lots of different programs with interesting and unique ways of delivering curriculum.
“They get to see what life in a country school might be like. They’ve been fantastic and they’ve really jumped in enthusiastic.”
While the students got to do some quintessential country activities – such as driving a tractor – the trip had a big focus on Aboriginal education. The teaching students took a journey out to Boundary Rock, while Peel High showed off its some its Aboriginal programs.
“They got to see some of the kids show off their culture, hear some of the Gamilaroi language and see some of the traditional dancing,” Mr Keenan said.
“I think they were all quite impressed by what they saw from our students. It’s a draw card that we have over many metro schools.”
UWS student Nikita Prasad said the trip was a “really eye-opening experience”.
“I didn’t realise how big it was, and it’s not as rural or remote as I thought,” Ms Prasad said.
“Everyone is really friendly. It’s a community and a family even though it’s a large city, and that’s what you don’t get in Sydney.”
Western Sydney University’s Kay Carroll was also impressed with what she saw.
“We’ve seen some wonderful innovation, and the commitment to Aboriginal education is really impressive and inspiration,” Dr Carroll said.
“We want take that back to western Sydney where were have similar challenges in terms of dealing with a diverse range of students.”