School School 14

From

Victoria, Australia

Functions

Government Primary School and Primary School

School 14 was visited by fieldworkers in mid-winter, 2008. It is a government, co-ed, Prep - 6 school located in a regional Victorian centre. There are 33 staff; 24 - 25 are teachers and four teachers are male. Enrolments sit at approximately 360; six children are Aboriginal and about ten are of non-English speaking backgrounds. The children are generally of low socioeconomic background. The playground is large, with substantial areas of grass at the front and back of the school and shade trees. The front is a designated 'passive' area, used for creative play, role-playing games, sitting, walking around and other fairly passive activities. At the back of the school is an extensive grassed oval and play area, used for ball games, sports and more active games. There are many 'forbidden' games and areas, to the point where one might expect a degree of subversiveness. However, despite this we saw no evidence of subversive behaviour and the children appeared to be generally sweet-natured and well-behaved. Not all teachers agree with the number of 'forbiddings' that the children are subject to.