School School 09

From

New South Wales, Australia

Functions

Government Primary School and Primary School

School 09, visited in Spring 2008, is a government, co-ed, K - 6 school in inner- metropolitan New South Wales. The school has a growing population of 220 students, from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. A range of language backgrounds other than English is represented, although there is no dominant group among these, and in general there are around 3-6 students of each non-English language background). In 2008, there were 8 Indigenous students enrolled.

There is a high level of community involvement at the school, and the demographics of the local area have changed significantly over the last fifty years, as the suburb has been gentrified. At the time of fieldwork all classroom teachers were female. The school is located on one, historic campus and the playground is divided into two play areas. The Junior (K-2) area is behind the school. The Senior (3-6) area is located at the front of the original school building and includes the community garden, amphitheatre and the performance stage.

There is only one set of play equipment at School 09, located in the Junior area. The principal sees this as desirable, as it is believed to encourage children to use their imagination in developing free play activities. There is a strong emphasis on awareness of the environment.