C.S.O. Armidale Wii Gaay Project (Gamilaraay Language – ‘Clever Child’)

Project Outline Indigenous students are often chronic academic underachievers as witnessed by almost every indicator of academic performance in schools. One major reason why this underachievement has persisted for so long is that most schools are unaware of the intricate interaction of performance inhibitors on the Indigenous children ( including – fear of failure, forced choice dilemma, trust issues and low self-belief towards education). Consequently, effective strategies to reverse underachievement have been difficult to find. In 2002, a project began in the Armidale Diocese that aimed at effectively identifying Indigenous children with high academic potential and reversing academic underachievement by addressing the issues perceived to contribute to the underachievement of these children. The students were assessed using the "Coolabah Dynamic Assessment" method. The program aims to raise the students self-efficacy towards themselves and their learning potential. This is the ‘Wii Gaay’ project.

Project Funding 2002 / 2003: 100% funded - Catholic Schools Office, Armidale / 2005 / 2006 : Jointly funded – CSO, Telstra Foundation and The University of New England. 2007/2008 : Jointly funded – CSO and DEST – CSO funded * Wages, phone, travel, accommodation - Project Coordinator. * Wages, travel, accommodation – Camp Facilitators, guests, parents. * Release – Teachers and AEW’s. * Camp costs – Hire of venue, buses, meals, literacy/ numeracy and art/craft materials.

* Aboriginal students in Year 3 assessed using the Coolabah Dynamic Assessment method. * Identified students : 2004/ 05 - above 80 th %ile, 2006 – above 85 th %ile 2007 – seven students self identified above 90%ile 2008 – eight students between 85 th and 95 th %ile * Attend two camps per year (6 over their time in the project). The camps: - * specifically address literacy and numeracy, with a strong emphasis on scaffolding strategies to enable each student to achieve success on each activity before moving on to the next activity. * are designed to immerse the children in a complete learning environment away from the school setting in a relaxed, pressure free atmosphere. They are mixing with “like minded” peers and exposed to literacy and numeracy activities for 3 full days of exciting and fun ways of “learning”! * Camp themes / cultural focus.

* Identified students become involved in activities aimed at increasing their self efficacy and developing a positive attitude towards learning. * The students have an address on the CSO website and are allocated half an hour per week to work online. During this time they receive s from and send replies to myself and their fellow Wii Gaay students. * The students are also set tasks to complete or research to do during their allocated online time. * Online mentors are introduced during terms two and four and interact with the students through their , once a week for four weeks. Mentors are drawn from fields such as education, art, police force, employment, music and writers.

* Visits are also made to the students’ schools, to allow the Project Coordinator (Cate Taylor) and the Diocesan Aboriginal Education Consultant (Sharon Cooke) to meet with the parents, principals, classroom teachers and AEWs and also to observe the students in their own environments.

OUTCOMES * To use the Coolabah Dynamic Assessment Tool to effectively identify Year 3 Aboriginal children who have a high learning potential but who are underachieving in the classroom. * To implement a program that seeks to provide long term solutions to the academic underachievement of identified students. * The inclusion of parents and the wider Aboriginal community in the local schooling process. * To educate teachers about the issues contributing to the academic underachievement of Aboriginal children. * To employ specific strategies in a long term manner to reverse underachievement in the identified students. * To provide classroom teachers with teaching strategies to develop the students’ self efficacy toward schooling.

To use the Coolabah Dynamic Assessment Tool to effectively identify Year 3 Aboriginal children who have a high learning potential but who are underachieving in the classroom. INDICATORS Effective identification of Year 3 Aboriginal students with a high learning potential through using the Coolabah Dynamic Assessment (CDA) Tool. - Identified students CDA results - Increases in number of identified students and an increased entry mark. - Positive results from UNE research component – BST results attendance records, - Parent, teacher and student case study interviews. - Two fully subsidised placements for selected Wii Gaay students to attend the NSW University, Gifted and Talented Summer Program. - Over the past three years, the enrolment of seven Wii Gaay boys into boarding schools including St Joseph’s College, Scotts’ College and The Armidale School.

To implement a program that seeks to provide long term solutions to the academic underachievement of identified students. * An established program that is providing long term solutions to the academic underachievement of the identified students. - Wii Gaay Project: camps, ing, mentors, role models, school visits. - Higher level of support from school principals and classroom teachers. - Raised expectations of the identified Aboriginal students by classroom teachers - Raised expectations of the identified students by Aboriginal parents - More effective teaching methods by classroom teachers through improved scaffolding techniques and improved teacher methodology through explicit teaching strategies

* The inclusion of parents and the wider Aboriginal community in the local schooling process. * Active involvement by the students’ parents and the wider Aboriginal community in the local schooling process. - Parental attendance and active participation at camps. - Grandparents, mentors, role models, invited guests attendance at camps. - Online mentors. - Parental involvement in research component – case study interviews. - Community Information Day – Gunnedah. - Increased academic expectations of the identified children by their parents. - Increased interest from parents regarding the program, more inquiries being made.

* To educate teachers about the issues contributing to the academic underachievement of Aboriginal children. * Inservicing of the identified students’ classroom teachers on the issues contributing to the academic underachievement of Aboriginal students. * Inservice Day - Classroom teachers’ of identified students, AEW’s. Staff Meetings / Individual meetings with teachers. * Classroom visits

* To employ specific strategies in a long term manner to reverse underachievement in the identified students. * The long term implementation of specific strategies to reverse the identified students’ academic underachievement. * Introductory / Explanatory letter, project outline to classroom teachers. * Reference to Module 4 – Gifted and Talented Professional Development Package for Teachers. * Raised expectations of identified students by their classroom teachers. * Identified students maintaining higher self efficacy when returning to school from camps. * Enthusiasm of students to share their work from camp with their teachers and peers * Successful and positive participation of students in Wii Gaay program. * Increased engagement by identified students in classroom activities

* To provide classroom teachers with teaching strategies to develop the students’ self efficacy toward schooling. * The provision of teaching strategies to the identified students’ classroom teachers that will assist them in developing the students’ self-efficacy toward school. - Increase in school attendance rates. - Decreased involvement in negative behavioral issues at school.