AHISA SUBMISSION
Emeritus Professor John Halsey
28 August 2017

Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education

Dear Professor Halsey,

The Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the federal government’s Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education.

For the purposes of this submission, AHISA has chosen to use the location descriptions of the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) system, that is, ‘Major City’, ‘Inner Regional’, ‘Outer Regional’, ‘Remote’, and ‘Very Remote’. This system has been adopted by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and is used to define the location of schools on My School profiles and in the reporting of NAPLAN results by geolocation. Use of the ASGC therefore allows for correlation of any AHISA data with Australia’s National Education Evidence Base.

Central to our submission is a presentation of findings from two surveys of our members: one survey canvassed the views of those who lead schools located in areas classified as ‘Inner Regional’, ‘Outer Regional’, ‘Remote’, and ‘Very Remote’, with or without accommodation arrangements for students; the second survey was of members who lead ‘Major City’ schools which make education provision for students from regional or remote areas through boarding, hostel, home stay or other accommodation arrangements.

We also include a section on innovative educational provision for Indigenous students, drawing on examples provided in AHISA’s two-part submission to the ongoing House of Representatives Inquiry into Educational Opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students.

Yours faithfully,
(Mrs) Karen Spiller
AHISA National Chair
Principal of St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Qld

Submission to the Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education - full version