Yipirinya School

Yipirinya School, founded in 1978, is one of the few genuinely Independent Aboriginal Schools in Australia, both founded and controlled by Indigenous Elders. It takes its name from the caterpillar dreamtime of the Arrernte people of Central Australia. It was established as a two–way school, bi-lingual and bi-cultural, to teach white man’s way following the Northern Territory Curriculum, and also to keep Indigenous language and culture alive. It teaches four Indigenous languages and is perhaps the only school in Australia to do so. The School caters for the Aboriginal children from the town camps and outstations of Alice Springs, some of the most disadvantaged children in Australia. Sadly, in this background, poverty and overcrowding, abuse and neglect are common; alcohol and violence are endemic. The School is a family school with a Child Care Centre for two and three year olds, a Pre-School for four year olds, a full primary school from Kindergarten to year 6, and a secondary or middle school from years 7 – 10. It has an enrolment of approximately 200 students. The School has many challenges. As an independent school it is not entitled to full government funding but its parents cannot afford to pay fees, so it is financially handicapped at the start. It is also caught in the funding “blame game” between Federal and Territory governments and its limited classroom funding has to stretch to cover all its needs and initiatives. Its facilities and resources are severely curtailed by its finances. The School’s students are also seriously disadvantaged by their background and poor living conditions. Health and nutrition issues abound and there is a high incidence of trauma related problems. Families are very mobile and attendance rates are poor - the School struggles to achieve a 60% average. All Yipirinya students are learning English as a second or third, or indeed foreign language. These factors are not conducive to literacy and numeracy attainment. To overcome its challenges the School has many positive initiatives: a bus service to get the students to school (unfunded); a nutrition program including breakfast, recess and lunch to see that the students are fed (unfunded); a school nurse to assist with medical problems (unfunded): acoustic treatments to deal with otitis media (unfunded); a home liaison team to improve attendance (unfunded); a Special Needs and Counselling team to assist at risk students (partially funded); and a Pre-School to prepare children for school (only 5% funded). In addition the School has its unique language and culture program (only partially funded) to ensure the maintenance of Indigenous languages. It has also initiated the Honey Ant Readers program (very limited funding), an innovative learn to read program for Indigenous children. It runs HIPPY and FAST programs (mostly funded) to encourage parental involvement and it has good secondary VET programs (partially funded). Beyond this the School also employs and trains Indigenous people. 20-25 Indigenous staff members a year undertake training courses, mainly in Education, to improve their qualifications, as a condition of employment (only 2 are funded). It has painstakingly improved its facilities over the years by badgering governments and seeking corporate support. It attracts a stream of visiting schools from every state in Australia, keen to share and learn from an Indigenous experience and has purpose built facilities for them. It is fully involved in the local community in sporting programs and with its Drum Atweme players. In all, the establishment, the progress and management of the School, the achievements of the students and the happy atmosphere, are all testimony to the fact that Indigenous people can successfully manage their own affairs. The School is well maintained and well governed. It has successfully juggled its paltry finances. It has a vision and plan for the future including the wish for cottage boarding facilities to rescue its children from the neglect and abuse of the town camps, an area where successive governments have failed and are still failing. Given equitable funding, a real understanding and care for its disadvantaged children by the government, a reduction in stifling bureaucratic processes and colonial attitudes, the School could do much more.