Future role of SOTA questioned at ICPA conference

Delegates from five regions met in Port Augusta to tackle the big issues facing students from geographically isolated areas.

North West branch representative and state council member Petie Rankin said questions were being asked if SOTA’s present setup, under the Adelaide-based Open Access College, was still the best option for students, staff and the school community.

The school has been without a Port Augusta-based leader for the past two terms, and has had some issues with staff turnover.

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Ms Rankin and Marla Oodnadatta branch representative Kirsty Williams say the split between an Adelaide and Port Augusta campuses, with all training held in Adelaide, may have discouraged some staff.

“It can disrupt classtime as well, with all the travel to Adelaide,” Ms Rankin said.

“Our kids are disadvantaged by being isolated, we don’t want them to be disadvantaged further by lack of local leadership and stability,” Ms Williams said.

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State president Kerry Williams said the conference was an important chance to get everyone together to talk about common issues.

“A lot of us are very isolated so the chance to have our voices heard is great,” she said.

“The ICPA is real grassroots – everyone can have their say and have their concerns listened to, and from that, big things can happen.”

Another concern shared by ICPA members was changes to federal childcare funding and the impact this could have on the Remote and Isolated Children’s Exercise program.

Kerry said there had been a lot of concerns about if the service was going to be able to run in the same way.

“Funding has been returned but it’s hard to interpret into what that actually means at a grassroots level,” she said.

Last week Member for Grey Rowan Ramsey announced RICE would receive increased funding through the Community Child Care Funding package, due to roll out in July.

He said federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham had committed to ensuring funding for remote schools continued.

RICE executive officer Rob Kay said the funding increase was welcome after three years of uncertainty.

“The new funding level is really where it should have been covered for a number of years,” he said.

He said they began to lobby the government to increase funding about the same time as the new childcare arrangements began to be investigated. In the interim they have relied on saved funds to maintain their services.

RICE acts as a pre-school service for remotely-based children, with teachers travelling out to stations, as well as running health and wellbeing programs.

The ICPA had a win in the past year, having negotiated with former Education and Child Development Minister Susan Close to allow remotely-based parents who had set up a second home to school their children to access the State Education Allowance.

ICPA state council member Lisa Slade said the allowance helped cover some of the costs for geographically-isolated students who had gone to boarding school.

She said the extension meant that some families who, instead of boarding school, chose to set up a second home in Adelaide or a regional town so their children could attend school, could also access these funds.

The next step for the ICPA is a request for the SEA to be moved out of the Department of Education and Child Development’s transport unit, to allow improved flexibility for the future of the fund.

“It may be better suited in another division, since it is not just transport – it also covers school uniforms and textbooks,” Ms Slade said.

Next year’s state conference will be held via a web-based platform as SA will also host the 2019 federal ICPA conference.