SMALL schools are great schools, says Delungra Public principal Sue Belford.

With less than two weeks before the start of Term 1, Sue is expecting an enrolment of about 40 students.

She said ‘what I love about small schools is they’re just really friendly places and they get kids going’.

“In our situation, every kid gets the opportunity to excel. I’m not putting down big schools, but the bottom line is that if I’ve got five kids in year 5/6, then every one of those kids is going to get to be a leader, and to be in various programs such as debating.”

However, Sue said it was important for small schools to join forces sometimes. Over the past five years, Delungra, Gilgai and Gum Flat public schools have held joint debating, public speaking, digital photography and Maths workshops. Sue said she was looking forward to the three schools getting together this year.

“The benefits are social, obviously, and it’s a great preparation for high school, because they get to work and mix with a diversity of kids,” Sue said.

Gilgai Public School principal Bob Adams agreed.

“It broadens kids’ horizons. They meet other kids from other schools, and they interact with other teachers, so they get the advantages of those sorts of things.

“Children of different ages find themselves in situations where they have to mix with each other. Their social interaction is through this.

“In larger schools where children are grouped according to age, social interaction tends towards age peers, and is not as natural as what happens with small schools.

“I think in our smaller schools children are given a lot more responsibility in day to day school activities. There are very few discipline problems, and teachers can look to encourage individuality of kids,” he said.

Look for news on your school’s

year ahead next week.

© 2002 Inverell Times

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