The Henry Lawson High School

Location: Grenfell

The Henry Lawson High School is a small rural comprehensive high school of approximately 170 students in central NSW. Our students and school community take great pride in the academic, sporting and school community achievements, especially in music and a range of sports. Our students are polite, friendly, value their learning and the opportunities provided through the school and community.

How has your school used its Gonski funding?

We have targeted raising student expectations for Aboriginal students through developing pathways to increase their engagement and achievement levels. Strong partnerships with parents have developed.

We have used funding to increase students from non-English speaking backgrounds' proficiency with English, particularly with writing.

Funds were used to offset Year 9 students’ access to technology: Transition adviser employed to continue to work with students at risk of becoming disengaged, supporting them with curriculum adjustments, additional tutoring and goal setting and pathways mapping.

School learning support officers were employed to support students with a range of learning needs to implement identified adjustments.

How has Gonski made a positive difference for students?

All students had an individual learning plan in place. All made sound progress across all learning areas and continue to be engaged in learning and school life. They access support through school learning support officers, the transition adviser, the learning support teacher and Norta Norta tutors. Language proficiency was supported through weekly tutorials in written English in preparation for Stage 6 writing demands. Strong progress was achieved. All students in Year 9 had access to a laptop for learning.

Suspension rates were down, attendance rate above state average; All Year 10 and 11 students completed requirements for RoSA. Retention to Year 11 was high – 91%. Students made sound progress, with adjustments supported by the additional support in the classroom.

Across all areas that were tested in NAPLAN, the Year 7 data showed that there was good progress for the students in the lower bands, evidence that the range of adjustments were improving student outcomes.

What could your school do with Gonski funding in the future?

Provide access to opportunities not always available to rural students. Improve the literacy and numeracy results of students. Allow greater access to technology and associated pedagogy for its use in learning. Provide strong professional learning opportunity for staff. Allow greater learning options for student who experience difficulties at school. Provide a diverse and expanded curriculum for rural students. Foster strong relationship with community.

<<< BACK


More Gonski Success Stories

Barrack Heights Public School
Barrack Heights PS is located in Shelharbour, 16km south of Wollongong. It has an enrolment of 250 students, most of them from low-income backgrounds.
Forest Lake State High School
Forest Lake State High School in outer suburban Brisbane has an enrolment of around 1450 students from diverse backgrounds.
Ulladulla High School
Ulladulla High School, located on the NSW south coast, has an enrolment of about 1200 students, 70% of whom are from low-income backgrounds.
Yarrabah State School
Yarrabah State School is a three campus Pre-Prep to Year 10 school in the Far North Queensland community of Yarrabah. The community faces complex inter-generational challenges including high unemployment and families living in poverty.
Morayfield State High School
Morayfield State High School has a current enrolment of approximately 1500 students. The majority of students are from low-income backgrounds
Mansfield State High School
Mansfield State High School is a large high school of about 2,200 students from diverse income and ethnic background in southern Brisbane.
Darlington Primary School
Darlington Primary School, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, has an enrolment of about 300 students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
Roma Mitchell Secondary College
The school opened in 2011 and has three campuses co-located on one site: Girls’ Education, Co-Education and Special Education.
Milton Public School
Milton Public School, a K-6 school on the south coast of NSW, has an enrolment of 650 students about half of whom are from low-income backgrounds. Around 40 students are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, and about 5% of the students are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
Minimbah State School
Minimbah State School has a stable enrolment of around 800 students. A high number of students are from low-income backgrounds.
Casino Public School
Casino Public school is a P-6 school of 700 students, located in rural north coast NSW.
Windaroo State School
Windaroo State School in the Mount Warren Park area of Logan City has an enrolment of around 930 students. A significant number of students are from low-income backgrounds. Approximately 50 students are Indigenous and 80 students are from non-English-speaking language backgrounds.