Teacher v students: How Illawarra schools compare for teacher student ratios
The schools with Illawarra’s most crowded and best resourced classrooms have been revealed. CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW YOUR CHILDS SCHOOL MATCHES UP.
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The schools with Illawarra’s most crowded and best resourced classrooms have been revealed.
An analysis of national data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority has revealed the schools where teachers have the most students to teach.
The figures show in 2018 in the Illawarra region there were more students per teacher at St Therese Catholic Primary School than any other school.
According to the data, the most up to data that includes all state and private schools nationally, St Therese Catholic Primary School had 20.3 students for every teacher, the highest in the area.
Eve and Adam Weekes have two children enrolled at St Therese, Georgia in Year 3 and Rose in Year 6.
Rose started her schooling at Mount Brown Public School, before she moved to St Therese when Mr and Mrs Weekes moved their family to the West Wollongong area.
While Mrs Weekes said she had initial concerns about her daughter moving into a school with a higher student to teacher ratio, she said St Therese had strong strategies in place to ensure the best learning outcomes possible for each student.
“You’ve got about 30 kids in the class compared to about 20 kids in public schools,” she said.
“[At St Therese] they broke the children up into groups if they need intensive help, in smaller groups or with that one-on-one time they can learn more.”
The school has two classes per grade with a total of around 400 students, and while that’s a lot larger than some schools in the Illawarra, Mrs Weekes said it had a “small, community feel”.
“That’s really what we wanted when we were looking at schools for the girls,” she said.
“There is also a lot of stability when it comes to the teachers, there hasn’t been a lot of movement there which is very good not just for the students but for us as well.”
A spokesman for the Catholic Education Office said the Wollongong Diocese used a rigorous staffing formula methodology to allocate staffing resources to schools in the Illawarra to determine teacher to student ratios, based on student needs and strategic goals.
The spokesman also noted schools can often experience considerable fluctuations year to year in this data type due to larger or smaller than average cohorts.
The second highest student-teacher ratios were at Coledale Public School where there was an average of 20.1 students for every teacher at the school.
At Thirroul Public School there were 20.1 students for every teacher, the Illawarra region’s third highest.
In contrast there one teacher for every 4.0 students at Aspect South Coast School, the region’s lowest ratio of students per teacher.
The second lowest ratio was at Para Meadows School where there were 4.5 students per teacher.
The figures show at Havenlee School there were 4.9 students per teacher, the third lowest ratio in the Illawarra region.
According to ACARA the national student-teacher ratio was 13.5 students for every teacher.
Across the country independent private schools had the lowest student to teacher ratios with 11.7 students to every teacher.
Government schools had an average of 13.8 students for every teacher while Catholic schools had an average of 14 students for every teacher.
Student-teacher ratios do not take into account teacher aides or non-teaching staff at schools, only the full-time equivalent teachers.
Illawarra’s most crowded classrooms
St Therese Catholic Primary School: 20.3 students per teacher
Coledale Public School: 20.1 students per teacher
Thirroul Public School: 20.1 students per teacher
St Columbkille’s Catholic Primary School: 19.8 students per teacher
Stella Maris Catholic Primary School: 19.6 students per teacher
Minnamurra Public School: 19.4 students per teacher
Woonona Public School: 19.2 students per teacher
Mount St Thomas Public School: 19.2 students per teacher
Flinders Public School: 19.1 students per teacher
Lindsay Park Public School: 19.1 students per teacher
Illawarra’s least crowded classrooms
Aspect South Coast School: 4.0 students per teacher
Para Meadows School: 4.5 students per teacher
Havenlee School: 4.9 students per teacher
Budawang School: 4.9 students per teacher
Peterborough School: 5.3 students per teacher
Craig Davis College: 6.2 students per teacher
Five Islands Secondary College: 6.8 students per teacher
Alesco Illawarra: 7.1 students per teacher
Corrimal High School: 7.5 students per teacher
Kemblawarra Public School: 7.5 students per teacher