Rockingham school violence: Why schools for troubled kids are booming in WA

Business is booming for the schools that educate WA’s most vulnerable kids. But educators are questioning whether State and Federal governments are simply outsourcing a social problem that mainstream schools struggle to deal with. Enrolments have exploded in the past few years at non-government schools offering alternative education for teenagers who don’t fit in at or have been kicked out of regular schools. Known as CARE (Curriculum and Re-engagement in Education) schools, most charge no or extremely low fees, and receive almost all their income from government coffers. Funded at a higher per student rate, they have more staff and smaller classes than mainstream schools. Kids do not wear uniforms or have as many rules to obey. Lessons are tailored to students’ interests, with a focus on vocational programs. The schools are now in the spotlight after a violent attack on two tradesmen by teenage students at a Rockingham CARE school. About 10 teenagers mobbed the contractors when they arrived at SMYL Community College on Tuesday, throwing punches and smashing up their ute while shouting obscenities. SMYL, which has six campuses in Rockingham, Kwinana, Mandurah and Cockburn, has quadrupled in size in the past five years, from 102 students in 2016 to 450 this year. It received more than $15 million in government grants in 2019, up from $2.2 million in 2016, according to figures reported to the Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission. Teachers say the attack on the two tradies, while shocking, was only the tip of the ice-berg at the troubled school. “The turnover of staff is incredible,” one said.“Violence and abuse happens on a daily basis, chair throwing, windows punched, damage to property, it’s insane. Kids are being aggressive and we’re just told to let them go, or to call the police.” The teacher claimed the school had taken on board more students but did not have enough staff. “It’s really sad, we all want the best for these students but we’re not being given the resources, or support, our hands are tied.” Independent Education Union WA branch secretary Rebecca Collopy said she understood the college was very well-funded, but staff had told her insufficient resources were put in place. “We’ve had members tell us before that they don’t have anywhere near the number of youth workers, social workers, psychologists that they should have for troubled kids,” she said. SMYL director Sam Gowegati rejected the claim there were frequent violent outbreaks and said students faced consequences for misbehaving, including suspensions followed by “rectification” to address the reasons behind their behaviour. He said the college had a ratio of about three and a half students to each staff member, but that was under review. “There’s always going to be issues with this kind of cohort, and you’re always going to have staff who feel intimidated and I totally understand that,” he said. “It’s a very high staff to student ratio and we’re going to have to assess if that’s enough,” he said. “There’s a support team of 35 professionals, including 14 psychologists, probably more than in other school in the country. And in spite of all that, we sometimes don’t have the answer.” Mr Gowegati said the college now had about 450 students, 100 fewer than last year, after deciding to keep numbers low because it was getting more difficult kids. Queensland University of Technology Linda Graham, an expert on disruptive students, said concentrating troubled students together created problems. “There’s a high over-representation of boys in these settings,” she said. “So you put a bunch of high-octane boys together and there’s a lot of fighting, and they also learn more problematic behaviour from each other.” Instead of pouring funding into special schools, Professor Graham said the government should use it to improve support and early intervention in mainstream schools. “If you create a market there’s always going to be providers,” she said. “Once you create a parallel segregated system, you create an incentive for the existing system to say ‘this kid’s too hard, this kid doesn’t belong here, they belong over there’,” she said. Professor Graham said attendance was usually poor and the type of learning kids did in alternative settings was “not a drop in the ocean” compared to what they needed. “They (alternative schools) are very good at the welfare side of things,” she said. “However, they are not set up and adequately resourced to be able to address the enormous gap in learning that these students have.” “Quite often the staff that are in these types of settings are not equipped to be able to deliver the kinds of really intensive support and explicit teaching these students need.” SMYL is not the only CARE school rapidly growing. Association of Independent Schools of WA executive director Valerie Gould said its sector had about nine schools, with multiple campuses providing alternative education. “They certainly are growing — it’s probably our fastest growing group of schools,” she said. “It probably reflects what’s happened in society.” Ms Gould said the funding could be seen as a good investment if CARE schools helped disengaged students become productive members of society, instead of spending the rest of their lives on social welfare or incarcerated. “The cost of doing nothing is much much greater,” she said. “Investment in these is actually an investment in our future because it’s good for society in the long run.”