Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the naplan results have highlighted what the Smith Family's
(00:03):
described as a worrying trend, showing that there's no real
progress in closing the gap between students experiencing disadvantage and
those from wealthier backgrounds. Here in the Northern Territory, the
Smith Family supports more than fourteen hundred students through its
Learning for Life program, reaches more than five thousand children
and young people through its programs, and partners with sixteen schools.
(00:26):
And joining us on the line is Susie Riddell, the
Smith Family's head of Evidence and Impact. Good morning to you, Susie.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good morning Katie, thanks for having me, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
So much for your time. First off, for those who
don't know a lot about the Smith Family, what exactly
does the Smith Family do?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
The Smith Family is over one hundred years old and
we are Australia's largest children's education charity. So what we're
focused on is children who are experiencing disadvantage and live
in low socioeconomic households and support potting their parents and
those children to take advantage of our great education system
so that they can reach their full potential and go
(01:07):
on to have great adult lives.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
It is wonderful work that the Smith's family does no
doubt about it, Susie. The napline results, they show that
there is a gap between disadvantage students and their peers
and that it's not closing. What does that tell us?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
What concerns us at the Smith family is that there
is this persistent gap between children who are from low
socioeconomic backgrounds and those who are from high socioeconomic backgrounds.
So across Australia, three out of ten students from low
socioeconomic backgrounds need additional support to meet the minimum literacy
and numerocy standards, and that's up to ten times higher
(01:46):
than students from high socioeconomic backgrounds. So if you're growing
up in a disadvantaged household, you're just more likely to
need additional support. And when we come to the Northern Territory,
around one in three students across the territory need additional
support in reading an numeracy. So we're concerned that that
gap is persistent and it hasn't closed over time.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I know that the Smith family obviously supports more than
fourteen hundred students here in the Northern Territory. What are
some of the biggest challenges the territory, kids and families
are facing.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So we know that parents generally have really high aspiration
for their kids and they want their kids to do well.
We know that teachers and schools are doing remarkable things.
Some of the challenges are experiencing a disadvantage and living
in a low income household is making difficult choices about
where to spend your limited income, and that might mean
that our child is unable to go on a school excursion,
(02:43):
or have a sense of belonging with the right uniform,
or have access to the equipment like textbooks that they
might need or digital device to be able to do
their homework if they're in secondary school, for example. So
those are some of the difficult choices. We want to
back parents, and we want to ensure that we can
start earlier to identify the students who do need additional
(03:04):
support and then make sure that we can target the
programs and the funding that already exist to the students
who need it the most.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Tell me about some of the you know, the statistics
for the Northern territory as well, in terms of the
work that the Smith family's done, and you know some
of the like just some of those statistics in terms
of what kids here might need, some of the difficulties
they might be having, and some of the you know,
I guess some of the challenges depending on their family,
(03:34):
you know, their background.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
So in the Northern Territory, the Smith Family supports over
fourteen hundred students through our flagship Learning for Life program,
and the Learning for Life program provides a family with
three things. One is a financial payment, so there's a
scholarship that helps parents meet the needs of their kind
of educational costs of attending school. The second is some
(03:57):
personal support. So we've got some family Partnership coordinators and
they're going to support mum, dad cares with the support
that they might need to support their child to get
the most out of education. It might be about how
to talk to the school about your child's needs. It
might be about how to read those NAP plan results
that you might have had sent home recently, and what
(04:18):
questions you might like to ask that teacher or your
school leadings. And then the third bit is some wrap
around programs, so that might be a learning club after school.
And eighty percent of students who attend Lesmey Families learning
clubs say that they're going to try harder at school,
and they feel more confident asking their teacher for help
when they need help. So those three things of the
(04:40):
financial payment, the personal support, and the wrap around programs
can lead to really strong results in terms of turning
up to school, being engaged, and getting the most out
of your education.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, so it certainly makes a big difference. I mean,
Susie sometimes who look at these napland results as well,
and you know, I'm always hesitant to put too much
pressure on kids when they are going going through this
napland testing because some kids like they just you know,
they don't like doing tests, or they maybe struggle a
little bit more when they're when they're sitting down for
something like this. You know, like, how do we I
(05:13):
get it that it's a measure. I get that the
naplan is a measure, but you know, surely we look
at other you know, at other indicators as well to
work out whether kids are on track or not.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
We absolutely should look at a range of different measures.
Napplants just a snapshot and it has limitations. It's just
the point in time, and we know that for example,
this year in the Northern Territory there was a lot
of flooding back in March, and so not all students
even have the opportunity to fit the Nautplan tests this year.
So it is a snapshot. What we can look at
(05:44):
from a policy perspective is are we seeing shifts in
certain populations over time and who are the kids who
tend to over time look like they need additional support
and who are the ones who seem to be improving
over time. So that's really for the Northern Territory Department
of Education for the Australian Government to be looking at.
At an individual student level, we'd be much more interested
(06:06):
in the wider picture. What is your teacher saying, what's
your child's experience, what's coming home in that school report
at the end of each semester, what are you observing
about your child? And are there other things that we
might need to take into account around the home circumstances.
Have there been changes at home maybe the families they
moving around a lot when cost of living forces families
(06:27):
to look for new rental accommodation. So it's just part
of the picture. So you can give us a rich
snapshot overall for policy makers and for government, but at
the individual level, let's look at lots of different things
that can help us see what's going on for a
child and what support they might need.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So see if governments were to focus on one thing
to improve outcomes for Northern Territory kids, what do you
think they need to look at?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Okay, how governments are already focused on the right things,
which is how do we support really important skill building
in the early years and strengthening that throughout school in
things like literacy and numeracy as well as social and
emotional well being. And the opportunity is to make sure
that schools get the funding and the support and resources
(07:11):
that they need to support the kids who need it
the most. They know what are the most important things
to shift and they need to get those resources to
the right children and the right families, and they need
to do it early enough so that it makes a
difference in a child's life.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Well, Susie Riddell, really interesting to talk to you this morning.
I appreciate your time and thank you very much for having.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
A chat with us. Thanks Katie, have a great day
you too.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Thank you
So the naplan results have highlighted what the Smith Family's
(00:03):
described as a worrying trend, showing that there's no real
progress in closing the gap between students experiencing disadvantage and
those from wealthier backgrounds. Here in the Northern Territory, the
Smith Family supports more than fourteen hundred students through its
Learning for Life program, reaches more than five thousand children
and young people through its programs, and partners with sixteen schools.
(00:26):
And joining us on the line is Susie Riddell, the
Smith Family's head of Evidence and Impact. Good morning to you, Susie.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good morning Katie, thanks for having me, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
So much for your time. First off, for those who
don't know a lot about the Smith Family, what exactly
does the Smith Family do?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
The Smith Family is over one hundred years old and
we are Australia's largest children's education charity. So what we're
focused on is children who are experiencing disadvantage and live
in low socioeconomic households and support potting their parents and
those children to take advantage of our great education system
so that they can reach their full potential and go
(01:07):
on to have great adult lives.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
It is wonderful work that the Smith's family does no
doubt about it, Susie. The napline results, they show that
there is a gap between disadvantage students and their peers
and that it's not closing. What does that tell us?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
What concerns us at the Smith family is that there
is this persistent gap between children who are from low
socioeconomic backgrounds and those who are from high socioeconomic backgrounds.
So across Australia, three out of ten students from low
socioeconomic backgrounds need additional support to meet the minimum literacy
and numerocy standards, and that's up to ten times higher
(01:46):
than students from high socioeconomic backgrounds. So if you're growing
up in a disadvantaged household, you're just more likely to
need additional support. And when we come to the Northern Territory,
around one in three students across the territory need additional
support in reading an numeracy. So we're concerned that that
gap is persistent and it hasn't closed over time.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I know that the Smith family obviously supports more than
fourteen hundred students here in the Northern Territory. What are
some of the biggest challenges the territory, kids and families
are facing.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So we know that parents generally have really high aspiration
for their kids and they want their kids to do well.
We know that teachers and schools are doing remarkable things.
Some of the challenges are experiencing a disadvantage and living
in a low income household is making difficult choices about
where to spend your limited income, and that might mean
that our child is unable to go on a school excursion,
(02:43):
or have a sense of belonging with the right uniform,
or have access to the equipment like textbooks that they
might need or digital device to be able to do
their homework if they're in secondary school, for example. So
those are some of the difficult choices. We want to
back parents, and we want to ensure that we can
start earlier to identify the students who do need additional
(03:04):
support and then make sure that we can target the
programs and the funding that already exist to the students
who need it the most.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Tell me about some of the you know, the statistics
for the Northern territory as well, in terms of the
work that the Smith family's done, and you know some
of the like just some of those statistics in terms
of what kids here might need, some of the difficulties
they might be having, and some of the you know,
I guess some of the challenges depending on their family,
(03:34):
you know, their background.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
So in the Northern Territory, the Smith Family supports over
fourteen hundred students through our flagship Learning for Life program,
and the Learning for Life program provides a family with
three things. One is a financial payment, so there's a
scholarship that helps parents meet the needs of their kind
of educational costs of attending school. The second is some
(03:57):
personal support. So we've got some family Partnership coordinators and
they're going to support mum, dad cares with the support
that they might need to support their child to get
the most out of education. It might be about how
to talk to the school about your child's needs. It
might be about how to read those NAP plan results
that you might have had sent home recently, and what
(04:18):
questions you might like to ask that teacher or your
school leadings. And then the third bit is some wrap
around programs, so that might be a learning club after school.
And eighty percent of students who attend Lesmey Families learning
clubs say that they're going to try harder at school,
and they feel more confident asking their teacher for help
when they need help. So those three things of the
(04:40):
financial payment, the personal support, and the wrap around programs
can lead to really strong results in terms of turning
up to school, being engaged, and getting the most out
of your education.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, so it certainly makes a big difference. I mean,
Susie sometimes who look at these napland results as well,
and you know, I'm always hesitant to put too much
pressure on kids when they are going going through this
napland testing because some kids like they just you know,
they don't like doing tests, or they maybe struggle a
little bit more when they're when they're sitting down for
something like this. You know, like, how do we I
(05:13):
get it that it's a measure. I get that the
naplan is a measure, but you know, surely we look
at other you know, at other indicators as well to
work out whether kids are on track or not.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
We absolutely should look at a range of different measures.
Napplants just a snapshot and it has limitations. It's just
the point in time, and we know that for example,
this year in the Northern Territory there was a lot
of flooding back in March, and so not all students
even have the opportunity to fit the Nautplan tests this year.
So it is a snapshot. What we can look at
(05:44):
from a policy perspective is are we seeing shifts in
certain populations over time and who are the kids who
tend to over time look like they need additional support
and who are the ones who seem to be improving
over time. So that's really for the Northern Territory Department
of Education for the Australian Government to be looking at.
At an individual student level, we'd be much more interested
(06:06):
in the wider picture. What is your teacher saying, what's
your child's experience, what's coming home in that school report
at the end of each semester, what are you observing
about your child? And are there other things that we
might need to take into account around the home circumstances.
Have there been changes at home maybe the families they
moving around a lot when cost of living forces families
(06:27):
to look for new rental accommodation. So it's just part
of the picture. So you can give us a rich
snapshot overall for policy makers and for government, but at
the individual level, let's look at lots of different things
that can help us see what's going on for a
child and what support they might need.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So see if governments were to focus on one thing
to improve outcomes for Northern Territory kids, what do you
think they need to look at?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Okay, how governments are already focused on the right things,
which is how do we support really important skill building
in the early years and strengthening that throughout school in
things like literacy and numeracy as well as social and
emotional well being. And the opportunity is to make sure
that schools get the funding and the support and resources
(07:11):
that they need to support the kids who need it
the most. They know what are the most important things
to shift and they need to get those resources to
the right children and the right families, and they need
to do it early enough so that it makes a
difference in a child's life.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Well, Susie Riddell, really interesting to talk to you this morning.
I appreciate your time and thank you very much for having.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
A chat with us. Thanks Katie, have a great day
you too.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Thank you
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