Margaret Hendry School teachers doubt students get a good education

Only one third of Margaret Hendry School teachers surveyed in 2022 said they felt well-supported and that their opinions were taken seriously at the school, which was the first campus designed to the Education Directorate's future of education strategy.

The survey data from the school climate surveys has been released under freedom of information almost two years after a number of parents told The Canberra Times they were pulling their children out of the school, citing bullying, frequent suspensions and a lack of academic focus.

Education Directorate officials insist the survey data is positive and that students are getting an excellent education at the Gungahlin school.

The survey results from staff, students and parents show some improvements off weak results in 2021.

When students were asked if "I feel safe at this school", 47 per cent agreed with the statement in 2021 and 59 per cent agreed with that statement in 2022.

When staff were asked if student behaviour was well-managed at the school, in 2021 only 32 per cent agreed but in 2022, 44 per cent agreed.

However, less than a third of staff said there was effective communication amongst all staff (27 per cent) and that their professional achievements were celebrated at the school (29 per cent).

When asked if "I am satisfied the students are getting a good education at this school", only 53 per cent of students and teachers agreed or strongly agreed with the statement.

By contrast, 100 per cent of staff and three quarters of students at Evelyn Scott School and Throsby School, which opened in 2021 and 2022 respectively, agreed that students were getting a good education.

Since 2019, 77 teachers have entered the school and 36 have left. A quarter of classroom teachers currently employed are in their first three years of service.

Education Directorate executive group manager school improvement Mark Huxley said data showed an improvement in staff conditions.

"We're very much seeing across the board the shared values and approach, staff collaboration and significant reduction levels of stress for staff, which are really positive indicators," Mr Huxley said.

"Margaret Henry is on an improvement journey, as are all schools. We're seeing good progress in the last two years and we can look forward to continuing that improvement journey with the school."

Mr Huxley said teachers leave schools for a variety of reasons, including retirement or moving interstate and schools in outer suburbs often had high staff turnover and a high percentage of early career educators.

The school was using the positive behaviour for learning program which enabled students to earn house or group points and rewards for their efforts, Mr Huxley said.

However, in the 2022 student survey results only 34 per cent agreed that the school celebrated their achievements and 33 per cent agreed that student behaviour was well managed.

NAPLAN data from 2022 showed that year 3 students were achieving significantly below students of a similar background across all four domains and year 5 students were well below their peers in reading but no comparison was available in other domains.

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Mr Huxley said the data from the classroom level was showing growth in students' communication and literacy skills.

"I would say they're getting provided an excellent education at Margaret Henry School. I think it's meeting the needs of the students.

"It's focused on where the students are up to, what their needs are and then getting the teaching and learning responses that they need to meet students at their point of need, which is a really big focus for Margaret Henry School and all ACT public schools."

He said parent complaints about the had decreased and classroom disruptions had reduced.

"We've seen a reduction in occupational violence across the school, less net negative incidents, less suspensions and reports prompts students through the climate data, a greater academic focus, and a significant disrupt reduction in classroom disruption, it's actually halved across the school."

The Australian Education Union declined to comment.

In 2021, several parents told The Canberra Times they had moved their children to private schools or other public schools where their children required tutoring and small-group programs to catch up on lost learning.

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