Save Tharwa School

Written by Trevor Cobbold for Save Our Schools
Save Our Schools says that new research published in the UK last week shows that the majority of school closures lead to a decline in student results. SOS spokesperson, Trevor Cobbold, said that the research calls into question the whole rationale of the Stanhope Government’s school closure and […]

Numerous studies have documented that small schools effectively boost student achievement, especially among at-risk students. A new research report published this month summarizes the vast research literature that explains just why small works in schooling.
The report, The Hobbit Effect: Why Small Works in Public Schools from the Rural School and Community Trust in […]

Below I have an edited highlight from Rural and Remote School Education - A Survey for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
Helen Stokes, John Stafford, Roger Holdsworth
Youth Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010
full document here
The greatest education ‘disadvantage’ faced by people in rural and remote locations is that to gain access to […]

Below I have posted some of my personal favorites taken from a primary research study (undated but post-1998). This study was conducted in small Tasmania mining towns and the research focused on describing how leadership issues related to school-community partnerships. Whilst the bulk of the research is peripheral to our primary interests, it […]

Below I have posted the major points on school sizes, including cost-effectiveness, from a 2002 US literature review “National Evaluation of Smaller Learning Communities”…..

Also directly from the DET’s own website I find a variety of research in support of the multi-aged class structure used at Tharwa PS. Quoted directly from Vincent, Susan, Ed. (1999) The Multigrade Classroom: A Resource Handbook for Small, Rural Schools. Book 2: Classroom Organization:
In multigrade instruction, children of at least a two-year […]