New South Wales
Country Areas Program
Projects That Really Make a Difference!

Project: Evening Library Study Group
Type: Wagga Wagga District Initiative
Coordinator/s: Stewart Bruce
Participating Schools: Murrumburrah HS, Murrumburrah PS, Trinity School
Attributes addressed: Communication, Self-Directed Learning, Literacy, Technology

Barriers:

• few home role models where education has a high priority
• inadequate study facilities in many homes
• limited community library resources and opening hours
• small peer groups with peer group pressure not to succeed academically
• few opportunities for students from each school to interact in an appropriate educational environment

Overview:

This initiative is the beginning of a wider program to "bridge the gap" between these three schools. It will provide students with meaningful educational opportunities to work together and assist with the orientation program catering for the needs of "middle school" students.

The program aims to draw together students from years 3 - 12 from the schools involved in a common educational setting and address some of the barriers affecting their participation in their schooling. It will also draw together the supervising staff from the three schools, as they will be required to plan and work together.

The library would be used to provide:

• teacher guidance for students to develop research skills for homework, projects, assignments
• access to a computerised catalog system
• access to the internet, CDROMs and educational software
• a conducive learning environment for study

A culture of sharing will be encouraged with older students helping younger students and providing positive role models. Parents will also be encouraged to spend time in the library, offer assistance, encourage their children and further develop their own skills.

Implementation:

Planning Meeting : set guidelines for library usage, activities, monitoring procedures, joint supervision arrangements, timetable etc

Program Preparation: student and parent awareness program to present library program, usage and benefits

Implementation: 30 week program, operating from Term 1 week 6 to Term 4 week 5. Students access library in a number of ways: student need, teacher encouragement, student interest groups

Monitoring: Collation of qualitative data on student and parent usage, activities engaged in, type of support requested. Collection of anecdotal evidence on success of program. Supervision timetable.

Evaluation Phase: Collation and analysis of qualitative and anecdotal data. Use data to inform further planning.