Kotara School

Kotara School educates students in years 3 to 6 with emotional disturbance and behaviour disorders. These students often become disengaged from school and their challenging behaviours lead to suspensions and non attendance. It aims to create behavioural change in order for them to return to mainstream settings. The school also has an aboriginal population of approximately 50% with 95  100 % boys.
Most students generally have a long history of serious externalising and internalising behaviours leading to the identification of a request for special placement support. They often have low levels of literacy and numeracy due to the disruption of schooling. Other factors such as autism, moderate and mild intellectual disabilities and disruptive environments impacts on their behaviour. Approximately 50% of students have pharmacological intervention which can provide assistance in opening a window of improved engagement.
Kotara School receives Priority Funding due to a generally low socio economic demography. The school has a transient enrolment of 21 and they are placed for up to 6 months by a regional panel of psychologists, principals and consultants. It is continuing to create successful partnerships with students home schools, through the dedication of staff and the quality of the student programs.
The teaching and support staff are highly trained professionals who are committed to ongoing professional learning and consistent systematic improvement. The staff genuinely love working with all students at Kotara School. The school has undergone significant systemic changes over the last two years with many staff changes as well. Significant emphasis has been placed on creating the infrastructure necessary for learning in the 21st Century.
Our greatest challenge is to re-engage students and their families with education and to provide a systemic transition back into their home school.