One Arm Point Remote Community School (5583)

School Overview

One Arm Point Remote Community School (OAPRCS) is in Ardyaloon (One Arm Point), an Aboriginal community on the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.

The OAPRCS vision is to facilitate a welcoming, safe and stimulating inclusive environment where Aboriginal culture is embraced, celebrated and embedded into the school curriculum. Students are supported and encouraged to reach their academic potential and staff are committed to helping students become strong, proud and resilient members of society. At One Arm Point School, we employ a vast variety of strategies to improve student outcomes including a strong focus on community engagement and the capacity building of our local Aboriginal staff. The school aims to help all students reach their full potential, with each one having the tools to make informed, considered decisions and also the skills and knowledge to find meaningful employment beyond their school years.

Strong relationships with the local community and local service providers forms the base of a collaborative and targeted approach aimed at improving outcomes across the board and ensuring the children of Ardyaloon are given every opportunity to succeed. The recently signed School and Community Partnership Agreement underscores accountability for school attendance and the need to get students to school on time every day.

The school recently facilitated the West Kimberley Aboriginal Educators Conference at which the Aboriginal staff of OAPRCS ran a 3 day conference for other Aboriginal educators in the West Kimberley. The conference gave community members and the local Aboriginal staff at the school the opportunity to showcase their community, culture and school to their Aboriginal colleagues across the Dampier Peninsula and West Kimberley.

The school also dedicated a stage and performance area to Brian Carter and Violet Carter who have dedicated most of their lives to the education of children in Ardyaloon community.

The school has a dynamic staff from various backgrounds, including a number of local Aboriginal staff who provide integral knowledge and expertise regarding students and the school's unique context.

In the latter part of 2020, the last 90km of unsealed road on 218km journey from Broome to Ardyaloon was sealed meaning access to the school and the community is now much easier, especially during the wet season, when previously the community would often be closed for days and sometimes weeks at a time due to the condition of the unsealed road.

OAPRCS Priorities:

Early childhood - to provide the community with a regular 0 to 3 years of age program and extended kindergarten times to 20 hours per week to help ensure the transition into regular school is structured and scaffolded.

English - to improve English skills and understandings for all students following our school literacy structures. OAPRCS has a focus on developing phonemic awareness skills at an early age and explicitly teaching all components of English.

Mathematics - to improve the numeracy skills of all students, with a particular focus in number and to provide developmentally appropriate learning experiences catering to individual learning needs.

Attendance - to increase attendance rates across all years, but with a particular focus on kindergarten and secondary school. We also make concerted efforts to encourage the families with children below the age of 4 years to attend our 0-3 program.

Secondary Pathways - to offer secondary students relevant training and experience in career pathways available to them on-Country. SIDE is also made available to students who want to do mainstream curriculum subjects but do not want to leave their home to attend boarding school.

Community Partnerships - using the School and Community Partnership Agreement as a guide, the school will continue to work collaboratively with the school council, Ardyaloon council, the local community and local service providers in an effort to maximise wellbeing, attendance, social and academic outcomes for all students.

Culture - to continue to implement a consistent and meaningful cultural program and Bardi language program, with regular community input and support from the Bardi Jawi and Oorany Rangers.

The school has recently established a Bardi Culture room, hosted the West Kimberley Aboriginal Educators Network Conference, dedicated a new stage and performance area to Violet Carter and Brian carter and signed the first School and Community partnership Agreement.

The school eagerly anticipates the new Solar Leaning laboratory donated to the community by DELL Computers with support from Curtin University. The potential for a such a resource is enormous and the school is most appreciative to be part of such an amazing initiative.

OAPRCS is a wonderful school in an amazing community situated in a remarkable part of Western Australia with a staff that is passionate, hardworking and committed to helping Ardyaloon students become strong, proud and resilient members of society and positive leaders of the future.

For more information please contact the school on (08) 9171 9400 or visit our Facebook page at One Arm Point Remote Community School.