O'Connor Co-operative School

O'Connor Cooperative School, in O'Connor, Australian Capital Territory, is a small government run early childhood school with one class in each grade from pre-school (approximately four years old) to Year 2 (approximately seven years old).

The name of the Cooperative School derives from its early years as a community run school. The Cooperative School nowadays runs as a public, government run school, but still makes use of cooperative learning strategies in its teaching programs. The Australian Developmental Curriculum is also a strong influence on the teaching at the Cooperative School.

History

The Cooperative School started as a community run school in the late 1960s. In about 1978 it accepted an offer to become under the umbrella of the ACT Schools Authority. As a very parent driven school, there was a lot of negotiation prior to accepting this offer, and as part of agreeing on how the school would be run. The ACT already had a history of supporting schools with a different philosophy and mode of operation to the mainstream, such as the School Without Walls, commonly known as SWOW.

The first couple of years of operation under the Schools Authority were turbulent. Many of the parents of children at the school were heavily invested in the Community meetings, which were held fortnightly, and did not always agree with the decisions of the new School Board.

In these early years the school program was quite diverse. There was a focus on delivering a non-sexist curriculum and environment. Children went on many excursions, to places like the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and participated in programs like meditation and foot massage. Some of the parallels with current day programs are striking, such as the year-long yoga program in 2008, the regular end of year excursion to the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and a continuing focus on strong parental involvement.

In the early 1990s, a Year 1 classroom was built at the western end of the school. It was joined in 2005 by an adjacent year two classroom, opened on 8 April 2005. These two buildings continued until 2009, when they were demolished under the Building the Education Revolution program.

In 1998 a small ampitheatre was built in front of the main building with the help of the school students. It includes a mosaic tile design that remains a striking feature of the playground to this day.

The Library was officially opened on the 3rd March 1999 by then Minister for Education and Community Services, Bill Stefaniak.

In 2005 the front office and pre-school section had refurbishments and the Coop buildings were painted yellow and blue. A ramp was also added for access to the main building, including the Kindergarten and pre-school rooms.

In 2006, as part of the Towards 2020: Renewing Our Schools" program, the Cooperative School was announced as to be "administratively linked" with the nearby Turner Primary School, in order to save $39 000 per annum. The Cooperative School community thought this proposal could well lead in the medium term to closure of the school, and fought the proposal for several months. The final result was that the Coop remained an independent entity, and over the following few years was even upgraded in status, and used as a model for five new early childhood schools in the ACT.

In 2007, every ACT school were given a flag as a gift from the Australian government. An official flag raising day was held with Senator Gary Humphries raising the flag for the first time, ably assisted by the Coop's long-serving administrator, Judy.

Also during 2007, a school song was created with the help of a local artist named John Shortis. John worked with the school children to develop the key themes for the school and weave them into a song. This song is now sung at each School Assembly.

A new rebound wall was installed in the school grounds early in 2008, and Wellspring Community Artists worked with the children to create a mural for this wall, which started out life as a fairly drab construction. With the help of Wellspring, the wall now has a colourful mural reflecting the four worlds of learning that underpin the school curriculum - the social, physical, natural and built worlds. The mural was created by combining elements of drawings produced by all the children.

During 2008, an indigenous themed painting was designed and painted by the children and staff of the school. In February 2008 a Smoking Ceremony was held in the playground, coincidentally on National Sorry Day. The painting is mounted on the front entrance wall of the main building outside reception.

Operation

Under the ACT Education Act (2004), the school runs under the administration of the school executive staff, and the School Board. The School Board consists of two parent representatives, one community representative, the principal and a staff representative.

Parents and Citizens Committee

The P&C is very active at the Cooperative School, reflecting the high degree of community involvement at the school.

Waste Wise Schools

The Cooperative School is accredited under the ACT Waste Wise program.

School Web Site

The school web site is located at http://www.coop.act.edu.au/