{"id":41055,"date":"2013-08-08T16:14:37","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T06:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=41055"},"modified":"2013-08-08T19:24:53","modified_gmt":"2013-08-08T09:24:53","slug":"three-parts-to-a-successful-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/08\/08\/three-parts-to-a-successful-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Parts To A Successful School"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Respected local educator Eric Law<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 8, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Marcus Priaulx<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well-known South Burnett educator Eric Law says three groups have to work together to make a successful school …\u00a0the students, parents and staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf one of those three isn\u2019t coming up to the mark, it adds pressure on the other two,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it hard for our children to reach their potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Law – who has advised State and Federal governments – has just retired from his formal role at St Joseph’s School in Murgon after 40 years of service to education, which includes becoming one of Queensland\u2019s first Indigenous teachers, a school principal, a TAFE faculty director and former adviser to then-Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bob Katter and Federal ministers Susan Ryan and John Dawkins.<\/p>\n

He has won awards and accolades and believes there are wonderful opportunities for young Indigenous people today.<\/p>\n

But he also believes Indigenous parents should be immensely proud if their children complete Year 12, not matter what their marks are.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what sort of battles they\u2019ve had to get to that point,\u201d Mr Law said.<\/p>\n

Children from isolated communities with English as a second language often have to leave home to board at a school where the culture and values are different.<\/p>\n

Mr Law believes Aboriginal and Islander parents want the same life outcomes for their children and doesn\u2019t accept the idea of parents not supporting their children\u2019s education if they had a hard time at school themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more parent support,\u201d Mr Law said.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents have to be involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell them they have learned a lot through life and have a lot to offer their children. With parent support, there\u2019s nothing our kids can\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Law was raised in Cherbourg with 11 brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n

Eight of the children became teachers and went on to live productive lives; as have his own children, nephews, nieces and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

But none, he said, would have been able to do so without the start and support his parents gave him and his siblings as they were growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we all owe the great lives we\u2019ve lived to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey supported us in all that we did and always told us going to school was the building block to our having a great future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe, all parents can do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n