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St Johns Park High School
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St John’s Park High School is located in Fairfield LGA, NSW. The LGA is
considered as one of the most disadvantaged in NSW, ranking the 4th most
disadvantaged in the state 1. As a result, it is unsurprising that St John’s Park High
School serves a low socio-economic community, with 63% of students being
recorded within the lowest quartile of socio-educational advantage2.
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A key contributor to Fairfield’s heightened disadvantage is the proportion of low
income households. Approximately 23.5% of Fairfield households are classified
as low income, in comparison to the NSW average of 19.7%1.
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In addition, Fairfield residents often do not have equitable access to ICTs that
would benefit education, with the LGA recording an ADII score of 693. This is
further highlighted by 22.2% of households not having access to the internet1.
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These trends are reflected in the school’s survey results, with 60% of laptop
recipients surveyed indicating that they do not have access to reliable internet at
home or their place of study.
36
Survey 1
Respondents
36
Laptops
Distributed
28
Survey 2
Respondents
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As a result, it is clear that lack of internet access is a key barrier for St Johns Park
High School students. Similarly, access to a computer is another barrier for
students at this school, with 75% indicating they do not have access to a
computer after school hours. These results have led to 86% of the students
surveyed claiming that they frequently, often or occasionally have difficulty
completing school work.
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After a 9 month period since receiving the laptops, 96% of students indicated that
the laptop has supported them in their school work, with 86% of students
indicating they saw an improvement in their grades that they believe can be
attributed to their new laptop.
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Specific skills students feel their new computer has helped them develop include
71% in basic operational, 46% in digital communication.
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In addition, students on average rated themselves a 3.4 out of 5 for their
confidence level in the ability to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with
their laptop. Students rated themselves 4.1 out of 5 in their overall confidence in
using a computer. This indicates that there is further work needed to be done to
support students in their digital ability.
OVERVIEW
1.
Profile.id, 2021, Fairfield City, Home | Fairfield City | Community profile (id.com.au)
2.
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2022, St Johns Park High School, Home | My School
3.
ADII, 2021, The national picture, The national picture (digitalinclusionindex.org.au)