Port teacher slams “underdeveloped” label: “Our kids are fine”

BY ANDREW MATHIESON
A Portarlington teacher has hit back at a study labelling the town’s kids as developmental underachievers.
Portarlington Kindergarten’s Marita Thurman said the below-average results in the controversial early-years development project did not reflect the achievement of the local children.
Ms Thurman also rejected claims that limited services were stifling the children’s development.
A report from the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) found that Portarlington recorded the lowest scores in the Geelong region.
The AEDI is a measure of children’s development across emotional maturity, social competence, physical health and wellbeing, language and cognitive skills, communication abilities and general knowledge.
Portarlington Community Association told the Independent on November 17 that the results were “of some concern”.
The association cited a lack of playgroups and activities in Portarlington, suggesting members of its mothers group were abandoning the town for Clifton Springs.
But Ms Thurman said the report’s final figures were unrepresentative.
“The AEDI report was founded on a very small pool of children in Portarlington,” she said.
“It was only 33 children as compared to Geelong areas and I know Clifton Springs had 70 children in the pool.”
Nearly 60 community members have since attended a Portarlington Early Years Forum to discuss improvement of services.
A report to City Hall on the forum said Portarlington Maternal and Child Health Centre did not have suitable facilities for group activities.
Ms Thurman believed the “over used” AEDI report had cast far too much negativity over Portarlington.
“It needs to be used as a platform for improving things rather than throwing it back in the face of the community,” she said.
“We’re finding it’s affecting how people see Port-arlington and we’re being questioned by parents.”
More than $500,000 has now been spent on renovating Portarlington Kindergarten, with a playgroup operating out of the premises from Monday.
Ms Thurman said enrolments at the kindergarten for four-year-olds and a pre-kinder group were at full capacity.
The forum also devised plans for extra-integrated support at Portarlington Primary School.