A note from our (Canadian) Editor:
Commendations of the book or the school
Extracts from an article in The Age :
“I liked your book. You are brave and sensible people, if I may say so. Congratulations! I hope your pupils will, one day, grasp how fortunate they were.” (22 Nov 2015)
Fitzroy Community School Book
ABOUT the FUTURE of SCHOOLING in AUSTRALIA
"What a fascinating life experience!
A great memoir, but more importantly, an insightful and important critique of education today. The trials and tribulations of the Australian school system are endemic in many Western education systems, so the solutions and approaches taken by FCS have universal application.
This book will therefore appeal to many educators, not just those in Australia. As a former university professor, I can attest to the lack of quality produced by many North American schools, for largely the same reasons raised in this book.
This is a real eye opener and gives me hope for our future. This is an important book and should be part of all teaching credential programs."
ALTERNATIVE APPROACH ACES NAPLAN TESTS
Academic achievement is not the highest priority at [the non-selective] Fitzroy Community School.
It is not even the second priority. In fact, it comes in at a distant third after happiness and viability.
“We don’t spend a lot of time relative to other schools doing maths and English,” says principal Tim
Berryman.
So it is somewhat ironic that Year 5 students at the alternative independent primary school blitzed
the state in the 2011 NAPLAN tests, outperforming every other Victorian school in spelling, reading,
grammar and punctuation. …" (28 Feb 2012)