Some local principals welcomed the decision saying it would allow them to focus on the individual requirements of students by providing attention to those who needed to catch up and support for those looking to excel. Two schools in the Moree Plains Shire will receive marginally less funding in comparison to last year.

Both the State Member for Barwon, Kevin Humphries, and the Member for Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall - whose electorate will encompass Moree after the next election - said the announcement highlighted the success of the state’s new Resource Allocation Model (RAM) and the national Gonski funding plan, which the federal government is set to scrap. 

Moree Public School will secure an extra $518,284 next year, taking the total preliminary funding to $1,354,386, which principal Adrian King described as a “very significant” amount.

“But more important, regarding RAM, is that it gives you certainty. Under the old model you were assessed at the end of every three years whereas now, we know that we will be receiving additional funding well into the foreseeable future, even though the amount may change.”

As opposed to the previous funding model, which allocated resources according to the number of students, RAM allocates funds based on the number of students from a range of categories who require additional support, including students with disabilities, refugees, indigenous students and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. 

“The funding is provided so that students who are traditionally at an educational disadvantage can have the same opportunities as others,” Mr Humphries wrote in an email to the Moree Champion. “The funding could therefore be used on external tutors, relief staff, even bringing professionals such as speech pathologists to schools to help in these children’s development.  As long as the schools can justify the spend, it is up to them to determine how to use the funding for the best outcomes.”

Mr King said it was a “fairer model” which meant remote schools with smaller numbers but a higher percentage of students who needed support were not left behind.   

He said RAM had enabled the school to hire an additional 12 to 13 teachers and support staff. 

In a day which he jokingly described as “organised chaos” as the school welcomed dozens of new kindergarten students who will begin next year, Mr King listed the programs his school was tailoring to their students’ individual needs. Additional programs for numeracy and literacy, like ‘QuickSmart’ and ‘Rip it up Reading’, sending books home with kids to “foster a love of reading”, additional learning support officers and speech pathology in kindergarten, which Mr King describes as “absolutely critical” in children’s literacy development. 

“And we’ve also got programs aimed at the other end of the scale, people who are interested in furthering their music studies,” he said. “We just recently started up a drumming program - it’s a little noisy but a great opportunity for the kids.”

Other local schools to receive significantly more money in 2015, according to the preliminary figures, include: Mungindi Central with an additional $268,392 (total $516,818), Moree Secondary College, Albert St campus, with $101,040 (total $580,790) and Barwon Learning Centre $51,428 (total $106,431). 

The only two schools in the shire to receive less funding next year will be the Moree Secondary campus on Carol Ave, with $14,770 less ($807,658 total) and Moree East Public School with $19,301 less ($690,545 total).

Smaller, remote schools like Pallamallawa Public, which has 30 students, said they had been given greater autonomy under the reforms. Pallamallawa will receive an additional $31,687 in 2015 for a total of $111,745 under the RAM scheme.

Principal Julie Schwartz stressed that the funding included “staffing allocations” but said the money would be used to extend a kindergarten transition program and focus on numeracy and literacy support. 

“This is giving money back to the schools,” she said. “Through ‘Local Schools, Local Decisions’ we can actually use funds to better suit our individual schools.”

In a statement in which he described himself as a “passionate advocate” of Gonski reforms, signed by NSW and other states with the previous Labor federal government, Mr Marshall said this support was a result of NSW being the first to sign up to and fully fund the agreement.

“It’s what NSW public schools have wanted – a significant increase in funding guaranteed into the future, with the greatest benefits flowing to schools and students with the greatest need,” he said. “This wouldn’t have happened without the leadership of Education Minister Adrian Piccoli and a determination to put the needs of students first in our education system, not politics.”