Gilgai goes green for Gonski

The students wore green, ate green food and played games on the green, after the P&C decided to campaign.

P&C president Sally Wilson said time was running out for state and federal politicians to make a decision on the issue, which would have a serious impact on schools such as Gilgai’s.

“Being a small school, quite often we miss out on funding other schools seem to get,” Mrs Wilson said.

“We see Gonski as an important strategy for schools to get funded the way they should.”

Mrs Wilson said Gilgai Public might be a small school, but that didn’t mean the students and teachers couldn’t try to speak up for a better deal.

“They all deserve the best-quality education, regardless if there’s one student at the school or 1000,” she said.

Mrs Wilson said smaller schools, particularly, needed better funding because they often took on greater responsibilities to students and their families.

“This school is the hub of the village; it’s what keeps communities like this together,” she said.

Mrs Wilson said the current funding formula was “flawed”.

“We have more and more children with special needs coming through, and they’re going to have less and less funding there to support them with things like extra teacher time and extra equipment.”

Year 6 student Tim Beattie was one of those showing his support for Gonski.

Public schools aren’t getting enough money and some kids aren’t getting a quality education,” he said.