23 Harewood Cl

Box Hill
3128
ken.gilmore@gmail.com

Camberwell Primary School

To Whom It May Concern
23 Summerville St
Camberwell 3124
10th November 2013

Dear Principal,

I am writing on behalf of my daughter Isla Gilmore, who was refused

enrollment from your school. I am appalled by your decision as it is an act of
discrimination, not only detrimental to my daughters educational journey and
self-esteem but its quite simply against the law. In this day and age, all
children have a right to a good quality education, (UNICEF, 2008, Article 28)
and a right to learn,(UNESCO, 1994, p.iii). Its my responsibility to help Isla
exercise her rights (UNICEF, 2008, Article 5) so I have taken upon this duty to
inform you of mistreatment of my child and ask you to reconsider your actions
as you read the following.
Although Isla has Cerebral Palsy, unfortunately some people assume
that this physical disability is associated with an intellectual disability. This is a
prejudiced assumption as many people accompany her slow speech with a
lack of intelligence. However she is more than capable of learning along with
her peers in an inclusive environment. Its imperative that educators
understand that Isla wouldnt need a specialized teaching program just for her,
as it would be exactly the same for everyone else in her class. The only thing

teachers would need to adapt too is catering for Islas physical needs in and
around the classroom. (Foreman, 2011, p.6) Its actually a myth according to
Foreman (2011) that teachers need special patience and special skills to be
able to teach children with a disability, However, its the classrooms that aim
to cater for all students with all diverse needs that are most effective, rather
than adapting the environments only for students with a disability, (Foreman,
2011, p.26).
Even taking Islas physical disability into account, its still not enough
grounds to refuse her enrollment. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
originally enforced in 1992, makes it against the law for an educational
authority to discriminate against someone because that student has a
disability. The DDA align with the UN Convention beliefs that a person with a
disability has a right to study at any educational institution in the same way as
any other student, (Disability Discrimination Act, 2005, Part 4.2). The DDA
clearly states the proper process when seeking enrollment at the school.
Under the enrollments standards the educational provider must have
consultation with the prospective student or their family. So far there has been
no discussion around her potential enrollment. We as a family find this
unacceptable. It is also not fair, according to the DDA to refuse enrollment on
the ground of not having the facilities or services for Isla. It is the schools
responsibly to make reasonable adjustments to their school grounds to make
it more accessible for Isla. As they state its a students right to be able to
participate in education and training, on the same basis as students without
disabilities, (Disability Discrimination Act, 2005, part 5.2). One of the
underlying principles of Inclusion is that students have right to the least
restrictive environment. This implies that every school should aim to be

accessible for all members of the community even the ones in wheelchairs.
Money is also not a good enough reason to deny Isla completing her
education at your school as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation through the Salamanca Statement urges the
Government to give schools the highest policy and budgetary priority to
improve the education systems to enable them to include all children
regardless of individual differences or difficulties, (UNESCO, 1994, p.ix).
Isla applied to go to your school as we thought all schools are
working towards being authentically inclusive for all students, where every
student had a place to belong.
According to The National Safe Schools Framework, all Australian
schools should be facilitating safe, supportive and respective environments
that promote student wellbeing, (MCEECDYA, 2011). I dont understand how
you could say your school endeavors to have this type of environment and still
refuse enrollment to my daughter. To add to this, at least five out of the nine
Values for Australian Schooling from The National Framework for Values
Education involves students learning about the inclusion of others: Care and
Compassion, Fair go, Freedom, Respect and Understanding, Tolerance and
Inclusion, (Australian Government, 2005, p4). Once schools adopt this
National Framework into their school community and teaching, they are
committed to impart these values into students. However how a school that
proclaims they are communicating these attitudes to students fails to meet
their own expectations they themselves are enforcing onto their students. The
behaviour of your school is contradicting the values you are enforcing onto
your own students.
The principles underlying inclusion needs to be rightfully embedded
into all Australian schools. This situation could be taken as denying Isla of her
general human rights and is an issue of social injustice. All Isla wants is to be
seen as a regular human being who can make her own decisions thats not
just exclusively made because of her disability. If you continue to neglect her
on the terms of her disability her then you are denying her of her general
rights as human. The idea of Normalization comes close to my heart when
discussion principles underlying inclusive education. Again, all Isla would like
and all I could wish for my daughter is that she would live as normal as

possible in her own general community. On the grounds of this principle alone,
a child would have the right to attend their neighbourhood schools, (Foreman,
2011, p. 12).
I strongly believe that Isla wont be the only one that would benefit
from her participation in your school community. Every child brings their
unique gifts, abilities and personalities to the school community. Isla has a
bright and bubbly personality. When people meet her for the first time, she has
this beautiful unique ability to put people at ease. As you would know, children
need to be exposed to and learn from children with diverse backgrounds and
abilities. It is said that mixing students with diverse abilities into the
mainstream classroom doesnt at all compromise the other students but in the
end they benefit from explicit, teacher-directed approaches to classroom
learning, (Foreman, 2011, p.26). The Salamanca Statement also expresses
the importance that students have in learning all together, (1994, p.11).
Teachers also benefit from endeavoring to make their classroom as inclusive
as possible. As research from Foreman (2011) shows that not only do
teachers experience professional growth (p.26) but they experience an
escalation in individual fulfillment as result of working in inclusive settings.
Considering all that was stated above in heart and in law, I now
strongly urge you to reconsider your decision regarding Islas enrollment. We
look forward to your positive response and starting a long educational
partnership that is consistently providing the best educational opportunities for
Isla.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Ken Gilmore.

WORD COUNT: 1157

REFERENCES:
Australian Government, Department of Education, Science and Training. (2005).
National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools. Retrieved
March 20, 2014, from
http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/Framework_PDF_version_for
_the_web.pdf

Australian Government, National Disability Coordination Office Program. (2005)

Disability Discrimination Act, Your Right to an Education. Retrieved March 20,
2014 from, www.ddaedustandards.info

Conner, J. (2011). The Early Years Learning Framework, Professional Learning

Program. Newsletter no.15. Retrieved March 20, 2014 from,
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/wpcontent/uploads/2012/05/EYLFPLP_E-Newsletter_No15.pdf

Foreman, P.(2011). Inclusion in Action (3rd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Cengage
Learning.

Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development And Youth Affairs
(MCEECDYA). (2011). The National Safe Schools Framework. Retrieved
March 25, 2014 from, http://deewr.gov.au/national-safe-schools-framework-0

UNICEF. (2008). UN Convention on the rights of the Child, in Child Friendly

Language. Retrieved March 20, 2014 from,
http://www.childrensweek.org.au/UN%20poster%20Jan%202008.pdf

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). (1994)

The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs
Education. Retrieved March 20, 2014 from,
http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/SALAMA_E.PDF