OCTOBER 20, 2015 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
Prodigies do it hard way
(Joe Mastroianni)
Holy Eucharist Primary School at St Albans is celebrating its best-ever NAPLAN results. With more than 94 per cent of its students speaking English as a second language, deputy principal John Rudd said it was a tremendous result for a school of 375 pupils in a soci-economically disadvantaged area. “While our data has had an upward trend over the past three years, this year has seen a significant jump and improvement in our NAPLAN scores,” he said. “Our grade 3s performed above Victorian standard in every area tested, which is unusual given most of our students have English as a second language. And given that most of our students don’t speak English at home, it’s difficult for parents to support their child’s learning. “Our school has performed above state average for every area examined and our growth rates between grades 3 and 5 reflect learning growth that’s way ahead of average state growth rates. “We are extremely proud that, even though [some] of our students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, they are not disadvantaged academically.” He said it was a brilliant turnaround considering that, two years ago, the school’s grade 5 pupils were significantly below the state average in most areas tested. ISABEL, BENJAMIN, THANH, MARY AND OLIVIA
Ben Cameron
Baby deaths bring change By Esther Lauaki Western Health will help the beleaguered Djerriwarrh Health obstetrics service following a series of “catastrophic” clinical and governance failures that may have contributed to the deaths of seven babies at the Bacchus Marsh hospital. An independent probe into the deaths of 11 babies, during or shortly after birth, in just two years found that seven of the deaths may have been prevented. Health authorities were advised in March this year by the Consultative Council
“There is nothing that will ever mend the loss of a child, and to learn that death may have been avoidable if not for a series of system failures, can only compound that loss and pain.” Western Health is expanding its partnership with Djerriwarrh to enable clinical staff rotations. A senior obstetrician will provide ongoing advice and be involved in all clinical reviews. Dr John Ballard, a minister-appointed delegate to the Djerriwarrh Health Services board, said these “devastating” events should never have happened, and he apologised
on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity of a higher than expected number of stillbirths and newborn deaths at Djerriwarrh in 2013 and 2014. Last Friday, Health Minister Jill Hennessy sacked the Djerriwarrh Health Service board – which included Melton mayor Sophie Ramsey – and replaced it with an administrator. “What has happened here has been a series of catastrophic failures by a number of parties that may have contributed to the very sad loss of young life,” the minister said.
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to families involved. “Our priority is to provide the families with full disclosure about what happened to their babies,” he said. “We are working very hard to ensure that this … will never happen again.” A doctor working at Bacchus Marsh and Melton hospitals has been linked to the deaths, and is being investigated. An ongoing investigation into the hospital’s obstetrics service will ask questions about why the deaths happened without alarms being raised.
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