This paper will explore some of the pedagogical, social and political issues surrounding a 1991 decision to dose an urban school servicing Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory. In order to contextualise the discussion, a brief description of recent State and Federal government policy documents will be provided, along with a description of the school. This will be followed by an analysis of the decision and subsequent events. Some comparisons will be made with similar events and other court cases in Australia and overseas. This discussion highlights the conflict between the Federal government's policy of self-determination and the Territory government's assimilationist practices as well as the discourses used to override the parents' aspirations to keep the school open.

The focus of this paper is on how teachers can recognise and build on the mathematical knowledge Aboriginal students utilise outside the classroom. It also examines the importance of providing experiences and strategies in which students gain meaning and develop the appropriate language that enables them to extend their skills in Western mathematics.

This brief report highlights an apparently inflated suspension and exclusion rate for Aboriginal students in Western Australian government schools. The elevated rates for both suspension and exclusion, but especially for the more serious step of exclusion, should be reason for concern for all educators.

Since 1967, enormous progress has been made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia in gaining access to, and participating in, tertiary education. National statistics provided by the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET, 1992), show that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are enrolling in, and graduating from, a wider variety of courses in ever increasing numbers.

This is a P-7 school with 200 students. Aboriginal students: 85%. There are 2 qualified Aboriginal teachers in the school while some Aboriginal Teaching Assistants (ATAs) are in their second and third year of teacher training. Ngarinyin, Worrorra, Wunambal, Nyikina, Bardi and Kriol are all spoken in Derby.

Prior to 1994, Lockhart River was a P-7 school. Students from the community wishing to undertake secondary studies had to leave the community and attend secondary school at Bamaga, Cairns or elsewhere. The emotional and cultural upheaval caused by such a move had a significant effect on these students' achievements.

Doomadgee State School in far north Queensland has set up a special ‘village school’ to net erratic and non-attending students, with impressive results.

Capalaba State High School this year stepped up its support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students by increasing awareness of their culture.

Aboriginal artist Jan Henderson has become Bundaberg State High School's first artist in residence, and her profound effect on staff, students and community members bodes well for the implementation of similar programs.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at The University of Queensland has identified the need to develop detailed monitoring strategies to gauge the participation and academic performance of indigenous students at The University of Queensland. To reach this goal the Unit has launched a project which aims to investigate the participation and post-study destinations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.