El Arish is nestled in the Mission Beach hinterland
just off the Bruce Highway between Tully in the south and Innisfail in the
north. It is surrounded by rainforest, cane paddocks, banana farms and right
next to a golf course. Mission Beach, Kurrimine Beach
and Dunk Island are right on our door-step.
EL Arish is only a tiny population but many families still living in El
Arish and surrounds have ancestors that came to this soldier settlement when it
was established under “The Returned Soldiers Settlement Act of 1917”. Under the
Act the area was first called “The Maria Creek Soldiers Settlement” at EL Arish
and was established on 1 August 1920. The school opened in
1922 with an enrolment of 5 students.
The learning environment focuses on teaching the whole child with a
focus on numeracy, literacy and technology. In the multi-age classroom environment,
students are able to work at their development level in all aspects of their
learning. This often means, promoting their individual talents and catering for
their individual learning differences.
Our school has a student population of around 40 children. The students
are well educated with many teaching and support staff working at the school.
The teaching staff includes 1 teaching principal, 1.5 classroom teachers, a physical
education specialist, an arts teacher, an Indonesian specialist teacher, 3
permanent part time teacher aides, and 1 casual teacher aides. Parents and
community members are active participants in the education offered at El Arish
State School, regularly supporting students with learning in the classroom,
coaching sports activities, and teaching specialist skills within the
Australian Curriculum framework offered at our school.