Arte-non-Vi

Tag: State Schools

  • Blair’s Model in Victoria?

    Those of us familiar with the changes in the UK under Tony Blairs “Education, Education, Education” world view, will recognise elements of this proposal. This will be something that we should watch very closely.

    In a profound and challenging move in State Education, Carolin Milburn reports in todays Saturday “Age Online” that some state schools will be closed and their sites sold under a Bracks Government plan to fund major upgrades of schools.

    The report goes on to say:

    The draft policy is a dramatic departure from current practices where government schools get extra money to improve facilities or build new ones.

    For the first time in Victoria’s 130-year history of state education, government spending on school infrastructure will depend on schools raising student achievement levels. The draft policy says the new method of funding was required to narrow the gap between underperforming and high-achieving schools. If schools want money for capital works they must first prove to the education department they have a plan to lift student results, according to the policy document, Capital Investment and Access Planning Policy.

    The Honourable Lynne Kosky, Minister for Education and Training was reported as saying she was in the final stages of consulting leading groups representing teachers, parents, school councils and principals and that she will release the policy within two weeks.

    For full details, follow this link the globesm: The Age Newspaper Online.[Login may be required]

    [Source: theage.com.au]

    Link: Schools to close over poor results

  • High Demand Government Schools

    A report summarising the key factors identified as influencing parents’ decisions to enrol their children at 20 government schools for which there was high demand for enrolments is now available from the Department of Education Science and Training’s Web Site.

    The Age newspaper has also covered the publication of this report in an article today. It can be read here.

    This report is based on the 2004 DEST project, High Demand Government Schools, which was prompted by the Department’s priority policy interest in quality schooling and ‘choices in schooling’.  Twenty government schools for which there was high demand for enrolments were selected from across Australia, using the local knowledge of State Education Departments and the Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACSSO).  Consultants Phillips KPA Pty Ltd conducted focus groups with parents and senior staff at each of the twenty schools.

    The factors drawn out of these discussions suggest that there is no single formula to create a high demand school.   While the majority of schools were from metropolitan locations, their profiles varied when it came to size, schooling level, organisational and curricular arrangements.  Some emphasised the academic achievement of their students, while others highlighted the range of alternate pathways offered.

    The research did, however, identify a number of overlapping factors as important in creating a well-rounded learning environment, including:

    • A respectful, caring and inclusive culture;
    • High quality and committed school leaders and teachers;
    • High levels of parental and community involvement;
    • Good communication between the school and parents; and
    • Effective timetabling and unique structure or organisational features.

    Related Links

     

    Link: High Demand Government Schools.

  • State schools to be less secular.

    Sigh…

    Teachers in Victorian public schools will be given the legal right to discuss religion in the classroom, in a historic modification of legislation governing the state’s secular education system.

    The Government intends to change the Education Act to recognise that teachers at senior levels already discuss religion when it is relevant to an area of study, giving the example of the Iraqi conflict.

    Under the current legislation, drafted in 1872, government school teachers are banned from giving “any instruction other than secular”.

    Link: State schools to be less secular.