Briefing for Member Schools

21st June 2011

Topics

• Queensland Government Education White Paper – A Flying Start for Queensland Children

• State Budget 2011/12

Green Paper

• Queensland Government released a Green Paper – A Flying Start for Queensland Children in February 2010

• The Green Paper put forward a number of proposals for public consultation

• The White Paper – also called A Flying Start for Queensland Children was released on 9th June

• It outlines Government policy and proposed actions in relation to the Green Paper proposals

White Paper

• Getting Ready for School

• Getting Ready for Secondary School

• Boosting Performance for all Schools

Available at www.education.qld.gov.au

Getting Ready for School

• Continuation of Ready Readers; reading awareness campaign; reading training for parents of children in Prep to Year 3

• Prep will be recognised as the first year of schooling (however, it remain as not compulsory)

• Universal access to kindergarten; 240 new kindergartens (already announced)

Getting Ready for Secondary School

• Year 7 to move to secondary in 2015• For State schools, “junior secondary” from 2013

(Years 8 and 9); from 2015 (Years 7, 8 and 9)• The change will be piloted in up to 20 state

schools prior to 2015• Strong emphasis on pastoral care for Year 7

students, teacher professional development and introduction of the Australian Curriculum

• Increase the Living Away from Home Allowance for Year 7 students to the secondary rate

Financial Assistance

• $328.2 million for state schools over four years

• Also $293.8 million in recurrent assistance over five years, including an allocation of $81 million to the non-state sector for capital assistance grants

Non-State Assistance

• Of the $81 million, up to $32 million will be available for independent schools

• However , the vast majority of this amount will be from the annual State Government capital funding allocation to independent schools

• This amount is not only well short of what support ISQ believes is necessary, but will also have an impact on capital funding available for other projects

Boarding Schools

• The Government will establish a Taskforce to assess the facility needs of boarding schools

• The Taskforce will report back to the Premier by the end of November 2011

The Process

• The Block Grant Authority will undertake an individual school audit to assess and establish the facilities needs of each school

• This assessment will be in accordance with the parameters for funding established by the Government

• It would be expected that the BGA will be able to provide advice to schools before the end of 2011 about the funding process, criteria and possible entitlements of schools

Other Issues

• Recurrent funding – Year 7 will receive recurrent funding at secondary levels from 2015

• Accreditation processes – the Government will put in place streamlined accreditation process in relation to the change

Questions

• Email your questions about Year 7 to me at drobertson@aisq.qld.edu.au

• I will be running on on-line forum in early August - registration details available through ISQ

Boosting Performance for All Schools

• Teacher Education and Induction• Review of Teacher Education and

Induction (Caudwell and Sutton)• Some recommendations accepted and to

be implemented from 2012• Other recommendations to be considered

by a Teacher Education Implementation Taskforce

• ISQ will be represented on the Taskforce

Boosting Performance for All Schools

• Establish an education standards authority in 2013 to perform curriculum, assessment and reporting functions and to accredit all schools

• The new authority will replace the Queensland Studies Authority and the Non State Schools Accreditation Board

• The Queensland College of Teachers will remain as currently operating

Boosting Performance for All Schools

• Legislate shared criteria and standards for all Queensland schools

• Create a new focus on school improvement to support student outcomes

• Respect schools’ differences and encourage innovation through quality assurance processes that allow diversity of schools and systems

State Budget 2011/12

• Department of Education and Training 2011/12 budget is $8.7 billion in recurrent funding and $578 million in capital funding

• $7.1 billion in recurrent funding will be spent on schools

• Education continues to decline as a percentage of the State Budget – down to 22%

State Budget

• Continuation of various initiatives in state schools – Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan; Closing the Gap; Science Spark Program

• 300 additional FTE teachers• Additional 5,000 teacher aide hours per

week

Non-State Schools

• Recurrent funding for non-state schools

2010/11 2011/12

$467.1 million $516.6 million

• 10.5% increase (takes into account enrolment growth)

Other Funding

• School Transport $4.9 million• Capital Assistance $52.9 million• Living Away from • Home Allowance $6.5 million• Textbook Allowance $17.6 million

Total assistance for non-state schools –

$602.6 million

ISQ State Conference

Conversations

Cairns – 27 to 29th July 2011

Registrations and details at www.aisq.qld.edu.au

For further information -

David RobertsonExecutive DirectorIndependent Schools Queensland

drobertson@aisq.qld.edu.au