Teachers and schools
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Education is the key to a bright future for Queensland children and the State Government is investing strongly in education to give our children the flying start they deserve.
The State Government is driving a package of reforms to give children the boost they need at critical stages of their education, particularly during the early years and in the transition to high school.
These initiatives build on earlier educational reforms, including the introduction of an extra year of schooling - Prep - in 2007 and have been moulded by expert advice and wide community consultation.
Our focus is on:
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Getting children ready for primary school;
- Getting children ready for high school; and
- Ensuring teachers and schools can provide the flying start that each child deserves.
Getting ready for school
All teachers know that positive learning experiences in the early years set children up for success at school. Families and early education services have a significant impact at this stage of a child's development and we need to continue to improve.
In their early years, Queensland children will benefit from:
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Initiatives to increase parents' awareness of the importance of daily reading and better preparation for school.
- Access to a quality kindergarten program to help develop their social and learning abilities.
- Prep year to give them a flying start to their schooling.
We have already:
Strengthened early education to Queensland children
- Begun rolling out 240 extra kindergarten services across the state.
- Created an extra 9700 funded kindergarten places in more than 340 approved long day care centres.
- Introduced Prep in 2007 to give all children an extra year of school.
- Raised the school entry age for Year 1 by six months, bringing Queensland in line with other states.
- Established the Queensland Ready Readers program which places community volunteers in hundreds of primary school classrooms, supporting the valuable work of teachers and teacher aides in helping students to read.
Helped parents develop their children's skills
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Established four Early Years Centres at Caboolture, Gold Coast North, Browns Plains and Cairns, to provide early childhood education and care, family support and health services.
- Provided parents of newborn children with a picture book, It's Bed Time, to encourage reading from an early age.
- Highlighted the positive impact reading can have on children's learning readiness through the reading awareness campaign focused on the importance of reading to babies and young children.
We will also:
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Establish an online directory of information to help parents guide their child's early development.
- Train at least 20 000 parents with children in Prep to Year 3 so they can learn how to help their children become confident readers.
- Continue the roll-out of extra kindergarten services and approved long day care services to provide teacher-delivered kindergarten programs.
- Offer more scholarships to early childhood teachers so they can upgrade their qualifications and help meet future demands.
- Promote the importance of enrolment in, and regular attendance at Prep.
- Recognise Prep as the first year of schooling to take full advantage of the new Australian Curriculum which will be introduced in Queensland from 2012.
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Getting ready for high school
The transition to high school is an important time in our students' lives and the government's education reforms are designed to provide the best education and support for our students.
That is why the government has decided to move Year 7 into high school from 2015. The change is a direct result of the successful introduction of a Prep year in 2007, which added an extra year of schooling to Queensland's education system. In 2008 the school entry age was raised by six months, bringing Queensland into line with other states.
By 2015 more than half the students in Year 7 will be turning 13.
Educators agree that young teenagers are ready for greater independence and the depth of learning that high school provides, which is why in most other states and territories Year 7 is already the first year of high school.
By 2015 Queensland Year 7 students will be in their eighth year of school, and this is the right year for high school to begin.
From 2012 Queensland is adopting the new Australian Curriculum for English, mathematics and science. Every Australian school student will learn this core national curriculum. Education Queensland will also build on Science Spark - an exciting initiative involving the equivalent of 100 full-time science teachers currently working in primary schools to develop the knowledge and confidence of our Year 4 to 7 teachers to teach science. The science teachers are helping schools to plan and teach engaging science programs without relying on laboratory work. Our Year 7 students in high schools will benefit from access to specialist resources, such as science labs and science teachers.
We have already:
Broadened and supported better transitions after school
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Raised the school leaving age to 16, with young people required to be ‘learning or earning'.
- Rolled out Senior Education and Training Plans to help students build diverse education and career pathways recognised through the Queensland Certificate of Education.
- Consistently led the nation in the number of students taking part in school-based apprenticeships, with around 50 per cent of the national total in 2010.
- Invested significantly in technology, providing access for students and staff to quality Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in state schools.
- Progressively increased the proportion of people aged 20 to 24 who completed Year 12 or a Certificate II from 79 per cent in 2001 to almost 88 per cent in 2010.
- Introduced the Queensland Curriculum Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) Framework to improve consistency across the state and continuity of learning across Years 1 to 9.
We will also:
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Move Year 7 to high school in all schools by 2015.
- Provide financial assistance to support Catholic and independent schools as they make this change.
- The government will provide substantial additional funding to upgrade facilities at state, Catholic and independent schools to ensure classrooms and other learning environments are the best they can be, and give students the learning opportunities they need.
- Pilot Year 7 in up to 20 state high schools before 2015.
- Provide 500 scholarships for state primary school teachers to prepare them to teach in high schools.
- Introduce Junior Secondary in all Queensland state high schools in 2013 for Years 8 and 9, with Year 7 joining them in 2015. This will ensure students moving between primary and high school will be well supported. Junior Secondary will focus on supporting students' wellbeing in the early years of high school. Support for students may include:
- Encouraging Junior Secondary students to have their own group identity
- Providing students with “home” teachers and classrooms
- Providing varied, engaging learning experiences
- Hosting special Junior Secondary activities and events
- Increasing the involvement of parents
- Providing strengthened pastoral care.
- Provide comprehensive professional development for Junior Secondary teachers to ensure they are well-equipped to work with young adolescents in high school.
- Ensure preservice education courses in universities reflect the changing educational landscape.
- Increase the rate of the Living Away From Home Allowance for eligible Year 7 students to the secondary student rate.
- Review the educational needs of geographically isolated families and services currently available to them.
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Boosting performance for all schools
High expectations, even better teaching and improved discipline are essential to boosting the performance of our schools and the success of our students.
We have already:
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Formed the Queensland Studies Authority which is responsible for developing and approving curriculum from kindergarten to Year 12, overseeing assessment and reporting of student results, and issuing certificates for senior studies and tertiary entrance.
- Established the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board for accrediting Catholic and independent schools.
- Established the Queensland Education Leadership Institute in 2010 to support school leaders with the skills and training they need to help drive major education reforms.
- Commenced the development of pre-registration tests for new primary teachers, to build confidence in teaching standards. The Masters Review in 2009 recommended that before aspiring primary teachers are registered, they must demonstrate a sound knowledge of essential areas like reading and writing, mathematics and science, and threshold knowledge about teaching these areas.
- Conducted cyclical quality reviews of state schools for over a decade, and more recently introduced Teaching and Learning Audits.
We will also:
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Legislate for all Queensland schools to be accredited under shared standards for the first time. The standards will cover key issues for school quality, such as educational programs, student welfare, including behaviour management and school resources.
- Legislate to establish a new independent education standards authority to monitor the standards in all schools from 2013. The authority will merge and expand the functions of the Queensland Studies Authority and the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board.
- Provide on-the-job training for preservice teachers in state schools and professional development for practising teachers at five Teacher Education Centres of Excellence. Independent schools will set up four centres of excellence, while Catholic schools will boost mentoring for new teachers.
- Ensure all teacher education programs prepare teachers to assess student learning and give personalised support to students with special needs. All programs will also be strengthened with a renewed focus on behaviour management.
- Establish a Ministerial Taskforce to work through further reforms to teacher education, based on the recommendations of the Caldwell Review.
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This page was last reviewed on 09 June 2011
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