Education Directorate
The work of the Education Directorate is strengthened through the range of partnerships we build with students, their families and the community more broadly.
Regular engagement with families, community and industry has allowed strategies to be put in place to support students at all stages of their learning journeys.
The Board of Senior Secondary Studies, through its community based membership, provides stakeholder engagement with all school sectors, tertiary institutions, training providers, parents, business and unions. The Board has four advisory bodies which provide advice to the Board. The bodies are the:
- Assessment and Certification Committee (ACC)
- Curriculum Advisory Committee (CAC)
- Vocational Education and Training (VET) Committee
- Innovation Committee (INC).
Representation on these groups is community based. Each group is chaired by a Board member with the group members drawn from a variety of stakeholder groups pertinent to the nature of the group. The groups meet regularly and report directly to the Board.
Project | Summary |
|---|---|
Future of Education | The directorate is currently seeking feedback about the experience of education in the ACT as part of the Future of Education initiative. The directorate is seeking views from across the community – including parents, teachers, students, graduates and school staff – in order to inform a strategy about the next 10 years of education in the ACT. The structure of the conversation includes three phases. The first phase is an open and capture process to collect broad ideas and insights from the community. The Directorate will bring back to the community any emerging themes for testing before a final policy is developed. The project was launched with a series of events, including a Leadership Forum with School Principals and Executive staff and the first Partnership Symposium, bringing together key community stakeholders including the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Association, Catholic Education Office, Association of Independent Schools, ACT Council of Social Services (ACTCOSS) and the Canberra Business Chamber. The early phase of this project included extensive face-to-face engagement with community organisations, schools, principals and teachers where the project was explained and encouraged school leaders to have conversations with their own communities and report back. School leaders were provided with supporting materials and encouraged to engage with their communities in a way that was relevant and meaningful to them. The Minister’s Student Congress engaged student leaders in the conversation. The directorate has also started engaging with the community sector through face-to-face meetings with ACTCOSS and the Youth Coalition and will continue to meet with these and other groups as the consultation progresses. The directorate introduced the ‘video booth’ or ‘ideas igloo’ – an inflatable structure where students, parents and teachers can share their ideas about education in a fun and innovative way. Further engagement activities will continue in terms 3 and 4, 2017. |
School Education Advisory Committee to gain advice from the community on the Devices for Students Year 7 to 11 Initiative | The ACT Government at the 2016 election has committed $17 million to supply a device to all Year 7 and Year 11 students each year for four years. The School Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) was established by the Minister in March 2017 to provide advice on the implementation approach and the best way to achieve effective educational outcomes when supplying devices to students. Chaired by former Community Services Deputy Director-General, the SEAC was a targeted community engagement tool comprising eight community representatives, including a director of University Canberra, a student representatives and a parent representative. The Committee met four times face-to-face. The SEAC provided the report to the Minister on 22 June 2017 including 13 recommendations (nine related to Education Support Office and others relate to schools) to guide the implementation of the initiative. The directorate is currently entering into procurement prior to implementation. |
Student Resource Allocation Program | A contemporary funding model specifically for Canberra public schools is being progressively developed and commenced implementation of the first phase in 2016. The Student Resource Allocation Program (SRA) is about much more than funding. It provides a platform for broad reform and cultural change, including updated and improved policy settings to guide school and system decision making and learning environments that best meet student needs through innovative work practices, staff development and improved data about student and school performance. Through the SRA Program, the directorate has consulted with a wide variety of stakeholders on various issues linked to identifying student need, meeting their aspirations and supporting students and their families to achieve. For example for the Students with Disability Review Project, the directorate published a discussion paper on its website and sought input and feedback from parents, school staff, school leaders, representative organisations and community groups in face-to-face consultations, online surveys and through submissions. Over 50 groups participated in face-to-face consultations and the surveys were advertised through school newsletters and social media. The directorate also spoke to students of a range of ages and schools. Community engagement processes are ongoing as the directorate engages with the public about policy changes taking place and to gain further input for reviews in progress. |
Schools for All – Student Voice | The Youth Coalition of the ACT (Youth Co) was engaged by the directorate to facilitate a project about Student Voice in the ACT. Youth Co worked with the directorate, Catholic Education Office, Association of Independent Schools ACT to organise a forum on the 28 July 2016. To support student participants to prepare for attendance at the Forum, Youth Co, in consultation with the Cross Sectoral Committee, developed a student engagement survey. The survey opened prior to the forum, with the idea all student participants would get feedback from their peers before attending the forum. Fifty-five schools attended the forum represented by 109 students. The project engaged more than 3,600 students from 66 schools. The information received from students and an evidenced based literature review informed the development of resources and strategies for school leadership teams and teachers on how they can better listen, take into account and act on the opinions of children and young people within their school. |
Major Partnerships | The directorate has a range of specific partnerships with business and community groups that support education and celebrate with excellence among ACT public schools. In this reporting period, programs from major partnerships included:
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