Fri 17 February, 2012

Portfolio: Seniors and Volunteering

Lynette Isted appointed chairwoman of Carers Advisory Council

Seniors and Volunteering Minister Robyn McSweeney today appointed a new chairwoman to the Western Australian Carers Advisory Council.

Lynette Isted, from Fremantle, has been a member of the council since last year. She has extensive experience as a health professional and a lecturer, holding a Masters in Clinical Science (Occupational Therapy) from Curtin University.

Ms Isted also has been a primary carer of her elderly mother for the past three and a half years.

Mrs McSweeney said it gave her great pleasure to appoint Ms Isted as chairwoman.

“Chairing this body is an important role and the council provides strategic advice to me on carers’ needs,” she said.

“I will be looking to the council to identify what improvements can be made to ensure the State Government continues to make a real difference to the lives of carers.

“Lynette’s professional expertise in the field, together with her personal experience as a carer, will make a valuable contribution to increasing the recognition of carers in our community. I would like to congratulate Lynette on her appointment and look forward to working with her in her new role.”

Fact File

Carers Advisory Council comprises 10 members appointed by the Minister
Members are carers or people who know about supporting carers
Council advises State Govt through the Minister on relevant issues for carers

Minister’s office – 08 9222 8950

Thu 16 February, 2012

Portfolio: Education

State Govt prepared for WA’s pace of growth
Malvern Springs one of four new primary schools to open in 2012

The self-sufficient community of Ellenbrook, one of the fastest-growing areas in the State, today celebrated the opening of a new primary school.

The State Government has kept pace with the area’s growth with the introduction of the new $11.5million Malvern Springs Primary School, which was officially opened today by Education Minister Liz Constable.

School enrolments have grown at a faster than anticipated rate, with 279 students already enrolled.

“Malvern Springs is one of four new public primary schools the State Government will open in 2012,” Dr Constable said.

“Three others were opened last year and another four public primary schools will open in 2013 as this Government keeps pace with the growth of Western Australia and rapidly-growing areas such as Ellenbrook.

“This school represents the continual expansion and diversification of its community, where children are nurtured and supported to reach their potential.”

The Minister said the school had placed an emphasis on establishing high expectations for students to develop sound numeracy and literacy skills.

“This school has developed a program firmly focused on recognising and encouraging the individual talents of children,” she said.

Dr Constable said she was impressed with the school’s logo which was symbolic of growth, reaching upwards and looking towards the future.

Fact File

School designed by T&Z Architects and built by Niche Constructions
Facilities include: purpose-built learning areas; library; covered assembly block; administration and staff block; music classroom, art and craft classroom, an oval and a hard court
The entire school has been equipped with air-cooling
Each learning space has been fitted with an electronic whiteboard

Minister’s office – 08 6552 5700

Portfolio: Environment

* $42,000 in extra Waste Wise Schools grants available for 21 new schools
* Grants to bring additional 10,000 students through the program
* Nearly 90,000 students from 172 metro/regional schools have participated

Lessons in worm farming and composting to reduce waste will be rolled out to a further 10,000 Western Australian school students as part of the State Government’s commitment to a zero waste policy.

Environment Minister Bill Marmion today welcomed the Waste Authority’s decision to invest a further $42,000 this financial year into the curriculum-linked Waste Wise Schools program.

The program provides tiered grants of $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000 to fund projects across the State at schools teaching programs for increasing recycling and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

“Waste Wise projects have a far reaching influence as students take their waste knowledge home and provide the inspiration for the whole school and wider community to reduce waste,” Mr Marmion said.

“These small grants are part of the Government’s co-ordinated effort to improve waste management and recycling across WA and they’re a great example of how funds raised from the landfill levy are used for worthy environmental objectives.”

The Minister said the majority of schools used their first tier grant to start waste infrastructure projects such as aluminium can recycling, composting and worm farming. The projects then expand as the whole school community becomes engaged.

“These projects are then built upon as recycling becomes incorporated into everyday activities, with the projects expanding to cover zero waste lunches and teaching students to grow fruit and vegetables, encouraging healthy eating,” he said.

Nearly 90,000 students from 172 metropolitan and regional schools have taken part in Waste Wise programs since 2008.

Fact File

Latest increase in funding takes the total amount invested in Waste Wise Schools grants in 2011-12 to $217,000
Waste Wise Schools program is funded through WA landfill levy and delivered by the Department of Environment of Conservation on behalf of the Waste Authority
Schools can apply for the grants by visiting http://www.wastewise.wa.gov.au or emailing wendy.aspden@dec.wa.gov.au

Minister’s office – 08 9220 5000

Portfolio: Education

Minister calls on parents and carers to get children to school
Communities must support school programs to make a difference

Education Minister Liz Constable said parents and carers must do much more to get their children to school after 2011 attendance figures showed too many students were still regularly missing public schooling.

Writing in today’s The West Australian, Dr Constable said that, despite concerted efforts by the State Government, principals and teachers to encourage regular school attendance, data continued to show that while some schools were making progress, overall attendance rates were static despite some individual schools showing gains.

Aboriginal student attendance was still of particular concern.

The Minister said parents, students, businesses, schools and the wider community needed to work together to improve the overall student attendance rate which remained stable at 90.93 per cent, and the Aboriginal student attendance rate of only 77.25 per cent.

“I am calling on all parents and communities to join with us as we try to lift school attendance rates,” she said.

“The schools with supportive communities, and parents who realise the real benefits of schooling for their children, are those where poor attendance records can be turned around.”

Dr Constable said, despite the overall lack of improvement, initiatives developed by some schools to boost student attendance were beginning to show results.

Visiting Yule Brook College in Maddington, which had been using positive reinforcement to improve attendance of its students, the Minister said all schools needed to look at their own student populations to examine how best to get students back to school.

“We know students who have poor attendance are disadvantaged severely in their future education and career prospects,” she said.

“When I launched the State Government’s Better Attendance, Brighter Futures strategy, I asked schools to implement local solutions to solve attendance problems with their communities.

“For example, after noticing that the regular attendance of girls was about half that of boys, Yule Brook College began a ‘Girls Academy’, which includes resilience and personal development programs. It has helped to nearly double the number of girls regularly attending school.

“Through the Clontarf Foundation, the Yule Brook Football Academy encourages Aboriginal boys to attend school with incentives such as outings, camps and football matches, and the school has worked hard to foster strong connections with families and encourage regular parent contact.

“These are innovative examples of a school which is working hard to get students to school but needs many more parents on board to help bring overall attendance up to an acceptable level.”

Dr Constable said a number of schools had also formed partnerships with local businesses to ensure they do not serve students during school time.

The Minister congratulated schools that had achieved notable improvements in student attendance in 2011.

“I am particularly pleased that 28 schools with 20 Aboriginal students or more achieved an Aboriginal student attendance rate of 90 per cent or higher,” she said.

“By working closely with disengaged Aboriginal students and their parents, Albany Primary School improved attendance of its Aboriginal students by nearly nine per cent; and Bertram, Curtin and Woodbridge primary schools all had improvements of more than five per cent.

“This shows what can be done but for too many schools this remains an elusive target and it requires support from parents all across WA to make sure students do not continue to miss out on their education.”

Fact File

Appendix 1 – 2011 attendance data
Appendix 2 – WA public school attendance information

Minister’s office – 6552 5700

Attachments

appendix1.pdf
appendix2.pdf

Portfolio: Education

Most students attend more than three schools, and many across State borders
Award-winning new software allows teachers to monitor student mobility
Share learning programs across all school sectors in three States/Territories

Figures obtained from 285 remote schools near the Western Australian, Northern Territory and South Australian borders quantify the level of Aboriginal student transience for the first time, Education Minister Liz Constable revealed today.

“In June 2008, the Tri-border Attendance Strategy was launched,” Dr Constable said.

“This involved the use of a new live data system that allowed attendance, enrolment and learning information to be easily shared across public, Catholic and independent schools with the aim of addressing Aboriginal absenteeism and providing smoother transitions for students between schools.

“The transiency of Aboriginal families in northern Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia has long been the biggest issue impacting on the quality of education received by indigenous young people in these areas.

“Previously, the mobility of families meant schools were unable to provide continuous learning programs, and many students appeared to be lost from State and Territory systems.

“Now we have an accurate picture of the movements of Aboriginal families, we can continue to tailor our education system to meet their needs. The system allows us to track each student’s movement between schools.

“This Government believes that the one-size-fits-all education approach does not work for everyone. We need to make the system work for all, and a major aim is to improve the learning of Aboriginal students.

“This software allows teachers across all schools to share student learning programs, so teachers can help a student who arrives at a new school at any time to pick up where they left off.”

Data gathered by the Central Schools’ Systems database for the period February 2009 to December 2011 reveals that of 80,000 students:

one student attended nine schools
one student attended eight schools
two students attended seven schools
21 students attended six schools
121 students attended five schools
552 students attended four schools
2,270 students attended three schools.

Data for the period February 2009 to October 2011 shows that of 1,496 students:

641 have enrolled in schools across three State and Territory borders
483 were enrolled in WA and NT schools
46 enrolled in both SA and NT schools
91 enrolled at Catholic and public schools in the Kimberley.

“This comprehensive sharing of live data across sectors and jurisdictions is a first in Australia,” the Minister said.

“Participating schools are able to view and monitor the attendance and enrolment histories of students, regardless of where they have come from.

“The Central Schools’ Systems database is a valuable tool that we are using to help close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal achievement in education.

“The State Government aims to continue to rollout the system this year through schools in the Kimberley and Pilbara.”

Fact File

The Tri-Border Attendance Strategy won two awards at the recent Australian Regional Instructional Management Systems Learning Impact Awards (Australian Regional Winner and People’s Choice Award)
The strategy will be assessed by a panel of global experts for its ability to affect educational outcomes at the International Learning Impact Awards in Toronto in May
The strategy is managed by the Western Australian Department of Education

Minister’s office – 08 6552 5700

Portfolio: Premier, Education

261,987 students begin lessons at more than 770 public schools across WA
$1million new iPad initiative to spark literacy and numeracy learning

As almost 262,000 students begin lessons at public schools across Western Australia today, some of the smallest children are set to use touch technology to boost their literacy and numeracy skills.

Premier Colin Barnett and Education Minister Liz Constable today announced a new Early Childhood iPad Initiative would provide nearly 900 iPads for Year 1 and 2 classes in 17 schools, and two mentor schools that have previously participated in a pilot iPad program.

Speaking at West Beechboro Primary School, which will receive 55 iPads, Mr Barnett said Western Australia’s achievements in the recent National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests had resulted in the State receiving additional funding for learning programs.

“Western Australian teachers are tailoring programs to suit individual students, right from the moment they arrive at pre-primary,” Mr Barnett said.

“Our new on-entry assessments of pre-primary students give teachers vital information about the skills our youngest students possess as they enter school, and we are delivering the tools teachers need to best connect with young students.”

Dr Constable said 17 schools had been selected to participate in the $1million program.

“The schools range from Parkfield Primary School in the South-West, to Kalgoorlie Primary School in the Goldfields and Baler Primary School in the Pilbara,” she said.

Dr Constable said iPad apps had the potential to bring mathematics and reading to life for young students, engaging them in their education.

“Students are very confident with the technology generally, and are excited to use iPads. This can only be good for their education. Last year, the teachers piloting this program found that in particular, young boys responded very well when using programs on iPads to develop their reading skills,” she said.

“Tablet computers are tactile and interactive, which allow students to learn and practise maths skills such as counting patterns, times tables, shape identification, counting money and telling time.

“For reading, there are apps available which make learning phonics, spelling and fluency in reading more engaging for students.”

The Minister said teachers involved in the initiative would draw on the expertise of teachers from mentor schools Settlers Primary School and Aubin Grove Primary School, who had pioneered iPads as literacy and numeracy teaching tools with their students.

“Students across the State are already benefitting from the use of electronic whiteboards by teachers,” Dr Constable said.

“This technology is reinvigorating learning and iPads will similarly have an impact in the classroom. One of the apps students will use allows children to record themselves reading passages of text and listen to themselves reading.

“Teachers have told me this process really built their confidence and enjoyment in reading, particularly for boys.”

Fact File

Four new public schools worth $56million open today. Malvern Springs and Aveley Primary Schools in Ellenbrook, Piara Waters Primary School north of Forrestdale and Meadow Springs Primary School north of Mandurah
73 schools begin as Independent Public Schools today, taking the total to 171 schools. West Beechboro Primary School is one of these

Premier’s office – 08 6552 5200
Education Minster’s office – 08 6552 5700

List of schools participating in the Early Childhood iPad Initiative

Aubin Grove Primary School (mentor school)
Baler Primary School
Bullsbrook District High School
Campbell Primary School
Cassia Primary School
Currambine Primary School
Forrestfield Primary School
Grovelands Primary School
Hilton Primary School
Kalgoorlie Primary School
Maddington Primary School
Manjimup Primary School
Parkfield Primary School
Seaforth Primary School
Settlers Primary School (mentor school)
South Hedland Primary School
Tranby Primary School
West Beechboro Primary School
Yakamia Primary School

Source Elizabeth Constable Press Release