May 20, 2012

Boosting Prep for our Children’s Future

March 2, 2012 Leave a Comment

A CanDo LNP Government will revitalise front line education services by boosting Prep teacher aides across Queensland schools to ensure our children get the best start.

The LNP will ensure our children get the best possible start to their education by providing quality Prep education for Queensland families.

By boosting early childhood education, we can start to lift numeracy and literacy standards at the time it really counts.

Our children deserve more personalised attention from their teachers to grow their reading, writing and social skills. That is why we will boost teacher aides for our Prep classes.

Growing to 600 Prep classes, an LNP Government will roll out the equivalent of a full-time teacher aide in the classroom during school hours to 150 prep classes each year for the next four years and will provide up to $54 million to support this investment in early childhood education.

This initiative will immediately deliver 2,250 extra Prep teacher aide hours a week, building up to 9,000 extra hours a week by 2015/16.

This plan will allow teachers more time to do what they do best – teach our kids and provide extra support to help children adjust to the routine and discipline of formal education.

Many schools require their parents to dig deeper into their own pockets to fund the shortfall caused by Labor’s failure to fund much needed Prep teacher aides for all school hours.

Ideally all prep classes would have a teacher aide full-time, but it will take some time for the LNP to clean up Labor’s waste, mismanagement and scandals. This significant boost will be an important step from a CanDo LNP Government to address Labor’s neglect and give our children a better start.

The lack of teacher aides during class hours under this Labor Government is particularly challenging in Prep classes which include children with disabilities or behavioural issues.

LNP Policy Commitments:

• $54 million over four years to boost teacher aides in 600 Prep classes

• Focusing on early childhood education to lift literacy and numeracy standards

Read More

Filed Under: Qld Election, Special

Supporting students with disabilities

February 28, 2012 1 Comment

Labor has always had a strong commitment to providing support for students with a disability.

We believe improving educational outcomes for students with special needs requires an ongoing commitment and strong partnership between parents, government, educators and the community. We want to ensure every student is
supported with appropriate teaching and school resources.

My government has committed a record $576 million for students with disabilities in state schools this financial year, which demonstrates my determination to ensure Queensland students have equal opportunities to access education and succeed in their studies.

All students with a disability deserve access to a first‐class learning environment. That’s why a re‐elected Bligh Government will build on our achievements with even more support for students with disabilities.

We will invest almost $50 million to:

Establish a Centre of Expertise in the Educational Needs of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Invest in new training and professional development for teachers and teacher aides, including scholarships for specialist postgraduate qualifications in teaching students with autism.
Deliver up to 3,000 additional teacher aide hours over three years to further support students with disabilities.
Provide $150,000 to expand existing teacher and parent services in the field of dyslexia.
Provide more Speech Language Pathologists to work in Queensland state schools.

This is in addition to my existing commitment to deliver a new Special School for Cairns.
Equality of opportunity is a core Labor value, and we will continue to ensure students with disabilities can achieve their full potential.

Press Release

Filed Under: Qld Election, Special

Putting ipads in classrooms

February 21, 2012 Leave a Comment

Anna Bligh’s plan for iPads in schools

1. iPads for students at Queensland’s Year 7 in High School pilot
schools

We have seen many examples in our state schools of students improving their learning through the use of
technology.

A re‐elected Bligh Government will spend $5.7 million to trial iPads for Year 7 students. The trial will be
undertaken in the 20 Flying Start Pilot schools and will be funded by the Queensland Education Trust.
Under this trial, an iPad 2 with WiFi and 32GB of storage (or equivalent) will be provided to up to 5065
Year 7 students who attend one of the 20 Flying Start pilot schools during the pilot phase (2012‐2014).

These Year 7 students will be in their first year of junior secondary school, and we want to support their
transition with cutting edge technology to support the new learning environment.

The use of tablet devices is skyrocketing, with 330 per cent growth in the last 12 months. It is estimated
that more than 11 million Australians – approximately half the population – will be using a tablet device
by 2016, and the Apple iPad is the clear market leader with 76 per cent of tablet sales last year.
iPad and equivalent tablet devices offer benefits over traditional laptops or netbooks for the classroom
environment, including long battery life, improved interactivity, and higher screen qualities. This will help
give students a flying start to their secondary education.

The pilot schools are
1. Murrumba State Secondary College (from 2012)
2. Alexandra Hills State High School (from 2013)
3. Bray Park State High School (from 2013)
4. Bremer State High School, Ipswich (from 2013)
5. Cleveland District State High School (from 2013)
6. Clifton State High School, Darling Downs (from 2013)
7. Crows Nest State School, Darling Downs (from 2013)
8. Glenden State School, Central Queensland (from 2013)
9. Glenmore High School, Rockhampton (from 2013)
10. Gordonvale State High School (from 2014)
11. Meridan State College, Caloundra (from 2013)
12. Nambour State High School (from 2013)
13. Northern Beaches State High School, Townsville (from 2013)
14. Southport State High School (from 2013)
15. Springfield Central State High School, Ipswich (from 2013)
16. The Gap State High School (from 2013)
17. Toolooa State High School, Gladstone (from 2013)
18. Varsity State College, Gold Coast (from 2013)
19. New high school at Eimeo Road, Mackay, Mackay (from opening in 2013)
20. New high school at Foxwell Road, Coomera (from opening in 2013)

A re‐elected Bligh Government will go to tender on this program within the first 100 days, and use this
process to ensure maximum value for money.

The program will include an allocation for an AppleCare Protection Plan (or equivalent), charging trolleys,
secure storage and a device management solution.

Following completion of the pilot phase, we will then evaluate the educational success of this initiative
with a view to providing iPads to more Queensland school students.

Read more here

Filed Under: Qld Election

Mines to Minds Announcement

February 21, 2012 Leave a Comment

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announcing the Labor Governments Mines to Minds program after community consultation.

Filed Under: Qld Election

LNP Education & Community Policies

February 1, 2012 Leave a Comment

As part of the Queensland Election it’s important to understand what both parties are offering Queenslanders interested in the Education Sectors.

If the polls are to be believed, the QLD LNP will be in office in March 2012. Where do they stand on Education and Community issues?

These are links to the LNP Policies as at 1/2/2012

eLearning for special needs students

Science and Innovation for Economic Success

Get in the Game

A Safer Queensland: School Safety Zones

Independent public schools

What policies are important to you and which ones aren’t yet covered.

What happened to Cooler Schools, Performance Pay for Teachers, National Curriculum, National Testing (NAPLAN), Teaching and Learning Audits, WHSC for Community Organisations, Excellence in Schools, Year 7 into High School….

Are these issues important to you?

Filed Under: Qld Election

Queenslanders go to Polls March 24

January 25, 2012 Leave a Comment

The Premier of Queensland has today announced that Queenslanders will go to the polls on March 24th. The Government will enter caretaker mode from February 19.

In her press release Premier Ann Bligh said,

“The government would enter caretaker mode on February 19 and would seek to move the upcoming local government elections to late April or early May.

The Premier made the unprecedented announcement after receiving a request from the Floods Commission of Inquiry for an extension of time until the 16th of March to complete their work.

“The Commission and the Commissioners have my full support in their decision to hold further hearings and in their request for an extension of time,” she said.

“I established this inquiry because I wanted answers about the circumstances of the floods. I said I would leave no stone unturned and I meant it.

“My family and the people I love, live in this city and, like every other Queenslander I want the truth about what happened last year.”

This advance notice now gives Queensland Parents and Caregivers the chance to speak up about what issues they’re passionate about in relation to Education and have their voices heard.

Filed Under: Qld Election Tagged With: ,