The Queensland Government has announced that year 7 will be incorporated to the state’s high school education system as of 2015.

 

Premier Anna Bligh and Education Minister Cameron Dick made the announcement while outlining a range of initiatives and reforms which the Government hopes will strengthen the state’s education system.

 

“This move is a direct result of the government’s decision to introduce full-time Prep in 2007, which added an extra year of schooling to Queensland’s education system,” Ms Bligh said.

 

“This means when Queensland children reach Year 7, they will be in their eighth year of schooling, which is the right time to start high school.”

 

“The government will provide additional capital funding for state schools totalling $328.2 million over four years from 2011-12 to implement the Flying Start initiatives.” Mr Dick said

 

“We will also provide additional recurrent funding of $293.8 million over five years, which includes $81 million to the non-state sector for capital assistance grants.

 

Mr Dick said as part of the package of support programs, the State Government would also:

  • provide additional funding to support Year 7 students’ travel to local secondary schools
  • offer up to 500 scholarships for state primary school teachers to prepare them for teaching in Junior Secondary
  • provide extra professional development programs for Junior Secondary teachers
  • provide support for teachers to introduce the new Australian Curriculum from 2013

 

Mr Dick said other initiatives outlined in the government’s Flying Start for Queensland Children White Paper included:

  • establishing a Teacher Education Implementation Taskforce to work with all parties responsible for teacher preservice education and school induction to ensure Queensland student teachers are ready for the classroom;
  • working with the Queensland College of Teachers to implement the new national approach to teacher pre-service education;
  • continue to focus on improving literacy in the early years of a child’s development through our Ready Readers program and supporting initiatives;
  • continuing the roll-out of five Teacher Education Centres of Excellence in state schools across Queensland;
  • combining the Queensland Studies Authority and the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board into a single education standards authority in 2013 to perform curriculum, assessment and reporting functions and accredit all schools; and
  • legislating to set criteria and standards for all Queensland schools.

 

The State Government acknowledged the geographical difficulties associated with sending children to high schools, outlining the following plans to deal with the issues:

  • a  review of the education needs of geographically isolated families and from the review, identify areas where services can be improved;
  • increase the Living Away From Home Allowance for eligible Year 7 students to the secondary level. This includes a tuition allowance and an allowance for student travel between home and boarding school;
  • establish a cross-sectoral taskforce to assess the financial implications of the move on boarding schools. The taskforce, which will report to government by November 2011, will consider this complex area and determine whether any additional financial assistance is required for these schools.

"Families of geographically isolated students currently have several options available to them, such as sending their child to boarding school for high school, arranging for them to live with a relative closer to the school, or using distance education,” Mr Dick said.

 

Mr Dick said the forums would be conducted in regional cities and towns to provide parents, teachers and other interested parties with more information about the government's reforms to the state's education system.

 

Forums are being planned for the following locations: Brisbane; Logan; Gold Coast; Ipswich; Caboolture; Toowoomba; Roma; Sunshine Coast; Bundaberg; Gladstone; Emerald; Longreach; Rockhampton; Mackay; Townsville; Charters Towers; Mount Isa; Cairns; Thursday Island.

 

Dates for the forums will be advised in local media.