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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-09 Daily Xml
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EDUCATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Can the minister inform the house about the development of the Department for Education and Child Development's blueprint program, and what changes will be made to the way our young people are educated and cared for?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:55): Since coming to government, we've made the development, education and safety of our children a priority. This government has shown it is open to innovation and new ideas. The Every Chance for Every Child strategy has been based on advice we received from the world's best thinkers in childhood development and education—Fraser Mustard, Martin Seligman and Carla Rinaldi.

Our aim is to ensure children have the best start in life, that parents are encouraged and involved in their children's learning and that families are strong and safe. This government has a strong commitment to public education and to supporting teachers and principals. We also acknowledge parents as the most important educators in a child's life, and that is why we've undertaken a consultation process that involves approximately 3,000 teachers and parents around our state.

The new reforms that have been announced will build on our system. They will set higher standards of achievement and improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people; provide better family and carer support; and provide stronger community-led engagement. Under these reforms, the Office for Education will focus on raising academic performance in public education, teacher quality, leadership development and accountability.

The Office for Children and Young People will focus on population planning to direct resources for children and their families to areas of greatest need. The Office for Child Safety will focus on implementing a family-focused child protection system. These changes are aimed at providing resources at the local level.

We will establish networks of preschools and schools led by a lead principal, so that there is collective responsibility for the achievement of all children and young people. This model will also build leadership capacity and enable educators to focus on what they do best—provide education and care to our young people. We will partner preschools and school networks with local communities and the agencies servicing them to build sustainable integrated service hubs in the reach of local families.

We will develop new approaches to support children to remain with their families when it is safe to do so. We will establish one plan for every child and young person, guiding their education and development across each domain, age and stage of their development. We will equip our workforce with the skills necessary to achieve the required outcomes for children and young people through a redesign of workforce development.

Yesterday, 300 staff across the agency and more than 60 people from service providers and other agencies and community organisations attended the launch of the blueprint for change. We have a good system of public education in this state. We have great teachers. These changes reflect their advice and their commitment to doing even better for our children.

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