Excellence and Innovation

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Excellence and Innovation
NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Introduction to the Futures Report Report of
the consultation on future directions for public
education and training
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Excellence and Innovation

• Consultation with the people of NSW
• 28,586 people participated in the consultation
  process
• 1342 personal submissions
• 66 submissions from organisations, businesses and
  agencies
• 1303 responses from meetings
• 2711 total responses received
• 9,787 pages of text in database

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Number of Responses to Questions in Each Theme
Paper
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Percentage of Respondents By Type
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Key Findings
Key Findings
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What the people are telling us

• There is pride in the many achievements of the
  public education and training system.
• From this pride, there is deep desire for the DET
  to improve its operations.

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The Big Messages

• By far the majority of respondents felt that with
  a more flexible, more adaptive, more responsive
  and more innovative system we can better meet
  present and future challenges.
• The individual needs of students are the number
  one priority for the system and its schools.
• Every school community has its own needs - one
  size doesnt fit all.

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The Big Messages (cont.)

• There was strong support for clear and explicit
  frameworks within which schools must operate.
• Within these frameworks, schools should be given
  greater capacity to grow and develop, to innovate
  and shape themselves, with their communities, to
  better meet local needs.

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21 Elements

• Good teaching
• Early childhood
• Primary school years
• Middle years
• Secondary school
• 15 to 19 year olds
• ICT
• The principal
• Authority of principal
• Developing leadership
• Organisational culture

• Community partnerships
• Meeting local needs
• Quality teachers
• Learning environments
• TAFE teachers
• TAFE services - industry
• Skills shortages
• TAFE services - students
• Promoting TAFE
• A robust and sustainable TAFE

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1. Good Teaching

• Quality learning outcomes are dependent on
  quality teachers.
• All staff share the responsibility for
  career-long professional learning.
• There is a need for flexible models of delivery
  to meet many and varied school and staff needs.
• Teachers need to develop professional learning
  plans in consultation with managers.

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1. Good Teaching
What some people said about Good Teaching
Great teachers are those who can turn around
difficult classes. (Parent)
Great teachers use classroom, school and
community data to monitor student progress,
identify specific issues and create teaching
strategies and flexible programs to support
learning. (Secondary Principals Council)
Develop a culture of reflection, discussions of
classroom practice, learning new strategies to
support the learning needs of students. (School
staff meeting)
Teachers must become autonomous learners
willing to embrace change. (School staff meeting)
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2. Early Childhood Years

• There are benefits for children who attend a
  quality prior to school program in the year
  before school.
• DET preschools have the greatest benefit for
  children in disadvantaged areas.
• Coordinating transition to school programs across
  prior to school and school settings assists
  children on entry to school.
• There is a great difference in the ages of
  children on entry to school. Raising the minimum
  starting age would help close the gap.

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2. Early Childhood Years (cont.)

• Greater coordination of DoCS and DET would assist
  in preparing children for school.
• Aligning the curriculum for preschool with the
  curriculum for the early years of school would
  help to make learning continuous.
• There are benefits for children and their
  families if the school is the focus of the
  community the centre for a range of local
  government and non-government services.
• An interagency approach to childrens services
  before school and within schools supports
  children and their families

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2. Early Childhood Years
What some people said about Early Childhood Years
Access for every child to have good quality
preschool year for free in accredited
preschools/childcare centres. (School staff
meeting)
Children should not be institutionalised at 0-5
years. Students need to be with their parents in
learning situations. This should be encouraged
more through incentives to keep parents home with
their kids. (PC meeting)
The NSW Department of Community Services supports
initiatives that promote schools as community
centres and which endeavour to incorporate
children and families into the wider community.
(Department of Community Services)
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2. Early Childhood Years
What some people said about Early Childhood
Years
The successful support of children and families
as they enter into a formal educational
environment is linked to an effective Transition
to School program. (Primary Principals
Association)
We dont need more preschools, but affordable
education with current established recognised
community based centres. (Preschool provider)
The establishment of preschools within the
grounds of their departmental school would
support a far smoother transition for school
starters. Although communication between school
preschool is encouraged the benefits
appreciated not all preschools/schools have easy
access. (School community group)
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3. Primary School Years

• Teachers need greater stability in syllabus
  implementation
• need time to build familiarity with syllabus
  requirements.
• need time to develop successful programs.
• Teachers need support to uncrowd the curriculum
• Suggestions included
• clarify curriculum requirements in government
  schools
• support for integrating the key learning areas
• use some specialist curriculum teachers in
  primary schools.

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3. Primary School Years (cont.)

• Many parents want to better understand the
  curriculum, how their child is assessed and what
  is being reported.
• The purpose, value and amount of homework needs
  to be considered.
• Being able to track student achievement,
  particularly at transition points, helps to
  provide a continuum of learning.
• Generally people are satisfied with the quality
  of education and structure of primary schools.

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3. Primary School Years
What some people said about Primary School Years
. the first eight years of a childs life is the
most important in determining a childs
development. It is encouraging to see this view
reflected in this documents (Excellence and
Innovation) identification of the primary years
as important for laying a positive foundation for
learning throughout life. (PC Association)
K-6 schools have proved very effective both
academically and socially dont change.
(School staff meeting)
In general I have confidence in the primary
education that my children have received over
the years. The only exception being when my
children have had a poor teacher. (Parent)
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3. Primary School Years
What some people said about Primary School Years
It is impossible to meet the current curriculum
expectations as they exist now, added together
with the ever increasing expectations. (School
staff meeting) We do need to have more
integrated curriculum with overlapping outcomes
of manageable proportions. (School staff
meeting) The whole experience is too rushed,
nothing is completed, the children do not have
any reflection or inquiring time. (Personal
submission)
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3. Primary School Years
What some people said about Primary School Years
Reporting is too vague and uses too many
eduspeak words. Parents often dont know where
their child is at and therefore cannot give them
the support they may need.. Im not an advocate
of pitting young children against each other but
I think parents have a right to know how their
kids are doing in relation to the
curriculum/benchmark/general expectation right
from Grade 1. (Parent) After 5 years at school
I have very little idea what level my son is
supposed to have reached. I know he is bright but
for all I know he may be under achieving at the
bottom of the class. I dont think he is but no
one will tell me for sure. (Parent)
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4. Middle Years

• A strategy is needed to ensure that all primary
  and secondary schools establish effective middle
  years programs.
• Schools need effective programs in place for
  students transition from primary to secondary
  school.
• Being able to track student achievement from
  primary to secondary school assists students
  transition and continuum of learning.

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4. Middle Years (cont.)

• Students in middle years need to be engaged
  through practical and relevant learning
  experiences.
• Targeted professional learning activities would
  support teachers in better meeting the learning
  needs of middle years students.
• Divergent views exist about the establishment of
  separate middle years schools and specialist
  middle years teachers.
• There may be benefits for middle years students
  if teachers can teach across Years 5 to 8.

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4. Middle Years
What some people said about Middle Years
Middle school years are difficult years for many
reasons changing and emotional years in
students personal lives where their identity
is often lost. (Personal submission)
Need to adapt to the students needs and have a
good understanding of what is happening in the
childs brain at that time. (Regional principals
meeting)
The notion of belonging becomes increasingly
important to middle and high school students and
without active support and an inclusive culture,
students who are different in some way are
vulnerable to marginalisation and exclusion.
(Institute for Family Advocacy and Leadership
Development)
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4. Middle Years
What some people said about Middle Years
Student learning intentions need to be negotiated
with students involvement Each student
requires their own learning plan. (Primary
Principals Association)
Students switch off due to an enforced
curriculum. Some freedom of choice electives,
choice of learning activities should be
introduced. (School staff member)
From discussion with early school leavers, the
reason most disengage from school during the
middle years is primarily because students are
required to fit into the learning environment
rather than the learning environment being
sympathetic to their needs, interests and
learning styles of the individual. The general
feeling of these young people is that they just
dont fit in. (Community member)
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5. Secondary School Years

• With greater flexibility, schools would be better
  able to meet the learning needs of secondary
  school students.
• Students in Years 7-10 may benefit from a
  curriculum that provides more choice to pursue
  their interests, including vocational courses.
• The nature, purpose and timing of the School
  Certificate are issues for further consideration.

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5. Secondary School Years (cont.)

• Students who want pathways other than university
  would benefit from a broader senior curriculum
  that better meets their needs.
• Schools need some flexibility to better meet
  local needs.
• Parents would like clearer information about
  their childs progress including
  student-parent-teacher dialogue.

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5. Secondary School Years
What some people said about the Secondary School
Years
there are two broad areas requiring action in
the junior secondary school curriculum
curriculum requirements associated with DET
schools and usefulness of the School Certificate
itself. (Secondary Principals Council)
The curriculum should be changed to meet
students needs and future choices. (School
student meeting)
Elective subjects should be offered as early as
possible. (Parent)
Too much boredom in years 8- 10 not enough
challenge. (Regional parent meeting)
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5. Secondary School Years
What some people said about the Secondary School
Years
Local school communities, in conjunction with the
Principal, need greater freedom to develop
policies and school organisational structures
that better address the needs, interests and
aspirations of their students and the local
community. (Secondary Principals Council)
Curriculum does need to be more flexible but
schools are pretty inflexible places in terms of
staff allocation, timetables, resourcing, hours
of attendance and all the extras (like
welfare/sporting/literacy - numeracy) that have
to be fitted together. (School staff member)
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6. Students 15 to 19 Year Olds

• Young people benefit when schools and TAFE work
  together to improve student outcomes and their
  engagement in work and study.
• Greater flexibility may provide easier and more
  equitable access to school and TAFE.
• Students who find learning purposeful are more
  likely to stay on at school.

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6. Students 15 to 19 Year Olds (cont.)

• Educational pathways should range from academic
  to vocational within a single HSC.
• High quality career counselling is a priority for
  students as they navigate their way through
  school and beyond.
• Partnerships involving schools, TAFE, other
  government agencies, industry and community
  organisations are effective in meeting the needs
  of young people.

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6. Students 15 to 19 Year Olds
What some people said about 15-19 Year Olds
To keep students in schools we need education
that is relevant to their needs, is accessible
and flexible. While academic courses must be
maintained in senior schooling, better access to
a wider range of VET courses is also required.
(School principal)
There is a need to review the issue of a more
flexible, relevant credential. The concept of an
exit credential such as the current School
Certificate is inconsistent with our commitment
to life long learning. (Secondary Principals
Council)
career counselling is an enormously
underutilised tool. We should be asking students
what sort of path they have laid out for
themselves and then help them achieve this.
(Community member)
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6. Students 15 to 19 Year Olds
What some people said about 15-19 Year Olds
Young people want schools to be more flexible and
provide for the diversity of interests and skills
that they have there is a need to develop more
practical, job related subject choices for
students whose career goals do not include
further academic studies. (Youth Action and
Policy Association)
There needs to be a closer relationship between
TAFE Schools, with the involvement of School
Counsellors Careers Advisors so that 15 to 19
year olds, and their parents are better informed
about the opportunities to engage in vocational
education and training. (TAFE staff meeting)
If young people are forced to remain in school we
MUST have options for them that will allow them
to succeed. Year 11 students drop out in
droves. (School community group)
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7. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

• ICT is seen as a vital tool in the learning and
  teaching process.
• The DET needs a clearly defined plan for the
  future development and use of ICT in schools.
• In order to assist students and teachers,
  technology must be accessible and appropriate.

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7. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
(cont.)

• ICT infrastructure and systems need to support
  students and teachers in the learning and
  teaching process.
• An anytime anywhere approach is needed to the
  delivery of on-line learning materials for
  students, teachers, support staff and leaders.
• Teachers and leaders need to be confident and
  competent in the use of ICT in teaching and
  learning.

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7. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
What some people said about ICT
The best integration of technology and education
is driven by teachers and students looking for
ways to be more efficient, more productive and
more effective. They are about systematically and
reliably connecting people, information and
knowledge to create possibilities for better
learning and smarter management that werent
there before. (Cisco/Microsoft)
Leadership is vital in ensuring IT is utilised.
(School PC)
Huge benefits for engagement in learning with use
of IT. Future education should use IT in a
seamless manner. (School staff meeting)
In most situations, ICT would be a wonderful way
for parents and teachers to communicate. (Parent)
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8. The Principal as Expert Educational Leader

• Responsibility for the delivery of quality
  education requires highly capable leadership.
• The principals role is complex, requiring
  effective systems for administrative support so
  that they can focus on educational leadership.
• The level of skills, knowledge and
  professionalism of leaders needs to be encouraged
  and recognised in a variety of ways including
  increased levels of autonomy.

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8. The Principal as Expert Educational Leader
(cont.)

• A multi-layered leadership strategy needs to be
  implemented to ensure continued development and
  expert leadership across the system.
• Performance standards for principals should be
  developed as a basis for recognition of levels of
  leadership performance.
• Consideration needs to be given to the system for
  appointment of school leaders, including a
  workplace assessment component.

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8. The Principal as Expert Educational Leader
What some people said about Educational Leaders
At a school level it is the principal who
determines the effectiveness of any change. They
determine the allocation of resources (human or
material), the morale of the staff and shape the
culture of the school. They determine the climate
for interactions between and amongst students,
staff and parents and they may actively encourage
or passively resist any initiative as they
choose. (Federation of PCs Association of NSW)
Principals occupy a unique place in the education
system. They link the broader system and society
with the effective ongoing delivery of quality
learning for students. It is they who, more than
any others, mediate between any call for change
and what actually happens in response to that
call in the classroom. It is principals who must
lead the processes of improvement and innovation
and who are primarily accountable for the
outcomes of these processes. (Secondary
Principals Council)
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8. The Principal as Expert Educational Leader
What some people said about Educational Leaders
I am amazed at the constant striving for
perfection at our school but I have to wonder
what many other innovative ideas our principal
would find if she were a little freer to move. I
think it comes down to more incentives for
outstanding leaders so we can trust in their
initiatives. (School PC meeting)
Innovative schools and communities require the
space and trust to take calculated risks and to
experiment with new approaches and systems.
(Vocational Education in Schools Directorate)
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9. What Should be the Legitimate Authority of
Principals?

• There needs to be alignment between the level of
  authority and degree of accountability of
  principals.
• With increased flexibility and more local
  decision-making principals are better able to
  meet the needs of their school communities.
• Increased flexibility and local decision-making
  should occur within statewide frameworks.

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9. What Should be the Legitimate Authority of
Principals? (cont.)

• There is support for principals to have more
  flexibility and discretion over staffing and
  resources.
• An accountability model needs to reflect the
  increased authority of principals.
• There is a need for improved procedures for
  dealing with inefficient staff.
• Accountability needs to demonstrate the quality
  of the school to parents and the community.

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9. What Should be the Legitimate Authority of
Principals?
What some people said about the Legitimate
Authority of Principals
One of the most frustrating issues for
principals is to be on the one hand totally
accountable for everything related to his or her
school while on the other hand not being given
the responsibility or control over what is the
most vital element staffing. (School staff
member) Leaders need flexibility to meet the
needs of their local school communities and
should have greater responsibility for making
decisions about staffing needs, hiring staff and
determining how resources are allocated to
programs within the school. (School staff member)
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10. Developing Leadership Capabilities At All
Levels

• The principal must develop an inclusive, team
  approach to leadership and decision-making at all
  levels.
• There is a need for innovative strategies to
  encourage broader participation in leadership
  development at all levels.
• Leadership needs to be enhanced by a
  collaborative effort between schools, regions and
  state.

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10. Developing Leadership Capabilities At All
Levels (cont.)

• Ongoing funding for professional learning will
  ensure that a range of effective strategies can
  be employed in an integrated approach to
  improving leadership capabilities.
• Mentoring is highly valued for its personalised
  approach to leadership development.
• Succession planning is a responsibility at
  school, region and state levels.

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10. Developing Leadership Capabilities At All
Levels
What some people said about Developing Leadership
Capabilities
It should be recognised that school leaders are
not restricted to persons employed by the
Department of Education and Training. (PC
Association of NSW)
Leadership is sitting within the walls of
schools. My current school has many! The fun for
me is opening the door for them and letting in a
little light. We cannot assume that only a few
will aspire. (School principal)
A large majority of administrative staff
currently feel undervalued and unappreciated in
their roles. (School staff member)
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11. Organisational Culture

• Schools need the capacity to shape themselves
  within a statewide policy framework supported by
  a clear vision and statement of purpose for
  public education.
• The system is currently seen as too rule bound
  and not encouraging of innovation.
• Stronger connections need to be developed between
  schools and their communities, regions and state.

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11. Organisational Culture (cont.)

• Administrators need to have a high level
  understanding of the needs of schools and how
  they operate.
• Decisions must be made with the good of students
  as central.
• Using new technologies can improve communication
  throughout the system.

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11. Organisational Culture
What some people said about Organisational
Culture
The Department needs to ensure, from the top down
that the organisations culture is focused on
their core business of providing quality
education for kids (School Education Area
community)
All teachers and all students are not the same,
all boys and all girls are not the same, and so
generalisations about the nature of schools,
staff and students need to be tempered by the
realisation that one size does not fit all.
However, it is important to have a standardised
set of minimum expectations. (PC Association of
NSW)
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12. Community Partnerships Enhancing Learning

• Parent and community participation in the
  education of their children enhances students
  learning outcomes.
• Parents want unambiguous and regular
  communication about their childs progress with
  minimal education jargon.
• Many parents would like the use of modern
  communication technologies incorporated into
  communication.

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12. Community Partnerships Enhancing Learning
(cont.)

• Parents and students want a greater say in school
  decision-making and increased opportunities to
  provide feedback.
• Schools need to become the hub of their
  community, incorporating government and community
  agencies.
• Schools need to work with universities and local
  business and industry to develop schools of the
  future.

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12. Community Partnerships Enhancing Learning
What some people said about Community
Partnerships
Parent and student participation in genuine
decision making can only occur when partnerships
are recognised as complementary activities to the
real work of schools, rather than as a set of
competing interests. (Federation of PCs
Association of NSW)
Need to see school as community especially in
small country towns schools seen as hubs!
Schools need to extend themselves towards
communities support for family Have school
premises and resources open after school
so students and community can use (Community
meeting)
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12. Community Partnerships Enhancing Learning
What some people said about Community
Partnerships
If you had a good father and a good mother, then
youd be laughin. (Young person quoted by NSW
Commission for Children and Young People)
We need to capture the intellectual capital of
our community which has a large ageing
population. Many such people want to be involved
and contribute, use as mentors for our
schools/TAFE and utilise this resource more
effectively. (Joint schools TAFE meeting)
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12. Community Partnerships Enhancing Learning
What some people said about Community
Partnerships
We believe that there should be open and
transparent communications between classroom
teachers, students and parents, so problems
and issues are addressed quickly. The goal is
to ensure that parents, students and teachers
regularly communicate so they all have a good
understanding of the learning outcomes, progress,
difficulties or areas of concern in a timely
manner. (PC meeting)
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13. Meeting Local Needs

• The one size fits all approach to school
  staffing does not allow the flexibility for
  schools to meet their individual needs.
• Schools can better meet their needs through
  greater control over the staffing profile of
  their school and the selection and employment of
  staff.
• An innovative incentive scheme will ensure
  experienced teachers and leaders remain in hard
  to staff schools.

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13. Meeting Local Needs (cont.)

• Schools need to be responsive and flexible and
  able to configure and allocate available
  resources to best meet their needs, including
• the types of schools
• the relationship between and among schools and
  TAFE
• the hours of operation, and
• the role of other government and community
  agencies.

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13. Meeting Local Needs
What some people said about Meeting Local Needs
Principals should be in a position to employ the
people most suited to their school . To
continue to consider the entire workforce of
teachers to be equally skilled and suited to any
school type is nonsense. Teachers would then have
greater encouragement to continue to update their
skills. (Parent)
Want ability to choose a teacher that meshes with
the direction that the school is taking and
complements the strengths and weaknesses of the
staff. (School staff meeting) All schools are
different and thus need to be given the
flexibility to staff according to individual
needs. (School staff member)
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13. Meeting Local Needs
What some people said about Meeting Local Needs
The statewide staffing system and its
centrepiece, a system of transfers, is the
essential element in ensuring the appointment of
teachers in every school across the state and
therefore a curriculum guarantee for all
students. (School meeting group)
That DET negotiate with the NSWTF and in
consultation with the SPC, that enable the local
selection of a proportion of the schools
staffing entitlement in both teaching and support
roles. (Secondary Principals Council)
Principals know their local needs principals
should have more of a say regarding use of staff
and resources. They know who the best person for
a job is, not a computer system in Blacktown!
(Personal submission)
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14. Developing, Supporting and Rewarding Quality
Teachers

• Pre-service teacher education programs need to
  better reflect the current role of teachers in
  schools.
• There is a need for longer periods of
  professional experience, practicums and
  internships.
• Stronger links between the Department and
  universities will help ensure that teacher
  education is relevant and well connected to
  public schools.

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14. Developing, Supporting and Rewarding Quality
Teachers (cont.)

• Beginning and developing teachers need to be
  supported through strategies such as mentoring
  schemes.
• Quality teachers should be recognised through
  appropriate incentives and rewards.
• Ineffective teachers need to be identified early
  and dealt with promptly through simple procedures.

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14. Developing, Supporting and Rewarding Quality
Teachers
What some people said about Developing,
Supporting and Rewarding Quality Teachers
I want my teacher to be like batman and teach me
how to fly (Preschool child quoted by NSW
Commission for Children and Young People)
Teachers and students and parents need to realise
that an enquiry based approach learning how to
learn is the way to go! (School community
meeting)
Teachers need to become facilitators of knowledge
acquisition for students and to teach them the
skills to critically evaluate information and to
develop the skills to apply their knowledge to
new situations and to use it to solve problems.
(School staff member)
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14. Developing, Supporting and Rewarding Quality
Teachers
What some people said about Developing,
Supporting and Rewarding Quality Teachers
Have a realistic, fair and manageable program
that can identify teachers that are not coping. A
better selection process would greatly reduce the
need for this. (Personal submission)
The problem is simply that those who make the
initial decision of selection for employment
are in no way accountable for the consequences of
their decision. The problem is simply transferred
to the school which receives the appointed
teacher. (Secondary Principals Council)
Ineffective teachers need to be identified and
removed from the system they are discouraging
to teachers that try hard to be good teachers and
lower the professional profile of teachers.
(School staff member)
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15. Environments for Learning

• The physical presentation of a school is critical
  in attracting enrolments and maintaining school
  morale and image in the wider community.
• The design of modern facilities and the
  Departments efforts to refurbish facilities of
  historic and heritage value were applauded.
• There was concern that much of the building stock
  is outdated and does not meet current and future
  needs.

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15. Environments for Learning (cont.)

• Present infrastructure modeling standards have
  limited capacity for adaptation to local
  circumstances.
• There is a need for greater local discretion in
  the management of school infrastructure.
• Economies in capital works costs and more
  creative and efficient use of existing facilities
  are needed.

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15. Environments for Learning
What some people said about Environments for
Learning
All students and staff within the public
education system are entitled to learn and work
in an attractive, properly functioning and well
resourced and maintained learning environment.
Quality teaching and learning occurs when
supported by quality resources. (Secondary
Principals Council).
To accommodate the different styles of learning
and teaching, schools need different types of
classroom space. Instead of the traditional
notions of rows of desks facing a teacher, a
classroom should have enough space for numerous
activities and be flexible. (Primary Principals
Association)
The school environment should be pleasant for
children. They should look forward to being
there, not just learning there. (School PC
meeting)
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15. Environments for Learning
What some people said about Environments for
Learning
Allow more community use of excess sites i.e.
establish preschools on site very successful
for our school which allows for a smooth
transition from preschool to school (School
community meeting)
Close schools that are small or maintenance
hungry and bus children to larger schools.
(School community meeting)
Future schools will have to be prepared for a
future which is technology based. Future schools
will be places for students to come to so they
can be looked after as they facilitate their own
learning ... Rooms with work stations will
prevail students will have access to lessons
on a 24 hours / 7 days a week basis from anywhere
in the world. (Parent)
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Excellence and Innovation
NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Futures Project Priorities and Directions
for Public Education and Training in NSW
2005-2015