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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 3 Hansard (26 May) . . Page.. 575 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

from 1998 onwards, assess students against the Year 3 benchmark to be numerate, and to be able to read, write, and spell, using rigorous state/territory based assessment procedures ... (and to accomplish the same, against the Year 5 benchmark, as soon as possible)

(achieve) progress towards national reporting by systems and school authorities on student achievements in reading, writing and spelling against the Year 3 and 5 benchmarks to report in 1999 on 1998 results

provide professional development to support the key elements of the national plan.

Finally, the ministerial council resolved to "begin reporting against the sub-goal of each level from 1988".

As I said earlier, the ACT is in the forefront in implementing and developing literacy initiatives. We have already embarked on a number of important initiatives. The ACT literacy strategy, which I am about to discuss in some detail, incorporates and is focused on the key elements of the national plan. In fact, a number of the programs we have undertaken predate current Commonwealth proposals. The most recent initiative we have undertaken is an ACT literacy strategy for preschool to Year 10. As members will know, the strategy was officially launched in this very building this week. Its title says it all - "Literacy Matters". It was developed following extensive community consultation informed by a literary discussion paper. The discussion paper included an analysis of effective teaching practices for literacy and was widely circulated for a three months consultation period. It outlined current literacy programs and proposed a number of strategies for consideration by the department, by schools, by key players in the education community and by industry. Respondents to this discussion paper included primary and high school staff members, school boards, the ACT Council of P and C Associations, the AEU, professional associations and university education staff. The Government has also received valuable feedback from industry groups, including the ACT Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The input received from these groups is vital to the success of the strategy. They represent those teachers who will ultimately be responsible for implementing the strategy; parents who have intimate knowledge of the needs and the capacities of their children; tertiary institutions familiar with both education practice and the literacy needs of higher education; and industry, which of course has long been crying out for workers with high standards of literacy and numeracy. Comments from these groups, along with current research into the most effective literacy teaching and learning, and the skills and knowledge of departmental staff who have worked so hard on the strategy, have resulted in a plan that will ensure the ACT continues to take a lead in literacy outcomes.

We now have an ACT literacy strategy which reflects the community's comments and the community's needs. We have a working plan to ensure that ACT students develop the literacy skills they need to sustain their pursuit of lifelong learning and their capacity to thrive in an environment that is increasingly demanding of literacy skills.

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