Page 977 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 April 2014
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Two new schools—Franklin Early Childhood School and Neville Bonner Primary School—opened last year, serving families in Gungahlin. Community support for these schools is strong, with enrolments at Franklin Early Childhood School almost doubling in 2014 and Neville Bonner Primary School experiencing growth of 67 per cent.
Also pleasing is the community support shown for the recently refurbished Taylor Primary School in Kambah. Enrolments continue to grow, with enrolments up by almost 30 per cent.
I am also pleased to see that the new early learning centre at St Jude’s Primary School was made possible by a grant from the ACT government. The new changes and investments in education continue to deliver schools that meet the needs of Canberra families and continue to give them confidence. The government is committed to ensuring our students are being taught by the best teachers in the best schools that we can provide.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Minister, how do the figures reflect the success of the ACT government’s investment in education in the ACT in both the government and non-government sectors?
MS BURCH: I have said in this place before that I am proud to be the minister for all students in the ACT, whether they be in public, Catholic or independent schools.
Education in the ACT is renowned for its high standard and we know that our education system is best when all parts of it are working to their full potential. That is why the ACT government has worked hard on a number of reforms across all the sectors.
Perhaps most important of these reforms is our support for the national education reform agreement with the commonwealth. This agreement commits the ACT government to work with all sectors across the full six years of the agreement and to focus on key issues to improve school and student outcomes—quality teaching, quality learning, empowered school leadership, meeting student need, and transparency and accountability.
I have been pleased to see the support given to these reforms by the non-government schools as well. Recently the Catholic Education Commission wrote and commented that they appreciate the government’s position to continue to pursue the six-year funding agreement with the commonwealth. The writer assured me of their continued support in that undertaking.
This agreement ensures that all schools in the ACT receive funding based on the needs of their students. I cannot think of a better way of providing confidence to parents across all sectors that the needs of their children will be met irrespective of the sector they choose, the school they go to or the suburb they live in.
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