Page 1064 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 2018
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(6) The pathway schools were selected on the basis of their ability to provide the greatest possible confidence of continuing capacity to accept NSW students, providing clarity and stability for NSW families.
(7) The principle factor in considering schools to accept NSW students was their likely continuing capacity over time to accept these out of area enrolments. Geographic position of and transport routes to the schools was considered in determining the zones within NSW for each school pathway. For example, schools in the southern zone were selected towards the north east of Tuggeranong as being closer to the NSW border and to the direction of travel for NSW students. Also taken into account was the fact that the majority of NSW students (over 3,000) receive free bus transport from NSW to schools in the ACT. ACT schools adjacent to major employment hubs, and along principal transport routes, have significantly less capacity to accept out of area students and, over the medium term, no capacity to accept NSW students in preference to ACT students.
(8) School performance is not a relevant factor in considering the location of schools with sufficient capacity to accept NSW students. All ACT public schools provide access to a great education.
(9) Every ACT public school provides students with high quality learning opportunities, facilitated by knowledgeable, skilled teachers, with access to excellent resources and learning environments. Mean NAPLAN scores are poorly understood and often misapplied. These scores are a poor indicator of the quality of teaching and learning occurring at a school because they are reflect a moment in time and fail to account for key factors like the starting achievement level of students. Many knowledgeable experts, such as Professor John Hattie of the University of Melbourne, who is also the Chair of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, recognise that a much better measure of a school’s quality is its ability to facilitate robust learning progress for all students (‘gain’). A measure of student gain is shown on the My School website alongside mean achievement scores. Information on colleges can be found at the Board of Senior Secondary Studies website at the following link http://www.bsss.act.edu.au/year_12_and_vocational_data/year_12_study.
(10) Student numbers for all ACT schools between 2007 and 2017 can be found on the ACT Education Directorate website through the following link. https://www.education.act.gov.au/publications_and_policies/publications_a-z/census. School capacity for each ACT public school for 2016 can be found on the same website by following the link below. https://www.education.act.gov.au/search?query=capacity.
(11) All of the NSW pathways schools have been operating below 80 percent capacity over the past the past four years. This provides some assurance that the NSW pathway schools will be able to guarantee places for NSW students for the duration of their schooling.
Roads—Coppins Crossing
(Question No 948)
Ms Lawder asked the Minister for Transport and City Services, upon notice, on 23 February 2018 (redirected to the Treasurer):
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