May 2009

margaret I hope that you have all had a good Easter break and that your children managed to have some quality leisure time away from study and homework during the holidays. QCPCA has been extremely busy with many activities within the Education field. Here is a snapshot of the meetings that we have attended on behalf of our P & Cs.

Minister – we met with the new Minister for Education and Training, Geoff Wilson, on the 3rd April. Minister Wilson was keen to discuss our ideas and beliefs about the education of our children. We look forward to working with him to ensure State Schools continue to deliver a great education to our children.

Director General – we met with the new (acting) Director General Julie Grantham. Julie returns to Education after spending a while with the Department of Justice. Our regular bi-monthly meetings continued with the new (acting) Director General and we discussed items including:

The Masters Review, a report to Government regarding the NAPLAN Literacy and Numeracy testing results for Queensland, and the changes to teaching and learning that have been recommended
Pupil free days
The implementation of State election promises
National agenda proposed by the Federal Government

Assistant Director General - our regular meeting with Jenny Haddrell included –

The review of the Text and Resource scheme and voluntary booklist
Principal Selection panels
School uniforms and use of the logos

Curriculum - we discussed the National Partnership for Literacy and Numeracy that is about to commence.

Strategic HR - we discussed a National Partnership for Quality Teaching that is about to commence.

Facilities meeting – we discussed many areas of funding now being released to schools including:

Building Education Revolution (BER) - this funding is part of the Federal Governments’ stimulus package. It has three sections to it.

1. Primary Schools for the 21st Century – funding in this element is available to primary schools, the primary component of P-12 schools and special schools, to build facilities such as libraries, multipurpose halls or classrooms or upgrade existing facilities.

2.Science and Language for the 21st Century –$1 billion is available for secondary schools Australia-wide under this element of BER, to fund the building of science laboratories and language learning centres in secondary schools. It is expected that about 500 projects will be funded nationally across all sectors

3.National School Pride. Every school, both primary and secondary, will be eligible to apply for funding to undertake construction of small scale infrastructure and/or minor refurbishment projects.

We understand the frustrations from P & Cs about the timelines of these projects. However, the projects are being driven by the Federal Government and the State Government has clear guidelines to follow.