The NSW Parliament recently saw lively debate on linking Year 9 NAPLAN results to the Higher School Certificate (HSC) testamur.

The previous NSW Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli, outlined his view that a Western Australian model requiring Year 9 students to meet three band 8s in NAPLAN will become a feature of the NSW education landscape. Piccoli’s view was that “students will have to try a bit harder”.

The curious feature in NSW is that students who have not met the minimum bands can sit the HSC but not receive the testamur.

The matter became more complex as the University Admissions Centre revealed students will not require an HSC to receive an ATAR. In essence the non attainment of an HSC will not be a bar to entering university. This is particularly confusing to parents and students.

NSW Shadow Minister for Education Jihad Dib challenged the linking of NAPLAN and the HSC. While not opposed to raising educational standards, the NSW opposition considers academic improvement is best achieved within a holistic educational context rather than through a literacy and numeracy benchmark.

Supporting teachers and respecting the existing curriculum to deliver sound outcomes is the way forward. NAPLAN has an agreed and understood diagnostic purpose. Linking NAPLAN and the HSC is confusing and unnecessary.

On 11 March 2017 WA voters went to the polls, the result was a strong rejection of the incumbent Barnett Liberal Government.

The ALP was elected with the largest victory over a sitting pgovernment in WA history. Mark McGowan is the new Premier. There are many new members of Parliament, with a record 23 female ALP members in both Houses.

Sue Ellery MLC had been the Opposition spokesperson on Education, with IEU enjoying a good working relationship. Ellery is now Minister for Education and Training. We have met and established ongoing communications and a forum for discussion on education issues that affect our members. Early topics for discussion included funding, staffing remote schools and the Teacher Registration Board and review of the Teacher Registration Act. We also raised the need for stakeholder input when changes are proposed to the School Registration Standards such as the recent ‘Code of Conduct’.

This year is a busy negotiating year for wages and conditions for Victorian school union members. The negotiation of the government sector agreement has now been finalised and the agreement covering employees in Catholic schools and Catholic Education Offices is currently being negotiated.

The government agreement delivers 3.25% wage increase per annum from April this year until October 2020. For teachers the beginning salary at the start of the agreement is $65,415 and the top of the automatic teaching scale is $98,047. By the end of the agreement, salaries will be respectively $72,058 and $108,003. For education support staff on top of the 3.25% per annum increase, there are additional increases for employees at Range 1 and 2 because of changes to the incremental steps. Government principals have a 4% per annum increase. The 4% “recognises workload and includes an additional 0.5% increase to account for the missing superannuation guarantee increase” (AEU). The government agreement also provides for some improvement in teacher workload through the introduction from 2018 of four professional practice days a year (one per term) in addition to pupil free days. The focus of the teachers’ days can be determined by the teacher from the areas of planning, preparation, assessment, collaboration, curriculum development, PD and peer observation.

IEU Victoria Tasmania, at the time of writing, is still in negotiation for the Catholic Sector Agreement. This year is the 20th anniversary of IEU winning parity with the Victorian government sector in wage increase quantum and effective dates of payment. The Union won’t be giving up this hard won principle. Workload controls and improvements are also central.

Following close on the heels of the negotiation of a new classification structure for education support staff which has come into effect in March this year, IEU returns to the to table for negotiation of the total Catholic Education Single Enterprise Agreement which expires later this year. IEU is currently surveying all of its Catholic school and Catholic Education Office members about their priorities so that it can develop a comprehensive log of claims.

In the government sector, there is an in principle settlement of a new deal that reflects public sector wages policy of 2% per annum, although there have been additional increases at the entry level for four year trained teachers and top of the automatic scale rates.

The early response to the Union’s survey to date has been strong and members in Tasmania have similar issues to their Victorian counterparts, with a few local differences. Workload is high on the agenda. No surprises there, with comments about curriculum and educational change, less capacity to quarantine preparation time, and the impact in a classroom of students with special needs. There are no specified maxima for class sizes in the current agreement.

In the last round of negotiations there was a protracted industrial campaign where one of the strongest justice issues was school support staff conditions. The Union won a guarantee to a minimum 40 weeks of employment per year for this group of employees, but there is consensus that there still needs to be improvement in the overall mode of employment, which is inferior to the Victorian classification structure for employees on different holiday arrangements (Cat A, Cat B and Cat C).

As a result of a IEUA-QNT member campaign to address the structures and employment arrangements for employees in Queensland Catholic Flexible Learning Centres (FLC), a review of working conditions is currently being undertaken by a FLC Joint Working Party.

FLCs are the fastest growing sector within Catholic education in the country. They are characterised by their focus on the individual needs of young people who are disenfranchised and disengaged from the mainstream education approach. FLCs respond to these needs by providing a place and an opportunity to re-engage in a suitable, flexible learning environment.

The work of members within the flexible education system is unique, and the review is an important opportunity to ensure that employers fairly recognise and reward the contributions of these employees.

IEUA-QNT Assistant Secretary Brad Hayes said members and employee representatives were committed to developing shared solutions with the employer representatives in order to address uncertainties and inconsistencies in FLC workplace arrangements in Queensland.

IEUA-QNT representatives have tabled a number of member issues identified for consideration in the joint review of FLC conditions including:

• work arrangements and hours of duty issues

• appropriate classification of school officer and youth worker positions

• leave arrangements and vacation periods for school officers and youth workers, and

• the suitability of promotional structures within the FLC context.

Employee representatives and IEUA-QNT organisers will be liaising with FLC members over coming weeks to further inform the development of proposals regarding these important employee issues.

For more information visit www.qieu.asn.au/flc.

The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) allows all students to develop the knowledge, skills and understandings necessary to becoming active participants in an ever changing world.

For a young Aboriginal student, achieving the SACE qualification not only provides greater access to meaningful pathways such as further education, training, and employment but can lead to the development of other essential capabilities such as personal, social and emotional well being, financial prosperity and security, and enhanced capacity for critical and creative thinking.

The SACE Board Aboriginal Education Strategy 2017–2021 aims to prepare Aboriginal students to achieve their SACE while maintaining their Aboriginal culture and identity, as well as positioning them to succeed in their local community and as global citizens.

The strategy reflects a strong commitment from the education sector in South Australia to enhancing the learning outcomes and capabilities for Aboriginal students, and the voice of Aboriginal students and their families has informed this strategy.

This new strategy builds upon the success of the previous 2012–16 strategy and highlights recommendations for schooling sectors and other stakeholders to consider, which have proven to contribute to the SACE attainment for Aboriginal students.

It also acknowledges that success in the SACE does not begin in Years 10 or 11, and that broader educational policy change is required. The focus for the SACE Board Aboriginal Education Strategy is on emerging practices that include building on strengths, encouraging pride in young Aboriginal people’s cultural heritage, and emphasising proactive approaches to SACE attainment.

The 2017–2021 strategy includes the presentation of the new strategic priorities:

• empowerment: identity and belonging

• respect: strong commitment and high expectations of relationships

• leadership: people and culture

• capacity building: culturally and contextually responsive curriculum and assessment

• achievement: excellence, aspiration and merit, and

• transparency: data analysis and evaluation.

For each strategic priority, the development of recommended aims, initiatives and activities for schooling sectors and other stakeholders to consider as follows:

Recommendations

It is recommended that implementation of the SACE Board Aboriginal Education Strategy 2017–2021:

• focuses on emerging practices, including building on strengths, encouraging pride in young Aboriginal people’s cultural heritage and emphasising holistic collaborative and proactive approaches to SACE attainment

• drives positive change by acknowledging that success in the SACE does not begin just in Years 10 or 11, and recognising that broader educational policy change in former schooling years is required

• inspires schooling sectors and other stakeholders to consider the range of interrelated recommendations offered in the strategy, and

• promotes the targeted initiatives, activities and coordinated approaches that are required at the school, sector and state levels in order to achieve sustained, positive improvement.

https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/schools/aboriginal-students/sace-aboriginal-education-strategy

Maintaining comparable wages to public sector counterparts, clarifying hours of duty issues, establishing better resourced positions of responsibility structure and school officer classification review have been highlighted as key issues for members in Northern Territory Catholic schools as negotiations for a new collective agreement start.

The initial meetings of the Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) took place on Friday 24 March and Monday 24 April 2017 with employee representatives tabling the employee Log of Claims and a number of elaborated clauses for consideration.

IEUA-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said Catholic schools in the Northern Territory support a culture of continuous improvement to bring about improved school learning outcomes and life opportunities for students.

“In order to achieve this mission, schools need a contemporary set of conditions to ensure that high quality staff can be recruited and retained and that industrial processes and working conditions support best education practice,

“Members in Northern Territory Catholic schools are committed to working with their employer to put in place a collective agreement that will strengthen Catholic education into the future,” Terry said.

The employer has not tabled a Log of Claims at this stage but noted that the ongoing clarity of clauses would be a major focus and that their claims would be presented during the negotiations.

A schedule of regular negotiation meetings has been set.