Early school engagement and performance
Parents of Indigenous children need to be involved in ensuring their children get a complete education. Children need to be encouraged to expand their expectations of themselves. Children of all ages will face learning difficulties if they are tired or hungry, both of which make them unable to fully concentrate on the tasks set by teachers. Regular school attendance is clearly essential for leaning.
The Australian Government is contributing to improved educational outcomes for Indigenous students by assisting Indigenous children achieve Year 3 and Year 5 reading benchmarks. Indigenous literacy and numeracy is improved through supporting the creation of homework centres, partnerships involving parents and through the use of Shared Responsibility Agreements, which aim to accelerate educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians. Support is also provided to enhance the professional development and training of staff and school community leaders. Together, these initiatives aim to support improvements in school attendance to ensure Indigenous children have a chance to achieve their goals in life.
It is important to note that intervention in health and education areas are interrelated, and efforts in one may affect outcomes in another. For example, improved early childhood development may impact on school attendance in later life, which in turn could affect economic prospects.
Outcomes
- Indigenous students' performance for Year 3 fluctuated between 1999 and 2005 against the national reading, writing and numeracy benchmarks, with no statistically significant trend.
- School enrolment numbers for Indigenous children aged five to eight increased from 45,069 students in 2005 to 46,428 students in 2006.
- In 2006, the school participation rate for Indigenous children aged five to eight (97%) was similar to that for non-Indigenous children (94%).
Key programmes
Supplementary Recurrent Assistance
Supplementary Recurrent Assistance is the largest element of the Australian Government's Indigenous Education Programme. The funding is per-capita, based on the number of Indigenous students enrolled with the provider. The funding is provided to preschool, school and vocational education and training sectors. Funding is supplementary to mainstream education funding and is aimed at accelerating educational opportunities for Indigenous Australians.
Expenditure 2006–07: $135.645 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- 195 Indigenous education agreements in place.
Dare to Lead
The Dare to Lead project, delivered by the Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council, is now in its third phase. The council has formed a coalition of school leaders who place priority on improving educational outcomes for Indigenous students. The project provides professional learning opportunities, promotes cultural understanding and intercultural exchange through cultural tours, school visits and access to best practice resources. At 30 June 2007, 838 new schools had become involved in the project.
Expenditure 2006–07: $2 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
Whole of School Intervention Strategy
The Whole of School Intervention Strategy has two elements-the Parent School Partnership Initiative (PSPI) and homework centres. In August 2006 an additional $5 million was announced for projects under the PSPI that would target early childhood education. The main objectives of the PSPI are to improve school readiness and school attendance, as well as increase Year 10 and Year 12 retention rates and Year 12 completion rates. Homework centres aim to provide Indigenous students aged eight years or older with a supervised environment in which they can complete their homework assignments and develop independent study skills.
Expenditure 2006–07: $27.28 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- 1,054 initiatives and homework centres
- 849 Parent School Partnership Initiative projects
- 205 homework centres.
What Works Project
The What Works Project provided professional development workshops to almost 20,000 teachers of Indigenous students in all states and territories across Australia with the aim of facilitating a focus on improving outcomes for Indigenous students. There are now over 50 case studies of best practice in Indigenous education on the What Works Project website at www.whatworks.edu.au, which emphasised teaching practices using the What Works materials to effect change.
Expenditure 2006–07: $1.06 million.
Outputs 2006–07:
- 622 professional development workshops held from June 2005 to June 2007
- approximately 19,924 teachers participated.