Page 1985 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 23 June 2021
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about it. Up until now, the Canberra Liberals have had nothing constructive to say about equity in our schools. As I said, I welcome their newfound interest.
In contrast, the ACT government has made a sustained commitment to equity in education. In 2018, we made sure that every student in public high schools and colleges got a free Chromebook. We made sure that every public school had access to a school psychologist. Psychologists work alongside school wellbeing teams and teams of allied health professionals to meet the education and wellbeing needs of all students. We embarked on a mission to strengthen cultural integrity across our schools so that schools are culturally safe and are accountable for meeting the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families. All ACT public schools have sensory spaces to give students with complex needs a place to safely de-escalate or withdraw when they need to.
In 2019, we implemented the continuum of education support model in every public high school. This means that there are three different levels of support. At the universal level, in every classroom, schools are implementing adolescent-centred practice; effective transitions; and social and emotional wellbeing support, including the positive behaviour for learning framework. For students who are at risk of disengaging, additional wellbeing supports are put in place along with flexible learning programs. For students who have disengaged, the government established the Muliyan Off Campus Flexible Education Program. Muliyan provides an alternative setting for students who need something different from a traditional classroom.
Madam Speaker, we are not done. The ACT government has an ambitious plan to continue to strengthen equity in public schools. We are committed to hiring 25 additional youth and social workers to help individual young people plan for their needs and goals at school and work with families and communities to support student engagement. We have committed to a $12 million equity fund to support disadvantaged families in local schools with educational expenses like uniforms, sport equipment and activities, and music lessons.
We are rolling out universal access to free quality early learning for three-year-olds, starting with children who need that support most. That is because we know that early childhood is the foundation of a child’s social, physical, emotional and cognitive development.
We are trialling free breakfast and lunch in five public schools so that children can have the benefit of learning with a full stomach.
I look forward to the support of the Canberra Liberals as the ACT government continues to implement equity measures in the Future of Education strategy.
Before I conclude, I would like to take a moment to thank the teachers and school staff who work in our public schools. Being a teacher is a challenging job, and that challenge is increasing as community expectations of the profession increase over time. I respect and admire the expertise and professionalism that teachers take to their schools every day. I thank teachers, school staff and school leaders for all the work
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