Page 3019 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 17 October 2007
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(c) that the review acknowledges the strength of the ACT college system, but highlighted the challenges that face students, teachers and principals in our changing society and the need to work to address those challenges to provide the best possible future environment; and
(3) that as a result of the Atelier Review, the Government will be releasing a business plan to take the ACT’s colleges forward.
In the 2005-06 budget, the government announced that it would undertake a review of the ACT college system. The review was asked to identify opportunities and strategies to ensure that the system is well placed to address the educational and welfare needs of students in the 21st century; investigate current practices in the ACT secondary colleges in relation to the suitability and relevance of courses and evaluate approaches and provide a range of options for future practice; and examine the extent to which effective teaching strategies and student support structures are used by colleges and college teachers in meeting the full range of student educational needs. The review was to be informed by current system data and contemporary literature.
The January 2006 report of this review made a series of recommendations about how the system could be improved. Interestingly, the report noted that much of the philosophical underpinnings of the Campbell report, which had been the original shaper of the college system, remained current. The minister instructed the Department of Education and Training to facilitate a series of meetings with an advisory group of interested stakeholders so that this group could provide advice about the implementation of the report.
The advisory group provided findings in May 2006 indicating that they supported all but two of the 14 recommendations made in the report. These were recommendation 4, which called for the establishment of a post-compulsory advisory board, and recommendation 8, which called for significant change in the way semester 1 in year 11 operates in colleges and the subjects available to year 11 students. The department was then directed to implement the remainder of the recommendations.
One of the key comments in the review was that a business or strategic plan should be developed. This is picked up in part by recommendation 1. Throughout the latter part of 2006, the department and college principals worked together to develop the ACT college business plan 2007-09, which responds to the recommendations of the report and maps them against the department’s strategic plan. The ACT college business plan 2007-09 has been a significant driver of planning in and across ACT government colleges since late 2006.
Key targets have been identified within the plan which will allow the implementation of the review’s recommendations. These are that students who are at risk of non-completion of secondary education are identified early and have case management; that student pathway planning is embedded across the curriculum; that the ACT college system contributes to the achievement of the ACT social plan goals for retention; that quality learning and teaching are evident in all classrooms; that college and high school teachers teach across the sectors; that high school teachers are involved in college course development; that all courses delivered in the college
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