Page 3367 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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area materials, participated in the development of assessment tasks, have created work samples for national consideration and have also assisted in quality assuring of work samples.
We established the ACT Australian curriculum task force to ensure we have a cross-sectoral approach and strong community engagement in the implementation of the Australian curriculum across all ACT schools. The ACT has been a lead jurisdiction in the roll-out of the curriculum. In 2011 we introduced the Australian curriculum for maths, science, history and English to its schools. Arts and geography are coming next year. In 2013 all ACT K to 10 schools were required to assess and report student progress using the common nationally agreed achievement standards in these subjects. The importance of this milestone cannot be underestimated. For the first time here in the ACT there is a set of common standards for assessing and reporting student progress across all education systems.
Parents can now have confidence that regardless of whether they are in Gungahlin, Garran or Gordon their children are being taught and assessed to the same high standard. Seventeen ACT senior secondary colleges are currently trialling courses in these same four learning areas. Full implementation of these is scheduled for 2016.
The Australian curriculum provides a significant number of benefits to the ACT. As a community with a highly mobile population, having national consistency ensures that transitions between schools is much simpler. This reassures parents that their children are not disadvantaged by a move from one jurisdiction or school to another. The online nature of the curriculum and development of a national database of teaching resources provide significant benefit to the ACT, with parents and teachers experiencing new levels of access to the curriculum, nationally developed programs and resources.
The ACT already has the highest levels of educational achievement of Australian states and territories. The Australian curriculum places us in the best position to further improve our results for students and to continue to lead the nation.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Minister, what is the ACT government’s response to the commonwealth’s recent review of the national curriculum?
MS BURCH: I am not sure that it is wise to change curriculum every time we change a government, and I hope that is not where we are proceeding. I believe that it is important that we let the Australian curriculum be implemented and bedded down before we look at making wholesale change. That said, there is much in the commonwealth’s report that is sensible and, indeed, unremarkable, and I imagine that we will have little difficulty in supporting those elements when we come to consider the report at the ministerial council meeting in December.
The government will take its time to consider the report. It is extensive, and I do appreciate the early release. In doing this, I will seek advice from the ACT Australian
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