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Vol 18. Number 01, January/February 2009

2009 will be a big year with more new teachers, students and schools. It will also see a review of the primary school curriculum and the start of a new Indigenous scholarship program.

Review of primary education

The recommendations of a review of Queensland's primary education system will be given to Premier Anna Bligh in late April, with a preliminary report to be delivered in time for the start of the school year.

Ms Bligh announced the review late last year. She said the immediate need to improve primary student results was the reason for the four-month deadline on the review.

'There are things we need to be learning and teachers need to be putting in place before the next round of national testing in May,' Ms Bligh said.

Professor Geoff Masters, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Educational Research, is undertaking the review, which has an emphasis on literacy and numeracy, assessment and teacher quality.

More teachers

This year 530 graduate teachers and 76 more teachers of students with a disability will join our teaching ranks, bringing the total number of teacher positions in state schools to about 37,000.

Minister for Education and Training Rod Welford said many of these new teachers would start in regional and rural areas.

To help them settle into their new roles, beginning teachers will receive an updated Flying Start induction tool kit this term.

The tool kit is full of practical tips, checklists and classroom activity ideas and is available from the website.

Mr Welford has also announced a series of new initiatives in which undergraduate teachers would be offered incentives to take jobs in specialist subject areas, difficult-to-staff schools or remote locations.

Bonded scholarships will be offered to high-calibre final year undergraduate students to teach in subjects where shortages have been identified, or in challenging and complex schools.

A 'sister school' program is also being developed in partnership with universities to give graduates teaching experience in a location of their choice. This would be followed by a placement in a difficult-to-staff location with a guaranteed return to their preferred location after an agreed time.

Boomerang transfers will also be offered, with staff supported to undertake short-term placements in challenging locations with a guaranteed return to their preferred location on completion.

More classrooms

The first stages of four new state schools will open for the start of the 2009 school year.

The new schools, Ormeau Woods State High School, Norfolk Village State School and Highland Reserve State School in the Gold Coast region and Bounty Boulevard State School at North Lakes in the Greater Brisbane region will help meet the schooling needs of families in South-East Queensland.

The final forecast cost of the new schools will be $93.1 million, including a financial contribution of $19 million from the Federal Government towards the cost of Highland Reserve and Norfolk Village state schools.

Read how these new schools are incorporating environmental sustainability into their design at the 'New schools go green' story.

Construction and refurbishment of facilities at a number of state primary and high schools across Queensland will also continue or get under way in 2009. Projects include work on a $45 million high school to replace Wynnum North State High, whose site will be redeveloped as a primary school.

This is part of the transformation of schools in the Brisbane bayside area under the State Schools of Tomorrow initiative. Work is also planned to start on the $69.1 million redevelopment of schools in the Inala area.

More students

More than 720,000 students have enrolled in Queensland state, Catholic and independent schools in 2009.

The increase in enrolments reflects the state's rapid population growth, among the fastest in Australia.

Approximately 483,000 students were expected to enrol at state primary, secondary and special schools and an estimated 237,000 at non-state schools.

Maximising achievement

The department has launched the Maximising Achievement Program to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for all children in Queensland state schools.

Schools will be provided with more information in Term 1.

Indigenous scholarship fund

A new multi-million dollar fund has been set up to help raise the educational bar for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Queensland.

The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation will support up to 100 scholarships a year valued at $20,000 per student.

The foundation is being established with funding of $10.8 million from the former Aborigines Welfare Fund and $15 million from unspent funds from the Indigenous Wages and Savings Reparations Scheme.

Funds will be distributed in partnership with organisations already managing successful Indigenous educational initiatives, with schools among the groups asked to recruit and select scholarship students.

For details visit the website .