The Hodgman Liberal Government strongly believes that education gives Tasmanians the very best chance of getting a job and living a fulfilling life, as well as unlocking the State's full potential.
We want to ensure Tasmanians have every opportunity to get better qualifications and in turn have the best chance at getting a job.
We are doing this by extending our rural and regional high schools to Years 11 and 12.
Already, 13 high schools have taken up the opportunity to extend to Years 11 and 12.
Today I am very pleased to announce that Ulverstone High School has expressed interest in extending to Years 11 and 12.
Ulverstone is the first urban school to express interest and highlights just how popular our policy of extending schools is within the community.
Originally we didn't envisage extending urban high schools before 2018, but we are unashamedly speeding the process up due to popular demand and the success of the policy to date.
By extending high schools to Year 12 we help remove the perception for many in the community that schooling finishes at Year 10 and recognise that there are a number of barriers that make the move to College or other further education difficult for some students.
This is not about taking students away from Colleges, it's about getting more students who currently don’t go on to through our College system to finish year 12.
The early results are very positive, with enrolments in Years 11 and 12 increasing by an average 38 per cent in the extending schools. A further seven schools will extend as part of Round 2 in 2016.
In October I wrote to all high schools inviting expressions of interest in extending to Years 11 and 12 from 2017 onwards.
We are working with individual school communities to find innovative ways to encourage their local students to stay in school longer.
We understand that this is not a case of ‘one size fits all’ and we are committed to working with school communities to find the best solution for them.
This includes options like introducing Year 11 and 12 curriculum in the last part of Term 4 in association with a college or Year 11/12 school. This will encourage collaborative teaching with Year 10, 11 and 12 teachers.
Another model being explored is a Year 7 to 12 College School Coalition model, where a college and associated feeder schools would work together to build a culture of school completion to the end of year 12.
The letter sent to schools encourages these types of models to be brought forward for consideration for delivery from 2017 onwards.
This is the next exciting stage of our long-term plan to improve educational attainment and completion in this state.
It also sends a clear message to schools and students that were are committed to working with them in a collaborative way to achieve the very best outcome for Tasmanians.
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