The Hodgman majority Liberal Government is delivering on its commitment to ensure every Government school has access to a Literacy Coach.
Literacy Coaches work with teachers to improve practice in literacy and providing support to learners, with 85.4 FTE provided in 2019 alongside six Lead Coaches.
Through negotiation processes with the AEU for a new Teacher Agreement, it became clear that a reduction in instructional load for primary school teachers was a priority to allow additional preparation.
In response, the Government has agreed to the AEU’s request to reduce the instructional load for primary school teachers by one hour per week.
This will only be made possible by the AEU supporting a new time frame to deliver the remaining 35 FTE literacy and numeracy coaches in 2022-2023.
To be clear, the AEU have endorsed this time frame.
The one hour reduction will enable teachers more time to lesson plan, while primary school students will benefit from one hour of learning each week from specialised teachers in art, drama, STEM, HPE, math and literacy.
The impact is an estimated additional 85 FTE funded staff across Primary and District schools, with the additional staff to commence from term 3, 2020.
Improving literacy skills for both adults and children is one of the Government’s highest priorities, with a number of important initiatives currently in place to strengthen our literacy development.
This includes the Launching into Learning, and Learning in Families Together (LIFT), which will now be extended to a further 29 schools, and support 5000 more students.
The Government committed a record $7.1 billion in this year’s budget to improve educational outcomes, which will assist in supporting our learners to develop the literacy skills and confidence they need to successfully participate in learning, life and work.
We have a plan for education, we are delivering on that plan, and it is working.
More Media Releases from Jeremy Rockliff
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