Catholic schools enjoy huge jump

Selu Teaupa, Leon Dai, Liam Fitzgerald and Pascale Lattouf from St Michael's Primary School in Belfield. Picture: Justin Lloyd Source: The Daily Telegraph

ENROLMENTS in Sydney's Catholic schools are at record highs, fuelled by strong demand in booming south-western suburbs.

New data shows student numbers are at their highest in 25 years, with overall enrolments for the 2013 school year totalling 68,741, a 3.9 per cent increase on last year.

Schools in Sydney's growth areas such as Carnes Hill, Holsworthy and Panania have recorded the largest jump in enrolments.

Clancy Catholic College in West Hoxton led the way with a whopping 1713 per cent increase in seven years.

The number of students in Catholic schools across Australia has been a valuable bargaining chip during negotiations with the federal government for a new Gonski-style funding model.

Clancy Catholic College enrolments have soared since opening in 2006 with 55 students, and it had 997 students in years 7 to 12 this year, the Sydney Catholic Education Office said.

There were also strong gains at St Christopher's Catholic Primary School in Holsworthy and Panania, Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School in Carnes Hill and De La Salle Catholic College in Revesby Heights. Overall, there has been a 3.3 per cent increase in kindergarten enrolments at Sydney's Catholic schools this year, to 6200 students.

Executive director of Sydney's Catholic schools Dan White said student results were above the state average in national testing and year 7 students were part of the enrolment increase.

"Whilst we lose some students out of Catholic primary schools to selective high schools and private high-fee schools, we probably also gain about 25 per cent of our enrolment into year 7 from state education primary schools," Dr White said.

Across Australia, non-government school numbers continue to grow at a much higher rate than government schools.

In the past 10 years, the number of students at Catholic and independent schools has increased by 12 per cent and 31 per cent respectively, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This compares with a 2.6 per cent increase in government schools, which continue to educate the majority of Australia's 3.5 million students.

There is also growing demand at Catholic schools in inner Sydney and eastern suburbs, particularly areas with new high-rise residential developments such as Pyrmont and Zetland - a trend also reflected in the government and independent sectors.

Over the past nine years, enrolments have jumped 99 per cent at Father John Therry Primary School in Balmain and there have also been strong increases at St Brigid's Primary School in Coogee, Our Lady of the Rosary in Kensington, St Andrew's in Malabar and St Francis of Assisi Regional Primary School in Paddington.Judy Gastin, the principal at St Michael's Primary School in Belfield, said enrolments at her school had jumped 40 per cent since she became principal in 2004.

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PM says many schools left behind

Melbourne's selective-entry schools are scoring well on NAPLAN tests. Picture: Dean Martin Source: The Advertiser

• Scroll down to compare your school

MELBOURNE'S selective-entry schools have starred in the latest NAPLAN tests.

Data, from the 2012 tests, was published on the My School website.

For year 9 students at government schools, selective-entry schools Mac.Rob Girls' High School, Nossal High School, Melbourne High School and Suzanne Cory High School all excelled.

Glen Waverley Secondary College, Balmoral K-12 Community College and Distance Education Victoria were also among the state's best performers.

At year 3 level, Spotswood Primary School was a frontrunner.

Federal Government analysis of the new data shows that school students in Victoria, New South Wales and Canberra are better at reading and maths than their interstate counterparts.

But Prime Minister Julia Gillard said My School had confirmed that there were still too many students being left behind who did not attain benchmark standards in literacy and numeracy.

The new data showed more Australian students had improved in reading than in numeracy, and that more than 80 per cent of strong reading schools excelled at maths.

"Across Australia, 330 schools improved their standing in both reading and maths for year 3 over the past two years, and 127 schools moved into the highest category for year 5," Ms Gillard said.

She said analysis of a third year of financial data for every school in Australia showed the gap between what was spent on educating students in government and independent schools had continued to widen.

Each of the country's public school students cost $12,034, up from $11,516 in 2010. This compared to $15,182 for independent schools, up from $14,470. Catholic students continue to have the lowest amount spent on them ($11,079, up from $10,405).

The Federal Government said schools taking part in its National Partnerships on Literacy and Numeracy and Low Socio-Economic Schools (SES) had increased the number of students achieving at or above national minimum standards at a greater rate than other schools.

More than 50 per cent of the schools taking part in the Low SES School Communities National Partnership improved their mean scores in year 3 reading, year 5 reading and year 5 numeracy.

The partnerships are aimed at schools that face significant education challenges or that are starting from a lower base than other schools.

Schools Education Minister Peter Garrett said the new data shows that the investments in National Partnerships had worked.

- with Wes Hosking, Sarah Blake

Click below to view results in table form

NAPLAN Year 3 Results

NAPLAN Year 5 Results

NAPLAN Year 7 Results

NAPLAN Year 9 Results

All data has been drawn from the My School website using publicly available lists of Victorian schools

View the original article here

PM says many schools left behind

Melbourne's selective-entry schools are scoring well on NAPLAN tests. Picture: Dean Martin Source: The Advertiser

• Scroll down to compare your school

MELBOURNE'S selective-entry schools have starred in the latest NAPLAN tests.

Data, from the 2012 tests, was published on the My School website.

For year 9 students at government schools, selective-entry schools Mac.Rob Girls' High School, Nossal High School, Melbourne High School and Suzanne Cory High School all excelled.

Glen Waverley Secondary College, Balmoral K-12 Community College and Distance Education Victoria were also among the state's best performers.

At year 3 level, Spotswood Primary School was a frontrunner.

Federal Government analysis of the new data shows that school students in Victoria, New South Wales and Canberra are better at reading and maths than their interstate counterparts.

But Prime Minister Julia Gillard said My School had confirmed that there were still too many students being left behind who did not attain benchmark standards in literacy and numeracy.

The new data showed more Australian students had improved in reading than in numeracy, and that more than 80 per cent of strong reading schools excelled at maths.

"Across Australia, 330 schools improved their standing in both reading and maths for year 3 over the past two years, and 127 schools moved into the highest category for year 5," Ms Gillard said.

She said analysis of a third year of financial data for every school in Australia showed the gap between what was spent on educating students in government and independent schools had continued to widen.

Each of the country's public school students cost $12,034, up from $11,516 in 2010. This compared to $15,182 for independent schools, up from $14,470. Catholic students continue to have the lowest amount spent on them ($11,079, up from $10,405).

The Federal Government said schools taking part in its National Partnerships on Literacy and Numeracy and Low Socio-Economic Schools (SES) had increased the number of students achieving at or above national minimum standards at a greater rate than other schools.

More than 50 per cent of the schools taking part in the Low SES School Communities National Partnership improved their mean scores in year 3 reading, year 5 reading and year 5 numeracy.

The partnerships are aimed at schools that face significant education challenges or that are starting from a lower base than other schools.

Schools Education Minister Peter Garrett said the new data shows that the investments in National Partnerships had worked.

- with Wes Hosking, Sarah Blake

Click below to view results in table form

NAPLAN Year 3 Results

NAPLAN Year 5 Results

NAPLAN Year 7 Results

NAPLAN Year 9 Results

All data has been drawn from the My School website using publicly available lists of Victorian schools

View the original article here

PM says many schools left behind

Melbourne's selective-entry schools are scoring well on NAPLAN tests. Picture: Dean Martin Source: The Advertiser

• Scroll down to compare your school

MELBOURNE'S selective-entry schools have starred in the latest NAPLAN tests.

Data, from the 2012 tests, was published on the My School website.

For year 9 students at government schools, selective-entry schools Mac.Rob Girls' High School, Nossal High School, Melbourne High School and Suzanne Cory High School all excelled.

Glen Waverley Secondary College, Balmoral K-12 Community College and Distance Education Victoria were also among the state's best performers.

At year 3 level, Spotswood Primary School was a frontrunner.

Federal Government analysis of the new data shows that school students in Victoria, New South Wales and Canberra are better at reading and maths than their interstate counterparts.

But Prime Minister Julia Gillard said My School had confirmed that there were still too many students being left behind who did not attain benchmark standards in literacy and numeracy.

The new data showed more Australian students had improved in reading than in numeracy, and that more than 80 per cent of strong reading schools excelled at maths.

"Across Australia, 330 schools improved their standing in both reading and maths for year 3 over the past two years, and 127 schools moved into the highest category for year 5," Ms Gillard said.

She said analysis of a third year of financial data for every school in Australia showed the gap between what was spent on educating students in government and independent schools had continued to widen.

Each of the country's public school students cost $12,034, up from $11,516 in 2010. This compared to $15,182 for independent schools, up from $14,470. Catholic students continue to have the lowest amount spent on them ($11,079, up from $10,405).

The Federal Government said schools taking part in its National Partnerships on Literacy and Numeracy and Low Socio-Economic Schools (SES) had increased the number of students achieving at or above national minimum standards at a greater rate than other schools.

More than 50 per cent of the schools taking part in the Low SES School Communities National Partnership improved their mean scores in year 3 reading, year 5 reading and year 5 numeracy.

The partnerships are aimed at schools that face significant education challenges or that are starting from a lower base than other schools.

Schools Education Minister Peter Garrett said the new data shows that the investments in National Partnerships had worked.

- with Wes Hosking, Sarah Blake

Click below to view results in table form

NAPLAN Year 3 Results

NAPLAN Year 5 Results

NAPLAN Year 7 Results

NAPLAN Year 9 Results

All data has been drawn from the My School website using publicly available lists of Victorian schools

View the original article here

$420m to fix decaying schools

Sunbury College principal Stephen Smith inside one of the school's rundown science rooms. Picture: Ian Currie Source: Herald Sun

MORE than half of Victoria's 1500 state schools have at least one building that fails to meet maintenance standards.

And 505 schools or about a third have at least one building at the point of "imminent failure" or which has already failed.

It comes as an Auditor-General's report this morning found the Education Department wasn't managing school infrastructure efficiently and cost-effectively

An Education Department audit - the first since 2006 - reveals a whopping $420 million is needed to fix our decaying schools.

Leaky roofs, cracked walls and rusting gutters are common problems. The Government will today announce a $51.5 million boost for the more than 200 schools in most need of repair.

Some of the facilities in the science rooms at Sunbury College can't even be used. Picture: Ian Currie

But Education Minister Martin Dixon said it was only a "first step" in tackling the huge backlog.

The audit of 1539 state primary and secondary schools assessed 27,000 buildings against Education Department benchmarks.

One in four buildings was below the appropriate standard and in need of extra maintenance money.

But none posed a safety risk to students.

Cracks, as pictured here in the wall at Sunbury College, are among the problems that need to be fixed. Picture: Ian Currie

About two-thirds of buildings were in good or excellent condition.

Sunbury College is among schools battling ageing buildings.

Principal Stephen Smith said the floor of its science wing was so uneven wheel chocks were placed under chemical-laden trolleys to stop them rolling, stumps were rotten, and warped windows never opened because there was no hope of getting them shut.

The administration area has cracked walls and huge gaps above the doors.

Leaky roofs and rusting gutters are common problems revealed in the audit. Picture: Ian Currie

"There are all those sort of issues which you just can't patch with the limited funds you are given," Mr Smith said.

Victorian Principals Association president Gabrielle Leigh said schools understood not all work could be completed immediately but needed clarity on where they were in the funding queue.

"Our schools are very much in need of maintenance - we haven't had an overall maintenance program for many years," she said. "A lot of the existing buildings are in dire need."

Mr Dixon blamed the former Labor government for failing to keep school buildings up to scratch.

"The audit revealed real problems in how capital and maintenance works were planned,'' Mr Dixon said.

"The government is committed to fixing Victoria's school capital and maintenance program to make sure every school gets the most out of every dollar invested and we are working to develop that better model now.

"The way we manage our school buildings has to change to make sure every student benefits from a 21st century learning environment."

The Opposition has previously accused the government of ripping $555 million from public education.

The audit's findings will be used to help prioritise future maintenance and capital works spending.

All schools will receive a maintenance report by Term 2 to help them address problems identified.

'Historical underfunding of maintenance'

An Victorian Auditor-General's Report, Implementation of School Infrastructure Programs, has been released today.

It noted 7.5 per cent or 2042 school buildings were rated as "poor" or "worn" in the audit, meaning they are at the point of failure or have already failed.

Almost a quarter of the $420 million maintenance spending required is in the Eastern Metropolitan region despite schools in this area receiving $770 million under the Victorian Schools Plan and Building the Education Revolution initiatives.

Barwon South Western has the greatest investment requirements on a per-school basis, with each needing an average $725,076.

The auditor general found excess space at Victorian schools has more than doubled due to recent building programs.

The building portfolio is now 38 per cent surplus to requirements, up from 15 per cent.

In Barwon South Western the oversupply is a whopping 55 per cent.

The report found less than a third of schools received the funding they needed to maintain buildings and were not effectively held to account for money spent.

Schools had developed a "reactive approach" to maintenance due to the lack of money, only addressing urgent issues and deferring less pressing and preventative work.

"This is likely to compound defects, leading to a need for more costly maintenance interventions in the future," the report noted.

Greater scrutiny of schools and a long-term strategy to keep buildings up to grade are recommended.

"The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) is not managing school infrastructure efficiently and cost-effectively," the report noted.

"Historical underfunding of maintenance, a lack of life cycle planning and a lack of accountability for schools expenditure of maintenance funds, are compromising the effective management of school buildings.

"DEECD is aware of the need to enhance asset management practices, but has not yet taken effective action."

The department had been warned about the problem since 2008, the auditor-general found.

It is now developing a "comprehensive" asset management strategy which should be completed by the middle of this year.

View the original article here

Red ink warning as schools do the maths

INDEPENDENT schools could close and more than 30 per cent would be worse off nationally under the latest school funding modelling, it was revealed today.

The startling repercussions for Independent schools under proposed funding changes was revealed in Brisbane this morning during a Parliamentary inquiry into the Australian Education Bill.

Independent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA) executive director Bill Daniels told the House of Representatives inquiry ISCA intended to let every school in its sector know next month their individual funding circumstances based on the most up-to-date settings.

He said a proposal, put by Federal Member for Aston Alan Tudge, that more than 30 per cent of Independent schools nationally would be worse off under current modelling, was fair.

It comes despite a Federal Government promise that no school would lose a dollar under proposed funding changes.

Association of Independent Schools of NSW executive director Geoff Newcombe revealed 40 per cent of Independent schools in his state would be worse off under 2011 funding modelling - accounting for about 60 per cent of students in his sector.

Mr Daniels said the "experience in New South Wales would translate roughly that way nationally but it would fall differentially, so in some states there would be no losers".

"Absolutely on the current settings it is a significant number and it would be unacceptable," Mr Daniels said.

But he said the settings were changing daily and the Federal Government could come up with new modelling tomorrow which meant there was a different number of winners and losers.

Outside the inquiry, Mr Tudge said information revealed this morning, including that some Independent schools could face cuts of $1000 to $5000 per student, could lead only to one thing - higher school fees.

"This makes a mockery of the government's commitment that no school will lose a dollar," Mr Tudge said.

A spokeswoman for School Education Minister Peter Garrett said the figures and modelling used by ISCA were not the Government's.

"Our modelling is being finalised with the most recent schools data. Until that's complete any final school-by-school results is mere speculation," the spokeswoman said.

"Our plan will see every schools' funding continue to rise, and no school will lose a dollar per student. That is our rock solid commitment."

View the original article here