Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Legal and Social Issues Committee

Inquiry into the State Education System in Victoria

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (17:35): I rise today to make a statement on the report from the inquiry into the state education system in Victoria by the Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee, which was tabled on 15 October. As deputy chair of that inquiry, it was a great opportunity to be out – and I know many other members of the committee are in the chamber today – spending time in Melbourne and also in regional Victoria talking to a wide range of people about our education system. It is very clear that Victoria is indeed the Education State, home to some of the best schools in the nation. We have got some of the highest attendance rates for government schools in the nation, and I am proud to have a large number of great schools in the Southern Metropolitan Region. I was recently down at Beaumaris Primary School talking to the new principal David Tapp about the work that he is doing in his school to help better support that school and the students there to improve their teaching and learning outcomes. I heard about the scaffolding that he is putting in and the evidence- and data-led approach he is taking, the explicit approach that he is taking to teaching and learning in that school, and I think it has got great years ahead.

What the inquiry found and what the report shows is that overall Victorian schools, particularly in literacy, are doing particularly well. We are a top performer nationally in reading and writing, and the performance of our students in literacy has consistently improved since 2015, with Victorian primary school students achieving nation-leading results in reading and writing. Whilst we do have NAPLAN results that overall are at the top, benchmarked around the country, they also show that there are students within that that need extra help. Many, particularly those from some marginalised and disadvantaged groups, need extra support. Currently about 25 per cent of students require further help in reading and literacy, and around 30 per cent of Victorian students are not proficient, according to the evidence that was presented to us.

That is why during the course of the inquiry I was very pleased, and I think my fellow members of the committee welcomed it in the final report, that the Minister for Education and Deputy Premier announced that the state government was introducing the rollout of a consistent approach to the teaching of structured synthetic phonics in Victoria’s primary schools. We had such strong evidence before the parliamentary inquiry, replicated in this report, that the best way to teach kids reading is through an explicit structured synthetic phonics-based approach, teaching kids how to decode, spell and comprehend, not just guess based on pictures or context. That was the evidence the committee heard. The minister has announced that we are going to roll that approach out to all Victorian government schools starting from next year.

But of course we cannot expect major change to happen without guidance and support, and so that is what the state government is doing – supporting the rollout of this new phonics approach in our schools. Structured support will help that transition for students but also more importantly help teachers address those workloads. The minister has recently announced the Phonics Plus program, which includes the first round of lesson plans that include 25 minutes of daily explicit phonics, as laid out earlier this year. This program has been developed in consultation with teachers and school leaders and is a comprehensive resource package which includes teaching on handwriting fluency and dictation and will make it easier for schools to implement the new approach. It will provide more support to our teachers to make sure that what we are delivering to our students will help retain Victoria’s position as a leader in literacy in the country and deliver the best outcomes for our children.

Last week the minister, the Deputy Premier, was at the Victorian Council of Social Service announcing a refreshed vision for the Education State that puts excellence in every school at its core. This Labor government is a passionate supporter of our government schools and a passionate supporter of improving outcomes in our education system. The future is very bright in Victoria’s government schools.