President's Message
Dear colleagues,
As we move into the middle part of Term three, I hope you are all travelling well. We have been very busy representing Principals as a voice for the profession as you will see below. Those who attended the Conference in Perth also now have access to the presenter notes.
Invitation to converse directly with Minister Jason Clare. As an outcome of the initial meeting with Minister Clare there has now been a set of Operating Procedures for these meetings and a commitment to hold these meetings in schools from each of the sectors on a quarterly basis. There has also been a commitment to further develop research around education and educational leadership issues through AERO and other avenues that are already funded by the Federal Government. Both Michael and I met with the Federal Department of Education in a Briefing last week surrounding the release of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025-2034. A summary of the points discussed is found below.
Agenda
- Better and Fairer Schools Agreement Update
- Will the Capacity to Pay be administered to Public Schools as well?
- Outcomes from the Principal Roundtable
- Disability Royal Commission update
- Works in Better and Fairer Schools Agreement
- outcomes across national dataset & SRS / Loadings review
- Finalised negotiations / offer sent out by Minister Clare.
- Minister Clare signed a bilateral agreement committing to all government and non-government schools in the Northern Territory to receive full funding by Federal Government by 2029. NT Bilateral agreement is online now.
- Coming weeks will sign with WA.
- Continue negotiations with some States.
- 16 billion dollars on offer.
- No capacity to pay changes for Public Schools.
- SRS/Loadings to be re-examined.
- No capital works changes on the card.
- National Principal Reference Group
- protocols released - Minister will write to CaSPA formally.
- provision for Action Items
- AERO Research Agenda could include our topics. AERO to engage with each sector. Meg will share the best AERO contact details.
As a Board we have already met with Notre Dame University regarding possible faith formation partnerships and since the April meeting both Presidents from CaSPA and ACPPA have had a follow up meeting with Notre Dame. We have also been approached by the Broken Bay Institute with possible options as well.
At the Stakeholders Meeting prior to the Conference in Perth we were delighted to see all States and Territories represented and the reports have been tabled on the CaSPA Website.
NCEC Briefing
We are also being invited to the NCEC Briefings regarding funding and I attended one on 2/7/2024 where we received an update on where Jacinta thinks we were at with the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement as well as discussing how funding works across the country and across sectors. Please see notes below:
- 24 Diocesan systems / RI PJP Schools / Parent Associations / Principal Associations.
- Full schooling resource standard
- NT State aim is 15% not 20 or 25% at most.
- Little prospect of bi-lateral agreements will be made post this year.
- NCEC commissioned work to respond to allegations of public sector against the Catholic Sector in relation to funding and its distribution.
- BFSA (Better Fairer Schools Agreement) expert panel named 7 directions under Equity, Wellbeing, Workforce.
- (AESOC) Australian Education Senior Officials Committee - Jacinta and in her absence Neil McGowan (fortnightly meetings)
- Government doesn’t measure parental income of government school parents yet does for Catholic schools.
- Centre for Independent Studies – attempt to clear up the complexity.
- Independent Schools Victoria & NSW have made attempts as well.
- UBER Brand – working with NCEC at present on strategy
- Data on student learning outcomes, progress & wellbeing will be a focus.
- SRS (School Resourcing Standard) will be reviewed over a longer term (10 years)
- NSRB (National School Resourcing Board) review noted government schools will also be included in data reporting.
- SRS was met in 2023 – Government Schools have not met it yet.
- Our funding is means tested – Government schools are not.
NTWAP (National Teacher Workforce Action Plan)
The agreement itself.
- Dollars and terms have not been agreed at this stage.
- Equity & Excellence:
- Year 12 Certification increased by 7.5% points against 2022.
- First Nation outcomes / graduation
- By 2031 96% graduate Year 12
- NAPLAN
- reduce needs additional support
- Increase strong & exceeding
- Prioritise ATSI students and regional/remote
- Wellbeing:
- Return to 2019 levels of attendance is the goal.
- What about the students going overseas?
- By 2035 ATSI Students same as regular cohort
- Wellbeing coordinator (in Victoria)
- Growth a Focus
- Building the Workforce: increase teacher enrolments at Uni – NTWAP
- Review of the enabling initiatives
- SRS base & loadings
- Unique Student Identifier for each student
- Socioeconomic Diversity
- Review of Measurement Framework
- A new measure of student engagement
- Equity in learning gain measures.
Direct connection to the Commonwealth is preferred by NCEC.
Choice & Affordability Funding: will most likely be reviewed after the new agreement is settled.
CTC (Capacity to Contribute)
- Danielle Cronin (Catholic Schools NSW) – Can we continue to use SRS funds and Outside Services Funds (as recurrent expenditure)
- NCEC Happy to prosecute this.
- NSW trying to engage with the State Government on this. Aim is to get this written into a bilateral agreement.
- Government has already committed to not removing DGR Grant and Building Funds.
- Mid year reception of students is a sticking point.
Rural & Regional Funding – Dr Neil McGoran
- Choice
- The Schooling Resourcing Standard (SRS) in 2024 is:
- Primary $13,557
- Secondary $17,036
- 6 SRS readings Student Based – Disability, ATSI, SED, level of English, School Size, Location
- Shared responsibility 80% Federal, 20% State / Territorial – Non-Government.
- Capacity to contribute – reduce base loading because of income (DMI) is developed.
- There is no capacity to contribute for state schools where the funding in non – government schools can lose between 10-80% of funding due to CTC.
- Government schools don’t get 100% of funding but we don’t as well due to CTC (to about 25% on average) this is made up by parent fees.
- We are saying the taxpayer due to CTC (DMI)
- We must communicate this model differently to amend the current false dialogue.
- The average CTC in Australia is about 25% so in effect the Federal Government is funding about 60% and the State Government about 15% and the 25% is expected to be made up by communities.
- Canberra is using the un-means tested SRS. State Schools are at 109% at present and Catholic Schools in the vicinity of 76% as a means tested group. Catholic Schools are disadvantaged by 30% +.
- Our families have been contributing to the common good for many years when government schools are not means tested like us.
- Need a human narrative as well.
- Minister Clare has promised to review what is being made available to Principals across the nation by way of wellbeing initiatives and see what the Commonwealth can assist with.
- In my absence Michael Egan attended the ACARA NAPLAN Briefing Zoom on Wednesday August 7.
International Confederation of Principals Meeting and Conference in Mombasa Kenya
The ICP was established in 1990 by Principal Associations from 10 countries – Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, USSR, United Kingdom and United States of America.
It is a global association of school leadership organisations that reaches out across four regions of the globe: Africa, The Americas, Asia & Oceania, and Europe. As such, the ICP commands a unique global position as an influential voice for school leadership.
Each member is a major organisation that supports the professional development and work of school leaders. The ICP is non-political and non-sectoral with members coming from government and non-government sectors and all educational levels. It is dedicated to the development, support, and promotion of school leadership globally.
The International Confederation of Principals Meeting and Conference in Mombasa Kenya was held in August as well as the Council Meeting. The international flavour provides a great deal of insight, and we also have much in common. Future Council Meeting in 2025 will be in New Delhi and the Council and Conference in 2026 will be Auckland New Zealand.
Being a member of ICP allows for an international voice and to share with colleagues around the world all things educational. We have opportunities to contribute to Council Meetings as presenters as well as contributing to the Journal.
Best wishes
Dr Stephen Kennaugh GAICD
CaSPA President
