Senator for the ACT, Kate Lundy today welcomed Australian Government funding for ACT schools through the Smarter Schools National Partnerships.
The partnerships between the Australian Government and Australian Capital Territory education authorities will provide around $17 million for 29 ACT schools to take part in the Smarter Schools National Partnerships for Literacy and Numeracy, Low Socio-economic Status (SES) School Communities and Improving Teacher Quality.
Participating schools across the ACT will share in around $17 million from the Australian Government over the life of the three National Partnerships, with the ACT government also providing funding.
The following schools will share Smarter Schools funding for the ACT:
| School | Suburb | Sector |
| St Anthony’s Parish School | Wanniassa | Catholic |
| St Francis of Assisi Primary School | Calwell | Catholic |
| St Thomas the Apostle Primary School | Kambah | Catholic |
| Bonython Primary School | Bonython | Government |
| Caroline Chisholm School | Chisholm | Government |
| Conder Primary School | Conder | Government |
| Gilmore Primary School | Gilmore | Government |
| Gordon Primary School | Gordon | Government |
| Taylor Primary School | Kambah | Government |
| Theodore Primary School | Theodore | Government |
| Marist College Canberra | Pearce | Independent |
| St Edmund’s College | Griffith | Independent |
| Canberra Girls’ Grammar School | Deakin | Independent |
| Canberra Grammar School | Red Hill | Independent |
| Orana School | Weston | Independent |
| Richardson Primary School | Richardson | Government |
| Good Shepherd Primary School | Amaroo | Catholic |
| St Matthew’s Primary School | Page | Catholic |
| St Michael’s Primary School | Kaleen | Catholic |
| St Thomas Aquinas Primary School | Charnwood | Catholic |
| Evatt Primary School | Evatt | Government |
| Giralang Primary School | Giralang | Government |
| Latham Primary School | Latham | Government |
| Macgregor Primary School | Macgregor | Government |
| Mount Rogers Primary School | Melba | Government |
| Radford College | Bruce | Independent |
| Charnwood-Dunlop School | Charnwood | Government |
| Florey Primary School | Florey | Government |
| Kingsford Smith School | Holt | Government |
Senator Lundy said the partnerships will make a real difference to the education of Canberra’s students.
“Nationally, the Australian Government has committed $1.5 billion to the Low SES School Communities National Partnership, $540 million to the National Partnership for Literacy and Numeracy and $550 million to the National Partnership for Improving Teacher Quality,” Senator Lundy said.
“The National Partnerships will ensure an increased focus on improving literacy and numeracy outcomes for all students, and recognise teacher quality as the single greatest influence on these outcomes.”
Key reforms under the partnerships will include:
- Supporting ACT schools to use the Count Me In Too and First Steps programs for teaching literacy and numeracy. Trained facilitators and specialist literacy and numeracy officers will also support classroom teachers to improve literacy and numeracy achievement in schools
- Establishing School Centres of Teacher Education Excellence that will provide collaborative partnerships between schools and universities and feature ongoing sharing of best practice approaches and cross-sector evaluation
- Developing flexible and supported pathways into teacher education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In addition to the National Partnership arrangements, one additional school (Lake Tuggeranong College) will receive funding to boost student numeracy and literacy skills. This school was below, or substantially below, the national average on the My School website.
Around $100,000 in Australian Government funding will be directed to this school. This funding is designed to ensure that this school can assist its students to improve their literacy and numeracy skills.
More information is available at: www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/Programs/SmarterSchools
Media contact: Annika Hutchins (Senator Kate Lundy) 0407 458 882
