A Consistent ‘Foundation’ Around Australia
The Australian Government Primary Principals Association, AGPPA, representing over 5300 government schools principals around Australia, met this week in Canberra.
AGPPA seeks to address the sheer problem of the different names used for the year of schooling prior to Year 1 around Australia.
“We want consistency in terminology so we can compare apples with apples” said AGPPA President Gabrielle Leigh.
Click here to read the complete media release.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, ACARA, responsible for developing the Australian Curriculum, has called the year of schooling prior to Year 1, Foundation.
AGPPA urgently calls for a common sense and consistent approach across Australia.
“The first common year of full time schooling, the year before Year 1, should be called “Foundation” in all state and jurisdictions’ says Gabrielle Leigh.
On a second issue, AGPPA acknowledges that School Opinion Surveys have been used for many years to gather views to inform school planning and future direction.
“We believe that School Opinion Survey results provide feedback to school communities enabling them to plan more effectively for the future and we endorse the right of parents to have accurate and quality information about their child’s school.” says Gabrielle Leigh.
However, schools have long recognised that Opinion Survey results provide a subjective viewpoint that requires further investigation. It should be noted that opinion surveys measure perception not performance.
AGPPA strongly recommends that information from School Opinion Surveys is only available at the school level. School Opinion Surveys should not be included on the MySchool website as this is subjective information that cannot be considered as a valid measure of school performance nor a means of objective comparison.