Christian Schools Australia National Leadership Summit - Video Message

Paul Keating used to say a good education was like having the “keys to the kingdom”.

A master key that unlocks every door. Every opportunity in life.

And it’s you – our teachers and educators – who are the key makers who help young people open that door.

There is a lot happening in education at the moment. 

A few good signs. 

Attendance rates are now starting to go back up, for the first time in a long time. 

That’s a good sign. 

The number of kids finishing high school is also up. 

It dropped over the last ten years. And now it’s turning around. 

It’s up amongst boys and girls. In government schools and non-government schools.

The number of students studying teaching is also going up. It’s up 20 per cent in the last few years. 

This year’s NAPLAN results also show some good news in numeracy. 

In every year except Year 3. 

On reading, it’s a different story. 

But the NAPLAN results show us what works. 

The reading wars are over.

We know what works to teach kids how to read.

It’s phonics and evidence-based teaching and small group tutoring that works.

It doesn’t happen overnight.

It takes hard, sustained effort.

The NAPLAN data shows that in schools that have been doing this for a few years their results are going up. A lot.

In other words, it works.

And I’m taking the same approach to teacher training. To the university degree. 

From this year, what students are taught at university has changed. 

The core content of the degree has changed.

They are now taught more about how the brain works, and how to teach children to read and write and count.

And how to manage classroom behaviour.

Just on that I want to talk to you about the work we are doing across the country on bullying.

This is something every mum and dad worries about, and I know it’s something that teachers and schools worry about too.

And it’s getting worse. 

It’s not like it was when we were kids. 

Now it can follow you all the way home, and everyone can see it online.

You can sometimes feel like you can’t escape it.

In the worst of cases, it can lead to young people taking their own lives. 

That’s why Education Ministers have signed up to a series of reforms that are about to roll out.

One part of it is an awareness campaign that has just kicked off and the resources we have released for parents and students. 

In the next few months there will be more resources for teachers and school leaders. 

And from Term 1 next year, all Australian schools – government and non-government schools – will be required to take initial action to respond to bulling within two school days. 

There's also a lot of work happening now on the curriculum.

Late last year, Education Ministers agreed to rolling reform of the national curriculum. 

Starting with maths. Starting with the first three years of maths.

Maths is sequential.

If you don’t understand the basics and the fundamentals, then you get lost and you can’t catch up. 

A number of principals and teachers have told us they think the current maths curriculum is too complex. 

Others have told us teachers need more support to teach maths, with more advice on what to teach in what order.

That work is being done by ACARA right now and it will be presented to Education Ministers later this year. 

We're also strengthening the school curriculum when it comes to antisemitism and Australian values.

We are the best country in the world. 

Part of the reason for that is the value we place on things like democracy, the rule of law, basic freedoms and a fair go.

It’s something we pass from one generation to the next.

And education has a big part to play in that. 

Schools don’t just build skills, they build character. 

That’s why we have asked ACARA to look at how we strengthen how these essential Australian values are embedded in the curriculum. 

That review will also look at how we can help children better understand the evils of antisemitism.

There is no place for antisemitism in our schools, or our universities or anywhere else in our society. 

We have all seen the sort of evil and wickedness it can lead to. 

It’s our collective responsibility to do everything we can to weed it out and stop it from growing back.

I truly believe Education is the most powerful cause for good. 

What we do here doesn’t just change lives. It changes communities and it changes countries. 

Thank you for everything that you do as part of that. 

It is a great responsibility.