01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

DIRECTOR-GENERAL’S REPORTWhat we now know is that while the majority of students at each age level have satisfactory or betterlevels of health related fitness, the mastery of fundamental motor skills ( run, catch, throw…) waspoor across all age groups and particularly so for girls. These data will now allow us to focus ourresources more precisely and to see trends in the health and fitness of our students.The S’Cool Sport program is broadcast by the ABC and is coordinated through the Department’sSports Unit. The show features elite sports stars in government schools and is thought to be the onlynationally televised program devoted to school sport in the world.I have always had a belief in the central role of civics education as a force for cohesion in a pluralistand culturally diverse society. This year saw a significant development in civics education with theintroduction of the Discovering Democracy program. It is aimed at students from Years 4-10 and itteaches them about Australian political and legal institutions, about ideas and events which haveshaped our society and about the framework of rights and civic responsibilities we have developed.That the world beyond the school gates is getting more complex and often violent is probably atruism. What is not really as widely understood is that these non- school problems are the genesis ofmuch of the disruption that occurs in schools. In order to improve schools’ abilities to minimisedisruption this year the penalties for school intruders and offensive behaviour on school propertywere doubled.Students need to learn to manage conflict constructively and to that end we have put in place a peermediation program . We conducted an evaluation of the establishment phase of the Dispute ResolutionProject and were very heartened by the results.New measures in Drug Education were also taken in 1997 to further protect students and schools fromillegal drug taking. Most significantly, all teachers in New South Wales government schools hadspecialist training about drugs this year. Students suspended for drug offences must now agree tostringent conditions and to undergoing counselling before they will be able to return to school.I have long been concerned with the special needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI)students. They have been under represented in the last two years of schooling and their results in theBasic Skills Tests remain a major concern. What is pleasing is that the differences between theperformance of the state as a whole and of the ATSI students is narrowing. What is even moreencouraging is that the differences between the Year 3 and Year 5 literacy scores for ASTI studentsindicates that ATSI students are improving more than the state as a whole. We are still some way fromachieving the same outcomes for ATSI students as for other students, but these data show that themeasures we are taking are starting to make a real difference.The year was certainly one which marked a watershed in public education in this state. Next yearpromises to be fascinating. The challenges posed by the integrating of education services will beconsiderable but certainly not insuperable. I look forward to reporting our progress in effecting thischange while continuing to conduct our work with no interruption to services.6 DSE Annual Report 1997