01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

PARTNERSHIPS IN PUBLIC EDUCATIONCommunity EnquiriesOver 3500 calls were received bythe Department’s Public LiaisonOfficer in State Office. About fourper cent (140) of these calls couldbe classed as grievance calls. Thiswas a lower number than in 1996.Requests for information covereda wide range of topics includingdepartmental policies andpublications, and student welfareand health dates for educationalevents and school vacations andstudent placement.During the year the Departmentdealt with a total of 9067 lettersreceived by the Minister. Of these,1448 were concerned with topicswhich were the subject ofcampaigns. These included theInterest Subsidy Scheme andCasual Teacher Staffing.Community information has beenentered onto the Department’swebsite and an expanded range ofpublications was produced toprovide information to parents andthe community.Training andDevelopment forImproved ServiceA number of training anddevelopment programs helpedschool and departmentaladministrative and teaching staff toimprove the quality of theircustomer service.Courses dealt with designingand presenting training courses,conference and meetingorganisation and the use of diversetechnologies in presenting trainingprograms.The Training and DevelopmentCentre in Lewisham continued toprovide high standard conferenceand course support and resourceproduction. Service users havecommented that the Centre’sstrength lies in its location, thequality of its equipment and itsability to cope with a range ofgroup sizes.Guided SelfAssessmentThe Department participated in aprogram of guided self assessmentin 1997. The project is in line withPremier’s commitment that allagencies implement total qualityinitiatives across all operations.The Australian Quality Council’sGuided Self Assessment methodologywas used for the assessment. Thismethodology incorporates qualityassessment criteria used in theAustralian Quality Awardsframework.The purpose of the assessment, atthe departmental level, was tointroduce quality concepts andprinciples to the workshopparticipants and for them toreflect on the performance of themanagement systems andprocesses. Participants scoredthe performance of systemsand processes against qualitycategories. The categories wereleadership, policy and planning,information and analysis, people,customer focus, quality ofprocess, product and service andorganisational performance.The most significant outcome ofthe exercise has been theintroduction of quality conceptsand principles to staff at all levelsof the participating directorates.Staff also have a greaterappreciation of the role ofperformance measurement andcomparison in achieving bestpractice. The results of theassessment will be used as an aidto planning and continuousimprovement.Prime Minister’s Awards forInnovation in the Public Sector:High Commendation for theDepartment’s Asset ManagementSystem❝You should take great pride in yourorganisation being publicly recognised ata national level for process improvement.The initiative of your organisation indeveloping a nomination of such qualityshould also be congratulated.The recognition by the Prime Minister inthis form acknowledges the successfulimplementation of reform across NewSouth Wales public sector and provides anopportunity for other organisations tobenefit from your initiative.❞Director-GeneralPremier’s DepartmentExamples of Excellence in Qualityand ServiceTwo schools won Director-General’sSchool Achievement Awards for theirquality service initiatives.Greystanes High School: ❝a qualityschool ... in practical ways it has become alearning community which maintains theimprovement of learning outcomes as itsmain goal.❞Kurri Kurri High School: ❝The SchoolImprovement Team is based on aphilosophy of continuous improvementthrough quality management principles ...The team has staff, students and parentrepresentation and has become an acceptedvehicle for change throughout the schoolcommunity.❞DSE Annual Report 1997 65