Shine Magazine, Issue 1, February 2010 - Department of Education ...

PolicyWhat lies ahead:the planfor 2010Teachers and early childhood professionals can look forward toanother year of stimulating reform as the Government sets outits goals for the year ahead.New initiativesfor 2010More than 12 months on from therelease of the Blueprint for Education andEarly Childhood Development, there hasbeen enormous activity and change in boththe education and early childhood sectors.For the school community, 2009 saw thelaunch of the e 5 Instructional Model forteachers; the launch of the Bastow Instituteof Education Leadership; the appointmentof new regional network leaders and theintroduction of the transparency andaccountability agenda.And it was an equally busy time for the earlyyears sector. Last year heralded the releaseof the Victorian Early Years Learning andDevelopment Framework; the introductionof Transition Learning and DevelopmentStatements; the new Children’s ServiceRegulations 2009 and the provision ofincreased places and support for childrenwith a disability or developmental delay.Speaking at the Blueprint: One Year OnForum late last year, Minister for Childrenand Early Childhood Development MaxineMorand said she was impressed with theongoing achievements of staff in the earlychildhood sector, particularly given theunprecedented demand for services. “Thiswork is occurring at a time when we are alsoundergoing the greatest change and reformever seen in the early childhood sectorin Australia,” Ms Morand said. “Victoriacontinues to experience the biggest babyboom in a generation – there has been a 20per cent increase in babies born since 1999.That is, 12,000 more babies are born noweach year than a decade ago.“With this in mind, the Blueprint presentsa coherent framework for providing youngchildren with the best possible learningand development opportunities. Many ofthe reforms commenced during the firstyear will be fully implemented in 2010,and a range of new initiatives and refineddirections will be introduced.”Also looking forward, Minister forEducation Bronwyn Pike said that whileVictoria was recognised internationallyas a leader in education, there was stillwork to be done. “The Blueprint setsout an ambitious program of reforms toposition Victoria as one of the world’sbest-performing education systems,”Ms Pike said. “However, I know that weall want to ensure that we continue todrive improvement in our system acrossthe board.“While much has been achieved in 2009,the Blueprint is a five-year plan – we intendto build on these accomplishments in2010, and will continue to focus on systemimprovement, partnerships with parentsand community and workforce reform.”Here are some of the highlightsof the 23 new initiatives to beimplemented in 2010.In 2010, the Government will…Implement new youth careerand transition programsDevelop a health andwellbeing service frameworkfor children and young peoplefrom birth to 18 yearsEstablish the Victorian Literacyand Numeracy Secretariat todrive improvement in literacyand numeracyimprove parents’ engagementwith their children’s educationthrough the roll-out of theUltranet parent portalImplement the revisedKindergarten ClusterManagement PolicyFramework to developstronger local networks,more effective local planningand greater integration ofcare and education8Shine Feb 2010