ACWA has released a report of our 2018 Education and Out-of-Home Care Roundtable, which brought together sector leaders, representatives from government and non-government agencies, and other key stakeholders, to examine how we can work together to improve the learning outcomes of vulnerable children and young people in NSW.
More than 25 people turned out to last November’s event to hear Professor Judy Sebba from the Rees Centre at Oxford University share details of the latest research from the United Kingdom (UK) relating to the education of children in care.
Ian Wren was also on hand to shed valuable light on the Lookout Centre ‘virtual school’ model that is being rolled out across Victoria to support the educational needs of students in care.
The roundtable agenda also featured a series of updates from local stakeholders, followed by a discussion on where the opportunities lie to improve the way we support vulnerable children and young people in the classroom.
Educational disadvantage is a key issue that ACWA intends focusing on during this term of parliament. Set against the backdrop of a 2016 NSW Ombudsman inquiry into behaviour practices in schools, followed by a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry in 2017 into the education of students with a disability or special needs, the discussions that took place at ACWA’s roundtable further serve to highlight the pressing need for NSW to step up in this critical area of practice.
In this regard, ACWA believes the establishment of a high level stakeholder group that has broad representation and the ‘teeth’ to influence change is essential to achieving better educational outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.
A full copy of the report is available here.
You can also read a copy of ACWA’s recent media release outlining our call for action to address educational disadvantage in NSW.
ACWA is undertaking this work as part of our Let Them Learn Project.