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Nominations now open for young achievers

Minister for Housing David Borger today called for nominations for the annual Housing NSW Youth Achievement Awards.

Mr Borger said the awards were introduced in 2006 to recognise the achievements of young public housing tenants.

"The importance of encouraging inspiring young people should not be overstated. These awards encourage and support young social housing tenants - many of whom have had to overcome a range of difficulties to reach their goals," he said.

Mr Borger said the awards recognise social housing tenants under 25 who excel in the following categories:

• Academic Achievement

• Achievement in a Chosen Career

• Music, Arts and Culture

• Community Service

• Sports Achievement

• Special Achievement

"More than a quarter of all people living in public housing are under 18 years of age - that's a lot of young people, many of whom are involved in some wonderful community initiatives," he said.

"Unfortunately, these initiatives are rarely praised or even acknowledged as people who live in public housing are often branded as being less deserving than others and unable to improve their lives.

"As someone who lived in a public housing house as a child I know firsthand that it's not true and it's not fair but it's a stereotype that young people living in public housing often have to overcome."

Mr Borger said the awards form part of a new direction in social housing which not only makes sure that young people have a roof over their heads but also fosters their future opportunities too.

"We want to encourage them to aim high to reach their goals and in turn inspire others to do the same," Mr Borger said.

Nominations for the Housing NSW Youth Achievement Awards are now open with forms and guidelines available on the Housing NSW website www.housing.nsw.gov.au or on 1300 468 746. Nominations close on 7 November 2008.

Public housing tenants saving billions of litres of water a year

Mr Borger said Housing NSW was one of the largest landlords in the world and easily the largest in Australia.

"Housing NSW own or manage over 140,000 properties - which represents approximately five per cent of all homes in NSW," Mr Borger said.

"Before the NSW Government introduced initiatives to reduce water usage, public housing tenants were using an average of 50 kilolitres more water per household a year than private renters.

"I am very pleased to say however that public housing tenants are now leading the way in water savings and over the last year have reduced their water usage by an average of nine per cent or 20,000 litres per household.

"With 71 per cent of NSW still in drought it's more important than ever to be conservative with the way we use water."

Mr Borger said the NSW Government had introduced a range of water saving initiatives for public housing tenants.

"To encourage residents to reduce their water usage, the NSW Government is progressively installing water saving devices in Housing NSW properties,' Mr Borger said.

"The devices include showerheads, flow regulators for taps and adjustments to single flush toilets to reduce water usage.

"Close to 88,000 dwellings have now been retrofitted in the Sydney metropolitan area, on the Central Coast, in the Hunter Region and in a number of drought affected towns in regional NSW.

"This program is also being expanded to other areas of the State and when complete will include around 128,000 properties.

"Residents also received a fact sheet with a range of tips on saving water in areas such as bathrooms, kitchens, laundry and garden.

"In 2005 legislation was introduced to charge public housing tenants for their water usage. The NSW Government has committed that any money saved by charging for water will be re-invested into the public housing system, helping the Government to build, acquire or substantially upgrade 30,000 homes over the next ten years."

Mr Borger said Housing NSW recently won a prestigious national award for saving water.

"Housing NSW was recognised in the National 2008 Savewater Awards in the Government and Other Utilities category for water saving achievements," Mr Borger said.

"The awards recognised 14 individual category winners shortlisted from over 800 entries.

"It's a clear indication that the NSW Government is leading the way in encouraging the community to save water, which is one of the most precious resources in the state."

NSW LEADS THE WAY ON DE FACTO LAW REFORMS

NSW has become the first jurisdiction in Australia to commence legislation which, with corresponding Commonwealth legislation, will allow separating de facto couples to have their property and maintenance matters resolved in the Federal Family Court.

NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos said the NSW Act refers power to the Commonwealth to legislate for de facto partners and married couples to have equal access to Family Court services in the event their relationship breaks down.

"The NSW Government has acted to ease the burden and stress faced by separating de facto couples by giving them the same access to the Family Court as a divorcing married couple," he said.

"To date, de facto couples could only use the federal courts to resolve issues relating to children, while property and maintenance matters were heard in state courts.

"Once the Commonwealth's legislation is also enacted, they will be able to attend a single court to resolve all of the disputes that commonly arise at the end of a relationship.

"This will save the time and money of the court and of the couples themselves."

The new laws do not discriminate between heterosexual and same-sex couples.

Mr Hatzistergos said these long-awaited reforms were stymied by the former Howard Government which delayed taking up the referral of powers from NSW for six years.

"NSW passed legislation in favour of separating de facto couples using the Federal Family Court in 2003. This followed a 2002 proposal from the Standing Committee of Attorneys General," Mr Hatzistergos said.

‘The Howard Government refused to accept the referral of power because of an ideological objection to same sex de facto couples.

"What we have now is a commitment by the Rees and the Rudd Labor Governments to remove bureaucratic difficulties faced by couples if their relationships break down.

"This is co-operative Federalism in action, delivering practical benefits to all Australians."

TWO MOTHERS CAN BE LISTED ON A BIRTH CERTIFICATE

Birth certificates that carry the names of two mothers will be available for lesbian parents under new laws which come into force tomorrow, said NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos.

Mr Hatzistergos said the new birth certificates are part of a broad package of reforms which give the children of female de facto couples equal rights.

"It is important that when we recognise the rights of children of female de facto couples, we reflect those rights in official documentation."

"A child's birth certificate, which lists two mothers as parents, gives that child the same advantages in life as a child with heterosexual parents listed on their birth certificate."

Mr Hatzistergos said the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages had already received more than 100 inquires about the new birth certificates.

The new laws only apply to children who are conceived through artificial fertilisation who are living in domestic situations where their parents are in a lesbian de facto relationship. The laws will be retrospective allowing lesbian mothers to be listed on birth certificates for existing children.

"The new laws do not diminish or extinguish the rights of fathers in any way," said Mr Hatzistergos.

"Fathers will not have their names removed from birth certificates, nor will they be prevented from having their names placed on birth certificates.

Under current law, sperm donors do not have parental presumptions and are not listed on birth certificates. This will not change.

Previously, under the Status of Children Act 1996, parental presumptions for artificial fertilisation only applied to heterosexual couples.

The new law also brings NSW into line with Western Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory. New Zealand and Canada also have similar laws.

"This will give children greater protections in, for example, an emergency health situation where a parent might be required to sign consent forms," said Mr Hatzistergos.

"It also means female de facto parents will have a responsibility to protect and provide for their children, just like everyone else," said Mr Hatzistergos.

Children of lesbian couples will now have equal rights to children of heterosexual couples with regard to:

- Workers compensation and victim compensation payments where one or both parents are killed or injured.

- Inheritance of both of the parents' assets.

- Recognition of both parents by school authorities.

- Improving access to guardianship orders for elderly parents.

On top of the new parenting laws, the NSW Government has reformed almost 50 other laws that extend equal rights and obligations to de-facto couples.

As part of the reform process, the NSW Government has updated antidiscrimination laws to address possible discrimination based on a person's domestic status.

The new laws were recommended by the Law Reform Commission which consulted widely with stakeholders.

NSW students excel in national tests: Firth

NSW students are performing well above the national average in every subject and at every year level tested, new national results have revealed.

NSW Education Minister Verity Firth today welcomed the release of the first National Literacy and Numeracy test results, saying NSW students, teachers, principals and parents should feel proud and reassured by the outstanding scores.

"What is most pleasing about these excellent results is that they are for students across every year that was tested and in both literacy and numeracy," Ms Firth said.

"And NSW had the overall highest test participation rate of any state or territory.

"I am also pleased to report that NSW has one of the lowest proportions of students who are not reaching the minimum standard in all categories for literacy and numeracy.

"These results are a tribute to the hard work and dedication of staff and students in more than 3000 primary, secondary and central schools across the State.

"Special mention must be made of the outstanding spelling abilities of our students, with NSW ranked number one for spelling in Years 3, 5, and 7.

"NSW students in Year 3 are also ranked number one for their writing skills with students in Year 5 ranked number two in the country.

"We can also report that NSW students achieved outstanding results for numeracy with NSW being ranked second for numeracy in Year 5 and Year 9."

About one million students from Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the test across the nation in May, with more than 350,000 from NSW schools.

Ms Firth said the strong results showed the success of a range of NSW education priorities including:

• Focusing the primary school curriculum on the fundamental areas of literacy and numeracy, with teachers allocating about half of their classroom time to the two critical areas;
• Investing in professional development and raising teaching standards;
• Support programs like Reading Recovery which enable teachers to intervene and provide intensive support to children who are struggling with literacy,
• The Learning Assistance Program which provides additional support for children with learning difficulties; and
• State-wide challenges to encourage children to read and improve their literacy through the Premier's Reading Challenge and Spelling Bee.

"This is supported by our investment this year of $108.2 million for the Best Start initiative to introduce a consistent literacy and numeracy assessment to better guide the learning of all Kindergarten students in public schools," Ms Firth said.

Ms Firth said the Government would further analyse the results of the tests and look at how schools had performed.

"Teachers will also be analysing how individual students in their classroom have performed and additional support will be provided to students who have not reached the minimum standard," Ms Firth said.

From Monday individual student reports will be sent home to all parents/carers.

"I urge all mums and dad to read their child's report and if you would like to know more about how your child is performing make an appointment to meet with your child's teacher.

"NSW government school parents will receive an additional supplementary report on Monday. This report will contain information about your child's and your school's performance.

"This information provides parents of NSW Government school students with a greater level of transparency than they have received before, and substantially more information than parents in other states and territories will receive."

From this extra information parents will see:

1) What the average performance of your child's school was compared to the national average;

2) How your child performed compared to the national average; and

3) Your child's own results for every test question, as well as details about how many children in the state answered each question correctly.

MINISTER ANNOUNCES RECORD NUMBERS OF HSC STUDENTS IN 2008

The Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth, today announced a record 67,931 students were enrolled in Higher School Certificate courses in 2008.

"The highest number of Year 12 students ever recorded in NSW will finish classes this week and go into the final stage of their preparation for the HSC written exams which begin on 16 October," Ms Firth said.

Ms Firth released the Board of Studies 2008 HSC enrolment statistics at Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay Campus today.

"The HSC is a recognised world class education credential. It is terrific to see so many NSW students sitting for these exams," Ms Firth said.

Among the key trends in HSC enrolments this year are:

• Around one in three students are studying a vocational education and training (VET) course
• Almost half the students are taking a science course
• Almost a third enrolled in a history course
• 516 sets of twins and 11 sets of triplets - a total of 1065 students will sit the exams.

Ms Firth said Year 12 students were attending their final classes this week, and HSC written exams were less than a month away.

"Exams begin on 16 October 2008 with Business Studies and languages while exams in English courses start on 17 October," she said.

Ms Firth congratulated all the students for getting this far, and reminded them to try keep the exams in perspective over the next few weeks.

"There's no doubt this is a really challenging time for students and they should try to eat well and get plenty of rest.

"There are many pathways to further education and chosen careers and we wish all the students well for the exams and the future."

Ms Firth also extended thanks to the state's Year 12 teachers for the long hours and hard work they put in to help their students prepare for their exams.

2008 HSC enrolment highlights include:

• A total of 67, 931 students are enrolled in HSC courses.
• Of the total number of students eligible for an HSC in 2008, almost 56,000 students, or 87 per cent, are sitting a Mathematics exam or have completed a Year 11 or Year 12 course in Mathematics in previous years.
• Almost half of all students (45 per cent) study at least one science course. Biology (4th), Chemistry (8th) and Physics (11th) are all in the top 15 subjects. Biology enrolments have risen by 18 per cent since 2004.
• More than one quarter (28 per cent) of HSC candidates are enrolled in at least one history course, and 2051 students are studying both Ancient and Modern History.
• Ancient History has the seventh largest enrolment of HSC subjects with 11 326 students - an increase of 17 per cent on 2004 - and Modern History is in 10th position with 9773.
• Visual Arts is the ninth most popular subject with 9777 students. This represents a 14% increase since 2004.
• Enrolments in Music courses have increased by about 25% since 2004.
• About 10 per cent of HSC candidates are enrolled in one or more Language courses.
• This year's three most popular languages are Japanese (1574 students), French (1493 students) and Chinese (1243). Japanese has switched places with French as the most popular language in 2008.

Ms Firth said it was great to see so many students undertaking vocational education and training (VET).

"With almost 68,000 HSC students this year, a record number in NSW, it seems many of them have their eye on life after school and are taking VET and technology subjects, which will support them in trades and other practical occupations.

"More than 20,000 Year 12 students are studying one or more VET courses, and most of them will sit for an exam in the course where available.

"This means the mark can contribute towards their UAI as well as provide them with a nationally recognised qualification and give them a head start on a trade."

The details of the 2008 HSC statistics are available in the Media Guide on www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au 

Year 12 students can access all the Board's HSC resources, including their own personalised exam timetable and past papers in their courses as well as all the syllabuses and self-test quizzes, by logging in to studentsonline.bos.nsw.edu.au.

The HSC Advice Line phone service, providing support in 26 subjects, will operate on 13 11 12 from 11 October 2008.

New support for principals of ‘specific purpose schools'

Students in 40 of the state's specific purpose schools will be even better supported under changes to principals' duties announced by Education Minister Verity Firth today.

Under the changes, principals of students in these schools will be relieved of teaching duties to enable them to concentrate full-time on their students' learning and welfare.

‘Schools for Specific Purposes' educate students with disabilities, students who are hospital bound or in juvenile justice facilities, and students with identified behavioural, emotional or learning difficulties.

"Principals in these schools work extremely hard to support their students," Ms Firth said.

"They have a unique responsibility to care for some of our most vulnerable children and the challenges they face.

"They need time to speak with parents and external agencies about each student's learning needs.

"They also need to be available to respond to critical situations without notice.

"These demands are often more immediate and complex in Schools for Specific Purposes.

"The Primary Principals Association and Teachers Federation have raised the need for these principals to be able to concentrate full-time on their important duties.

"I have heard these concerns and asked the Education Department to remove these principals' teaching loads so they can fulfil their important roles."

There are 114 Schools for Specific Purposes in NSW - 40 of these schools currently have teaching principals and will benefit from this initiative.

President of the NSW Primary Principals' Association, Mr Geoff Scott, has welcomed the announcement.

"We requested this extra support for principals in these vital, high need and high demand schools and are delighted that the new Minister has responded so quickly," Mr Scott said.

"Releasing these principals from daily teaching will allow them to work directly with students and their teachers to intensify the support that they need.

"The aim is always to assist the students to safely take their place again in mainstream schools in a manner that contributes to their own successful learning."

The change will take effect from Term One, 2009. An additional teaching position will be provided to each affected school to enable the change, at an annual cost of $3.6 million.

Rees Government injects $16M into disadvantaged schools

The Rees Government today announced $16 million a year for the next four years to boost the Priority Action Schools Program which helps disadvantaged school communities.

Minister for Education and Training Verity Firth announced the continuation of the program with 74 schools set to benefit.

"The Labor Government strongly believes socio-economic disadvantage should not determine the quality of education a child receives," Ms Firth said.

"Teachers and principals in low socio-economic school communities work extremely hard to support their students, and their schools deserve our support as well.

"We know that the socio-economic status of families has a major influence on how a child performs at school.

"That's why our Priority Action Schools Program provides additional resources to the schools educating students from the most disadvantaged communities in the State.

"We have seen in the past that these resources can make a positive difference to student achievement.

"Recent national testing showed that NSW has the lowest proportion of students not meeting minimum standards in literacy and numeracy in the country.

"The results are a good sign that initiatives like our Priority Action Schools Program are working."

Schools in the Priority Action Schools Program can receive up to $360,000 each year, depending on the number of students.

"One school on the NSW North Coast will use its funding to tailor individual learning plans for students with learning difficulties," Ms Firth said.

"Another school in Western Sydney will provide additional training for teachers and parents of children having difficulties with literacy and numeracy."

The criteria for inclusion in the Program was developed in consultation with an Advisory Group including the NSW Teachers Federation, Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations, Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, Ethnic Communities Council, Primary Principals' Association and Secondary Principals' Council.

A survey was sent to all parents to gauge the socio-economic circumstances of schools that wished to participate. More than 90 per cent of parents at each school participated in the survey, which was translated into more than 30 languages to help families from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Ms Firth said the list of schools included in this four-year funding round saw a mix of some schools benefiting for the first time, and other schools coming off the Program.

"This reflects changes in the demographics of school communities over the four-year period since the start of the last round," Ms Firth said.

"The improvements that have been made to the retiring schools through their participation in the Program will continue to be felt.

"Schools which are coming off the Program will also continue to receive half of their previous additional Priority Action Schools funding for the next twelve months so that they can continue to give their students extra support.

"And the great majority of schools remain in the larger Priority Schools Funding Program, which allocates $49.5 million to 588 schools."

Today's announcement has been welcomed by the President of the NSW Primary Principals' Association, Mr Geoff Scott.

"The NSWPPA fully supports the decision to continue to provide additional resources through the Priority Action Schools Program to over 70 of our most disadvantaged schools across NSW," Mr Scott said.

"The survey instrument used to determine which schools are disadvantaged is a strong instrument and the process of determining funding is fair and transparent.

"The 74 schools, each with over 160 student enrolments, will benefit enormously from the additional support and staffing that the program allows."

President of the Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW, Ms Dianne Giblin, agreed that the additional funding would be welcomed by schools.

"We are pleased to see a Government commitment to this program for the next four years," Ms Giblin said.

The Priority Action Schools Program is one of a series of NSW Government initiatives to provide extra support to schools.

The Rees Government has committed $65.5 million a year between 2009 and 2012 to provide extra resources to 588 NSW public schools through the wider Priority Schools Programs and Country Areas Program.