Topics: NAPLAN results
Stephen Cenatiempo: Yesterday we went through the disastrous NAPLAN results for 2024 showing that one in three students needed remedial help just to get up to scratch and the Coalition is saying that the disastrous NAPLAN results were in a national crisis compounded by Labor’s failed school reform agenda. To talk to us about this, the Shadow Education Minister, Sarah Henderson’s with us. Sarah, good morning.
Senator Henderson: Stephen, a very good morning to you.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Let’s be fair here, this is not something that’s only happened in the last two years. Standards in education have been declining for a long time and look, we all know what the answers are but nobody seems, apart from towards the very end of the previous government where Alan Tudge tried to turn things around, there hasn’t seemed to have been much of an effort to actually make a difference?
Senator Henderson: Look, Stephen, I made that very point yesterday responding to these very concerning NAPLAN results. We’ve seen a decline in school standards over a couple of decades. So 20 years ago, the average year 10, student was a year ahead in their learning compared to now, and so that decline is deeply concerning. It means that young Australians cannot achieve their best potential. They’re being let down by the education system and of course, not going on to work and prosper as they should, because they don’t have the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy. So you’re absolutely right. But the key is we have got to take urgent action. And what Alan Tudge did, he did a whole range of things when we’re in government, including establishing the Australian Education Research Organisation, Aero, and what AERO has done is make it perfectly clear it’s now beyond doubt that evidence-based teaching practices are what will lift our school standards. So explicit instruction, the teaching of phonics, the things that we know will work in the classroom and it is criminal, Stephen, that the Australian education Union continues to oppose evidence-based teaching, and if I was a teacher, I would cancel my membership tomorrow because, frankly, they are doing Australian children at a terrible disservice.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Sarah, I’ve got to say I hate the term evidence-based because it’s misused these days. It generally means what my opinion is as opposed to yours but in this case, I think the evidence is pretty clear and the ACT is a classic example of that. We had both ACT public schools and Catholic schools going down the same rabbit hole. A couple of years ago, the Catholic schools decided, well, this is not working. We need to go back to basics and turn things around and they’ve seen a dramatic turn around overnight. So, I mean, it can be done but why is there this reluctance from the education union, surely teachers and I can’t imagine there’s anybody in the union that doesn’t think that kids should come out of school with basic literacy and numeracy skills?
Senator Henderson: Look, I really don’t know, it is beyond me why they don’t follow the evidence but you’re absolutely right. The Catholic schools here in Canberra and Goulburn have turned their results around because about three years ago, from 2019 they started to very strongly use evidence-based teaching. So a very clear focus on phonics, on numeracy, and they have revolutionised their teaching and they’ve seen their results go up very substantially. So they’ve actually, compared to government schools in the ACT, halved the number of children who are needing additional support or who are developing these ridiculous terms that ACARA uses. But as I say, the proof is in the pudding and other school systems and even the some states and territories are now starting to say, right, this is the way we need to go. But what we’ve seen from the Albanese Government is a reluctance to drive those national evidence-based teaching reforms because it’s got caught up in a school funding agreement, and in fact, a school funding war with five of the states and the ACT. So what we’re saying is, Stephen, please get on with it. Please mandate evidence-based teaching, the teaching of phonics in every Australian classroom because this is urgent and we need to urgently turn our results around.
Stephen Cenatiempo: There’s two other problems that I see with the education system and one is that most governments seem to think throwing money at it is the answer and that’s never been the answer, because we’ve got record levels of school funding these days and it doesn’t seem to be helping. But the other issue I see is that, and I think back to my own school, and we had classes of 40 or 50 students and even the students who were at the lower level still came out with adequate numeracy and literacy skills, somehow. Nowadays we have teachers that demand classrooms of around 15 students but then say they can’t cope because we’re loading them up with a whole bunch of other things, I mean, every teacher I speak to says the same thing. How do we start to turn that around so the teachers can get back to the basics and teach what needs to be taught, rather than effectively taking over the role of parents in a lot of cases?
Senator Henderson: Well firstly, money is important because obviously money funds schools but it only does so much, and what’s really important is how you spend that money. And we’ve seen a number of school systems use their existing funding to transform their schools by changing their teaching practices. So what that means is say, using the example here in Canberra again, Stephen, is that the Catholic Diocese here has actually provided their teachers with all of these wonderful evidence-based teaching resources, including lesson plans, so teachers are not going home every night thinking, what am I going to teach tomorrow? How do I plan my lesson? Because that work is done. So teachers need much greater resources and when they have them, they actually spend less time planning lessons, they spend less time in administration and more time in the classroom, which is really positive. So this is the big challenge, using the money that is provided by the Commonwealth to ensure that Australian children receive the best possible education. And frankly, we do need to get back to basics. We do need to focus on literacy, on numeracy. We need to make sure that we are teaching the fundamentals of education, not going off in tangents, not getting caught up in activist causes or indoctrination in the classroom, just giving young Australians every chance to be their best selves.
Stephen Cenatiempo: We also need to give teachers back the opportunity to keep discipline in their classroom too, which you would have seen the news this week that one third of teachers are thinking about quitting because they don’t feel safe at work. I mean, that’s something that obviously needs to be addressed as well.
Senator Henderson: Well look, we actually did a very important Senate inquiry into classroom disruption because you’re right. This is a very major issue for teachers a nd one of the big missing parts of the unsigned agreement that Jason Clare has released, which sets out some very important reforms but there are some big gaps in not having a national behaviour curriculum, because students have got to be taught how to behave in the classroom and I’ve visited schools where there’s some great examples of how children are taught to behave, what’s expected of them and those children are thriving. And the standout school is Marsden Road Primary School in Western Sydney in Liverpool, I mean, it’s just exceptional. So it’s a low SES area. Many of the children are from refugee families, non-English speaking families. I mean, very disadvantaged families, in fact, this wonderful principal, Manisha Gazula, has transformed the school by introducing the best practice teaching methods by ensuring there is proper discipline in the classroom, the children know how to behave and it’s just wonderful. Their results have gone through the roof. They were well below the New South Wales average. They’re now well above the New South Wales average because they’re getting the best practice teaching and even would you believe, Manisha when she was told by the department “you must have open classrooms.” and she said, well, why would we do that? Because children can’t learn to read in a barn of 200 kids. I want traditional classrooms, traditional teaching, so the children can learn and engage and be their best selves. And it’s working and would you believe now in New South Wales, they’ve changed their policy and now the minister has decided no more open classrooms because they do not work.
Stephen Cenatiempo: Yeah, well when you see the examples that do work, it’s pretty easy to copy what they’re doing but somehow we seem to miss that. Senator, appreciate your time again.