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Speaker 1: Now, as we've discussed this morning, we know that this

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Speaker 1: review into secondary education in the Northern Territory, it's recommended

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Speaker 1: replacing middle schooling with a more comprehensive secondary school model.

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Speaker 1: It's among fifteen recommendations in the review, which was conducted

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Speaker 1: by Deloitte and Charles Darwin University. A secondary school model

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Speaker 1: is pitched to increase support, improve attendance and boost the

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Speaker 1: number of students completing year twelve. Now joining us on

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Speaker 1: the line to talk a little bit more about the

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Speaker 1: details is the Department of Education's Deputy Chief Executive said. Amen,

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Speaker 1: good morning to you, said.

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Speaker 2: Katie, good morning to you and your listeners.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning. Now

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Speaker 1: said why was the review conducted from Education's perspective?

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Speaker 2: Oh, I think it's always important to review the work

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Speaker 2: you know that we're doing. It was a very comprehensive review,

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Speaker 2: over six hundred consultations, twenty four sites. We also delights

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Speaker 2: to go to some other states to have a look

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Speaker 2: at our secondary provision. You know, we were aware that

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Speaker 2: secondary provision wasn't being accessible in our remote schools. We

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Speaker 2: also wanted to have a look at how our schools

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Speaker 2: were functioning from a very positive point of view. So

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Speaker 2: I think it's been a really good exercise.

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Speaker 1: And what did it find. I mean, you know, obviously

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Speaker 1: the headline here is that it's looking as though middle

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Speaker 1: school is going to be scrapped in terms of it

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Speaker 1: all sort of joining back together.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, and I think whilst it's made fifteen specific recommendations,

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Speaker 2: what it really found was that, you know, there's some

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Speaker 2: great strength in our system. Our middle schools, if I

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Speaker 2: just talk about that, do some great work. Our senior

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Speaker 2: colleges do some great work. But also, you know, it's

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Speaker 2: also about our remote schools. We've got seventy percent of

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Speaker 2: our schools in the Northern Territory in remote locations. So

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Speaker 2: it's also about ensuring that there's equity of secondary provision

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Speaker 2: right across our Northern territory. You know, our absolute goal

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Speaker 2: is to ensure the students complete school. Last year, our

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Speaker 2: schools collectively did a great job. Nine hundred and eighteen

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Speaker 2: students in our government schools achieved in TCT. We want

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Speaker 2: that to be fifteen hundred, We want that to be

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Speaker 2: two thousand. Imagine, you know, if we're able to do

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Speaker 2: that with our students. So the review actually from a

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Speaker 2: much more holistic point of view. Talked about five key

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Speaker 2: domains Katie. Domain one was all about recognition of learning.

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Speaker 2: Domain two was about transitions between and beyond school, about well,

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Speaker 2: you know, what is it we can build in our

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Speaker 2: current strengths. Domain three really was about learning access, so

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Speaker 2: what do what are our students doing when they're in school?

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Speaker 2: Domain four and five were absolutely critical, so partnerships and

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Speaker 2: engagement and we've done our industry briefings this week as

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Speaker 2: well as systems of support. What is it now we

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Speaker 2: need to enhance in our schools, et cetera. So that

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Speaker 2: the middle schooling recommendation came out of those five bigger domains.

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Speaker 2: How do we create seamless education, How do we build

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Speaker 2: in our current strengths, How do we ensure you know,

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Speaker 2: stronger continuity you've learning connection between primary, middle and secondary?

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Speaker 2: And how do we also reduce transitions, which does understandably

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Speaker 2: cause some concern.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it seems to me like from a

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Speaker 1: parent perspective, it does seem to me like middle school

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Speaker 1: is quite a difficult time, you know, like if you

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Speaker 1: were teaching at middle school, if you're a parent of

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Speaker 1: a middle schooler, if you're a student even in middle school.

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Speaker 1: It seems to me like it is one of the

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Speaker 1: more difficult times for kids. You know, I don't know

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Speaker 1: whether that's an age thing, whether it's a hormone and

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Speaker 1: testosterone thing. I'm really not sure, but I do wonder, yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I wonder what kind of difference it's going to

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Speaker 1: make then when you know, if they are sort of

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Speaker 1: integrated back with the kids that are older and that

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Speaker 1: are really quite good role models to them, hopefully those

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Speaker 1: that are in sort of year eleven and twelve.

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Speaker 2: Katie, you've made a really good point. And look, I was,

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Speaker 2: I'm a parent or two girls. Fortunately, you know, we've

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Speaker 2: we've gone through that teenage tunnel and they're a little

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Speaker 2: bit older now, which is fantastic. I was also principal

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Speaker 2: for a long time we sent to twelve. Well, the

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Speaker 2: point you've made there is absolutely spot on. You know,

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Speaker 2: it is difficult enough being in that middle age group.

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Speaker 2: We understand why, and you've talked about the hormones and stuff.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely natural, and it is terrific when you've got raw

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Speaker 2: models in the school, when you can actually see your

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Speaker 2: end pathway, that's really important. I remember holding graduation ceremonies

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Speaker 2: and we had all of our middle school students there,

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Speaker 2: they could then visualize exactly where they were going. And

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Speaker 2: I found that as a principal and as a parent,

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Speaker 2: very very powerful. I think, I think, look, our middle

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Speaker 2: schools are done a great job. They bring great strengths,

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Speaker 2: they bring great pastoral care strengths, they bring great personal strength.

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Speaker 2: Our senior colleges have done a great job in terms

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Speaker 2: of learning and critical expertise. What a great opportunity now

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Speaker 2: to pull those strengths together and create that seamless pathway

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Speaker 2: for students. It's also about flexibility and pathways, I think.

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Speaker 2: I think as an educator, I know that when students

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Speaker 2: go to secondary school with parents rightly worry about care

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Speaker 2: and love and attention that they've had in primary school.

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Speaker 2: But let me reassure listeners, when your students get to

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Speaker 2: around fifteen sixteen, you really want to have enough flexibility

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Speaker 2: for pathways that your child can access to exit in

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Speaker 2: a meaningful way. Yeah, bigger school and a much more

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Speaker 2: deeper school will provide that. So I think it's a

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Speaker 2: fantastic opportunity for us now to progress to that stage.

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Speaker 1: So say, you know, I guess before I get to

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Speaker 1: how exactly this is going to look and how long

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Speaker 1: it's going to take to get there. You know, to

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Speaker 1: those parents that maybe have kids that have either just

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Speaker 1: entered year seven or you know, year seven, so they're

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Speaker 1: looking at well, they're already in middle school or they're

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Speaker 1: looking at transitioning to middle school over the next couple

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Speaker 1: of years, and they're thinking, oh wow, you know, being

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Speaker 1: in year seven and being in the same school campus

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Speaker 1: as the year twelves seems a bit daunting. I mean,

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Speaker 1: what would you say to those parents that are thinking

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Speaker 1: this could be quite scary for my kid.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look I would I would say, be really confident

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Speaker 2: and embrace it. I think I can't remember of my

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Speaker 2: children's primary school years, but it may or may not

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Speaker 2: be the same when your child enters primary school and

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Speaker 2: you've got these years six. Big kids, certainly year sevenths

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Speaker 2: and year twelve. Year twelves don't worry about year sevens.

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Speaker 2: From a parent and an educated point of view, Year

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Speaker 2: twelves worry about their cohort, et cetera. So you know,

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Speaker 2: schools our our current year seven to twelve schools like

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Speaker 2: Tmendmen and others manage that space really well. There's there's

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Speaker 2: would I would be I'd be telling parents that's something

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Speaker 2: you should embrace. It will allow your child to see,

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Speaker 2: you know, much bigger school, much deeper school. The teachers

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Speaker 2: will have much more expertise. But also KADI is an

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Speaker 2: educational fact that if a school is bigger, it has

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Speaker 2: more resources to wrap around students, it has more support

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Speaker 2: structures in place, et cetera. That's not sales. Schools have

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Speaker 2: not done a good job. They have, so it is

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Speaker 2: about scaling up the expertise that we that we currently have.

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Speaker 2: As a parent, as an educator, my advice is absolutely

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Speaker 2: be excited and look forward to this.

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Speaker 1: So sorry, talk us through. I mean, when do you

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Speaker 1: expect this is going to take effect. It's not like

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Speaker 1: it's sort of coming in straight away.

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Speaker 2: Is no looks. I mean, some of the recommendations are

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Speaker 2: some of the flexibility in pathways, some of the flexibility

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Speaker 2: in a strength and crickland pathways that you know they'll

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Speaker 2: happen sooner or rather than later. But you know, the

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Speaker 2: big structural changes will take somewhere between two to five years,

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Speaker 2: maybe quicker for some schools, maybe a little bit longer

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Speaker 2: for other schools. We've obviously got to do some work,

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Speaker 2: you know, the decision by the government is that we

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Speaker 2: will move away from middle schools and dedicated senior taking

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Speaker 2: schools into seventy twelve. However, we down at the moment

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Speaker 2: have any predetermined ways we're going to do that, and

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Speaker 2: that's because we'd like to consult with our communities, do

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Speaker 2: some work with the communities as to what it look

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Speaker 2: like for them, and that's only absolutely fair. So, you know,

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Speaker 2: my previous experience and of the jurisdiction is that this

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Speaker 2: will be very considered, it will be carefully done, It'll

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Speaker 2: be done with consultation and feedback. But you know, it

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Speaker 2: will happen. It will happen in the next two to

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Speaker 2: five years, depending on where each school's at. Some might

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Speaker 2: be in the next two years and might be in

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Speaker 2: the next three or four years. But it's really a

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Speaker 2: very exciting step.

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Speaker 1: Now, tell me what were some of the other key

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Speaker 1: recommendations when you talk about you know, one of them

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Speaker 1: was those pathways into work. How is how are some

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Speaker 1: of this going to work out?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I think, I mean, I think some of it

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Speaker 2: work out really well. Our schools are pretty adept to

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Speaker 2: this already. So you know, out of the fifteen recommendations,

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Speaker 2: I'll just give you three or four key ones. We're

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Speaker 2: talking about a literacy and numeracy guarantee, you know, because

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Speaker 2: our feedback from industry employers has been that, you know,

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Speaker 2: we will absolutely look forward to students coming into employment,

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Speaker 2: but they do need to have a certain level of

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Speaker 2: literacy and numeracy. Middle schools we've talked about effective transitions

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Speaker 2: is part of that recommendation, ensuring that that's quite seamless.

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Speaker 2: And then post school, of course, it's about partnership and

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Speaker 2: pathway supporter as you said, so providing regional support for

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Speaker 2: schools to facilitate that work experience opportunit comunities, career advice,

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Speaker 2: supporting work readiness. The other one, you know, a big one,

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Speaker 2: kady problem more for our country listeners, is that, you know,

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Speaker 2: access of secondary education in our remote situations becomes critical now,

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Speaker 2: you know, because there are jobs in remotes at the moment,

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Speaker 2: students have to go boarding. Boarding will still be an option,

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Speaker 2: but what we'd like to do is ensure that there

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Speaker 2: is provision of secondary in communities in our remote places,

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Speaker 2: so students don't have to leave their communities and families

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Speaker 2: can stay together. That has been really strong feedback from

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Speaker 2: our communities and we're certainly looking forward to being able

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Speaker 2: to provision that some of those schools are currently doing that.

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Speaker 2: Some students do come back from boarding where it hasn't

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Speaker 2: worked out, so you know, we will ensure that funding wise,

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Speaker 2: structure wise, support wise, resource wise, those schools will then

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Speaker 2: be able to do that. That's been really exciting for

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Speaker 2: those communities because that feedback was really strong.

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Speaker 1: Well said, I mean the Department of Education's Deputy Chief Executive.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate you having a chat with us this morning.

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Speaker 1: Talking is through some of these it's going to work

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Speaker 1: and uh and you know what it means for families.

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Speaker 1: So thank you so much for your time today.

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Speaker 2: Pleasure.

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Speaker 1: Thank you you too,