NSW public primary schools will enable more than 1,000 of the best teachers to mentor and coach other teachers, in an effort to improve the overall performance of students.
NSW Premier Mike Baird, Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli and Lane Cove MP Anthony Roberts met some of the first students and teachers who will benefit from program during a visit to Ryde East Public School last week.
The $224 million Quality Teaching, Successful Students package which begins this term, will enable selected teachers to mentor and coach other colleagues, by demonstrating effective teaching strategies. Meanwhile, student performance data will also be monitored across the schools in NSW.
With Australia being a multicultural society facing an influx of students from diverse national backgrounds, a new, more thorough approach is essential in order to ensure a deep implementation of the new educational reforms.
“As teachers and students return to school for term three I’m proud to be delivering on this key election commitment. As we improve the skills of our teachers, we will help students achieve better results,” Mr Baird said.
“In the best school systems in the world, the top teachers pass on their expertise to their colleagues and that helps lift teaching standards in every classroom in that school.”
It is important to ensure educators are focused on areas of need, by observing them in their classrooms. Teachers will be encouraged to work closely together, within their school as well as with other educational institutions. A recent three-year study of 6,000 NSW public school teachers found that collaborating with colleagues was the most significant professional learning practice for primary teachers.
“This initiative, made possible by NSW signing up to the Gonski agreement, gives schools an opportunity they have been seeking for years – to use their best, most experienced teachers to improve teaching and learning in every classroom,” Mr Piccoli added.