APC welcomed a number of dynamic new council members at our AGM in October.

'The new board members bring a wide range of experience, expertise and enthusiasm to the Australian Parents Council. I look forward to the new board helping APC expand its reach and activities to maximise parents' engagement and voice on education issues.

'APC is evolving to a broader based membership organisation to connect more directly with parents and represent genuine parent perspectives,' explains APC President Jenni Rickard.

'Our new board members will help APC expand on our proud history of discussion, connection and advocacy from the cubby house to Canberra.'

Life Members
Caz Bosch - SA
Jo Lonergan - NSW

Please visit our website to view profiles of our council members: https://austparents.edu.au/about-us/

The 2021 NAPLAN National Report has been released, confirming the preliminary summary information published in August 2021 that, at a national and state/territory level, no statistically significant changes were observed between 2019 and 2021.

However, there were some significant differences apparent when assessing long-term trends in the gaps between different demographic groups; for example, between male and female students, where the gap between the groups is widening when compared against 2016.

“The national report analysis shows that female students continue to outperform male students in reading and writing while males are outperforming females in numeracy, except in Year 9 where the gap is stable,” said ACARA CEO, David de Carvalho.

“In the secondary classroom, we can see that the gap between boys and girls is widening for reading but stable for writing, and the gender gap is larger in secondary schools than in primary schools for writing.

“Compared with the base year, 2008 (2011 for writing), Years 3 and 5 reading, Year 5 numeracy, and Years 3 and 5 spelling have significantly improved nationally, showing gains equivalent to a term’s worth of learning since the base year but these improvements were not reflected in every demographic group.

“We can now also see that the main group of students who fell behind the national average in Years 7 and 9 reading and Years 3 and 7 numeracy, compared to the base year, were students whose parents did not complete Year 12,” he said.

The full report is published on the National Assessment Program website: https://nap.edu.au/results-and-reports/national-reports

APC analysis of the NAPLAN report

There are few points to take note of in this report that APC believes are of particular interest to parents:

1. Although there is no statistically significant evidence of a drop in student results since 2019, the impact of COVID measures and school closures may take time to show. It will be interesting to see the impact on Year 3 students next year, as they have experienced significant disruption early on in their education journey when they are establishing their literacy and numeracy skills. In short, the full impact of COVID may take time to show in national assessments. It is still early days.
2.  The results at a national and state or territory level may mask loss of learning in vulnerable students at a local level. In its report ACARA notes: ‘While there are indications that the gap between high and low socio-educational groups widened between 2019 and 2021, further analysis is being conducted to determine whether this can be attributed to the pandemic or whether it is part of a longer-term national trend unrelated to COVID.
3.  Results for students whose parents did not complete Year 12, in Years 5 and 9 in Queensland and Year 7 in Tasmania, showed a decline in numeracy. In addition, Year 9 students from the Northern Territory with at least one parent in the highest occupation groups declined in reading, numeracy and writing achievement. This shows that there is a ‘parent effect’ at work, and therefore evidence to support the need for parents to be better engaged by schools so they can better support their child. APC has and will continue to advocate for parents to be supported and better engaged by schools to ensure children get the most out of their education.

ACHIEVEMENT TRENDS 2016–2021

Female and male students

• Female students outperformed male students in reading and writing, and male students outperformed female students in numeracy.
• Over the last 6 years, the gap in numeracy is generally widening, except in Year 9 where the gap is stable.
• For primary school students, the gap is stable for reading but narrowing for writing.
• For secondary school students, the gap is widening for reading but stable for writing.
• In addition, the gender gap is larger in secondary schools than primary schools for writing.

Indigenous

• The difference in achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students is large with no noticeable closing or widening of the gap between 2016 and 2021.

Major cities and regional areas

• Students from major cities outperformed students from regional areas in numeracy, reading and writing. The gap in numeracy and reading has gradually widened between 2016 and 2021 for most year levels.

Regional and remote

• Numeracy, reading and writing achievement by students from regional areas (inner and outer regional) was significantly higher than achievement by students from remote and very remote areas. The gap in achievement between regional and remote areas has remained steady over the past 5 years.

A great place to start is the Australian Parents Council's website. We have put together lots of information specifically aimed at parents that includes explanations, advice and links to other useful organisations.

• University guide for parents - includes advice for picking unis and courses, the application process, how to hedge your bets and alternative entry pathways that don't necessarily include an ATAR

• Vocational education and training - includes advice on how to find work-focussed education and training with your child, and includes lots of links to organisations and training providers.
  
  
• Career planning with your teen - includes advice on talking to your teen about their future direction

We also highly recommend that your teen visits Year13. It's a great independent website that heps kids transition out of school into a productive year 13.

eSafety has produced a new video guide for parents and carers on parental controls, and how these can help keep their children safe online.

You can also catch up with eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant's keynote address at the World Anti-Bullying Forum in Stockholm on 3 November 2021. The presentation provides early insights into new research into young people's online experience, and how an increasing number of 8-17 year-olds are prepared to stand up to cyberbullies.

Safer Internet Day 2022 is on 8 February. The theme this year is Play it Fair Online. 

The global initiative brings families, schools, organisations and governments from 170 countries together to raise awareness about online safety.

Explore eSafety's range of resources to find out how you and your community can get involved. 

Healthy Lunchbox Week is an initiative of Nutrition Australia.

It aims to inspire Australian families to create healthy and enjoyable lunchboxes.

​Did you know children consume around 30% of their daily food intake at school?

Most of this comes from the contents of their lunchbox. What children eat during their day at school plays a crucial role in their learning and development.

Occurring at the start of Term 1, it provides timely information for families as they return to the routine of daily lunchbox packing and it supports schools and teachers to share healthy lunchbox messages within their school community by:

• inspiring healthy lunchbox ideas and recipes

• informing a healthy lunchbox balance across core food groups

• awareness of lunchbox food hygiene and safety.
  
  

Do you have Australia's healthiest lunchbox?
Win one of six $250 Woolworths e-Gift cards by sharing a picture and explanation of your healthy lunchbox creation with Life Education.

Entries close 12 February 2022.

We're very happy to invite you to become a friend of the Australian Parents Council. You can join us as an individual, a school or an organisation. You don't have to be part of a particular school sector and can come from anywhere in Australia. The single most important qualification for becoming a friend of the APC is that you are passionate about education.

As an organisation, we believe that active and empowered parents and carers can, and do, make a significant difference to children’s achievement.

We have a proud tradition of supporting and advocating for parents going back to 1962. We are not-for-profit, non-denominational and non-party political, funded by parents and supported by government. We are not controlled or appointed by a school sector, although we do work closely with government and education providers. We are fiercely independent, as we believe this enables us to provide an authentic parent voice. 

We provide a genuine parent perspective on education issues, and we are widely consulted.

We advocate at a national level for:

• school choice
• parent voice
• equity in access and funding
• quality education for all students.

Friends will go onto our mailing list to receive all our newsletters, and other publications like media releases and reports. We will also invite our friends to share their insights and feedback on a wide range of issues affecting school parents.