Parents give Prep the 'thumbs up'
Published Sunday, 11 November, 2007 at 02:18 PM
Minister for Education and Training and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Rod Welford
The introduction of the Preparatory Year has received overwhelming support from the parents and carers of the first intake of students for the full-time Prep Year.
Education and Training Minister Rod Welford said parents and carers of the more than 23,000 students who participated in Prep in state schools this year had responded positively to the move.
“A recent Education Queensland survey of more than 14,000 parents and carers of Prep students found more than 92 per cent of them were satisfied or very satisfied with the implementation of Prep in their child’s school,” Mr Welford said.
“In addition, more than 94 per cent of the parents and carers said they were pleased with the way Prep was developing their child’s social skills.
“These responses reinforce what we already knew from the evaluation of the Prep trials over the past four years – that Prep promotes children’s social and emotional growth and develops their communication, numeracy, literacy and motor skills.
“The results are also consistent with the responses from principals, Prep teachers and teacher aides who were surveyed earlier in the year.”
Respondents were most satisfied that their school made them feel welcome (96 per cent), that their child was enjoying Prep (96 per cent), that Prep staff were approachable (95 per cent), and that they were provided with adequate information to prepare them and their child for Prep (92 per cent).
Mr Welford said further analysis of the survey would allow his department to fine tune delivery of Prep for the 2008 school year.
“In 2008, about 36,700 Prep students will start school as part of the full Prep intake in Queensland state schools,” he said.
“Some operational matters in schools which have come to light as a result of our monitoring of Prep this year are being addressed for the 2008 school year.
“With any new initiative, there are always going to be some bumps to smooth out, but our monitoring has shown that, overall, principals, teachers, teacher aides, parents and carers are pleased with the implementation of the Prep Year.”
Mr Welford said about 600 additional full-time teachers would be allocated to Queensland state schools to support the full intake of Prep students in 2008.
Additional funding of up to $3 million for Prep teacher aide time in 2008 will also be provided to support the increased enrolments.