Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

SCHOOLS ASSISTANCE (LEARNING TOGETHER--ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH CHOICE AND OPPORTUNITY) ACT 2004 - SECT 31

    A section   30 agreement with the relevant authority for a non - government school, or approved school system, must include the following:

  (a)   a commitment by the relevant authority to the National Goals for Schooling prepared by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs;

  (b)   a commitment by the relevant authority to achieve the performance targets, and report against the performance measures, specified in the regulations;

  (c)   a commitment by the relevant authority to the publication, within one year after the end of each program year, of a national report on the outcomes of schooling;

  (d)   a commitment by the relevant authority to ensure that school performance information is made publicly available;

  (e)   a commitment by the relevant authority to report to the Minister about student attendance at the school, or each school in the approved school system, in a manner that is meaningful and allows ready comparisons to be made between different States;

  (f)   a commitment by the relevant authority to the development, before 1   January 2006, of Statements of Learning that describe the key knowledge, understandings, skills and capacities in English, mathematics, science, civics and citizenship education, and information and communications technology, that each child should have the opportunity to acquire at school;

  (g)   a commitment by the relevant authority to implement those Statements of Learning, either:

  (i)   as part of the relevant authority's next curriculum review if that review starts after 1   January 2006 and ends before 1   January 2008; or

  (ii)   before 1   January 2008 if the relevant authority does not undertake such a curriculum review;

  (h)   a commitment by the relevant authority to put into place common testing standards in English, mathematics, science, civics and citizenship education, and information and communications technology;

  (i)   a commitment by the relevant authority to put into effect, before 1   January 2006, the National Safe Schools Framework endorsed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs;

  (j)   a commitment by the relevant authority to provide, in the curriculum of the school, or each school in the approved school system, at least 2 hours of physical activity each school week for students undertaking primary education and junior secondary education at the school or those schools;

  (k)   a commitment by the relevant authority to give the principal, and the governing body, of the school, or each school in the approved school system, strengthened autonomy over, and responsibility for, education programs, staffing, budget and other aspects of the school's, or each of those schools', operations within a supportive framework of broad systemic policies;

  (l)   without limiting paragraph   ( k), a commitment by the relevant authority that:

  (i)   appointments of staff in the school or each school in the approved school system will be made with the approval of the principal, or the governing body, of the school or each of those schools; and

  (ii)   in the case of a Catholic school, such appointments will take account of the relationship of the school with the bishop, parish priests and the leadership of religious institutions;

  (m)   a commitment by the relevant authority to implement, before 1   January 2006, a consistent national system for the timely transmission between schools of student information relating to students moving interstate;

  (n)   a commitment by the relevant authority to ensure that the parents, guardians or other persons who have care and control of each child attending the school, or a school in the approved school system, are given a report on the child's achievement against the appropriate national benchmarks for years 3, 5 and 7;

  (o)   a commitment by the relevant authority to the achievement, before 1   January 2010, of:

  (i)   national consistency in the age at which a child starts the educational level undertaken in the year starting one year before the child starts year 1; and

  (ii)   a nationally consistent description for the educational level a child undertakes in the year starting 2 years before the child starts year 1; and

  (iii)   a nationally consistent description for the educational level a child undertakes in the year starting one year before the child starts year 1;

  (p)   the commitment mentioned in section   32;

  (q)   the matters required by sections   34, 35, 36, 37 and 38;

  (r)   any provision required by paragraph   56(2)(d);

  (s)   any provision required by paragraph   58(4)(b);

  (t)   any provision required by paragraph   59(4)(e).