Meeting student need: delivering for the needs of each child

The Government is committed to ensuring that all students in all schools are entitled to an excellent education, regardless of location or school size. This entitlement will be enshrined in the Australian Education Act. The Schooling Resource Standard will ensure that funding goes where it is needed most, so that schools have the resources to give students the support they need to reach their full potential.

Provide inclusive education and identify those at risk

Governments have acknowledged that students with a disability, students from Indigenous, low socioeconomic and limited English speaking backgrounds, and students attending schools that are smaller and in remote and regional areas, need more assistance.

In addition to adopting needs‑based funding, governments have committed to develop a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Action Plan for 2015‑2020. We will also develop and deliver a new loading and support for students with a disability commencing from 2015, based on new national definitions and data.

The additional funding being provided for disadvantaged students will enable individual learning plans to be developed for kids at risk of falling behind.

Encourage excellence

Our nation's high performers will also be encouraged to strive to be the best in the world across the curriculum. Schools will have the resources they need to implement specialised programs to support high performing students, such as employing an additional teaching aide to run extension activities.

Strengthen parent and community engagement

The evidence shows that learning continues well beyond the school gate. Governments have committed to working with schools to support and engage with parents and families, including providing advice on how best to contribute to their child's learning at home. In addition, partnerships between schools and other organisations in the community will be established, creating opportunities to extend learning beyond the classroom and connect the curriculum to real world situations.

Under the National Plan for School Improvement a remote school with a high proportion of disadvantaged students will be well resourced to implement local strategies to support the needs of its individual students, including specialist programs, like reading or maths recovery, and specialised equipment and teachers.

Using the additional funding it will receive, the school can implement a program that celebrates the culture of local Indigenous families, welcoming parents into the school who may have felt like outsiders. The program will provide support for students with a language background other than English and has the benefit of helping families with their own English skills at the same time as engaging them in their child's education.

Staff will no longer have to spend hours applying and reapplying for different targeted funding programs, and instead will be able to use this time on more important activities, such as professional development and face to face time with students.