Reports
Actions for Sharing school and community facilities
Sharing school and community facilities
Schools and the community would benefit if school facilities were shared more often. The Department of Education’s ‘Community Use of School Facilities Policy’ encourages but does not require schools to share facilities. Sharing depends heavily on the willingness of school principals and there are few incentives. There are many challenges in developing agreements with community users and there is only limited support available from the Department.
Actions for Information and Communication Technologies in schools for teaching and learning
Information and Communication Technologies in schools for teaching and learning
Several factors are reducing effective use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the classroom. These are primarily: ageing ICT equipment and inadequate wireless networks variable student access to devices at school variable teacher access to centrally provided devices for use outside of the classroom. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are pervasive in
Actions for Assessing major development applications
Assessing major development applications
The Planning Assessment Commission (the Commission) has improved its decision-making processes for major development applications in recent years. The Commission has improved how it consults the public and manages conflicts of interest, and now also publishes records of its meetings with applicants and stakeholders. The Planning Assessment Commission (the Commission) is an independent body es
Actions for Implementation of the NSW Government’s program evaluation initiative
Implementation of the NSW Government’s program evaluation initiative
The NSW Government’s ‘program evaluation initiative’, introduced to assess whether service delivery programs achieve expected outcomes and value for money, is largely ineffective according to a report released today by NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford. Government services, in areas such as public order and safety, health and education, are delivered by agencies through a variety of programs. In 2016–17, the NSW Government estimates that it will sp
Actions for Early childhood education
Early childhood education
Enrolments in quality early childhood education programs in New South Wales are increasing but are below the national benchmark, according to a report released today by the NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford. Ninety-five per cent of children should be enrolled in at least 600 hours in the year before school, but according to the latest NSW figures 77 per cent of children were enrolled in quality early childhood education programs. This 2015 figure i
Actions for Supporting students with disability in NSW public schools
Supporting students with disability in NSW public schools
The Department of Education is doing a reasonable job in managing how well students with disability transition to a new school and supporting teachers to improve these students’ educational outcomes, according to a report released today by the NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford. The level of support provided to students with disability can vary between schools. This is partly due to cultural resistance in some schools and teachers not always having