AEU WELCOMES REPORT CALLING FOR FULL-SERVICE SCHOOLS
The AEU has welcomed the Mitchell Institute’s new report Achieving Better and Fairer Schools: The case for full-service school models in Australia, which confirms the urgent need for a national rollout of full-service schools to address growing inequality in student learning and wellbeing.
The report echoes the AEU’s call for the Federal Government to establish 150 full-service schools across the country, prioritising communities experiencing the deepest disadvantage.
The Mitchell Institute report confirms that full-service schools are not simply an add-on, but a transformational reform that redefines how schools support students and communities.
AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the report provides overwhelming evidence that full-service school models deliver major improvements in engagement, wellbeing and academic outcomes.
“Full-service schools are a proven way to close gaps, lift outcomes and ensure every child gets the start in life they deserve,” Ms Haythorpe said.
“This is about putting equity at the centre of schooling. Teachers see the impact of poverty, housing insecurity, poor health and trauma every day. They know that learning cannot happen when a child is hungry, anxious or unwell.
“This report makes it clear that full-service schools are one of the most powerful reforms we can adopt to ensure every child arrives at school ready to learn.”
The Mitchell Institute highlights international research showing that full-service school models produce strong social and economic returns on investment, including up to USD$15 USD (AUD$23) for every USD$1 dollar invested in the United States and a GBP£2.20 (AUD$4.50) return for every £1 (AUD$2) invested in the U.K.
It also confirms what the AEU has consistently said about teacher workload: full-service models must not add to the work of teachers and principals. As the report states, “a dedicated coordinator role in a full-time capacity ensures that teachers and principals are not expected to manage the coordination of the additional services and partnerships on top of their core work.”
Ms Haythorpe said this point cannot be overstated.
“Teachers are already overworked and overwhelmed. For full-service schools to succeed, they must come with dedicated staff who can build partnerships, manage services and ensure teachers can focus on teaching.”
The AEU also welcomes the report’s finding that full-service schools could be implemented without requiring additional state and territory resources, because the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement provides a decade of sustained Commonwealth investment that jurisdictions can use to drive this reform.
The report concludes that embedding full-service models may even create efficiencies in existing wellbeing, health and engagement programs.
“This is a reform whose time has come,” Ms Haythorpe said.
“We have the evidence, we have the funding pathway, and we have a clear national push to lift wellbeing and engagement. What we need now is for governments to commit to the scale and ambition required.”
ENDS
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