News

Encouraging our best and brightest to become teachers

Funding to proactively recruit, train and place high-achieving graduates into teaching positions in understaffed schools has been announced.

<p class&equals;"body">The Federal Government is investing &dollar;7&period;89 million to encourage our best and brightest to pursue a career as a primary school teacher&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As part of the Government’s High Achieving Teachers &lpar;HAT&rpar; Program&comma; the funding will be provided to La Trobe University to get more people&comma; particularly mid-career workers&comma; into primary teaching&period; This initiative is one part of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan that Education Ministers agreed to last year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;latest-print-issue&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Read the Term 2 edition of <em>School News<&sol;em> HERE<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In delivering the program&comma; La Trobe will place the program graduates into primary schools that need them most across Victoria and New South Wales&period; The pilot will deliver 105 primary school teacher places&period; These are the first of 1500 teacher places delivered through the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan&period; Participants will receive mentoring and support and will be paid for their practical teaching experience&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In announcing the program&comma; Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We don’t remember much about when we are little&comma; but most of us remember our teachers’ names&period; That shows just how important our teachers are&comma; and the impact they have on us&period; And we don’t have enough of them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This is the first program like this targeted at recruiting and training more primary school teachers&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dean of School of Education at La Trobe University&comma; Professor Joanna Barbousas is optimistic about the new program&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Our current Nexus program has been an extraordinary success in preparing teachers for employment in schools across Victoria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Preparing teachers through evidence-informed approaches and gaining hands-on classroom experiences&comma; will set them up to make a difference in regional&comma; rural and hard to staff schools”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Commencing in 2020&comma; the High Achieving Teachers Program offers two alternative&comma; employment-based pathways into teaching for high achieving individuals&comma; committed to pursuing a career as a teacher&period; Teach For Australia and La Trobe University have been contracted by the Government to deliver the two pathways&period; Both providers&comma; the Government said&comma; were selected following an open and competitive tender process conducted in 2018&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Each pathway proactively recruits and selects high achieving university graduates with the skills&comma; abilities&comma; knowledge and experience needed in schools&period; Program participants are placed in teaching positions in Australian schools experiencing teacher shortages&period; Working in schools&comma; program participants receive a high degree of training and support while they complete an Australian accredited teaching qualification&comma; positioning them to develop into high quality teachers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Recruitment will commence later this year with the first lot of primary school teachers placed into schools in April 2024&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Explore our latest issue...
Gemma Easton

Recent Posts

Schools tune in: How music is connecting kids to country

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has announced that in 2025 Busking for Change is being…

1 week ago

Some students learning English can take at least 6 years to catch up to their peers. How can we support them better?

About one quarter of Australian school students are learning English as an additional language or…

1 week ago

The power of outdoor learning on emotional wellbeing

Spending time in green spaces reduces cortisol levels, lowers heart rate, and positively impacts mood…

1 week ago

Schools play a vital role in combating youth loneliness and suicide risk

Social isolation, loneliness, bullying, and family breakdowns are now key causes of distress among young…

1 week ago

Are your students avoiding the school washroom?

Busy, high-use areas, washrooms can use some extra attention to make sure students feel comfortable…

1 week ago

Are you teaching out of field? Your input is needed

A study investigating the realities of out-of-field teachers is seeking participants for groundbreaking research.

2 weeks ago

This website uses cookies.