A tutoring program helping students to build skills and confidence will continue and expand over the next two years.
The State Government announced in September that it would spend another $485 million to extend the Tutor Learning Initiative until at least the end of 2025.
This investment will make sure every student identified as ‘Needing Additional Support’ in the 2023 and 2024 assessments at a government school will get it.
Tutors work with small groups of students who have been identified by assessments or by their teachers as needing extra help in their literacy and numeracy.
Individual schools determine how tutoring support is implemented, tailoring it to the needs of each student.
In a new element, the program will now also provide tailored education support for 500 students in the care system who have become disengaged from school in care settings.
Lost educational opportunities have a cumulative effect on the lives of children in care, limiting their future opportunities and perpetuating the disadvantage they face over time.
This program will provide a trauma-informed approach to re-engaging these students in learning, with continued and consistent support.
This support will complement the vital work of schools as the primary place of learning, by delivering support beyond the school gate – reaching students who, for many reasons, are unable to access in-school help.
This extension brings the total investment in the Tutor Learning Initiative to $1.2 billion – supporting more than 120,000 students in government schools so far this year and employing more than 5400 tutors in government schools.
The tutor program called on pre-service teachers, teachers on leave, retired teachers, and casual relief teachers to sign up and get back in the classroom, with at least one tutor in all government schools.
An independent evaluation by Deloitte found that the benefits of the Tutor Learning Initiative extended beyond academic achievement, to include improvements in student engagement and teacher practice.
