Education in Western Australia

Western Australia follows a three-tier system, consisting of primary education (primary schools), followed by secondary education (high schools or secondary colleges) and tertiary education (Universities and TAFE Colleges).

Education is compulsory in Western Australia between the ages of six and seventeen. From 1 January 2008 persons in their 17th year must be in school, training, or have a job until the end of that year.

History

During the 1830s the first schools were started in the form of one-teacher schools. The oldest government-sponsored education institution in Western Australia, Guildford Colonial School (now Guildford Primary School), was founded at the Swan River Colony in 1833, and consisted of several premises in the townsite before a purpose built school was constructed in 1870. From the 1850s schools became more common around Western Australia, with many of the teachers being sourced from educated convicts who had obtained their ticket of leave. Initially there were no official qualifications required to teach, only that a teacher be literate, and many schools were run by nuns or single women.

The first school in the state with a focus on educating Indigenous children, Annesfield, was opened in 1852 by clergyman John Wollaston and Anne Camfield in Albany.

A royal commission in September 1910 proposed that a university be established in Western Australia. Following this recommendation, the establishment of the University of Western Australia in 1911 by an act of the Parliament of Western Australia meant students could begin receiving tertiary qualifications in the state. UWA opened to students two years later.

In 1915 James Miles chose Toodyay school to be the pioneer of his Special Rural Schools program. To this end he worked with the headmaster Roderick Brooke Cowden and his staff to design the equipment needed to enable the students to be more independent and resourceful in the learning process. Subjects were to be based on the practical activities of farming life. School gardens were established where the children experimented with different types of grains such a wheat, oats and barley, and the growing of vegetables and flowers. Girls were taught fruit and vegetable preservation, and first aid. When teaching standard curriculum subjects such as arithmetic and history, teachers were encouraged to use local sources, for example "figures showing the district's imports and exports were computed from the railway records". By 1920 twelve other special rural schools were established in the state. This number peaked at 40 in 1922. This success was in no small part due to the government's recognition of the state's dependence on agriculture. The commissioners of the Royal Commission into Education 1921 visited Toodyay and were highly impressed with its program.

In 1974, the national government ran a pilot project in 200 primary schools nicknamed "Powers of Ten" (formally "National Educational Decimalisation and Place-Value Initiative") to familiarise pupils with the new decimal system. It was retired after 6 months since teachers reported widespread confusion caused by an unexpected tendency for pupils to apply decimal scaling to unrelated subjects.

Students in Years 11 and 12 initially undertook a Tertiary Admittance Exam for each subject, and a score was established based almost entirely on the results of a single exam from each of six subjects over the two years. From 1986 the Tertiary Entrance Exam was the standard academic examination for students completing their twelfth year of schooling, which was used to determine a student's Tertiary Entrance Rank. In 2010 it was renamed to produce an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), a move towards a more national approach to students eligibility for tertiary study. Students satisfactorily completing Year 12 secondary education receive a Western Australian Certificate of Education.

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Primary and secondary education

Kindergarten and preschool

In Western Australia, children can start their education in Kindergarten, however compulsory schooling starts the following year in Pre-primary.

Preschool Pre-primary, was made compulsory in 2013. Before that time, many children were attending pre-primary education programs, but the government of Western Australia put in place legislation to bring the state into line with other jurisdictions.

Early childhood educators in Western Australia follow the Australian Government and the School Curriculum and Standards Authorities guidelines on Early Learning. Many schools have adopted the Early Years Learning Framework, part of the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education, which focuses on Belonging, Being and Becoming.

Primary schools

Primary education consists of six grades: a preparatory year (commonly called "pre-primary") followed by Years 1 to 6. The minimum age at which a child can commence primary school education is 4.5 years. That is, the child can enroll in a school at the preparatory level if he or she would be five years of age by 30 June of that year. A child must commence education before age six.

Secondary schools

Students in the Western Australian school system attend a secondary school from years 7 to 12. The age that a student begins secondary school was lowered in 2015, to begin at Year 7. The government of Western Australia believes that a secondary school is more appropriate for young adolescents from Year 7 to assist with social and emotional development, and also assists in the delivery of the Australian Curriculum to Year 7 students. Some institutions in Western Australia have an integrated primary and secondary school, educating students from Kindergarten to Year 12, while a number of private schools may operate separate middle schools for students in years 7 to 9 exclusively, with students in years 10 to 12 attending a senior school. This is normally within the same institution.

Gifted and talented secondary selective entrance programs

Gifted and talented programs are held across 24 public secondary schools and include programs for academic, arts and languages. Perth Modern School is Western Australia's only fully selective public school, and entry is based on an Academic Selective Entry Test. John Curtin College of the Arts in Fremantle is an arts college which provides students with the opportunity to study a suite of gifted and talented art programs. It provides students with similar abilities, the opportunity to learn in an environment that fosters creativity and excellence.

Selective academic program

The gifted and talented academic programs are held at 16 public secondary schools across Western Australia. Students are grouped in classes for mathematics, science, english and Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). Students foster advanced analytical, critical and creative thinking skills. They follow a program that matches individual learning needs and accelerates learning by extending their skills with advanced and in-depth study..

Participating academic schools

Albany Senior High School
Alkimos College
Bob Hawke College
Bunbury Senior High School
Carine Senior High School
Comet Bay College
Duncraig Senior High School
Ellenbrook Secondary College
Fremantle College
Governor Stirling Senior High School
Harrisdale Senior High School
Kelmscott Senior High School
Melville Senior High School
Online for country students
Perth Modern School
Shenton College
Willetton Senior High School

Selective arts program

The gifted and talented art programs are held at 6 public secondary schools in the Perth Metro area. Students are grouped in classes for their arts program. Visual Arts is available at Applecross Senior High School, Balcatta Senior High School, John Curtin College of the Arts and Kalamunda Senior High School. Dance is available at Hampton Senior High School and John Curtin College of the Arts. Music is available at Churchlands Senior High School and John Curtin College of the Arts. Drama, Media Arts and Music Theatre are available at John Curtin College of the Arts.

Participating arts schools

Applecross Senior High School
Balcatta Senior High School
Churchlands Senior High School
Hampton Senior High School
John Curtin College of the Arts
Kalamunda Senior High School

Selective language program

The gifted and talented language programs are held at 2 public secondary schools in the Perth Metro Area. Students are grouped for their language classes. For entrance into Year 7, no prior learning in the specific language is required.

Participating language schools

Mount Lawley Senior High School
Rossmoyne Senior High School

Curriculum

The curriculum in Western Australia is developed by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The Authority is also responsible for maintaining school standards and managing national literacy and numeracy testing through the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy. The Western Australian curriculum is broadly consistent with the Australian Curriculum, but is contextualised for Western Australia students and teachers. Secondary students in years 11 and 12 are enrolled in the Western Australian Certificate of Education program.

Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank

The Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) was introduced in 2010 in Australia as a means of standardizing the national university entrance system. The ATAR system follows the same principles as the systems that it replaces and improves upon them by allowing for greater interstate comparison of student achievements.

Tertiary pathways

The classification of tertiary qualifications in Western Australia is governed in part by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), which attempts to integrate into a single national classification all levels of tertiary education (both vocational and higher education), from trade certificates to higher doctorates.

Technical and Further Education

Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes are state-administered. TAFE institutions generally offer short courses, Certificates I, II, III, and IV, Diplomas, and Advanced Diplomas in a wide range of vocational topics. They also sometimes offer higher education courses.

In addition to TAFE Institutes, there are privately operated registered training organisations (RTOs). They include:

commercial training providers,
the training department of manufacturing or service enterprises,
the training function of employer or employee organisations in a particular industry,
group training companies,
community learning centres and neighbourhood houses,
secondary colleges providing vocational education programs.

In size these RTOs vary from single-person operations delivering training and assessment in a narrow specialisation, to large organisations offering a wide range of programs. Many of them receive government funding to deliver programs to apprentices or trainees, to disadvantaged groups, or in fields which governments see as priority areas.

All TAFE institutes and private RTOs are required to maintain compliance with a set of national standards called the Australian Quality Training Framework, and this compliance is monitored by regular internal and external audits.

Vocational education and training (VET) programs delivered by TAFE Institutes and private RTOs are based on nationally registered qualifications, derived from either endorsed sets of competency standards known as training packages, or from courses accredited by state/territory government authorities. These qualifications are regularly reviewed and updated. In specialised areas where no publicly owned qualifications exist, an RTO may develop its own course and have it accredited as a privately owned program, subject to the same rules as those that are publicly owned.

All trainers and assessors delivering VET programs are required to hold a qualification known as the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAA40104) or demonstrate equivalent competency. They are also required to have relevant vocational competencies, at least to the level being delivered or assessed.

University

There are five universities in Western Australia, the oldest being the University of Western Australia in Nedlands. Murdoch University has campuses in Murdoch and Rockingham, and Curtin University has its main campus in Bentley. Edith Cowan University is the newest education department associated university, with campuses in a number of locations, and includes the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Mt Lawley and a Joondalup campus, which also houses the WA Police training facility. Fremantle's historic West End is home to University of Notre Dame Australia, Western Australia's only privately operated university.

However, as universities in Australia (and a few similar higher education institutions) largely regulate their own courses, the primary usage of AQF is for vocational education. However, in recent years there have been some informal moves towards standardization between higher institutions.