Federal funding to support greater autonomy in South Australian government schools

The Australian Government’s $70 million Independent Public Schools (IPS) initiative will improve the capacity of school leaders and communities within South Australian government schools to make their own decisions. “The Australian Government’s Independent Public Schools initiative is designed to encourage greater school autonomy. South Australia will achieve this through increased support for principals and school governing councils,” Mr Pyne said. “South Australia will increase delegation over staffing through implementation of a performance management initiative for principals to manage underperformance. This initiative will be piloted in up to 225 school communities before being rolled out to all government schools. “With the help of this Australian Government funding, training will also be provided for school governing councils on strategies to increase parental engagement.” “The 2014 Australian Primary Principals Association report on school autonomy found principals in South Australia reported the least freedom of any state to make school based decisions. The Australian Government is pleased to be supporting South Australia to take these first steps towards greater autonomy for principals. Between 2014 and 2017, South Australia will receive $5.53 million in federal funding. “South Australia’s initiatives will benefit principals and school leadership teams so they can better meet the needs of their students and communities,” Mr Pyne said. Mr Pyne said the Government’s Students First approach focusses on four key areas that will make a difference to students: teacher quality school autonomy parental engagement strengthening the curriculum. For more information, visit www.studentsfirst.gov.au.