Providing public education

In 2023–24, our 22 Child and Parent Centres provided 529 programs and services, with approximately 77,000 child attendances and 72,000 adult attendances. The centres continued to support families and communities to provide young children with the best start to learning.

The Kimberley Schools Project has 4 pillars: targeted teaching, early years, attendance and community engagement. Twenty public schools and one non‑government school across the Kimberley Education Region continued to participate in the project, with a greater emphasis on student attendance and community engagement through empowering and developing the leadership capability of Aboriginal staff to support Aboriginal leadership within their communities.

The Scaling Up Success in Remote Schools Program is targeted towards outer regional and remote public schools with significant Aboriginal student cohorts and has 2 pillars: targeted teaching, and student and community engagement. The program is funded by the Australian Government and will expand the successful elements of the Kimberley Schools Project. In 2024, 14 public schools from the Goldfields and Midwest education regions commenced the program.

In 2023, the Enhanced Transition to Schools Project supported 352 playgroups, including 19 new playgroups. The project is a partnership between the Department, the Australian Government, Catholic Education Western Australia, the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia and Playgroup WA. The partnership provides:

• opportunities for wraparound services and community engagement
• support for the transition of preschool children to school.

In 2023, 181 children participated in the trial initiative Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Early Years Link (CaLDEYLink) Project held in 2 metropolitan primary schools with high proportions of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families. The initiative aims to:

• develop the personal/social, language and cognitive capabilities of English as an additional language or dialect (EALD) children prior to school entry
• build on the capability of CALD families as their children’s first educators
• forge stronger and more collaborative partnerships between home, school and community.

Child and Parent Centres and schools continued to support parents, caregivers and others in the community to teach, model and reinforce positive behaviour and emotional wellbeing skills to young people through the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P). In 2023, 318 Triple P sessions were attended by 4,176 parents. Our staff organised the sessions which were offered through schools, Child and Parent Centres, and not‑for‑profit organisations.

Volunteers offer invaluable support to our school communities and students. We want to take the opportunity to thank each volunteer for their contribution throughout 2023–24.

EdConnect volunteers make a positive impact on students’ lives by offering help and guidance, through mentoring or learning support (or both). The volunteers are trained and screened to work in metropolitan and regional schools and are matched with individual students. In 2023, 666 volunteers supported 12,192 students across 175 public schools.

The Western Australian Council of State School Organisations (WACSSO) provided representation to the Department on behalf of more than 650 affiliated Parents and Citizens’ (P&C) Associations. WACSSO also offered advice, support and training to affiliates and individual members, as well as the opportunity to attend the annual conference, at which over 400 delegates gathered to learn and network.

Members, parents and carers volunteered through P&Cs, which represented parents of public school students, to assist with activities such as fundraising, community events, running canteens and uniform shops, and purchasing resources for schools. Based on extrapolation of submitted P&C financial data from 2023, P&Cs collectively contributed:

• just over 450,000 voluntary hours
• over $15.0 million in donations to support school projects, resources and activities.

We delivered the Response to Suicide and Self‑Harm in Schools Program through a memorandum of understanding with the Mental Health Commission. This agreement provides prevention, intervention and postvention activities to reduce suicide and self‑harm in students. These activities include the Teen Mental Health First Aid program and Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention training.

Through a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice, we continued to support the provision of education services to children and young people in detention. This includes funding to the Department of Justice for the salaries and on‑costs for 3 full‑time equivalent teaching positions, and access to online professional learning for Department of Justice education staff members.

Our School of Special Educational Needs: Behaviour and Engagement continued to work with the Department of Justice to support students moving between youth justice services, schools and alternative education pathways or employment. In 2023, we supported 130 cases through this youth transition program.

In 2023–24, we continued to support the Kimberley Juvenile Justice Strategy, a suite of cross‑government initiatives led by the Department of Justice to prevent and reduce youth offending and antisocial behaviours in the Kimberley region. Our youth transition coordinator and Aboriginal youth support coordinator assisted young people leaving the care of justice services and supported vulnerable students to re‑engage through an alternative education program, providing life skills training and possible employment opportunities.

We maintained partnerships with other government agencies, including the Western Australia Police Force and the departments of Communities, Health and Justice through established memoranda of understanding.

Armadale Senior High School continued to coordinate the Youth and Community Services Hub (the Hub) at its purpose‑built hub. The program, in partnership with government and non‑government agencies, provides a range of youth and family support services to school‑aged young people living in the Armadale, Byford and Kelmscott areas who are pregnant or parenting, or who are vulnerable to homelessness or family and domestic violence. In 2023, 101 school‑aged young people and their families were supported through services including counselling, food relief, employment and housing support, parent education, medical screening, youth outreach, pathway planning, onsite education programs and alternative education pathways.

In partnership with South Metropolitan TAFE, the Youth and Community Services Hub (the Hub) launched the Steppingstone Program, delivering a Certificate I in General Education for Adults and wraparound support services to students. In 2024, 12 students who were disengaged or had poor attendance (or both) due to a medical or mental health condition enrolled in the program.

We participated in the Early Years Partnership, with the departments of Communities and Health, the Minderoo Foundation and The Kids Research Institute Australia. The partnership aims to improve the wellbeing and school readiness of children from conception to 4 years of age in 4 Western Australian communities. In 2023–24, community plans were launched for Derby and Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community and continued to operate for Armadale West and Central Great Southern. Further investment was made into the community plans, including additional funding for Armadale West at Challis Community Primary School.

We continued the BHP Pilbara Education Partnership, a collaborative partnership strengthening community‑based learning approaches for students in the Pilbara. Across a range of agencies and organisations, the partnership provides:

• coordinated on‑school‑site early learning programs delivering targeted support to enhance children’s cognitive, emotional and communication outcomes and prepare preschool children for school
• learning experiences for students, to expose them to the unique employment opportunities available in the Pilbara and to assist them to make informed decisions about their future and develop work‑ready skills
• a program delivering targeted support to assist students to set and meet individual goals for attendance, achievement, leadership, mentoring and community engagement.

In 2023–24, we managed the School Drug Education and Road Aware Program. We also funded the program in conjunction with the Mental Health Commission and the Road Safety Commission. Through this program, we provided professional learning, resources and consultancy support to public and non‑government school staff to address student alcohol and drug use. In 2023, 29,460 public and non‑government school students participated in the Keys4Life pre‑driver education program. 

In 2023–24, we continued to deliver on initiatives set out in our long‑term plan for international education in public schools, including:

• developing a brand and identity for international education
• maintaining a website on international education
• working closely with the state’s offshore network of education business development managers to promote international education
• education agent familiarisation activities.

We also worked closely with TAFE International Western Australia to promote international student enrolments.

As at the Semester 1, 2024 student census, 561 international students were enrolled in schools across our public education system (365 at Semester 1, 2023).