WSS-SLR concerns

The QTU is concerned that the Whole School Support – Student Learning Resources (WSS-SLR) model of direct-to-school funding could have some worrying implications.

DETE has announced that there will be no centrally funded regional allocation of advisory visiting teachers (AVTs) to support students in state schools, with the future of this service dependent on schools opting in and contributing to it from their WSS-SLR allocation. This will potentially affect schools in their ability to support the teachers of students with intellectual impairment, hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical impairment and autistic spectrum disorder.

The QTU strongly believes there must be a range of resources organised at regional and central levels to support schools, with the ability to direct resources to the areas of greatest need. It is feared the push for school autonomy will see the removal of specialist services in schools across the state, something which will be felt most in regional and rural areas.

If schools choose not to contribute to the allocation of AVTs, this valuable service will disappear and AVTs will be re-deployed into teaching positions in schools.

Centres which provide alternative educational programs, generally for the most at-risk students in the state, are also at risk of collapsing under the WSS-SLR funding arrangement. 

The futures of flexible learning centres (FLCs), for example, are dependent on schools in their cluster contributing part of their WSS-SLR allocation to fund them. The QTU has been made aware that principals are being consulted on whether they contribute to these resources or not. It is the view of the QTU that these decisions are not the principal’s alone and must be subject to consultation via the local consultative committees of cluster schools, given the implications for educators, who will need to accommodate students who have been in an alternative educational setting back into their classrooms if centres such as FLCs close.

Dan Coxen
Acting Research Officer

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 119 No 7, 3 October 2014, p6