ISA welcomes announcement of investment in respectful relationships in schools
“Today has seen much community and stakeholder commentary about the The Good Society website and it is certainly critical that the resources available to teachers – Independent, Catholic and government alike – are high quality, contemporary and context sensitive”, said Ms Evans, CEO of Independent Schools Australia.
“It would be a great shame, however, if the current media controversy was to result in the substantial number of useful resources on The Good Society website being overlooked.”
ISA welcomes the advice from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment that it will continue to engage with experts to evaluate the materials that appear on the website to ensure they are fit for purpose and reflect current experiences and community issues.
Ms Evans went on to say, “Teachers and parents need tools to have conversations with students and children about respect and issues of sexual assault and domestic and family violence. At the end of the day, it will be up to the teacher to use their professional judgment to determine which of the 350 videos, digital stories, podcasts and website content they use given their context and needs of their students. Every school should be teaching students about respectful relationships, both formally via curriculum, practices and policies, and in daily interactions between teachers, students and the broader school community.”
ISA is the peak body representing 1,187 Independent schools with 667,259 enrolled students.
ISA Media Contact: comms@isa.edu.au