“That ICPA Qld lobbies the Department of Education (DoE) to urgently review the suitability of Curriculum Support Materials (CSMs) for Distance Education students, with specific consideration given to the practicality, flexibility, accessibility, usability and curriculum coverage of the materials for families and home tutors, including concerns that the current CSMs do not adequately cover the full English curriculum content required for Distance Education delivery.”
The intent of this motion is to question whether the Curriculum Support Materials (CSMs) currently being developed are genuinely fit-for-purpose for Distance Education families and students.
Feedback from both experienced and Bachelor of Education Home Tutors who have viewed the current Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 examples indicates that the CSMs do not provide the level of support required within a Distance Education learning environment. The samples provided contain only 8 lessons out of a 32-lesson unit, representing less than one quarter of the required learning content for students. Families are concerned that these materials are not progressive across the unit and do not provide enough explicit teaching or continuity to adequately support student learning at home. There is also concern that the current materials do not comprehensively cover all required English curriculum content, potentially leaving gaps in student learning outcomes.
For many families (but specifically geographically isolated families), Distance Education is heavily reliant on quality support materials that allow students to continue learning independently when access to live teaching is unavailable. Many rural and remote families regularly face barriers including internet outages, limited connectivity, power interruptions, travel requirements, weather events and other isolation challenges which can prevent students from consistently accessing online lessons. Without comprehensive and structured materials, students risk significant gaps in learning and inequity in educational outcomes compared to their mainstream schooling peers. Recent outages and disruptions to QLearn, Teams and other online learning platforms have further highlighted the importance of maintaining comprehensive Independent Learning Materials (ILMs) or equivalent structured offline resources to ensure continuity of learning when digital systems are unavailable.
There is also significant concern regarding the increased reliance on prolonged screen time for young students to access live online teaching. Expecting students to remain engaged on screens for five to six hours each day is not only potentially detrimental to student wellbeing, concentration and learning development, but is also not reflective of the practical realities of rural and remote family life. “Bush” children are traditionally raised in highly hands-on, active environments, where learning is often balanced with practical experiences, outdoor responsibilities and family life.
A model that relies heavily on continuous online engagement does not provide the flexibility that many geographically isolated families require and value within Distance Education.
Distance Education families have long relied on comprehensive Independent Learning Materials (ILMs) to support consistent and equitable access to education, particularly in geographically isolated settings. Considerable time, staffing and financial investment were allocated to the development of Mathematics ILMs, recognising the importance of high-quality curriculum support for Distance Education students.
Families are questioning why the same level of investment, commitment and importance does not appear to have been applied across other learning areas to ensure rural and remote students continue to receive equitable access to education. There is genuine concern that the reduced depth, structure and usability of the CSM materials may disadvantage Distance Education students and compromise equitable learning opportunities.
