Mrs D’ATH (10:30 AM) —It is my pleasure today to congratulate the 15 students of the QUTeach@Redcliffe program who graduated on Tuesday night at Redcliffe State High School. Eleven of the students who graduated that night were from Redcliffe State High School, with two from Clontarf Beach State High School and two from Deception Bay State High School. The QUTeach program is a fantastic program. The program is directly aimed at students wanting to become teachers. This program allows their university studies to commence in year 11. QUTeach@Redcliffe is part of the students’ senior education and training plan and contributes two advanced credits per semester towards their Queensland Certificate of Education. The students study at Redcliffe State High School after school, two days each week, rather than having to travel elsewhere as earlier early-entry pathways required. Redcliffe High teachers are the tutors for the QUTeach program and are supported by Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Education staff to deliver the course.

The program is run in a class format as opposed to being individually targeted. This ensures that the students have support from their peers as well as their teachers. Students attend the Queensland University of Technology campus for one day each semester to get a feel for university life. This provides a transition for students as they enter university knowing they have successfully completed three course units and understand how university operates. QUT have waived all tuition fees. Students pay only for print materials. Students have a QUT student card and they have access to all the facilities of QUT and receive all their lectures and tutorial notes online.

The 15 students who graduated this week have completed three semester units of their teaching degree. All of these students have received guaranteed entry into any QUT Start course—an exceptional achievement. These students started university in year 11, a significant achievement. By studying at Redcliffe State High School, these students have not had to face the barrier of transportation to university. Although the school’s teachers and QUT lecturers have supported these students, they have completed the real university course just like any other university student. I am sure that their parents are extremely proud of their achievements, as are the principals: Redcliffe State High School’s Shona McKinlay, Clontarf Beach State High School’s John Bray and Deception Bay State High School’s Jim Box. The program is so successful that they have received a $50,000 grant from the NAB Schools First Impact awards to enhance the program. I congratulate all of the schools for being involved, and of course a special acknowledgement goes to Shona McKinlay and the teachers of Redcliffe State High School for establishing this program and getting students and parents engaged. The opportunity to start an education degree in year 11 is a fantastic one and it deserves to be acknowledged in this House.