A | Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) | A population measure of how children have developed by the time they start school. Data is captured on five domains of early childhood development: physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge. It is a national census conducted every three years with the last census conducted in 2021 |
| Apparent Retention Rate | The apparent retention rate is an indicative measure of the number of full-time school students in a designated year level of schooling as a percentage of their respective cohort group in a base year |
| Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) | The ATAR is the national standard for tertiary admissions and indicates individual position relative to other students. The ATAR provides a ranking mechanism for tertiary admissions (along with any applicable adjustments). As of 2020, eligible graduating Queensland senior secondary students receive an ATAR from the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre |
C | Certificate | Either a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) or a Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement (QCIA) |
E | Early retirement | Is where an employee accepts an early retirement package in exchange for voluntarily terminating their employment with an agency |
F | Full-time equivalent (FTE) | A representative number that is calculated by assessing the hours worked over the financial year by all full-time and part-time employees, and converting this to a corresponding number of employees as if all staff were full-time. |
I | Indigenous | A person who identifies to be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin |
| International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) | An internationally recognised, two-year curriculum that prepares 16 to 19-year-old students for university. Students receive credit for subjects studied in the program at leading universities around the world, reducing the time required to complete a Bachelor degree |
K | Kindergarten program | An education program delivered to children in the year before full-time school by a qualified early childhood teacher for 600 hours a year. Government-approved kindergarten programs are available in a range of settings, including standalone kindergarten services, and kindergarten services operated by non-state schools, long day care services, and selected schools in some remote and discrete Indigenous communities |
| KindyLinQ | A play-based program that families living in identified locations can attend in the year before their child can start kindergarten |
N | National Assessment Program— Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) | Annual tests conducted nationally in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 covering reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The results provide information for teachers and schools on individual student performance on a national basis. This is used to identify areas of strength and where further assistance may be required. NAPLAN tests are part of a collaborative process between states and territories, the Australian Government and non-government school sectors |
| National Minimum Standard (NMS) | Nationally set standards against which the results of NAPLAN tests are compared. For each year level, a minimum standard is defined and located on the common underlying scale. Band 2 is the minimum standard for Year 3; Band 4 is the minimum standard for Year 5; Band 5 is the minimum standard for Year 7; and Band 6 is the minimum standard for Year 9 |
| National Quality Framework | The National Quality Framework provides for the regulation and quality assessment and rating of long day care, family day care, preschool/kindergarten, and outside school hours care services across Australia. The framework includes the National Law and National Regulations, the National Quality Standard, an assessment and quality rating process and national learning frameworks |
| National Quality Standard | A key aspect of the National Quality Framework and sets a national benchmark for early childhood education and care services |
P | Portfolio | The department or group of departments for which a minister is responsible |
| Prep | A full-time, compulsory program that replaced preschool. It runs five days a week and follows the established school times and routines. Taking a play- and inquiry-based approach to learning, Prep is offered at every Queensland state school and selected independent and Catholic schools |
Q | Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) | The QCE is Queensland’s senior school qualification. It is awarded to eligible students (usually at the end of Year 12) by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. In 2019, Year 11 students commenced senior secondary study under new Senior Assessment and Tertiary Entrance (SATE) arrangements, as part of the new QCE system. As of 2020, eligible graduating senior secondary students receive an ATAR, instead of the formerly used OP |
| Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement (QCIA) | This certificate recognises and reports the achievements of students whose learning is part of an individual learning program. The certificate is an official record that students have completed at least 12 years of education |
R | Redundancy | The situation where a permanent position or function becomes redundant as a result of workplace change, and this leads to a decision by the chief executive to terminate the employee's employment. It is a requirement under Directive 04/18 - Early Retirement, Redundancy and Retrenchment (the Directive) that we report the number of redundancies, early retirement schemes and retrenchment packages paid to employees, and the monetary value of these packages (as prescribed by the Directive, including incentive payments) paid during the reporting period |
| Retrenchment | Is the termination of employment of an employee whose position is redundant and for whom action to support employment security under the directive relating to supporting employees affected by workplace change has been reasonably exhausted |
S | Senior Executive Service (SES) | The SES comprises senior executive officers within the Queensland public service but does not include chief executives, senior officers and officers appointed under section 122 of the Public Service Act 2008 (Qld) |
| Strategic Plan | The document which provides the agency’s purpose and direction. It outlines the department’s overall objectives (including its contribution to whole-of-government objectives, ambitions and targets) and how it will know if it has achieved those agency objectives (performance indicators) |
T | Teacher Learning Centres (TLCs) | TLCs are local coordination centres that provide streamlined on-the-ground support for preservice, beginning and early career teachers during their teaching journey |