Peter Garrett: encouraging signs (a Kiwi perspective)

If they were steady on a flat trajectory, though, that, surely, would seem to leave something to be desired.

'Encouraging signs': I'm a bit confused about what kind of encouraging signs they could be? Surely the only encouraging signs that matter in testing are the kind that reveal themselves as increased marks. To be honest, in testing any other kind of sign tends to the discouraging. Are these the same kind of encouraging signs that are sometimes observed in the Australian rugby team? Or to be Trans-Tasman fair, the New Zealand cricket team?

Perhaps, in Australia, if someone hears a kookaburra call at a seminal moment, that is an encouraging sign.

Pete who had obviously been burning the midnight oil on this one proceeds: 'But it also confirms that there is still work ahead for governments, schools and the community to improve the results of regional, remote, low SES, and indigenous students, as well as lift our overall national performance.'

In our hunt to identify those encouraging signs, we could be on to something here. By eliminating those parts of education that weren't providing encouraging signs, the parts that were left would be revealed to us as sources of encouraging signs.

Let's see: no encouraging signs in the regions, with remote students, with low SES students, and with indigenous students – that leaves the cities and all children above SES for possible sources of encouraging signs. They must be it.

Hold on – what's that?

Pete has added something at the end.

We need to 'lift our overall national performance.'

Oh dear – that's everything.

Pete's encouraging signs are showing signs of becoming the heffalump of Australian education.

But all hope is not yet abandoned.