ICT USE BY STUDENTS
iPad trials hit Tasmanian schools
Delimiter, 28 September
2010
The Tasmanian Department of
Education has revealed over 30 iPads are being trialled in a number of
schools across the state, with plans in the works to also examine the
potential for Android- and Windows-based tablets to be used as an
education device...
- See also
Education departments go wild for the iPad
STUDENT WELFARE
School breakfast clubs funding now
available
Tas Govt media release, 1 October
2010
The State Government is seeking
submissions from school and community bodies to establish breakfast
clubs in schools and educational institutions in the 2011 school year...
ADHD
First proof that ADHD can be blamed on genes, not parenting
The Australian, 30 September
2010
ATTENTION deficit hyperactivity
disorder is a genetic condition rather than a consequence of bad
parenting or poor diet, new research suggests...
STUDENT WELFARE
Broken homes can disadvantage kids for life, study finds
The Australian, 30 September
2010
CHILDREN from broken homes have a
tougher time finishing school and finding a job...
SCHOOL TERMS
Editorial: School terms
The Mercury (Editorial), 30 September
2010
THE rest of Australia adopted a
four-term school calendar more than 20 years ago but Tasmania has a
stubborn attachment to three uneven terms...
SCHOOL VIOLENCE
No policy to taser Queensland students after all
news.com.au, 26 September
2010
QUEENSLAND teachers would be
given Taser stun guns to control unruly students under a leaked State
Opposition draft policy...
NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY
Five steps to fixing schools: Grattan Institute outlines the next stages
SMH, 25 September
2010
Peter Garrett starts his role as
federal Minister for Schools, Early Childhood and Youth knowing he has
large shoes to fill. Julia Gillard achieved more reforms than any
education minister in decades...
POST YEAR 10 CHANGES
College reform haste blasted
The Mercury, 24 September
2010
TASMANIA'S education sector is
full of middle managers and "team leaders" driving around in fancy
European cars, the Liberals said in a fiery late-night debate over the
future of the state's post-Year 10 sector...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
More time to work on new curriculum
SMH, 24 September
2010
THE schedule for finalising the
national curriculum has been changed to allow more time to deal with the
concerns of states about the draft documents...
STUDENT HEALTH
Scare school's funding switch
The Mercury, 30 September
2010
THE school at the centre of a
health scare, in which a teacher did blood tests on her students,
received funding to employ a specially trained science lab technician
but spent the money elsewhere, the Tasmanian Greens say...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Cosgrove High
sports school planning underway
Tas Govt media release, 29 September
2010
The Department of Education has
set up an internal reference group, to oversee how a specialist sports
school at Cosgrove High could operate...
STUDENT HEALTH
Teen binge drink truths
The Mercury, 29 September
2010
A FIFTH of Tasmanian adolescents
under 15 went on drinking binges in the past year and half got the
alcohol from their parents, research shows...
SCHOOL TERMS
Backing for four school terms
The Mercury, 29 September
2010
A PUSH for Tasmanian schools to
have four terms has been renewed as implementation of the national
curriculum looms...
SCHOOLS AND LITIGATION
If schools ban break time for being dangerous, how will children ever
grow up?
Mail Online (UK), 28 September
2010
The compensation culture
continues to spiral out of control. In a world of increasingly frenzied
litigation, the traditional concepts of personal responsibility or bad
luck have been eroded...
STUDENT HEALTH
School blood tests breached guidelines
ABC Online, 28 September
2010
An Education Department report
has found a Tasmanian teacher who conducted blood tests on 19 high
school students breached guidelines...
STUDENT HEALTH
Thorp answers needle critics
The Mercury, 28 September
2010
TWO key Education Department
units that manage emergencies did not consider a teacher repeatedly
using the same unsterilised lancet to do blood tests on her students as
an urgent matter that needed to be reported to health officials...
US EDUCATION REFORM
Obama again sounds call for longer school year
Los Angeles Times, 27 September
2010
WASHINGTON — With the public
education system in crisis, President Obama called Monday for purging
underperforming teachers and lengthening the school year so that the
U.S. keeps pace with other advanced countries...
STUDENT HEALTH
Classroom
blood tests incident report released
Tas Govt media release, 27 September
2010
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, today released a report into a blood testing incident
at a southern Tasmanian school...
- See
Medical and personal hygiene procedures (DoE website)
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Cambridge
Primary students are Making A Difference
Tas Govt media release, 24 September
2010
“Cambridge Primary is really
connecting with, and involving, its local community through the Are You
Making a Difference? (ruMAD?) program run by the Tasmanian Centre for
Global Learning (TGCL),” Education and Skills Minister Ms Lin Thorp said....
POST YEAR 10 CHANGES
Legislation
passes lower house
Tas Govt media release, 23 September
2010
Thursday, 23 Sep.: The Minister
for Education and Skills, Lin Thorp, said that the legislation for the
post-year 10 reforms had passed through the lower house tonight...
MERIT PAY FOR TEACHERS
Teacher bonuses don't raise student test
scores, study finds
USA Today, 23 September
2010
Offering middle-school math
teachers bonuses up to $15,000 did not produce gains in student test
scores, Vanderbilt University researchers reported Tuesday in what they
said was the first scientifically rigorous test of merit pay...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Bridgewater and Kingston projects going well
Tas Govt media release, 23 September
2010
Two of the biggest education
projects ever undertaken in Tasmanian history are on track, the Minister
for Education and Skills, Lin Thorp, said today...
POST YEAR 10 CHANGES
Legislation being debated today
Tas Govt media release, 23 September
2010
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, today said she had received feedback from the chair
of the Stakeholder Implementation Advisory Taskforce on the post-year 10
legislation tabled in parliament on Tuesday...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Principals cane curriculum plan
North Shore Times, 23 September
2010
“There is no educational
philosophy or curriculum theory that underpins the curriculum, nor is
there an emphasis on the skills of learning,” the principal of Pymble
Ladies' College says.
“Content rules, at a time when critical, creative and divergent thinking
is sorely needed.” ...
TASMANIAN SKILLS STRATEGY
Skills strategy providing direction
Tas Govt media release, 22 September
2010
The State Government’s Tasmanian
Skills Strategy is ensuring that Tasmanians have the skills to meet
industry demand, the Minister for Education and Skills, Lin Thorp, said
today...
TASMANIAN TEACHERS
Teachers win
research fellowships to US
Tas Govt media release, 21 September
2010
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, today congratulated Riverside Primary School teacher
Gary Woodward and Cosgrove High School principal Sandy Menadue on
receiving the 2010-11 Hardie Fellowships...
EDUCATION'S OWN FIBRE NETWORK FOR
AUSTRALIA
Education fibre backbone goes to tender
CIO, 21 September
2010
The Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations will soon issue a request for tender
to construct a $70 million internal fibre network between vocational
educational institutions and government schools across Australia...
POST YEAR 10 CHANGES
College
legislation introduced
Tas Govt media release, 21 September
2010
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, today welcomed the tabling of legislation in State
Parliament which is designed to facilitate the evolved Post-Year 10
education and training model in Tasmania...
REASONS TO BE TASMANIAN
NSW having selectivity and segregation issues
SMH, 20 September
2010
This is not a discussion about
race, ethnicity or biology.
It is a conversation about a clash of cultural attitudes towards the
purpose of schooling. It is a debate about an evolving level of
competition in education, and it affects all students...
TASMANIAN TEACHERS
Union calls for early retirement payouts
ABC Online, 20 September
2010
The Education Union in Tasmania
wants teachers near retirement age to be offered payouts...
WEST COAST EDUCATION
West Coast education body coming
Tas Govt media release, 20 September
2010
A new advisory committee will be
established to support and promote education on Tasmania’s West Coast,
the Minister for Education and Skills, Lin Thorp, announced today...
POST YEAR 10 CHANGES
College legislation coming
The Mercury, 20 September
2010
THE long-awaited legislation
needed to roll back the embattled Tasmania Tomorrow education reforms is
expected to be tabled in State Parliament tomorrow...
STUDENT VIOLENCE
Student violence work hazard
The Sunday Tasmanian, 19 September
2010
TEACHERS in the state's public
schools are daily being spat on, sworn at, threatened and bashed, the
main teachers' union says...
STUDENT CYBER-SAFETY
Children targeted by strangers on the web
HeraldSun, 18 September
2010
Simple measures such as
controlling personal details posted online and not talking to strangers
on the web could increase safety...
STUDENT WELFARE
Autism diagnosis attracts funding: amazing rise in autism
The Australian, 18 September
2010
More children are being branded
autistic as schools scramble for funding...
STUDENT WELFARE, ANIMAL WELFARE
Suspensions
follow roo bash
ABC PM, 17 September
2010
In Victoria, three grade 8 boys
have been suspended pending an investigation into the death of a
kangaroo on a school camp...
Child psychiatrist Alasdair Vance: "There is overwhelming evidence that
cruelty to animals is a marker for a subset of adults that go on to true
anti-social personality disorder..."
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
NSW rules out 2011 national schools curriculum
ABC Online, 17 September
2010
NSW education minister Verity
Firth has said she is not yet convinced the new curriculum is better
than the existing one...
STUDENT WELFARE
Plague of problem pupils
The Mercury, 17 September
2010
TASMANIA'S school psychologists
are overwhelmed with children as young as eight, showing signs of
depression, threatening to kill themselves and acting like thugs...
STUDENT BEHAVIOUR
Lack
of explicit behavioural teaching behind rise in problems: expert
Media release, Powerful
Parenting Australia, 17 September
2010
The sharp rise in aggressive,
anti-social behaviour in Australian society is fundamentally linked to
the lack of explicit behavioural teaching in the home and classroom, and
requires parents to step up their own parenting skills, according to a
leading early childhood specialist...
STUDENT HEALTH
Virus testing
still urged for blood test students
Tas Govt media release, 16
September
2010
The Deputy Director of Public
Health, Dr Chrissie Pickin, has urged parents of the high school
students involved in a finger-pricking incident last month to have their
children tested for blood borne viruses, if they have not already done
so...
STUDENT HEALTH
Minister
meets blood test parents
Tas Govt media release, 16 September
2010
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, today met those affected by an incident involving
blood testing of students at a school in southern Tasmania...
HARM FROM COMPUTER USE
Facebook and internet 'can re-wire your brain and shorten attention
span'
Daily Mail, 15 September
2010
An obsession with computer games
and social networking sites may be changing the way people’s minds work,
one of the country’s most eminent brain scientists has warned...
BENEFITS OF COMPUTER USE
Action-packed video games may be good for you after all
Business Week, 14 September
2010
Fast-action video games may help
train people to make quick, accurate decisions in all aspects of life,
new findings suggest...
VIOLENCE AND THE COMMUNITY
Thugs born to it, says top cop
The Mercury, 16 September
2010
TEACHERS are able to identify
children as young as six who will become violent offenders in the
future, a senior policeman told a parliamentary inquiry in Hobart
yesterday...
NATIONAL
EDUCATION POLICY
Education portfolio split concerns many
SMH, 13 September
2010
The federal government's decision
to split the education portfolio has led to concerns the move will
result in a fractured approach...
SOCIAL INCLUSION
Autistic kids 'caged' at school
The Mercury, 13 September
2010
STUDENTS with intellectual
disabilities are being "caged" inside a fenced-off area at a Hobart
school in a security measure parents and advocates have slammed as
inhumane....
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT
Top school's NAPLAN weapon: 95% of students of migrant heritage
SMH, 13 September
2010
The best performing school in NSW
is also the selective school with the most students from a migrant
background...
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT
Tasmanian students sink by high school
The Australian, 11 September
2010
Although Tasmanian primary
students score about fourth in literacy and numeracy, by high school
Tasmanian students have sunk towards the bottom...
NOTE: There seem to be far more improvements than declines in the
Tasmanian figures. Look through the charts and tables to see for
yourself:
Download the NAPLAN Summary Report [pdf, 2.3MB]
STUDENT HEALTH
Blood scare kept secret
The Mercury, 11 September
2010
NOT only did Dover District High
School take three weeks to alert education authorities to its unsafe
school blood experiment, it can also be revealed the Education
Department failed to inform the state public health director...
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT
Tas NAPLAN results better or steady
Tas Govt media release, 10 September
2010
The latest National Assessment
Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results show that Tasmania’s
results have improved or remained steady across all year levels compared
to 2009, the Minister for Education and Skills, Lin Thorp, said today...
- See also
NAPLAN Summary Report [pdf, 2.3MB]
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT
Extra funds for Tassie NAPLAN stragglers
ABC News, 10 September
2010
National Assessment Program
Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests have ranked Tasmanian schools in
the middle of the pack...
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT
NSW, Victoria top the NAPLAN pile
ABC News, 10 September
2010
Students in the ACT, New South
Wales and Victoria have emerged as the country's top performers in the
latest national literacy and numeracy tests...
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT
ACT students top literacy, numeracy tests
The Mercury, 10 September
2010
ACT students have outperformed
most other Australian children in national literacy and numeracy tests,
coming first in 15 out of 20 tests, May's National Assessment Program
Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) report shows...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Geography teachers fear course neglect
The Australian, 10 September
2010
GEOGRAPHERS fear the national
curriculum will result in a deficient program for schools that places
"undue emphasis" on the three subjects of English, maths and science...
STUDENT HEALTH
School payout fears
The Mercury, 10 September
2010
TASMANIAN taxpayers could be up
for millions in compensation if any of the high school students involved
in a dodgy science experiment contract a potentially lethal blood virus...
TASMANIAN TEACHERS
Teacher
workforce plan underway
Tas Govt media release, 9 September
2010
An assessment of the
numbers of the different types of specialist teachers required in
Tasmania has begun, Minister for Education and Skills Lin Thorp said
today...
STUDENT HEALTH
Teachers
warned on blood testing
Tas Govt media release, 9 September
2010
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, has asked the Department of Education to contact all
teachers and principals to ensure there is no repeat of the incident
involving blood testing of students...
STUDENT HEALTH
HIV fears in school virus alert
The Mercury, 9 September
2010
STUDENTS at a Tasmanian high
school are being tested for potentially lethal viruses after a teacher
took blood samples using the same needle in a science experiment that
went horribly wrong...
STUDENT HEALTH
Blood samples school
named
ABC News, 8 September
2010
More than a dozen year nine and
10 students at the Dover District High School in southern Tasmania will
undergo blood tests following a class experiment...
STUDENT HEALTH
Only metho
used for sterilisation: parents notified but Minister calls for report
Tas Govt media release, 8 September
2010
The Minister for Education, Lin
Thorp, said today she had sought a detailed report on an incident at a
school in southern Tasmania involving blood testing of students...
STUDENT HEALTH
18 Tas
science students to get free precautionary blood tests
Tas Govt media release, 8 September
2010
Director of Public Health Dr
Roscie Taylor says free tests for blood borne viruses are available for
students in a science class whose fingers had been pricked with a single
instrument on August 9th...
TEACHER SALARIES
New teachers grab pay from old
The Australian, 8 September
2010
NOVICE teachers in Australia have
received some of the biggest pay rises in the advanced world compared
with colleagues overseas.
But a report by the OECD group of industrialised nations released
yesterday warns the growth has come at the expense of salaries for
experienced teachers...
STUDENT HEALTH
Students at risk of viruses
The Mercury, 8 September
2010
A GROUP of southern Tasmanian
high school students have undergone tests for possible blood-borne
viruses after a teacher decided to take blood tests from a class a month
ago...
POST YEAR 10 TEACHERS
Polytechnic teachers reassured
Associated Press, 7 September
2010
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, today reassured all Polytechnic teachers that there
will be a registration pathway for them in 2011 and beyond...
JAPAN GOES BACK TO BASICS
Japan fattens textbooks to reverse sliding rank
USA Today, September
2010
Japan is adding 1200 pages to
elementary school textbooks in a return to rote learning of knowledge at
the expense of application of knowledge...
POST YEAR 10 TEACHERS
Teacher woe in school change
The Mercury, 7 September
2010
SOME Tasmanian teachers may not
be able to gain proper accreditation before the new post-year 10
education reforms begin next year, leaving many without a job...
TEACHING STYLES
Go old-school in classrooms for children's sake
Kevin Donnelly, HeraldSun, 4
September 2010
WHEN it comes to our classrooms,
it's clear that teachers have lost control and, as the saying goes, the
inmates are in control of the asylum...
EVALUATION OF TEACHERS
Grading the graders
The Economist, 3 September
2010
A FEW weeks ago I wrote a post
about the use of value-added statistical analysis to evaluate teacher
effectiveness... Since then the Los Angeles Times ... has published a
database with the ratings of about 6,000 elementary-school teachers
based on the paper's value-added analysis ...
- See Los Angeles Times
database of teacher
performance.
- See
reaction of teacher unions.
TRAINING AWARDS
Outstanding
achievements recognised
Tas Govt media release, 3
September 2010
Minister for Education and Skills
Lin Thorp announced the Tasmanian Training Awards in Hobart tonight...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
New $33m
Kingston High ahead of schedule
Tas Govt media release, 3
September 2010
The new $33 million Kingston High
School is ahead of schedule and all building works are expected to be
completed by the end of this year, the Minister for Education and
Skills, Lin Thorp, said today.
NAPLAN TESTING
Results point to failure for My School site
SMH, 2 September
2010
Professor Alan Smithers: "Tests
and examinations are not thermometers or rulers; the results are only a
proxy for the education we hope is taking place."
NATIONAL CURRICULUM AND AGRICULTURE
Agriculture returns to the classroom
HeraldSun, 1 September
2010
On Monday the body that governs
Australia's national school curriculum agreed to put agriculture back
into the classroom...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Two government schools win Master Builders
Awards
Tas Govt media release, 1
September 2010
South George Town Primary School
and Table Cape Primary have each won a 2010 Master Builders Awards for
Excellence award...
LITERACY AND NUMERACY
Literacy and
numeracy program to be extended to high schools
Tas Govt media release, 1
September 2010
The State Government is investing
$9.975 million to extend the successful Raising the Bar Closing the Gap
literacy and numeracy program in up to 19 Government high schools...
-
Tas Ed Dept web page
YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH
Lack of sleep linked to mental illness in young
SMH, 1 September
2010
YOUNG people who get very little
sleep are much more likely to become mentally ill, Australian research
shows...
POST YEAR 10 CHANGES
Colleges in state of flux
The Mercury, 1 September
2010
WORRIED post-year 10 teachers
will meet with their union today to air grievances over the latest
reforms to their sector...
NAPLAN TESTING
National testing results in truancy, dropouts, expert says
Brisbane Times, 1 September
2010
A week before the release of this
year's NAPLAN test results, Professor Alan Smithers will today warn a
conference of Catholic principals that national tests should not be used
as a measure of schools' or teachers' performance...
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