EDUCATION FUNDING POLICY
Reports on funding come with solutions
The Telegraph, 31 Aug 2011
Researchers are finally telling
us what is wrong with our education funding system, and what we can do
about it, writes Maralyn Parker ...
STUDENT BEHAVIOUR
Bottle assault at school alleged
The Advocate, 31 Aug 2011
A LATROBE High School student was
hospitalised after being hit with a glass bottle during an altercation
with another student...
NATIONAL EDUCATION FUNDING
Money attached to students
The Age, 31 Aug 2011
Money would follow students
regardless of whether they attended a government or private school, a
report being considered by the federal government suggests...
TASMANIAN STUDENTS, SCIENCE
North West students win science awards
The Advocate, 31 Aug 2011
A number of students on the North
West Coast have won awards in the University's Primary Industry Centre
for Science Education competition...
TASMANIAN TEACHERS
Innovative
Tasmanian teacher wins Microsoft award
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2011
Punchbowl Primary teacher
Michelle Cresdee has won the State section of the 2011 Microsoft
Innovative Teacher Award...
LEARNING METHODS
Children's brains coping with more sources
The Australian, 30 Aug 2011
Children need new learning
methods as their brains are evolving to handle different information
sources simultaneously, an education expert says...
TEACHER SALARIES
Catholic schools need teacher pay restructured
The Australian, 30 Aug 2011
A senior Catholic education
official has called for a restructuring of teacher salaries that takes
account of skill and provides a career path incentive to encourage
accomplished teachers to remain in the classroom...
STUDENT SUPPORT
Gifted ignored
The Age, 29 Aug 2011
Submissions to a Victorian
parliamentary committee argue that gifted students are ignored in that
state..
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Aboriginal history insufficient
SMH, 29 Aug 2011
There is too little aboriginal
history in the National Curriculum, critics say...
SOCIAL MEDIA
Student blogging encourages creativity
SMH, 29 Aug 2011
Blogging by students is helping
many quieter students to communicate more actively..
TEACHER SALARIES
Teachers' pay structure must be changed at the top
SMH, 29 Aug 2011
Too many teachers are stuck at
the relatively low top teacher pay scale, writes an education professor..
ASSESSMENT OF TEACHERS
Students could be reporting on their teachers
SMH, 29 Aug 2011
NSW teachers might be getting a
report on themselves - by their students..
TEACHING PRACTICE
Key teaching practices improve students' literacy
SMH, 27 Aug 2011
Certain teaching practices can
dramatically improve students' literacy results, a NSW Education
Department analysis has found.
The FIVE KEY PRACTICES are:
- giving students the chance to ask questions
- asking students to explain the meaning of texts
- telling them in advance how their work will be judged
- giving them time to think about their answers, and
- asking them questions that challenge them to better understand
a text ...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Arts subjects restored
The Australian, 27 Aug 2011
The five art forms of dance,
music, drama, visual arts and media have been restored to the National
Curriculum following a tide of criticism...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Concept of creativity confused
The Australian, 27 Aug 2011
The National Curriculum confuses
creativity with skills that can be taught, a principal argues ...
POLICE IN SCHOOLS
Fears over police-in-schools program
The Mercury, 26 Aug 2011
Claremont College has had to
scrap its successful police in schools program because of budget cuts...
TOILET POLICY
Bitterness in toilet trial aftermath
The Age, 26 Aug 2011
The Victorian school toilet trial
furore is continuing...
SCHOOL STARTING AGE
School
starting age shambles
Daily Telegraph, 20 Aug 2011
The plan by Australia's state
education ministers to introduce a common school starting age has been
abandoned...
SCHOOL LIBRARIANS
School librarians on borrowed time
The Advocate, 25 Aug 2011
A school librarian is concerned
about decreasing expenditure on school librarians at a time when the
role, particularly in supporting information literacy, is increasingly
important...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
$13m to be
spent on Montrose Bay High
Tas Govt media release, 24 Aug 2011
Redevelopment at Montrose Bay
High will include a performing arts centre, a new library and a lift to
facilitate disability access...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
School razor gang fears
The Mercury, 24 Aug 2011
The Public Education Alliance
says the establishment of the government's school viability group could
result in communities becoming their own razor gangs to close schools...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Fear over Port Sorell consequence
The Advocate, 24 Aug 2011
One of recently upgraded Moriarty
and Wesley Vale primary schools might have to be closed after a new Port
Sorell school is built...
TEACHER SALARIES
WA teachers reject 12pc 3-year pay rise
ABC News, 23 Aug 2011
Western Australia's state school
teachers have rejected a pay rise offer of 12 per cent over three years
which would have made them Australia's highest paid teachers...
STUDENT SUPPORT
One-on-one brain retraining fixes dyslexics
SMH, 23 Aug 2011
It's expensive, but 'rewiring' a
dyslexic's brain apparently works, preferably with a professional, but
alternatively using a computer program...
MOBILE PHONES, SOCIAL NETWORKING
Young oblivious to consequences of sexting
ABC News, 23 Aug 2011
Young people do not understand
the consequences of sending sexually explicit images via mobile phones,
a women and policing conference was told in Hobart...
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Facebook issues security guide
PC World, 19 Aug 2011
Facebook has made available a
free guide for teens, parents and teachers that focuses on
security and protection...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Qld issues subject time allocations
Courier Mail, 18 Aug 2011
The Queensland government has
issued minimum time allocations for National Curriculum subjects...
SOCIAL NETWORKING
US law prohibits private contact
International Business Times, 21 Aug 2011
The US state of Missouri has
passed a law prohibiting teachers from making private contact with
students over the Internet...
NZ NATIONAL STANDARDS
New Zealand teachers revolting
Sunday Star Times, 21 Aug 2011
A large number of 'rebel schools'
are refusing to comply with New Zealand's new national standards
requirements...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Enrolment decline causes funding loss
ABC News, 21 Aug 2011
Education minister Nick McKim
says a loss of 3,000 K-10 enrolments over the last four years has led to
a loss in Federal funding of $4 million per year...
USING THE INTERNET
Web cut 'n' paste work unreliable
SMH, 21 Aug 2011
Today's students must
increasingly be discriminating when it comes to relying on information
presented in websites...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Parents seek formal involvement in future closure plans
Sunday Tasmanian, 21 Aug 2011
Tasmania's parent body is aiming
to ensure they are never again left out of plans to close schools...
LEARNING SKILLS
Courage an important quality
SMH, 20 Aug 2011
Courage can help students succeed
at school, a researcher finds...
SCHOOL TIMETABLE
Timetable shake-up as students tire
Herald Sun, 20 Aug 2011
Victorian schools and colleges
are planning drastic changes to the daily timetable to cope with
students arriving at school increasingly tired after staying up late...
ROLE OF PARENTS
Parents' role
crucial
Tas Govt media release, 20 Aug 2011
The Tasmanian State School
Parents and Friends have an important role to play in supporting public
education and local school communities, the Minister for Education and
Skills, Nick McKim, said today ...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Cuts harmful on the most vulnerable
Michael Ferguson website, 19 Aug 2011
Opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson is particularly concerned about the AEU research
report's conclusion on the impact of education cuts on disadvantaged
students with special needs from low socio-economic areas ...
UK RIOTS
UK children rioting shows big divide
The Telegraph (Opinion, 17 Aug 2011
Whatever the complex and baffling
reasons for British youth acting they way they did, what stood out is
the huge divide in British society between the haves and have-nots,
writes Maralyn Parker...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Government
responds to AEU research on budget cuts
Tas Govt media release, 19 Aug 2011
The government is making every
effort to minimise the impact of budget savings measures on schools,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education and Skills Paul
O'Halloran said today...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Education cuts cause harm
The Mercury, 19 Aug 2011
An AEU-commissioned report has
outlined the problems cuts in the education budget will cause...
LITERACY
Talking and listening matter too
SMH, 19 Aug 2011
Not enough attention is being
paid to oral language skills, an expert says...
Flooding
and school closures today (Fri. 19 Aug.)
Bothwell Primary School is
closed today but
St Mary's District High will be OPEN today. For more information
listen to ABC local radio.
- ABC Northern Tas
Facebook
- ABC Hobart
Facebook
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Tas Police: road closures
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DIER: road
closures
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SES community alerts
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Tas weather forecasts
TEACHER SALARIES, MY SCHOOL
Australia should pay teachers on merit, says OECD
news.com.au, 18 Aug 2011
The OECD says that teachers' pay
should be linked to teaching skill, and it endorses the direction taken
with the My School website ...
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Facebook inciting leads to prison
BBC News, 16 Aug 2011
Two English young men who used
Facebook to attempt to incite disorder during riots last week have been jailed for
four years each ...
COMPUTERS IN SCHOOLS
Laptops should have been iPads
Delimiter (Opinion), 16 Aug 2011
In hindsight, the purchase of iPads
instead of laptops would have
been better for schools, and netbooks should not have been
embraced...
TOILET POLICY
Sack toilet trial principal, say parents
The Age, 16 Aug 2011
Parents say the principal of the
Victorian school where toilet trials were undertaken should be stood
down, claiming that she made misleading comments to the media ...
LEAVING AGE
Call to raise school leaving age
The Mercury, 16 Aug 2011
A motion to raise the school
leaving age will be debated at the Tasmanian State School Parents and
Friends Association AGM this weekend...
ONLINE LEARNING
Online lessons still need teachers
SMH, 15 Aug 2011
Online lesson sites such as
Mathletics have grown considerably, but students still need a teacher in
the classroom...
UK RIOTS
Rioters' redeeming quality
Daily Mail image, 9 Aug 2011
At least these rioters are
demonstrating a positive characteristic their teachers can build on -
queuing up in an orderly fashion to do their looting...
STUDENT SUPPORT
Most ADHD girls overlooked
Sunday Mail (Qld), 14 Aug 2011
Girls with ADHD are not being
detected because they are not drawing attention to themselves through
disruptive behaviour, an education consultant says...
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Sexting dangers to be in curriculum
Sunday Telegraph, 14 Aug 2011
The NSW sexual health curriculum
will include the dangers of sexting from next year. This will ensure
teachers have support material instead of having to prepare lessons on
the run...
UK RIOTS
What the teachers of the rioters know
The Guardian (UK, blog), 12 Aug 2011
In the aftermath of the riots, a
Tottenham resident argues integrated schools and communities need to be
developed...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
National Curriculum reluctance in NSW, Qld, WA, SA
Federal Liberal Party website, 11 Aug 2011
Teacher unions in South Australia
and Queensland are concerned about the lack of teacher training
for the National Curriculum. The Western Australian government and NSW
governments have delayed it until 2014...
STUDENT PERFORMANCE
Disadvantaged students perform better in rural than in urban schools
The Australian, 13 Aug 2011
Research shows that disadvantaged
students in country schools perform better than disadvantaged students
in the city...
ABS CENSUS AT SCHOOL
School kids' census results out Monday
The Mercury, 13 Aug 2011
Information about school kids'
sleeping time, breakfast skipping, bellybutton height and more was
released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today prior to the
release of the full
CensusAtSchool results on Monday...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
The arguments for and against school closure
The Examiner, 13 Aug 2011
Tasmania's Social Inclusion
Commissioner, Professor David Adams, outlines the various arguments for
and against that need to be considered in the school closures debate....
SOCIAL NETWORKING
NSW schools monitoring student out of hours web use
SMH, 13 Aug 2011
Some schools in NSW are using
monitoring services to follow student use of social media sites such as
Facebook, Tumblr and Formspring, to be able to act out of duty of care
when out-of-hours harassment is related to school relationships...
TEACHING PROFESSION
Prison for sex with student
The Mercury, 12 Aug 2011
A FORMER senior teacher at a
Tasmanian girls' school who had sex with a vulnerable teenage student
has been sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison....
TOILET POLICY
Parents angry over whole-class toilet procedure
The Age, 12 Aug 2011
A Victorian primary school has
come under widespread criticism for its trials of toilet procedures that
included taking the whole class when only one student needed to go ....
YOUTH NETWORKING
Young meet to
consult over discrimination
Tas Govt media release, 12 Aug 2011
The Minister for Justice, Brian
Wightman, today opened the Tasmanian Youth Forum’s Statewide Anti-Dote
to Discrimination Forum ....
STUDENT SUPPORT
Sam too early for national disability insurance scheme
The Australian, 12 Aug 2011
Today's young children include an
unlucky generation, those of school age with disabilities who have been
born too early for the planned national disability insurance scheme ....
BUDGET CUTS
Teachers rally over budget cuts
ABC News, 11 Aug 2011
Tasmanian teachers have rallied
in Hobart as they step up their campaign against education budget cuts
....
STUDENT BEHAVIOUR
Problem of assaults on teachers needs addressing
Michael Ferguson website, 11 Aug 2011
Assaults on Tasmanian school
staff occur at least once every two days, opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson says ....
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
SA
teachers want National Curriculum delayed till 2014
ABC News, 10 Aug 2011
The South Australian teachers'
union is seeking to have the transition to the new National Curriculum
delayed from 2013 to 2014. However the Education Department says
it intends to meet the 2013 deadline ....
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Reference group to examine closures
ABC News, 11 Aug 2011
The AEU has been left out of a
reference group looking at potential closures of Tasmanian schools, but
says it is satisfied it will be represented....
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Rural and regional schools under attack again
Michael Ferguson website, 10 Aug 2011
Rural and regional schools in
Tasmania will again have to fight to stay open, opposition education
spokesman Michael Ferguson says....
BUDGET CUTS
Teachers to rally today over cuts
The Mercury, 11 Aug 2011
Teachers will rally outside
the Executive Building in Murray Street, Hobart, from 1.30pm today, in
opposition to education cuts and possible school closures...
SCHOOL CHAPLAINS
Chaplains in separation of church and state issue
Canberra Times, 10 Aug 2011
The High Court of Australia
is hearing a challenge to federal funding being used for the school
chaplaincy program...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
School
closure Reference Group announced
Tas Govt media release, 10 Aug 2011
Education Minister Nick McKim has
announced a nine member Reference Group to report on the viability of
Tasmanian Government schools after a consultation period ending by 1
December 2011...
Mr McKim said on ABC Radio that that whether
or not a school was on the original hit list is no longer relevant.
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Cost of training for National Curriculum prompts delay
The Australian, 10 Aug 2011
NSW has delayed introducing
the National Curriculum for at least a year, blaming quality concerns
and lack of federal government funding for training teachers to
implement it...
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Facebook 'breeds narcissism'
The Telegraph (UK), 9 Aug 2011
Overuse of Facebook and other
social networking sites is linked to narcissistic tendencies, scientists
say. But is narcissism the effect or the cause?...
SOCIAL NETWORKING AND LEARNING
Facebook-using students do worse
Time, 8 Aug 2011
Research with students has
found that checking Facebook is related to achieving lower grades - and,
incredibly, that when students stay on task they perform better. But
there's good news, too...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
St Mary's District High re-opens today (Wed.)
St Mary's District High website, 9 Aug 2011
St Mary's District High will
re-open on Wednesday, 10 August.
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
National Curriculum delayed till 2014 in NSW
The Mercury, 9 Aug 2011
NSW has delayed the
introduction of the National Curriculum in that State by 12 months until
2014 ...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Tender time
for Port Sorell Primary
Tas Govt media release, 8 Aug
2011
Tenders have been called for the
construction of the new Port Sorell Primary School ...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Alliance expands as schools face cuts
The Mercury, 8 Aug
2011
Principals are being forced to
select education programs to cut. The Public Education Alliance has
expanded ...
NBN AND TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
McKim gives
NBN update for schools
Tas Govt media release, 7 Aug
2011
Students in Smithton and
Scottsdale and a number of Catholic schools will soon have access to the
National Broadband Network. And a new eSchool will soon be set up ...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Cape Barren Island School in Aboriginal culture controversy
Sunday Tasmanian, 7 Aug
2011
A REMOTE Bass Strait community is pushing to
have its only school declared Aboriginal...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
No invites to closures group yet
The Examiner, 7 Aug
2011
Likely members of Education
Minister Nick McKim's school closures reference group say they are yet
to be invited to join it...
POST YEAR 10
Tassie training up
Tas Govt media release, 6 Aug
2011
Statistics show that Tasmania is
clearly performing better than the Australian average when it comes to
trainees and apprentices completing their training, Minister for
Education and Skills Nick McKim says...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
New scare for state schools
The Mercury, 6 Aug
2011
Schools in rural areas are
joining forces in an attempt to keep from being closed off one at a
time...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Closure
warnings alarmist
Tas Govt media release, 5 Aug
2011
Education Minister Nick McKim has
said the
Opposition is causing unnecessary alarm and anxiety by claiming 37 schools
in addition to the original hit list of 20 could potentially be closed,
when none have been identified so far...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
School closures still on the agenda
Michael Ferguson website, 5 Aug
2011
With the State government still
intent on shutting schools down, 37 schools not on the original hit list
must be feeling extremely nervous, says Liberal education spokesman
Michael Ferguson...
POST YEAR 10
New head of
Skills Tasmania
Tas Govt media release, 5 Aug
2011
Senior Treasury official Dr
Chrissie Berryman has been appointed head of Skills Tasmania...
TEACHING PROFESSION
Teacher arrested in front of class
The Mercury, 5 Aug
2011
"The kids were all told to turn around and
when they turned they put her in the police car."...
PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS
Sacked f-word teacher compensated
SmartCompany, 4 Aug
2011
A case in which a teacher was
wrongfully sacked for teaching about the use of the f-word has resulted
in some principles of fairness in dismissals being made clear...
STUDENT CERTIFICATION
NSW drops SC
SMH, 4 Aug
2011
NSW will scrap the year 10 School
Certificate from next year ...
SPECIAL WEEKS
More Weeks
than usual this month
TasLearn.com, 3 Aug
2011
August certainly is the month for
students to celebrate, engage, become aware or do good.
At least FIVE special weeks have been set aside:
National Science Week
Brain Injury Awareness Week
Book Week
Keep Australia Beautiful Week
National Literacy and Numeracy Week
And that's not mentioning the 40 Hour Famine.
ABORIGINAL EDUCATION
Aboriginal
culture boost for kindies
Tas Govt media release, 3 Aug
2011
Tasmanian kindergartens will
receive a collection of resources promoting Aboriginal culture this week ...
FOUR-TERM YEAR
Four terms could lead to bargaining, says AEU
The Advocate, 3 Aug
2011
The AEU says a change to four
terms could have implications for the enterprise bargaining agreement...
FOUR-TERM YEAR
Principals' group supports four terms
The Examiner, 3 Aug
2011
The Tasmanian Principals
Association supports the change to four terms - even though a slight
majority of its members voted against it...
PLAYGROUND ACTIVITIES
Importance of play being recognised
The Age, 3 Aug
2011
Children are still engaging in
playground activities, and this is important...
SOCIAL NETWORKING, TEACHING PROFESSION
Law on student-teacher internet contact has grey areas
FoxNews, 2 Aug
2011
A US state's law to ban
"exclusive" contact between teachers and students on social networking
websites has a number of grey areas (or "gray" if you're an American) ...
STUDENT SUPPORT
Claim of lack of integration support goes to
court
SMH, 2 Aug
2011
A 13-year-old with an IQ of
around 70, who is not reaching her potential, is suing the Victorian
Education Department...
MATHS TEACHING
Teach maths better
SMH, 2 Aug
2011
Australian students are losing
interest in mathematics because of the way it is taught, ACER finds...
FOUR-TERM YEAR
Set to go four terms
The Mercury, 2 Aug
2011
Government schools will adopt
four terms from 2013. Non-government schools are expected to follow
suit...
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Financial skills need improvement
SMH, 1 Aug
2011
Young people are missing out on
the opportunity to learn about financial management while still at
school...
LITERACY
Literacy boosted when taught with social skills
SMH, 1 Aug
2011
Literacy levels can be
dramatically raised when students are taught reading in conjunction with
positive attitudes and behaviours ...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Libs support Alliance - and reiterate policies
Michael Ferguson website, 1
Aug
2011
The Opposition has supported the
formation of the anti-cuts Public Education Alliance, and has outlined
how its policy of extending high schools to Year 12 would commence with
rural and regional schools...
FOUR-TERM YEAR
Four-term
school year looms
Tas Govt media release, 1 Aug
2011
The Minister for Education and
Skills, Nick McKim, says all Tasmanian government schools will move to a
four-term school year from 2013...
FOUR-TERM YEAR
Four-term school year coming
The Mercury, 1 Aug
2011
Education Minister Nick McKim
says the weight of evidence is that a four-term school year will be best
for Tasmania. However, the AEU has warned Mr McKim about trying to
implement the change...
FOUR-TERM YEAR
Four-term school year from 2013
The Examiner, 1 Aug
2011
Cabinet today endorsed Education
Minister Nick McKim's decision to accept the Four Term Year Advisory
Group's recommendation to change to a four-term school year in
Tasmania...
FOUR-TERM YEAR
Four-term year from 2013
The Advocate, 1 Aug
2011
Tasmanian government schools will change
to a four-term year from 2013...
CURRICULUM AND TECHNOLOGY
Adapting to technology and more
SMH (Opinion), 1 Aug
2011
Schools need to adapt much better
to changing technology, changing students, changing teachers and
changing community needs...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Anti-cuts alliance formed
The Mercury, 1 Aug
2011
A coalition of Tasmanian
community groups has been formed to oppose the state government's
planned education budget cuts ...
EDUCATION BUDGET
Group united against cuts
ABC News, 1 Aug
2011
The Public Education Alliance has
been formed to fight proposed cuts to spending on Tasmanian government
schools.
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