TasLearnNewsArchive

News for Tasmanian Teachers

 

Archive for August 2012

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Budget cutsEDUCATION BUDGET
Two in three schools received more funds
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2012
More than two- thirds of Tasmanian government schools had an increase in their School Resource Package in real terms this year, education minister Nick McKim said in AEU: Australian Edcuation Unionresponse to an AEU survey on school budget cuts...
AEU Survey, 31 Aug 2012

VET
Tas Cert IV done online from NSW
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2012
VET: Vocational Education and TrainingA partnership with a NSW organisation has enabled 20 Tasmanian students to obtain a Certificate IV in Social Housing through online study...

VET
VET: Vocational Education and TrainingSearch on for TasTAFE head
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2012
A nationwide search is on for a chief executive officer of the new TasTAFE...

LITERACY AND NUMERACY
Literacy and Numeracy Week almost over
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2012
National Literacy and Numeracy WeekLiteracy and Numeracy Week has allowed many Tasmanian schools to showcase innovative learning opportunities, education minister Nick McKim said at Lenah Valley Primary today...

STUDENT SUPPORT
Southern TasmaniaTOOL shed opens
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2012
A refurbished Training Opportunities and Options for Learning (TOOL) shed was opened at Cambridge by the Premier, Lara Giddings, today, to provide an alternative way for young people to access practical training programs...

STUDENT SUPPORT
Study without stress
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2012
Students should develop stress-free study habits, but if stressed students need support many sources of assistance are available, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education and Skills, Paul O'Halloran, told a student forum today...

EDUCATION BUDGET
Budget cutsBudget cuts being felt
ABC News, 31 Aug 2012
An AEU survey of Tasmanian teachers shows budget cuts are adversely affecting learning programs and teacher workloads...
The Examiner, 31 Aug 2012

Call for student mobile phone licencesMOBILE DEVICES
Require mobile phone licences
SMH, 28 Aug 2012
Students should be required to qualify for a special licence to use mobile phones and tablets, adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg says...

NAPLAN
Teachers need to make use of NAPLAN data
SMH, 28 Aug 2012
NAPLAN: National Assessment Program - Literacy and NumeracyNAPLAN and other student test data is being underutilised by teachers and inappropriately used for school accountability, the NSW Director-General of Education says...

TASMANIAN APPRENTICES & TRAINEES
It pays to be called Joshua
Tas Govt media release, 28 Aug 2012
A third of the 15 male apprentices and trainees representing Tasmania at the WorldSkills Australia National Competition are called Joshua...

Hawthorn Football ClubSTUDENT HEALTH AND FITNESS
Free sports gear for primary schools
Tas Govt media release, 28 Aug 2012
Tasmania's primary schools are about to each receive three footballs, three netballs, a pump and an equipment ball bag under the 2012 Hawks in Schools program, the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Michelle O'Byrne, said today...
Download the free eWorkbook from the Hawthorn Football Club, provided by the Hawks Move Well Eat Well program and Bupa.

STUDENT HEALTH
Call to weigh students
The Age, 27 Aug 2012
There has been another call for Australian schools to take on the role of weighing and measuring students in the fight against childhood obesity...

LEARNING SKILLS
The brainMemory raises its head
The Age, 27 Aug 2012
A downside of today's teaching being so dynamic and interesting is that extended written examinations are relatively harder for senior students than in days gone by, which requires teachers and students to consider the old memorising and learning tips...

LITERACY AND NUMERACY
Celebrating literacy and numeracy
Tas Govt media release, 27 Aug 2012
National Literacy and Numeracy WeekNational Literacy and Numeracy Week was launched today by the Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim.
Schools providing special literacy and numeracy activities this week include:
- Bruny Island District School
- Campbell Town District High
- Lauderdale Primary
- Lenah Valley Primary
- Ravenswood Heights Primary
- Riverside Primary
- Smithton Primary
- Spreyton Primary
- Tasmanian eSchool
- Waimea Heights Primary
- Zeehan Primary
- Herdsmans Cove Primary (Jordan River Learning Federation)..
.

VISUAL ARTS
Young Archies portrait winners announced
Tas Govt media release, 26 Aug 2012
The Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim, has announced the winners of the Young Archies portrait competition for students in Tasmanian Department of EducationTasmanian government schools.
The schools whose students produced the winning entries are:
- Jordan River Learning Federation
- Illawarra Primary
- Brighton Primary
University of Tasmania- Lansdowne Crescent Primary
- Howrah Primary
- Ogilvie High
- Taroona High
- Launceston Colle....
.

DRIVER EDUCATION
Teach 12-18yo's to drive
The Advocate, 25 Aug 2012
School students should be taught how to drive, racing car driver John Bowe says...

SCHOOL CLOSURES
Wesley Vale closure fear
The Examiner, 25 Aug 2012
The Wesley Vale community is concerned that the opening of the new Port Sorell school will lead to the closure of their local school...

SCIENCE TEACHING
Elizabeth College celebrates National Science Week
Tas Govt media release, 24 Aug 2012
Elizabeth College is engaging in science promotion activities arising out of last week's National Science Week...

TASMANIAN TEACHERS
Tasmanian teachersRetired teachers rehired
The Mercury, 23 Aug 2012
Of about 240 Tasmanian teachers who were given special incentive payments of up to $20,000 to retire early, at least 35 have been rehired as relief teachers...

Stricter penalties for inappropriate online publishingWEB SAFETY
School students must be warned
Herald Sun, 22 Aug 2012
The jailing of a 22-year-old Victorian man for creating an offensive Facebook page has prompted the Law Institute of Victoria to call for better education in schools to ensure teenage students are warned of the stricter penalties they could face if they publish inappropriate material on the Internet...

STUDENT HEALTH AND SAFETY
Hearing loss for iPod teens
The Mercury, 22 Aug 2012
Teenagers with iPods and iPhones playing too loudly are beginning to suffer from hearing loss...

MARKETING EDUCATION SERVICES
Asian student intake boost planned
Tas Govt media release, 22 Aug 2012
The Tasmanian government is planning to double the intake of overseas university students and to increase the number of pre-tertiary students coming to the state...

STUDENT AND STAFF HEALTH
Flu cases fall
The Mercury, 21 Aug 2012
Fall in coughs and sneezes - from DHHS report (pdf)
The number of cases of flu in Tasmania is falling, after a jump in July
...

DHHS fluTAS page (graph above shows reports of symptoms - click graph for report)

Australian students need to learn more about Asia, Ken Henry says

ASIA LITERACY
More Asian content needed
The Age, 21 Aug 2012
The Australian education system now places far too little emphasis on Asian languages and Asian Studies, former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry says...

LEARNING
Learning a concept more deeply
SMH, 20 Aug 2012
Students appear to learn a concept better, in the sense of being more successful at applying it to new situations, if they are first allowed to fail in attempts to solve a problem whose solution would require an understanding of that concept, associate professor Manu Kapur has found...

TEACHER QUALITY
Teacher quality key to quality teaching
SMH, 20 Aug 2012
Research shows that the quality of teaching is the most significant school influence on student outcomes...

EXTENDING HIGH SCHOOL TO 11/12
Minister seems to be excluding urban areas
Michael Ferguson website, 20 Aug 2012
Opposition education spokesman Michael Ferguson says the Liberals' policy is to extend high school to years 11 and 12 in all areas of Tasmania, not just in regional areas as appears to be the intention of the Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim...

GONSKI SCHOOL FUNDING REFORMS
Gonski reportGovernment schools receive enough funds
SMH, 20 Aug 2012
Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott says Australia cannot afford the Gonski school funding recommendations and in any case Australian government schools receive enough funding already...
Abbott in damage control, SMH, 21 Aug 2012

LITTERING
Tasmania tops the nation in litteracy
Keep Australia Beautiful, 20 Aug 2012
It appears that Tasmanians are the most skilled at littering and getting away with it, a regular survey by Keep Australia Beautiful recording that Tasmania has the highest average number of littered items per 1,000 square metres across sites selected for the survey ...
- Keep Australia Beautiful
- Tas Govt media release, 20 Aug 2012

GONSKI SCHOOL FUNDING REFORMS
Gonski reportGillard assures independent schools of funding increases
ABC News, 20 Aug 2012
Prime Minister Julia Gillard told the Independent Schools of Australia today that all students would be provided with the same funding regardless of the type of school they attended, in a "shake-up" that will give every independent school more funds ...

TEENS  AND GAMBLING
Gambling risks for young Tasmanians analysed
The Mercury, 20 Aug 2012
University of TasmaniaThe views of 14 to 17 year olds are reflected in a UTAS report on the attitudes of young Tasmanians towards gambling, Weighing up the Odds, released by the Minister for Human Services, Cassy O'Connor...
Weighing up the Odds (UTAS report), DHHS website
What's the Real eal?? (Teaching kit for Tasmanian high schools), DHHS website

GONSKI SCHOOL FUNDING REFORMS
Gonski reportNo Tasmanian school to be worse off
The Mercury, 20 Aug 2012
Federal education minister Peter Garrett says modelling of Gonski funding proposals that suggests many Tasmanian schools will lose out will be changed to ensure that  none are made worse off ...

GONSKI SCHOOL FUNDING REFORMS
Gonski reportGillard announcement on Gonski expected
The Examiner, 19 Aug 2012
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to make an announcement on Gonski funding on Monday in view of News Ltd's release of a list of schools that would be worse off under the current Gonski funding model ...

Raise school leaving age to 18 years?SCHOOL LEAVING AGE
Parents welcome leaving age proposal
ABC News, 19 Aug 2012
Parents at yesterday's Tasmanian State School Parents and Friends conference have welcomed the proposal to raise the school leaving age to 18 years...

GONSKI SCHOOL FUNDING
81 Tas schools would be Gonski losers
Gonski reportThe Mercury, 19 Aug 2012
Figures obtained by the Mercury show that in Tasmania 77 government and 4 Catholic schools would be worse off under the current Gonski funding formula.
The 20 Tasmanian schools that stand to lose the most in total funding are:
1 Glenorchy Primary School (-$979,315)
2 Guilford Young College (-$805,536)
3 St Aloysius Catholic College (-$709,401)
4 Mount Carmel College (-$542,344)
5 Rocherlea Primary School (-$497,535)
6 Rosebery District High School
7 Geilston Bay High School
8 Rokeby Primary School
9 Risdon Vale Primary School
10 Table Cape Primary School
11 Clarendon Vale Primary School
12 Somerset Primary School
13 Bowen Road Primary School
14 Waverley Primary School
15 Warrane Primary School
16 South Hobart Primary School
17 Goodwood Primary School
18 Claremont College
19 East Devonport Primary School
20 Campbell Street Primary School
See the other Tasmanian schools in the full list of Australian schools on the Mercury's website.

Michael Ferguson, Opposition education spokesman, 19 Aug 2012
Peter Garrett, Federal Minister for School Education, in a letter to the editor of the Sunday Tasmanian, 26 Aug 2012, said the above story was "wrong".

OUT-OF-AREA ENROLMENTS
Parents in two minds over zone policy
The Mercury, 19 Aug 2012
Out-of-area (out-of-zone) enrolmentsAt yesterday's Tasmanian State School Parents and Friends conference, parents were split between those who supported zoning restrictions in order to preserve the viability of local schools, and those who could see the benefits of freedom of choice, particularly for those who worked nowhere near their local school ...

SCHOOL LEAVING AGE
Leaving age discussion paper to be prepared
Tas Govt media release, 18 Aug 2012
Raise school leaving age to 18 years?A discussion paper is to be prepared on raising the school leaving age to 18 and on improving education services in Years 11 and 12 in regional areas, the Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim, told the Tasmanian State School Parents and Friends annual conference today ...
- The Examiner, 18 Aug 2012
- The Advocate, 18 Aug 2012
- Michael Ferguson, Opposition education spokesman, 18 Aug 2012

VET
VET: Vocational Education and TrainingDo a PhD or Masters on VET benefits
Tas Govt media release, 18 Aug 2012
An advanced degree scholarship at UTAS on the benefits of Tasmania's VET industry has been announced...

GONSKI REFORMS
Gonski reportGonski reforms delayed
SMH, 18 Aug 2012
The federal government's response to the Gonski school funding reforms is expected to be announced in the next few weeks rather than next week...

TASMANIAN STUDENTS
18-year-old Asta (Photo from Triple-J website)Rosny student wins best musical act prize
The Mercury, 17 Aug 2012
Rosny College student Asta is the winner of Triple J's national competition for the best school-age musical act...
- Triple J Unearthed website
- 936 Hobart report, 16 Aug 2012
- AstaSounds
- Statement by Minister for Education and Skills, 17 Aug 2012

TEACHING PRACTICE
Poor students missing out on good teaching strategies
SMH, 17 Aug 2012
Students from a wealthier background are more likely to have teachers who use four particular strategies that raise reading performance, such as asking students to explain the meaning of a text and telling them in advance how their work will be assessed...

MEMORY
The brainMemory discovery over taking a break
SMH, 16 Aug 2012
Learning is improved by taking a break rather than having continuous practice, as the break allows the brain to convert short-term memory to long-term memory, Sydney scientists have found...

TRADE TRAINING CENTRES
West Coast TasmaniaCall for West Coast trade training centre
The Advocate, 15 Aug 2012
The West Coast needs a trade training centre that could prepare students for local industries such as aquaculture, mining and tourism, West Coast mayor Darryl Gerrity says...

APPRENTICES
Apprentices chosen
Tas Govt media release, 15 Aug 2012
Three Tasmanian apprentices are representing the State in Canberra this week...

SCHOOL SAFETY
Students share views on safety
Tas Govt media release, 15 Aug 2012
Ten students from Waimea Heights Primary School met the Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim, today in the second of three Tasmanian student forums on school safety...

Social media policySOCIAL MEDIA
Social media policy coming
The Examiner, 14 Aug 2012
Teachers will soon have clarification on social media interaction with students ...

Chemical leak at Zinc Works
STAY INSIDE WARNING NOW CANCELLED
Tuesday, 14 Aug 2012, 9.55am, updated 10.46am

Tas Fire Service says people no longer need to stay inside as a result of a hazardous materials leak at Nyrstar in the Hobart suburb of Lutana.
No-one injured.
ABC News report

OUT-OF-AREA ENROLMENTS
Out-of-area (out-of-zone) enrolmentsOut-of-area comments extension made
The Examiner, 14 Aug 2012
The due date for comments on the Tasmanian government's draft out-of-area policy has been extended ...

VET
VET: Vocational Education and TrainingSkills Tasmania merger on way
ABC News, 13 Aug 2012
Skills Tasmania is to merge with the Department of Education ...

GOVT GONSKI RESPONSES
Behaviour management plan looms
The Mercury, 12 Aug 2012
Special training to help new teachers deal with violent and disruptive students will be part of a new deal to be announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard this month ...

An online test for students using mobile phones is being plannedCYBERSAFETY
Mobile phone test plan
The Mercury, 12 Aug 2012
Tasmanian schools are being asked to take part in a trial to give young people an online cybersafety test before they can take mobile devices to school...

SCHOOL CLOSURES
New fund will soften or avoid closures
Tas Govt media release, 10 Aug 2012
School Transition Fund (alternatives to compulsory school closure)The Tasmanian government's $3.5 million School Transition Fund is designed to avoid compulsory school closures by helping schools transition to alternatives such as amalgamating, co-locating, voluntary closure or forming a federation with other schools ...
- DoE School Transition Fund information document [pdf]

BRIBERY IN EDUCATION
MoneyPaying students money raises test results
The Telegraph (Maralyn Parker Blog), 8 Aug 2012
Researchers have shown that paying students money is effective in making them perform better in standardised tests - by the equivalent of five or six months of learning...

POST YEAR 10
Needy get jeans thanks to Polytechnic students
Tas Govt media release, 10 Aug 2012
Tasmanian Polytechnic fashion design and technology students prepared hundreds of pairs of pre-loved jeans that were available for giving away at Colony 47 today...

TEACHING PROFESSION
QueenslandSwearing teacher out for 15 months
The Mercury, 10 Aug 2012
A Queensland teacher swore at students, pushed students, slapped a year 8 student, threw a duster at a year 10 student, and more...

TEACHING PROFESSION
Performances of more teachers should be checked
New South WalesSMH, 10 Aug 2012
The NSW Commission of Audit has called for a huge increase in the number of teachers whose performance is reviewed...

TAFE
Interim Chair for TasTAFE needed
Tas Govt media release, 9 Aug 2012
The Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim, today called for expressions of interest for an Interim Chair of the Board of TasTAFE, and announced that the new TAFE will no longer be a statutory authority but will become a business unit of the Department of Education...

DIVERSITY
Diversity resource launched
Tas Govt media release, 9 Aug 2012
Difference DifferentlyDifference Differently, an online resource aligned with the Australian Curriculum to teach Years 3-10 students about diversity, was launched in Tasmania today by the Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim...
Difference Differently is produced by Together for Humanity with funding from DEEWR

TRADE TRAINING CENTRES
Break O'Day Trade Training Centre opened
Tas Govt media release, 8 Aug 2012
A Trade Training Centre has been opened at St Helens District High School in the Break O'Day municipality...

Empowering Local Schools (Aust Govt information sheet [pdf file]))

LOCAL EMPOWERMENT
Mountain Heights begins empowerment
Tas Govt media release, 8 Aug 2012
As an Empowering Local Schools Plus School, Mountain Heights School has begun engaging the local community in developing a vision and direction for the school...

TASMANIAN STUDENTS
PM's award for Tassie VET student
Tas Govt media release, 8 Aug 2012
VET: Vocational Education and TrainingA Tasmanian VET Agriculture student is one of 20 Australian students to win a Prime Minister's Award for Skills Excellence.........

SCHOOL LEAVING AGE
Raise school leaving age to 18 years?Make 18 years the school leaving age
The Mercury, 7 Aug 2012
Students should be required to stay at school until they turn 18, with no job exemption, suggests Tasmania's parent body ...
- Proposal backed by Uni dean, The Mercury, 9 Aug 2012

STUDENT AND STAFF HEALTH
DHHS Tas: click for fluTAS reportFlu cases jump
The Examiner, 7 Aug 2012
The number of cases of flu in Tasmania jumped sharply in July.
The vast majority of cases were in southern Tasmania
...

DHHS fluTAS report (graph at right shows reports of symptoms)

STUDENTS AND TV
Poorer children watch more TV
The Mercury, 7 Aug 2012
Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds watch far more television than rich children, research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows...

TASMANIAN STUDENTS
Northern TasmaniaEx-Queechy student led Mars rover team
The Examiner, 6 Aug 2012
A former student of Launceston's Queechy High School led a software team on the Mars Curiosity rover project...

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM
Compulsory school sport needed for Olympics success? 
SMH, 7 Aug 2012
The new health and physical education subject of the National Curriculum will not make sport compulsory when it is introduced in 2014 ...
- Sport's decline, SMH, 7 Aug 2012
- Wasington

TEACHING PROFESSION
Too many young teachers leaving
SMH, 6 Aug 2012
Schools need to be proactive in providing support to keep young teachers in the profession...

ASIAN LANGUAGES
Inter-generational mentoring boosts Asian language skills
The Age, 6 Aug 2012
Matching students of Asian languages with older native-born speakers significantly improves conversational skills...

TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Northern TasmaniaOld Rocherlea Primary to be demolished
Tas Govt media release, 6 Aug 2012
The empty buildings at the former site of Rocherlea Primary School are to be demolished...

SPECIAL EVENTS
Mars landing today (Monday)
news.com.au, 6 Aug 2012
NASA's Mars Curiosity RoverThe Mars Curiosity rover is expected to land on Mars at 3.31pm Tasmanian time today.
Live coverage on the Internet:
begins at 1.30pm on NASA TV

is accessible through news.com.au
(scroll down)
is also on NASAJPL
might be on ABC News24 closer to 3.31pm
...

- PCMag report, 5 Aug 2012

ADULT EDUCATION
Is Adult Ed dying?
The Mercury, 6 Aug 2012
Adult Education (now LearnXpress) enrolments have declined considerably...

EDUCATION SPENDING
False economy to cut education spending
The Examiner, 5 Aug 2012
As a better education leads to improved health and a longer life, it makes no sense to reduce education spending in a climate of rising health costs, argues a demographer...

TEACHER PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
Annual performance reviews for teachers
Aust Govt media release, 3 Aug 2012
Australian GovernmentTeachers throughout Australia will undergo annual performance reviews from next year, federal school education minister Peter Garrett announced today following a national meeting of education ministers.
Performance evidence will include classroom observation, student results, and parental and student feedback
...

AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership)- AITSL (responsible for teacher professional standards)
- The Advocate's report, 3 Aug 2012

Early learningEARLY YEARS EDUCATION
Early learning pride
Tas Govt media release, 2 Aug 2012
Education minister Nick McKim told a national forum today how Tasmania's Launching into Learning program has successfully supported parents as their child's first teacher...

TEACHER SALARIES
Wage rise for Tassie teachersPremier welcomes teacher pay agreement
Tas Govt media release, 2 Aug 2012
The premier, Lara Giddings, has welcomed the AEU's acceptance of an greement for teachers to receive a 2 percent salary rise in line with other public sector employees...

TEACHER SALARIES
Wage rise for Tassie teachersTas teachers' 2% rise
ABC News, 2 Aug 2012
Tasmanian teachers have agreed to a wage rise below inflation - 2 per cent per year for the next two years - the AEU vowing to vigorously pursue bigger increases in 2014...
- The Mercury's report, 3 Aug 2012
- The Examiner's report, 2 Aug 2012

TEACHING PROFESSION
Testing for existing teachers
New South WalesSMH, 1 Aug 2012
Experienced teachers in NSW would have to undergo the kind of rigorous testing applied to trainee teachers under a discussion paper on raising teaching standards, Great Teaching, Inspired Learning ...

 

 

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