SCHOOL CLOSURES
Up to 48 schools in Minister's sights
Michael Ferguson website, 31 Jan 2012
Opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson says up to 48 schools could be considered for closure...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Small schools might have to fight
The Mercury, 31 Jan 2012
The school viability report
recommends that an enrolment of 100 students in rural primary schools be
the starting point for closure consideration...
(See also page 38 of the
report.)
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Review boundary zones, says report
ABC News, 31 Jan 2012
The report of the School
Viability Reference Group recommendations include reviewing school
boundary zones...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
SCHOOL
CLOSURES REPORT RELEASED
Tas Govt media release, 31 Jan 2012
Minister for education and skills Nick
McKim released the School Viability reference group report today...
-
DoE School Viability Ministerial Report web page
-
Download the report [pdf 3MB]
STUDENT BUS TRANSPORT
New student
bus travel arrangements
Tas Govt media release, 31 Jan 2012
Students using fare charging bus
services other than Tassielink and Merseylink need to use a student
Greencard from this year, Minister for Sustainable Transport Nick McKim
said today...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Closures report will back delay
The Examiner, 31 Jan 2012
The Examiner understands the
report of the School Viability Reference Group, due today, recommends
two to three years of community consultation before a school is closed
or amalgamated.
The report apparently gives the following as criteria for possible
closure:
- a small number of students
- declining enrolment
- high running costs
- lower-than-expected student results
- where there is an alternative. ...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Recommendations not unanimous
The Advocate, 31 Jan 2012
Members of the School Viability
reference group could not always unanimously agree on recommendations,
Tasmanian State Schools Parents and friends president Jenny Grossmith
says...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Budget target the purpose, not student outcomes
Michael Ferguson website, 30 Jan 2012
School closures will save money
at the expense of rural and regional communities, opposition education
spokesman Michael Ferguson says...
RETENTION RATES
Retention
improves
Tas Govt media release, 30 Jan 2012
The retention of students to Year
12 has improved, the Minister for Education, Nick McKim, said today...
SCHOOL ASSESSMENT DATA
Qld premier releases school performance info after promise not to
Courier Mail, 30 Jan 2012
Queensland teachers have
boycotted the collection of school audit data this week after premier
Anna Bligh broke a departmental promise and released information about
individual government schools based on 2010 and 2011 data...
- See
performance information for individual schools [pdf]
SCHOOL CLOSURES
School closures certain
ABC News, 30 Jan 2012
Premier Lara Giddings has
asserted that school closures will go ahead...
LITERACY AND NUMERACY FUNDING
No-one seems to know what works
SMH, 30 Jan 2012
The NSW Minister for Education
says that a review of up to 30 programs undertaken by the former
director-general of education shows that little is known about which
programs work best to improve literacy and numeracy...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
School closure report imminent
The Mercury, 30 Jan 2012
The School Viability Reference
Group's report is due to be handed to the education minister tomorrow...
TCE RESULTS
Long wait for TCE results
The Mercury, 30 Jan 2012
Complete Tasmanian Certificate of
Education results for schools will be released about April...
PRIVATE SCHOOL FEES
Private school fees to rise
The Mercury, 30 Jan 2012
Tasmanian private school fees are
set to rise by about 5 per cent..
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Fight for survival coming
The Examiner, 30 Jan 2012
Opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson says the 20 schools on the original school closure hit
list will have to fight again once the School Viability Reference
Group's report is handed in...
SCHOOL FINANCES
School budgets under pressure
The Mercury, 29 Jan 2012
The AEU says increases in
electricity costs and other costs associated with new school buildings
will not be covered in the coming year, and the Tasmanian Principals
Association's president, David raw, says some schools will be worse off
than others but schools should be able to get by...
PARENTS AND TAX
Parents missing out on tax rebate
The Mercury, 29 Jan 2012
As many as 20,000 Tasmanian
students' parents are not claiming the federal government's Education
Tax Refund...
-
Education Tax Refund (ATO)
NATIONAL TESTING
Why is Australia trailing our neighbours in education?
SMH, 28 Jan 2012
This report by Anna Patty
revisits recent education reports to identify factors that explain why
and how Australian students are falling behind their counterparts in
other countries...
FOUR TERM YEAR
AEU opposing four term year
ABC News, 28 Jan 2012
The Australian Education Union is
opposing changes being made to the school year but Parliamentary
Secretary to the Education Minister, Paul O'Halloran, cannot say whether
this action in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission will delay the switch
to a four-term year due in 2013...
FOUR TERM YEAR
Four term year dispute looms
The Mercury, 28 Jan 2012
The AEU says there is no evidence
the change to a four term year will be of benefit to students and it
would not be a proper process for the Tasmanian Industrial Commission to
make a simple declaration that teachers would change from three blocks
of holidays to four ...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Closures improve outcomes
The Mercury, 28 Jan 2012
Premier Lara Giddings says school
closures or amalgamations improve educational outcomes...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Rural schools worried
The Examiner, 28 Jan 2012
Parents and Friends senior
vice-president Jenny Eddington says rural schools are concerned the
impending report of the School Viability Reference Group could base
school closures on enrolments alone...
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
New general manager for North
The examiner, 28 Jan 2012
Laurie Andrew is the new general
manager for Learning Services North ...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Numbers prediction is a contradiction
Michael Ferguson website, 27 Jan 2012
In the continuing debate over
extending high schools to year 12, Opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson says acting education minister Brian Wightman is
contradicting himself when he forecasts that the Tasmanian school
population will fall yet argues high schools will not cope with catering
for years 11 and 12 ...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Government will blame closure group, say Libs
The Mercury, 26 Jan 2012
Opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson predicts the government will blame the School Viability
Reference Group for rural schools being closed instead of taking
responsibility itself, but acting education minister Brian Wightman says
the Opposition is wildly guessing the contents of the group's
forthcoming report...
US EDUCATION POLICY
Obama promises support for teachers
Washington Post (blog), 24 Jan 2012
US President Obama's education
improvements, delivered in his State of the Union speech, include giving
schools the flexibility to enable teachers to stop teaching to the test.
[A veiled admission that pitting schools and teachers against each other
through national testing operates against students' overall education
perhaps?]...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
School closure report very soon
The Mercury, 25 Jan 2012
Royce Fairbrother's School
Viability Reference Group is due to hand in its report on closing
schools by Tuesday next week ...
NATIONAL TESTING
Tasmania's literacy and numeracy results poor
ABC News, 24 Jan 2012
AEU president Leanne Wright says
that state budget cuts are certainly not needed when NAPLAN literacy and numeracy
testing shows Tasmanian students are performing below the national
average and Tasmania is the most socio-economically disadvantaged state...
NATIONAL TESTING, SCHOOL CLOSURES
NAPLAN results spark close schools call
The Mercury, 24 Jan 2012
Economist Saul Eslake says
inadequate literacy improvement in Tasmania means schools should be
closed but Premier Lara Giddings says literacy efforts will take time to
show ...
NATIONAL TESTING
Children's NAPLAN results related to parents' education level
SMH, 24 Jan 2012
The latest NAPLAN results show
that the children of parents who did not complete year 12 are
considerably more likely to achieve results below the national minimum
standard ...
NATIONAL TESTING
Best Australian students doing worse
SMH, 24 Jan 2012
Australia's top students are not
doing as well as in previous years, the latest NAPLAN results show...
NATIONAL TESTING
Alarming results in NAPLAN report
Michael Ferguson website, 23 Jan 2012
Opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson says the NAPLAN report shows that twice as many year 7
students as any other state fail to reach the minimum national standard
and Tasmania is the worst performing state for spelling in years 5, 7
and 9...
NATIONAL TESTING
Tasmanian
2011 NAPLAN results comparable with 2010
Tas Govt media release, 23 Jan 2012
Acting Minister for Education and
Skills Brian Wightman says Tasmania shows a significant improvement in
year 5 numeracy in the 2011 NAPLAN National Report released today...
NATIONAL TESTING
NAPLAN report released
Aust Govt media release, 23 Jan 2012
Federal School Education Minister
Peter Garrett says the 2011 NAPLAN National Report released today shows
that more than 93 per cent of students are performing at or above
minimum standards but the gap between the top and bottom students has
widened...
-
NAPLAN national reports download page
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Educational benefits call from AEU
The Examiner, 23 Jan 2012
AEU president Leanne Wright has
reiterated her call for the Liberals to provide evidence of educational
benefits from their policy to extend high schools to years 11 and 12...
ONLINE LEARNING
Virtual $1.1 million
The Examiner, 23 Jan 2012
Increased online learning in
Tasmanian schools will be possible through a Virtual Learning
Environment to be established under the federal government's Digital
Regions Initiative...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Liberals respond on high schools accommodation
Michael Ferguson website, 22 Jan 2012
Opposition education
spokesman Michael Ferguson says the claims that years 11 and 12 cannot
be accommodated in high schools are based on the false assumption that
colleges will close under the Liberals' high schools to year 12 policy...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Wightman rubs
it in
Tas Govt media release, 22 Jan 2012
Acting Minister for Education and
Skills Brian Wightman says a report in today's Sunday Examiner
undermines the Liberals' policy of extending high schools to cater for
years 11 and 12...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Liberals' figures don't add up, says the Examiner
The Examiner, 22 Jan 2012
An Examiner reporter looks back
at last week's debate by media statement over the Liberals' policy of
retaining years 11 and 12 students in north-west high schools ...
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
iBooks 2 could change textbooks
Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan 2012
Apple's iBooks 2 is an app update
for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, which promises to boost the trend
to electronic textbooks ...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Wightman not
giving up over Hodgman call
Tas Govt media release, 20 Jan 2012
Acting education minister Brian
Wightman has reiterated his criticism of opposition leader Will Hodgman
for calling for school capacity figures to be made available when they
had been released last year, and has called for details of the Liberals'
high school extension policy to be released...
NATIONAL TESTING
Tasmania has two NAPLAN breaches
The Examiner, 19 Jan 2012
Two NAPLAN testing breaches not
regarded as cheating were investigated in Tasmanian schools last year ...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Capacity
figures are available already
Tas Govt media release, 18 Jan 2012
Acting education minister Brian
Wightman today said the Liberal opposition was calling for high school
capacity figures to be made available when this information had been
released last year...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
NW primary schools determined to fight
The Advocate, 18 Jan 2012
Stanley Primary and other
north-west primary schools have expressed their determination to remain
open as the School Viability Reference Group recommendations loom...
WIKIPEDIA
Wikipedia to close for 24 hours
ABC Online, 17 Jan 2012
Free online encyclopedia Wikipedia will
close for 24 hours from 4pm Tasmanian time on Wednesday 18 January in protest at draft US
legislation...
- UPDATE 4.10pm 18/1/12: instead of completely blacking
out their site, Wikipedia are showing their pages long enough to make a
quick screen shot with Alt-PrtScrn
- Also,
as explained on their site, Wikipedia enable you to access the site
if you disable Javascript or use a mobile device.
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
NW schools
do have spare capacity
Michael Ferguson website, 17 Jan 2012
High school capacity figures
revealed in today's Advocate confirm that the majority of north-west
schools can accommodate year 11 and 12 students, opposition education
spokesman Michael Ferguson says...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
NW schools have spare capacity
The Advocate, 17 Jan 2012
High schools on the north-west
coast have enough space to facilitate extending them to year 12...
EXCITEMENT IN EDUCATION
Tassie
education debate heats up
Tas Govt media release, 16 Jan 2012
A tweet about education policy by
opposition leader Will Hodgman ('They
ask what your vision is then criticise you for telling them’)
has been condemned in particularly strong terms by Acting Minister for
Education and Skills Brian Wightman...
-
@WillHodgman Twitter messages
page
EXTENSION TO YEAR 12
How Libs might change colleges
Michael Ferguson website, 15 Jan 2012
Opposition education spokesman
Michael Ferguson says that the Liberals would not close any colleges but
might change their functions. "For example, some may remain focused on
years 11 and 12, others might cater for years 9-12 and others might
become 7-12 high schools." ...
EXTENSION TO YEAR 12
Years 11 and
12 costings call
Tas Govt media release, 15 Jan 2012
Acting Minister for Education and
Skills Brian Wightman has called on the Liberal opposition to release
detailed costings of of its policy to extend high schools to years 11
and 12...
-
Liberals' June 2011 years 7-12 high school announcement, reposted 13
Jan 2012
-
Will Hodgman's Future Directions launch statement, 11 Jan 2012
-
Future Directions document [pdf]
EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Progress
reports released
Tas Govt media release, 15 Jan 2012
An update on the achievement of
targets and implementation of strategies under the Australian
government's Smarter Schools National Partnerships program shows that
Tasmanian schools are making great strides, Acting Minister for
Education and Skills, Brian Wightman, says...
-
statement on the Smarter Schools National Partnerships program by
the Australian government's Minister for School Education, Peter
Garrett, 14 Jan 2012
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
Principals want fire power
Daily telegraph, 15 Jan 2012
Government school principals want
more power to sack under-performing teachers, according to the latest
Staff in Australian Schools survey...
ONLINE-SAFETY, BULLYING
Govt unveils new cyber-safety site
The Australian, 13 Jan 2012
The
Easy Guide to Socialising
Online website has been launched by the federal government to tackle
cyber-bullying and promote online safety, just a few days after a
Melbourne school student who had been bullied online committed suicide...
- Easy Guide
to Socialising Online
-
Tips for Socialising Online
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Technology links could help years 11 and 12
The Examiner, 13 Jan 2012
Using technology to link regional
and rural high schools to other schools could help improve retention to
years 11 and 12, the University of Tasmania's Dean of the Faculty of
Education, Professor Ian Hay, says...
NATIONAL CURRICULUM, HEALTH AND SAFETY
Resuscitation and water safety push
ABC News, 12 Jan 2012
The Royal life Saving Association
is seeking to have CPR and water safety included in the national
curriculum...
RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS
Blow for teachers in U.S. religious schools
NPR, 12 Jan 2012
In the U.S. a teacher in a
religious school was declared to be technically a "minister" simply
because she carried out some religious functions in addition to
teaching, but as a result she was not able to rely on the
anti-discrimination laws when she was fired for making a threat to use
the court system to resolve a discrimination issue instead of allowing
the issue to be resolved in the internal manner required of its
ministers by the church...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
High schools after year 12 extension
The Examiner, 12 Jan 2012
At least six schools are
interested in extending their school to year 12 as outlined in the
Liberals' policy, opposition education spokesman Michael Ferguson says...
ICT, COMPUTING LESSONS
Computing lessons go full circle
The Independent (UK), 12 Jan 2012
ICT lessons in Britain are to be
replaced by "Computer Science", with emphasis on programming [just like
how computing in schools began]...
SCHOOL CHAPLAINS
Chaplains preferred to welfare workers
The Mercury, 11 Jan 2012
Only a small number of Tasmanian
schools have chosen to prefer welfare workers to chaplains following the
choice allowed by the federal government last year...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Closures group report still on track
The Mercury, 11 Jan 2012
The School Viability Reference
Group is still on track to deliver its report on criteria for school
closure by 31 January...
EXTENSION TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Government
rejects years 11-12 policy
Tas Govt media release, 10 Jan 2012
The Government is already
undertaking initiatives to encourage students to continue education into
years 11 and 12, Acting Minister for Education and Skills Brian Wightman
said today in response to the Liberal Party's policy to extend high and
district high schools to year 12...
-
Media release by Opposition Leader Will Hodgman, 8 Jan 2012
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Asbestos
safety
Tas Govt media release, 10 Jan 2012
The asbestos registers in DoE
buildings are to be updated and staff will be required to acknowledge
they are aware of their school having an asbestos register...
TEACHING PROFESSION
Charges upgraded
The Mercury, 10 Jan 2012
The charges against a former
Ogilvie High School woodwork teacher now include maintaining a sexual
relationship with a young person under the age of 17 years...
SCHOOL CHAPLAINS
Chaplain vs welfare worker
SMH, 10 Jan 2012
More than 200 Australian schools,
or 8 per cent of those that have reapplied so far, plan to employ a
welfare worker rather than a chaplain or religious pastoral care
worker...
STUDENT SUPPORT
Back to school for teen parents
The Mercury, 9 Jan 2012
The federal government's Helping
Young Parents trial requires teenage parents to discuss their education
plans with welfare staff in order to prevent Centrelink holding back
their payments...
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Closures report on track for 31 January
The Examiner, 6 Jan 2012
The School Viability Reference
Group would issue a statement on its progress after its meeting on
Tuesday next week, chairman Royce Fairbrother said yesterday ...
STUDENT SUPPORT
Talking back by teens improves their future
NPR, 3 Jan 2012
Making a practice of arguing
calmly and persuasively with their parents helps teenagers develop the
skills to resist the kind of peer pressures that lead other teens into
trouble...
STUDENT RETENTION
Payments to stay at school publicised
The Mercury, 2 Jan 2012
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has
reminded parents of the payments of up to $4200 a year for parents to
keep their children in school...
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