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MATHS AND SCIENCE
Tassie bucks Aussie maths
downtrend
Tas Govt media release, 30 Nov 2016
 Tasmanian primary school students have shown
improvement in maths and science in the face of an overall
Australian decline as shown by the TIMSS (Trends in
International Mathematics and Science) study results released
today, education minister Jeremy Rockliff says...
Australian schools fall
behind in maths and science, ABC News, 30 Nov 2016
Australian schools
continue to fall behind other countries in maths and science, The Conversation (opinion by
Sue Thomson), 29 Nov 2016
Ministers to discuss results in December, Simon Birmingham,
Minister for Education and Training, 30 Nov 2016
WW1 COMMEMORATIONS
Frank MacDonald
prize winners named
Tas Govt media release, 30 Nov 2016
 The six
Tasmanian students to receive a tour of the Western Front by
winning the Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize have been announced.
The students are from the following schools:
- Sacred Heart
College
- St Virgil's College
- Ogilvie High School
-
Launceston Church Grammar School (two)
- Leighland Christian
School
...
ACARA Update
30 Nov 2016
New demonstration site
New work samples
2016 Semester 1 attendance data released
Primary Matters newsletter
STUDENT
SUPPORT
Autism extension
Tas Govt media release, 28 Nov 2016
 The state government's $4 million Autism Class
Support Program is to be extended following a successful pilot
program at Lindisfarne North Primary School, education minister
Jeremy Rockliff said...
 COMPUTER LITERACY
Hour of Code next week
news.com.au, 28 Nov 2016
Next week's Hour of Code
events aim to encourage school children to acquire the skills
involved in programming computers...
Infomercial opportunity
for Apple, Microsoft and Google, The Register, 21 Nov 2016
Hour of Code website
(events operate Dec 5-11)
EDUCATION FUNDING
Funding model opportunity?
The Conversation (opinion by Peter Goss and Kate
Griffiths), 28 Nov 2016
 The current low rates of
increase in teachers' pay help to create an opportunity to
target federal education funding more fairly, the Grattan
Institute says. [However, a changed model might be bad for
Tasmanian government schools - as they are currently very close
to the desired target funding level as shown in the writers'
data.]...
FEDERAL POLITICS
Backpacker tax 15% solution in sight
ABC News, 28 Nov 2016
The federal government
has announced it will agree to lower the backpacker tax rate to
15 per cent.
 LITERACY, NUMERACY
Home boost to literacy, numeracy
The Age, 27 Nov 2016
Young children
benefit from being exposed to parents who use practical writing
and counting activities at home, Macquarie University research
shows...
 WORLD POLITICS
Fidel Castro dies
ABC News, 26 Nov 2016
Revolutionary and long-time
former leader of Cuba Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90
years...
LITERACY
Phonics screening test slated
The Conversation (opinion by Misty Adoniou), 25 Nov 2016
 The evidence does
not support the claimed value and usefulness of England's
phonics screening test which the Australian government plans to
introduce in Australian schools by tying it to funding, a
literacy academic writes ...
 TEACHING PROFESSION
Award nominations close soon
Huffington Post, 25 Nov 2016
The Commonwealth Bank's
Annual Teaching
Awards provide 12 outstanding Australian teachers and their
schools with $45,000. Nominations close on Wednesday 30 November...
 EARLY
CHILDHOOD
Be a B4 Coalition Leader
Tas Govt media release, 24 Nov 2016
Expressions of
interest are now open for appointment to B4 Coalition Leader
positions which encourage links between home and school to
support children in the early years...
 CULTURAL
UNDERSTANDING
Talking about racism
The Conversation (opinion by Naomi Priest), 22 Nov 2016
Racism and racial
discrimination are continually in the news but there are
teaching tools to help teachers address the issues...
SCHOOL TO WORK
Beacon praised
The Mercury (editorial), 22 Nov 2016
 The Beacon
Foundation's program of helping students in disadvantaged
schools finish school and make their way to a job has a
transformative potential...
WEATHER ADVICE
Severe thunderstorms have passed
BoM, 10.28pm 21 Nov 2016
The Severe Thunderstorm Warning for this evening has now been
cancelled...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Ulverstone Primary upgrade
Tas Govt media release, 21 Nov 2016
Upgraded facilities at
Ulverstone Primary School costing $525,000 were opened today by
education minister Jeremy Rockliff...
CURRICULUM
Will teachers be capable of
teaching the capabilities?
The Conversation (opinion by Bill Lucas), 21 Nov 2016
 Five new
capabilities, or "soft skills", need to be acquired by students
from next year:
- information and communication technology
skills
- critical and creative thinking
- personal and
social capabilities
- ethical capabilities, and
-
intercultural capabilities.
(The other capabilities are
literacy and numeracy.)...
AUSTRALIAN
NEWS
Dozens injured as Melbourne bank
set on fire
ABC News, 18 Nov 2016
Many people were injured, six
critically, after a man set fire to a Commonwealth Bank branch
in Melbourne this morning...
 RETENTION TO YEAR 12
Year 12 retention not that bad
The Mercury (opinion by Peta-Maree Revell), 18 Nov 2016
Retention from Year 10 to Year
12 is not a problem, it is Year 12 Certificate attainment that
is the problem, the AEU secondary colleges management committee
president says...
 CAREER EDUCATION
Career education school tool
launched
Aust Govt media release, 17 Nov 2016
A new National Career Education
Strategy and the online
Career education self-assessment tool for schools
were launched today by the Assistant Minister for Vocational
Education and Skills, Karen Andrews...
 CURRICULUM
Donald Trump lesson plan too
scary?
zerohedge.com, 17 Nov 2016
An anti-sexist, anti-racist Donald Trump era lesson
plan shared with Californian teachers has sparked controversy...
CURRICULUM
Computer coding for Queensland
kids
ABC News, 17 Nov 2016
Compulsory curriculum changes
in Queensland will require children to learn computer coding
from the age of four years...
 ABC RADIO
Many changes for ABC Radio in
2017
ABC media release, 16 Nov 2016
ABC Radio will change some of its
well-known formats and programs next year...
 EXTENSION TO YEAR 12
Call for more schools to extend
Tas Govt media release, 16 Nov 2016
High schools and district high
schools are again invited to apply to extend their schools to
Year 12, education minister Jeremy Rockliff says...
EDUCATION REFORMS
Education Bill passes Parliament
 Tas Govt media release, 15 Nov 2016
The Education Bill 2016 has
completed its journey through Parliament, an achievement
described by education minister Jeremy Rockliff as "a momentous
step forward"...
 STUDENT
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Knee injury alarm
ABC News, 15 Nov 2016
A significant rise in the
number of sports-active children requiring anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL) knee reconstructions has coincided
with increasing pressures on children to play their sports with
professional skill and speed...
 PRACTICAL EDUCATION
Maker Movement makes moves
NPR, 14 Nov 2016
The thriving Maker Movement is
based on the philosophy that students learn best by doing...
EDUCATION
POLICIES
Partnership push by Labor
The Examiner, 13 Nov 2016
 TasLabor's Party Conference has supported:
-
establishing the Tasmanian Education Partnership to develop
education policy that lasts beyond changes in government
- a
rejection of the government's new lower starting age policies
- NAPLAN tests being replaced by more appropriate tests, and
-
continuation of the Safe Schools LGBTI anti-bullying program.
Opposition leader Bryan Green pledged that a 2018 Labor
government would bring back pathway planners..
 ASTRONOMY
Supermoon Monday night
The Examiner, 12 Nov 2016
The
Moon will appear 7.8 per cent larger than usual on Monday night
when it will be the closest it has been to the Earth since 1948,
astronomer Martin George says..
 THE ARTS
Leonard Cohen dies
ABC News, 11 Nov 2016
Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen,
known best for the hit song "Hallelujah", has died at the age of 82..
EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION
DoE wins national award for CFCs
Tas Govt media release, 10 Nov 2016
 The Department of Education has
been recognised for its successful implementation of 12 Child
and Family Centres, receiving a silver award in the Prime
Minister's Award in Public Sector Management..
Child and Family Centres
were initiated by Labor, Michelle O'Byrne, Opposition
education spokesperson, 9 Nov 2016
US ELECTION
Trump victory
ABC News, 9 Nov 2016
Donald Trump is set to be the next US
President, having won more than the required
270 Electoral College votes.
The Australian stockmarket has dived.
The Republicans will retain the majority in the
House of Representatives and the Senate...
EDUCATION REFORMS
Education reforms pass LegCo
Tas Govt media release, 9 Nov 2016
The Education Bill
2016 has been passed by the Legislative Council, meaning that
reforms to keep students at school longer, improve attendance
through compulsory conciliation and enhanced home education
arrangements will go ahead. ..
TASMANIAN STUDENTS
Top History Challenge students
named
Tas Govt media release, 8 Nov 2016
 Premier Will Hodgman has
announced the three National History Challenge winners from
Tasmanian schools who will travel to Canberra for the national
awards. The students are from:
- Friends' School (Tasmanian
Young Historian)
- Taroona High
- Sheffield School..
 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
Uber gets the students to college
NPR, 6 Nov 2016
Under a pilot program, a US
college is solving its student transport problem by arranging
for students to receive heavily discounted Uber rides...
SCIENCE EDUCATION
Catalyst loses half-hour format
ABC, 3 Nov 2016
The ABC says science program Catalyst will
return next year as 17 one-hour documentaries. However, this change
to a longer format will dismay teachers who will miss being able to structure lessons
around segments of the old, half-hour magazine-style
programs...
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Brexit chaos
ABC News, 4 Nov 2016
 The British High Court has ruled
that parliamentary approval is first required for Britain to
begin the process of leaving the European Union. The ruling is
subject to appeal...
 TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
New Town facilities unveiled
Tas Govt media release, 2 Nov 2016
A new literacy hub and other
major refurbishments at New Town High School were opened today
by education minister Jeremy Rockliff...
 INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Gaskell found alive
The Mercury, 1 Nov 2016
Hobart man Andrew Gaskell, who has been missing in
the Malaysian jungle, has been found alive...
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Train teachers in finance
education
The Conversation (opinion by Carly Sawatzki and Levon
Ellen Blue), 1 Nov 2016
 Although the major banks are
heavily into providing money management resources for schools,
teachers themselves need specialised training in financial
literacy education to enable them to tailor lessons for their
students, two academics write...
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