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TAS RETENTION RATES
Tas schools doing better than
statistics suggest
The Mercury (opinion by Peta-maree Revell-Cook and
Brian McNab), 31 May 2017
 Retention of Tasmanian students
to Year 12 or equivalent is more successful than a simple data
comparison with other states would suggest, undermining the case
for extending so many high schools to Years 11 and 12, two AEU
office holders write..
STATE BUDGET REPLY
Greens' budget
Tasmanian Greens website,
30 May 2017
 Greens leader Cassy O'Connor has presented an
alternative state budget with an emphasis on climate change,
urban renewal and affordable housing...
Tasmanian Greens Alternative Budget 2017-18
(See pages 8-10 for education policies.)
Cost of living relief, Cassy O'Connor, Greens leader, 29 May
2017
STATE BUDGET REPLY
Labor's Budget reply presented
TasLabor website, 30 May 2017
 Opposition leader Rebecca White has
made health the focus of Labor's alternative state Budget,
promising to spend $88 million more than the Liberals...
Labor's Economic Direction Statement (ie, Alternative
Budget) [pdf], 30 May 2017
Additional Budget reply media releases, 30 May 2017:
-
Year 7-12 and other education policies,
Michelle O'Byrne
-
Six new Child and Family Centres,
Michelle O'Byrne
-
Frontline emergency workers,
Rebecca White
-
Ambulance crews and trucks, Rebecca
White
Bigger health spend, smaller surpluses, ABC News, 30 May
2017
Good to see Labor now supporting extensions to Years 11 and 12,
Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and Training, 30 May
2017
Last year's 160 teachers commitment unfunded, Peter Gutwein,
Treasurer, 30 May 2017
Labor plan to abandon earlier starting age, The Examiner, 30
May 2017
EDUCATION FUNDING EXPLAINER
Confused about the education
funding debate?
ABC News, 30 May 2017
 Journalist Catherine Hanrahan provides a clear
explanation of how federal and state funds are shared between
government, Catholic and other non-government schools....
EDUCATION FUNDING EXPLAINER
Still confused about the
education funding debate?
The Conversation (opinion by Misty Adoniou), 30 May 2017
An associate professor explains the new Gonski
needs-based education funds sharing principles, pointing out
that while the funds may have been allocated on the basis of
need there is no planned way of ensuring the funds will reach
the actual students in need...
How are funds distributed
to Catholic schools?, The Conversation (opinion by Jessica
Gerrard), 2 Jun 2017
STATE BUDGET
Public sector wages fight looms
ABC News, 26 May 2017
 The state budget has assumed
public sector employees will continue to agree to 2 per cent
wage rises when the wage-price index is expected to reach 3.75
per cent, Community and Public Sector Union leader Tom Lynch
warns....
STATE BUDGET
Tas Budget delivered
ABC News, 25 May 2017
 The Treasurer,
Peter Gutwein, has brought down the Tasmanian state budget....
State Treasury 2017-18 Budget page
Additional Budget information
Education media releases:
-
Investment in education and
training
-
Supporting Students
-
School buildings and TAFE
-
Non-government school classrooms
-
Supporting principals
-
More school support staff
Winners and losers
summary, ABC News, 25 May 2017
The Budget's health boost, ABC News, 25 May 2017
Stakeholders' views, ABC News, 25 May 2017
Greens' response to state budget, Cassie O'Connor
Greens leader, 25 May
2017
Budget doesn't fix health crisis, Rebecca White, Opposition
leader, 25 May 2017
FINANCIAL EDUCATION
Aussie students 5th in financial
literacy
The Courier, 25 May 2017
 Although the financial literacy
skills of Australian students are high compared with the rest of
the world, the actual score has fallen significantly, an OECD
PISA report says....
OECD statement on money matters and teenagers, 24 May 2017
OECD PISA report 2017: Australian results [pdf]
Why is Australian 15-year-olds' financial literacy declining?,
The Conversation (opinion by Carly Sawatzki), 26 May 2017
 USA
Education cut 13.5pc
NPR, 23 May 2017
President Donald Trump's 2017-18 Budget, which is yet
to pass Congress, cuts education spending by a whopping 13.5 per
cent....
 THE ARTS
Roger Moore dies
BBC News, 23 May 2017
Sir Roger Moore, best known for
his roles in the James Bond series and The Saint, has died at
the age of 89....
TAFE
TasTAFE CEO resigns
ABC News, 23 May 2017
 The head of TasTAFE, Stephen Conway, has announced
his intention to resign following an Integrity Commission report
relating to the size of the salary of his deputy who is a close
friend...
TasTAFE CEO investigation, Tas Govt media release, 23 May 2017
Minister needs to release details of what he knew, Josh
Willie, Opposition skills and training spokesperson, 23 May 2017
Greens had made the original referral to the Integrity
Commission, Andrea Dawkins, Greens education spokesperson,
23 May 2017
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
UK blast kills 22
ABC News, 23 May 2017
 Twenty-two people have been killed and about 59
injured in an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert being held
at Manchester, UK. The 23-year-old US singer was not hurt. The
bomber was killed. UPDATE 11.45pm:
Police have arrested three people.
 MEMORY
Rosemary sniffing memory boost
The Standard (UK), 22 May 2017
Researchers have confirmed the
long-believed notion that rosemary aroma improves memory...
 INTERNATIONAL
NEWS
Iran's Hassan Rouhani re-elected
ABC News, 20 May 2017
Iran has re-elected President
Hassan Rouani, a moderate who had downgraded the country's
nuclear program in return for the dropping of sanctions...
STAFF
SUPPORT
Helping principals
Tas Govt media release, 19 May 2017
 The Tasmanian state budget will
provide funds to research and promote the health and safety of
school principals, who these days can be subjected to bullying,
threats of violence, actual violence and misinformed social media
criticism on top of pressure of work...
 STUDENT
SUPPORT
100 helped to finish
Tas Govt media release, 19 May 2017
The Learning for Life partnership between
the state government and The Smith Family has provided long-term
assistance to complete Year 12 to an additional 100 students in
north and north west Tasmania, education minister Jeremy
Rockliff says...
EDUCATION FUNDING
Federal funding furore
ABC News, 18 May 2017
The federal government appears determined that the
states and territories will have no influence over its decision
to provide 80 per cent of base funding for non-government
schools and 20 per cent for government schools...
Tas minister alone in
accepting federal deal, Michelle O'Byrne, TasLabor, 19 May
2017
EDUCATIONAL CHANGE
Status quo threat
The Mercury (opinion by Eleanor Ramsay and Michael
Rowan), 18 May 2017
Structural changes for the
better with the expansion of Year 11 and 12 teaching and a
continuing need for new ideas will require Tasmania's
post-primary teachers to be on the ball. As well, staff transfer
issues may create tension between college teachers and expanded
high school teachers, two academics write...
STUDENT
SUPPORT
More support staff
Tas Govt media release, 17 May 2016
 Next Thursday's State Budget
will include $6.9 million over four years to provide an
additional 14.8 FTE support staff such as speech pathologists,
psychologists and social workers, education minister Jeremy
Rockliff said today ..
 STUDENT
SUPPORT
Stay ChatTy
Tas Govt media release, 15 May 2016
The upcoming State Budget will
include $250,000 for Speak Up Stay ChatTy to support the mental
health needs of secondary school students, education minister
Jeremy Rockliff said today..
 TASMANIAN POLITICS
Lara Giddings to quit
ABC News, 14 May 2016
Lara Giddings, Tasmania's first
female Premier, has announced she will not seek re-election..
Lara Giddings to retire
from public life, TasLabor media release, 14 May 2017
David Llewellyn to retire, too, The Examiner, 15 May 2017
VET
Apprentice bonus scheme promised
TasLabor website, 14 May 2016
 Opposition Youth, Skills and Training
spokesperson Josh Willie has said that a Labor state government
would establish Industry Advisory Councils and would support
business with an apprentice bonus scheme.
EDUCATION STAFF
Recognising excellent educators
and other staff
Tas Govt media release, 13 May 2016
 Nominations for the
2017 DoE
Awards for Excellence are open until Tuesday 13 June 2017..
SEXUAL
ABUSE
Abusing teacher kept on staff
ABC News, 12 May 2017
 A former St Michael's Collegiate teacher who has
pleaded guilty to maintaining a sexual relationship with a young
person had continued teaching at the school even after the
relationship had become known to the acting principal...
Teacher jailed, ABC News, 23 May 2017
GONSKI
FUNDING
Honchos' Gonski fight
ABC News, 12 May 2017
The Commonwealth education secretary and the NSW
education secretary are having a public dispute over the
adequacy of the federal government's
online funding calculator...
School funding calculator
(Aust Govt)
FEDERAL BUDGET
Labor pledges $22b more for Gonski
ABC News, 11 May 2017
As expected, in tonight's Budget Reply speech
Opposition leader Bill Shorten promised an extra $22 billion to
meet Labor's original full Gonski promise...
Shorten fights on
fairness, The Conversation, 12 May 2017
Scott Bacon pleased with $22 billion reversal, TasLabor
website, 14 May 2017
FEDERAL BUDGET
Parliament receives education changes
ABC News, 11 May 2017
Amendments to the Education Act to implement the
federal government's education funding changes were introduced
in Parliament this morning, with the Labor Opposition vowing to
oppose them...
School funding calculator: check your school's apparent federal funding
change (Aust Govt)
 MEDIA
Mark Colvin dies
ABC News, 11 May 2017
Well-known and long-standing
ABC journalist and radio current affairs presenter Mark Colvin
has died at the age of 65...
SCIENCE
Major fossil find
The Conversation (opinion by Tara Djokic), 11 May 2017
Newly found fossil evidence of life in deposits
associated with ancient hot springs in the Pilbara, WA, is
especially significant because it:
SUGGESTS such land-based hot springs life originated at least
about 3 billion years* earlier than previously
thought;
LENDS weight to the argument that the very earliest life may
have spread from land to the sea, and not the other way round;
and
ASSISTS in the search for evidence of life having also developed
beyond Earth by suggesting space scientists focus their research
on ancient hot springs deposits such as those in the Columbia
Hills area of Mars...
*3 billion years: this
would be almost the length of time people born next century will
need to pay off their home loans in Sydney, extrapolating
current trends.
CRAZES
Teachers in a spin over fidget spinner
ABC News, 10 May 2017
Is the fidget spinner a new classroom
distraction for Australian teachers to deal with, or is it a
learning opportunity?...
5 reasons to ban fidget
spinners, Lemon Lime Adventures, 3 May 2017
Fidget spinner craze
sweeping schools, Illawarra Mercury, 5 May 2017
Fidget spinner's mum
inventor missing out on money, The Guardian, 10 May 2017
FEDERAL
BUDGET
Budget: Fairer funding for
students
Budget overview statement, 9 May 2017
The 2017 Federal Budget's education focuses include:
fairer and more transparent
funding for school students based on their needs;
continuation of expanded
pre-school access;
valuing
higher education;
shared
responsibility in higher education.
See also:
Federal Government Budget
website
Budget winners and losers (ABC)
Budget winners, losers and highlights (Choice magazine)
What's changing in education? (The Conversation, 9 May 2017)
Responses:
Five years until bulk of
schools funding flows, Tanya Plibersek, Opposition education
spokesperson, 10 May 2017
Bigger uni debt at wrong time for struggling young graduates,
Tanya Plibersek, Opposition education spokesperson, 10 May 2017
 EDUCATION FUNDING
Gonski questions answered
The Conversation (opinion by Glenn C. Savage), 9 May 2017
Gonski 2.0 overcomes the
compromises and corruptions of Gonski 1.0, it targets the
spending of money better, and where it reduces funding to
schools they are the ones currently over-funded anyway, but be
aware that the Coalition government has reused the name "Gonski"
in order to blunt attacks on its education funding policies by
Labor and the AEU, an education academic says...
 SPORTING LEGENDS
Lou Richards dies
ABC News, 8 May 2017
Legendary
Collingwood captain and football commentator Lou Richards has
died at the age of 94 years...
 INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Macron
new French president
ABC News, 8 May 2017
Centrist
and pro-European Community presidential candidate Emmanuel
Macron has decisively defeated the right-wing anti-EC Marine Le
Pen...
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS
All three LegCo seats decided
ABC News, 8 May 2017
 Sarah
Lovell (Labor) has defeated Legislative Council sitting member Tony
Mulder in Rumney.
Ruth Forrest will be re-elected in Murchison.
Rosemary Armitage
will be re-elected in Launceston.
...
Launceston results (Tas Electoral Commission)
Murchison results (TEC)
Rumney results (TEC)
Comments by
Kevin Bonham
Labor wins Rumney, ABC News, 7 May 2017
 STUDENT SAFETY
'Blue Whale' self-harm challenge alert
ABC News (AM), 6 May 2017
Parents are being warned about an online challenge
called 'Blue Whale' which presents children with a series of
self-harm tasks that progressively lead to suicide...
TAFE
Linking agriculture and education
TasLabor website, 5 May 2017
A state Labor government would establish Industry
Advisory Councils to link the education system with agriculture
and other areas that have skilled employment needs, Opposition
leader Rebecca White says...
FLORA
SAFETY
Deadly mushroom hits Tasmania
The Examiner, 5 May 2017
The world's deadliest mushroom, the death cap,
has been found growing in Launceston. The death cap prefers to
grow under oak trees...
Warning on lethal
mushrooms in Tas park, ABC News, 6 May 2017
 STUDENT BEHAVIOUR
Behaviour management support must be in-built
The Conversation (opinion by Anna Sullivan), 5 May 2017
Schools need to provide
specific structural support to enable individual teachers to
handle student behaviour issues effectively, an academic writes...
EDUCATION FUNDING
Gonski benefit disputed
The Advocate, 4 May 2017
Tasmanian
government schools would be $84 million worse off over the next
two years than under the original Gonski plan, a leaked document
says...
Minister should be
fighting for more funding, Michelle O'Byrne, Opposition
education spokesperson, 4 May 2017
You cannot cut imaginary money, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister
for Education and Training, 5 May 2017
Tas minister alone in supporting Gonski 2.0,
Michelle O'Byrne,
Opposition education spokesperson, 5 May 2017
HISTORY
Map discovered
news.com.au, 4 May 2017
A 350-year-old map, believed to be the first to
show Tasmania and the first to call Australia "Nova Hollandia",
has been discovered in Italy...
EDUCATION FUNDING
Gonski
2.0 analysed
The Conversation (opinion by Peter Goss), 3 May 2017
A Grattan Institute
researcher writes that Gonski 2.0 is a credible plan which:
REAFFIRMS the original Gonski principle of school
funding based on need, and
INTRODUCES new
rules that aim to ensure comparable students in different states
and territories attract the same level of Commonwealth funding
(a change to the current system).
To put these principles into
effect, there will need to be:
a timeline of 10
years;
changes likely to
result in some Catholic school parents paying more in fees;
no adherence to the original promise of "no school
will lose a dollar";
an additional $2.2
billion over the next four years.
...
$200 million boost over
10 years from Gonski 2.0, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for
Education and Training, 3 May 2017
$100 million over next two years under original Gonski deal,
Michelle O'Byrne, Opposition education spokesperson, 3 May 2017
Optimism and caution in Tasmania, ABC News, 3 May 2017
EDUCATION FUNDING
Gonski 2.0 announced
ABC News, 2 May 2017
Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull has announced a major educational funding review and
funding boost, saying: "Every school will receive Commonwealth
funding on a genuine needs basis..."
Real needs-based school
funding, Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister, 2
May 2017
Quality Schools website, Aust Govt
Reaction to Gonski 2.0, news.com.au, 2 May 2017
Gonski 2.0 questioned by AEU Tas branch, The Examiner, 2 May
2017
Senate Greens not ruling out support, ABC News, 3 May 2017
TASMANIAN FAUNA
New Tas tiger pups photo
wherelightmeetsdark.com.au, 1 May 2017
A photo has emerged of a Tasmanian tiger and her pups which had
been captured in the Florentine Valley, south-west Tasmania, in
1923. The photo belongs to Rose Lewis...
Unseen Tasmanian tiger
photo,
ABC News, 2 May 2017
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