Articles

Mental health on the minds of young Australians Mission Australia’s annual youth survey, now 16 years old, provides one of the better pictures of what young Australians are thinking and concerned about. A total of 24,055 young people aged 15–19 years responded to the survey.

Beating the summertime veg Apparently, the long summer school holiday has its roots in a time when kids were expected to help with the summer planting on the family farm, those days are long gone.

Faith based schools want protections from same-sex marriage It’s been about three weeks since the majority Yes vote for same sex marriage and the debate over amendments and protections to the Bill has started. Elite faith based schools have voiced concerns about defunding and restrictions on hiring.

Congratulations Renee McCarthy 2017 ARIA Music Teacher of the Year At the 2017 ARIA Awards, Renee McCarthy (Ms Mac if you’re her student) from Woodcroft College in Morphett Vale South Australia received the inaugural ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Award.

Amgen biotech experience There’s nothing like getting your hands dirty when you’re learning something new or, in the case of the Amgen Biotech Experience (ABE), your micropipette. The program which has run for close to 30 years in the US and the UK launched in Australia in September after pilot programs were well attended and received. And that’s for good reason; the program gives teachers and students access to (expensive) industry standard equipment and exposure to the work that biomedical researchers and technicians perform every day.

Gaming education If there was one thing that came out of the recently released Digital Australia Report which looked into the effects of gaming in Australia it’s that video games have infused every part of the society.

There’s more than one path to a satisfying career We all make youthful mistakes, it's just the ones we make with regard to education are particularly persistent. Too many students are dropping out of uni, too many regret the electives they’ve chosen.

Schools still gatekeeping disabled students We’ve come a long way toward inclusion of disabled students in schools but we’re far from done. While a lot of schools are doing a great job with disabled students some are still actively blocking them from attending.

Recognising the value of industry-driven skills   There’s nothing wrong with a job where you come home with your hands dirty and sweat upon your brow, plenty will tell you of the fun to be had in physical work and indeed many trades can be very financially rewarding.

NDIS exclusion of education a missed opportunity The opportunity to develop a progressive disability policy-funding system providing seamless access to appropriate services and support has not been realised with the roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, show researchers from Deakin University.

Mentoring girls into maths The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) and the BHP Billiton Foundation’s Choose Maths Gender Report makes for some concerning reading.

Empowering leadership through proactive strategies We all see how schools, as with other organisations, are becoming busier with reduced resourcing and funding. We are left with a need to contemplate how we find the energy and techniques to better engage our staff, develop professional practice and achieve improved student learning outcomes? A leader’s role is to ensure smooth facilitation of school requirements, be it regulatory needs, staff management or responding to student issues.