Articles

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.

NSW DEC challenges construction and design community to develop model to reduce demountables The construction and design community is being challenged to develop a new high-quality, classroom model that can reduce the number of demountable classrooms used in NSW government schools.

Arts:Live adds Sustainable Songs to online lessons Sustainable Songs is a new music resource developed by Arts:Live in partnership with The a2 Milk Company. The project takes children through a process of making and playing fruit and veggie instruments and then recycling the scraps to make a delicious Musical Soup.

Outstanding teachers recognised in WA 2017 Education Awards Outstanding teachers, administrators and schools have been recognised in the 2017 WA Education Awards. The individual award winners received $25,000, 50% for professional development and 50% cash. Finalists in each category received $2500. The primary and secondary schools and The WA Premier’s Excellence in Aboriginal Education winners received $15.000. 

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.

8–11 year-old children who exercise have more gray matter than obese peers Spanish researchers have found that youngsters who take part in exercise for at least three nights a week had more grey matter in areas of the brain linked to reading and verbal communication than obese children that didn't.

Vic government spends up on school upgrades The Victorian Government has committed heavily to upgrading schools around the state, investing $2.5 billion over three years.

Better-off parents are turning away from private schools Parents are choosing a public school instead of an independent, reversing the drift to private that has worried commentators. Analysis by the ABS for Fairfax Newspapers shows enrollments have increased proportionately by almost 7 per cent since 2006.

Independents counter Catholic Education funding arguments The ISCA has rejected claims by some Catholic school systems  that the new Federal funding arrangements create distortions in terms of how parents' capacity to pay fees is assessed.

Student entrepreneurs solving problems to fix education Research by the Mitchell Institute reveals how 21 schools across NSW and Victoria are ‘shifting the education paradigm’ by enhancing capabilities and promoting entrepreneurial thinking. Increased confidence, greater resilience, stronger collaboration skills and improved empathy are benefits