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AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION DIGEST
Volume 4 Number 29, 17 August 2010
- FEDERAL ELECTION 2010:
- TOWARDS AN AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CURRICULUM: Lacking in real vision
- AROUND THE STATES & TERRITORIES: (10 items)
- CONFERENCES & EVENTS: (4 items)
- REMINDERS
- ACSSO EMAIL NEWSLETTERS
School Reform
Australian Labor Party
The Gillard Labor Government’s vision is to make every school a great school – because in the 21st century, a great school and a great education are the keys that unlock an individual’s potential and the nation’s future. Only with world class schools can we build a high-productivity, high-participation economy that gives all Australians the opportunity of rewarding and satisfying work.
The Gillard Labor Government’s vision is to make every school a great school – because in the 21st century, a great school and a great education are the keys that unlock an individual’s potential and the nation’s future. Only with world class schools can we build a high-productivity, high-participation economy that gives all Australians the opportunity of rewarding and satisfying work.
In government, Labor is delivering ambitious reforms that are already changing Australia’s schools – achieving more for our schools in less than three years than the Coalition delivered in almost 12.
The Government is making major investments to reverse the under-funding that has held our schools back for too long – doubling the funding for Australian schools, because we know that no other investment will generate the enduring, long-term returns like our investment in our human capital.
Read more: http://alp.org.au/agenda/school-reform/
Supporting parental choiceThe Coalition
The Coalition is committed to quality schooling for all children.
Schools should be about achieving excellence and equipping our children
for happy and productive lives. Education should be a pathway towards
prosperity – for individuals, their families and our nation
as a whole.
Yet under Labor it has been about spin, waste, bureaucracy and
ineptitude.
Nowhere has the waste and incompetence of the Labor Government been more apparent than in our schools. Promising an ‘education revolution’, the Rudd-Gillard Government has instead recklessly wasted billions of taxpayer dollars, leaving countless families disappointed by broken promises and ignored the needs of teachers and schools that face uncertainty about their future funding.
This gross waste and mismanagement has compromised the education, services and assistance that our students need and deserve. Australian schools are clearly no better off than they were three years ago.
The Coalition has a plan for real action to invest wisely and meaningfully in our schools to promote quality teaching through individual reward and recognition and to help children with disabilities.
Our plan is based on parental choice, local decision-making and greater certainty for schools.
Read more: http://www.liberal.org.au/Issues/Education.aspx
Suffer the children left behind:The largely bipartisan schools policy views public education as a broken sector.
Richard Teese, National Times, August 16, 2010
It is hard to think of a time when the two major political parties in Australia agreed so much about education policy. That could be a good thing if the policies were good. But are they?
National reporting of school performance aimed at market discipline is a shared commitment. So is the testing behind this - though the Coalition wants more testing. National curriculum is a shared commitment. So is payment by results. Maintenance of non-government school funding in real terms is also shared - with change more or less delayed.
There are certainly points of divergence, which we will come to later. But what sort of consensus is it that combines national testing, national performance reporting and a national curriculum with a feudal mix of public and private schools, differently funded and administered? These things do not fit together.
Yet they do reflect a shared view about Australian schooling. And it is this underlying view that is the most disturbing aspect of the cross-party convergence on school policy.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/suffer-the-children-left-behind-20100815-12557.html
Richard Teese is professor and director of the Centre for Post-Compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Melbourne
Less Funding, Less Opportunity under the Coalition
Angelo Gavrielatos, President, Australian Education Union, Media Release, 13 August 2010
Public schools and students will be worse off under an Abbott Government, the Australian Education Union said today. AEU Federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said the Coalition’s new initiatives failed to offset the $3.1 billion it was planning to rip out of education.
“There would still be a shortfall of almost $2 billion in education
under the Coalition,” Mr. Gavrielatos said. “Instead of all students
getting computers, tens of thousands would miss out under the
Coalition
- which would spend $120 million: compared to the $700 million still to be
spent by Labor.
“Under the Coalition 1.2 million students in 1,800 secondary schools would miss out on getting access to trade training centres. As we saw last time the Coalition was in Government, stand alone colleges are a costly and unnecessary duplication of existing school and TAFE training facilities. It takes at least three years to develop them, delaying any response to skill shortages which would only get worse. The colleges teach only a limited number of courses and a limited number of students, limiting opportunities for students.
Read more: http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Media/MediaReleases/2010/1308.pdf
The deserving rich vs. the undeserving poorJane Caro, Online Opinion, 16 August 2010
More than half of Australia’s private schools now receive more public funding than they are entitled to according to their SES ranking, thanks to the politically expedient funding maintained and funding guaranteed sweetheart deals done between the powerful private school lobby groups and successive governments.
Despite instituting the first review into schools funding for decades, Gillard has promised she will not reconsider SES funding until 2013, no matter what the review recommends. Abbott has said he will maintain the SES funding as it is in perpetuity.
Just imagine the outcry if we discovered that more than half of Australia’s unemployed, single mothers or old aged pensioners were receiving more than they were entitled to from the taxpayer? You can already hear the shock jocks shrieking from their bully-pulpits.
Yet we do not hear a peep from anyone about excessive government subsidies to schools that can afford to buy White City, build under-ground car-parks, multi-purpose media centres and professional-standard sporting facilities.
Read more: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10829
Jane Caro is a Sydney writer with a particular interest in education; and co-author with Chris Bonnor of “The Stupid Country: How Australia is dismantling public education”, NSW University Press, 2007.
Public school funding in sightsAnna Patty, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 August 2010
THE Prime Minister will scrutinise wealthy public schools in her review of Commonwealth schools funding and has flagged the possibility of cutting government resources to some.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald's David Marr last week, Julia Gillard said the school funding debate was "bigger than just looking at the traditional lines of debate about the SES funding formula for non-government schools".
The SES (socioeconomic status) funding formula was introduced by John Howard in 2001. It funds independent schools on the basis of census data that measures the wealth of families based on the area in which they live.
Ms Gillard said wealthy government schools would not be immune from scrutiny in the federal government's school funding review, headed by businessman David Gonski.
"There are government schools in this country … that are better funded than others for reasons I don't think are correlated with education need," she said.
"I want to expose all of that as well and deal with it."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/public-school-funding-in-sights-20100815-1257e.html
Abbott pledges cash for top teachers
Emma Rodgers, ABC News, 13 August 2010
Tony Abbott says a future Coalition government would set up a $200 million fund to boost the pay packets of high-achieving teachers.
Unveiling a $345 million education package at a school in the Melbourne electorate of Deakin today, the Opposition Leader said school principals would be given the power to pay their best teachers more and encourage them to stay in the job. "It is important that teachers get properly rewarded," he said.
An independent board would be established to assess applications made by principals. Mr. Abbott says guidelines for applications and how the board will make its decision will be formulated after the election.
"If, for argument's sake, 10 per cent of teachers were to get the extra money and they were all to get the same amount that would work out at $6,000 a year," he said.
Labor also has plans for a 10 per cent pay bonus for top performing teachers but Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne says the Coalition will deliver its program a year earlier in 2013.
Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/13/2981972.htm
Research shows teacher bonuses fail to improve student resultsTrevor Cobbold, Save our Schools, Media Release, 16 August 2010
A research brief published by the public education group, Save Our Schools, says that Labor and Liberal claims that teacher bonuses will improve student achievement is not supported by research evidence. SOS National Convenor, Trevor Cobbold, said that the proposed bonuses will be a huge waste of money - and encourage more teaching to the test in schools.
“The weight of research evidence is that teacher performance bonuses do not improve student results. Yet again, faith has ruled over evidence in the formulation of education policy. Cash bonuses for teachers will only encourage more teaching to the test and artificial inflation of test scores.
“Labor proposes to spend $1.25 billion over five years while the Liberal’s scheme will cost $210 million over three years. It all promises to be a huge waste of taxpayer funds. These funds would have been better committed to reducing the vast achievement gap between rich and poor students in Australia by being directed to schools with high levels of learning needs.”
Mr. Cobbold said that the SOS brief summarised the findings of recent reviews of research studies on teacher performance bonuses and evaluation studies of the major programs operating in the United States.
Read research: http://www.saveourschools.com.au/national-issues/duels-of-faith-in-teacher-bonuses
Library specialists being shelved
Elizabeth Tarica, The Age, 6 August 2010
"Sometimes I don't tell people I am a teacher-librarian because they think you are standing behind a loans desk in a cardigan all day, and I would hate them to think that, because being a primary teacher-librarian is the best job in the world," she says. "If people really understood the job effective teacher-librarians do, then all government schools would enjoy the advantages of the kind of library we have here."
The reality is quite different. Many government primary schools are not as lucky as Mount Waverley. Many school libraries are now staffed by library technicians or teacher aides, with some using parent volunteers to supervise the borrowing.
Research shows a strong link between academic success and independent reading, yet it is estimated only 13 per cent of Victorian primary school libraries are staffed by professional teacher-librarians — someone who holds a dual degree. It is a problem highlighted during a federal government inquiry into the role and the resourcing of school libraries and teacher-librarians. Almost 400 submissions expressed concern that people like Ms Griffeth were in short supply.
With an estimated shortage of 3000 teacher-librarians throughout Australia, educators and library associations are asking who will staff the thousands of school libraries being built as part of the federal government's $16 billion school building stimulus package.
They warn that the long-running decline in the profession could leave many of the 3472 libraries funded under the program without qualified staff.
"The primary sector is a major area where there is a diminishing employment of teacher-librarians," says Australian School Library Association executive director Karen Bonanno. "We are now starting to see that filter through to the secondary public sector where they are being replaced with library technicians."
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/library-specialists-being-shelved-20100806-11o9t.html
Where are the Teacher-Librarians for BER libraries?Georgia Phillips, The Hub, 8 August 2010
There are 2,802 school libraries being built with the government’s BER funds, more than any other type of building. Another 435 school libraries are being refurbished. Almost half of all primary schools - 46% - are receiving funding for school library buildings. Previously these primary schools had no free standing library or had demountables, so these school communities, with few exceptions, would be happy with the government’s BER program.
What school communities are not happy about is staffing and funding of these libraries. “One in five does not have qualified teacher librarians, according to a recent survey of the Children’s Book Council of Australia. And 36% of state schools surveyed have library budgets of less than $5000”, says CBCA President, Marj Kirkland.
“This is while three quarters of independent school budgets are greater or equal to $20,000, and some over $100,000.”
“$3,829,282,610 of federal BER money will go to construction or refurbishment of school libraries. But without funds for up-to-date books and digital resources, will they be only empty shells? Without qualified staff, can they be anything more than a warehouse?” asks Georgia Phillips, co-founder of The Hub: Campaign for Quality School Libraries in Australia.
“21st century students need the skills of locating and critically evaluating information, especially from the internet and subscription databases. 21st century students need to be excited about reading to develop wider learning and literacy. 21st century students need challenging, authentic learning experiences to develop critical thinking. The expert available to support classroom teachers in this is the teacher librarian.”
Read more: http://hubinfo.wordpress.com/
Sign the petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/a-qualified-teacher-librarian-in-every-school.html
Why are we robbing our littlies to preach Paul?
Leslie Cannold, The Age, 16 August 2010
About one in five young Australians suffer from mental illnesses. These include anxiety, depressive disorders, anorexia and bulimia. Some 10 per cent of young Australians suffer abuse or neglect while one in five have a parent with poor mental health or a physical disability.
Young people with mental health issues are at increased risk of dropping out of school, becoming homeless or ending up in the justice system. They are five times more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol (and wind up having unsafe sex, drink-driving or brawling) and more likely to harm or kill themselves.
Children's mental health services are poorly funded. But, unlike adult mental health services, this is not because we lack the money - but because we have chosen to spend it on something else.
That something else is school chaplaincy. Last week the Gillard government pre-empted its own review and increased the program's funding by more than a third. The cost to the taxpayer now stands at $437 million.
Kids need more healers, not chaplains: psychologist groupKate Dennehy, Brisbane Times, 15 August 2010
Psychologists believe the ALP and the Coalition’s multi-million dollar spending promises on school chaplains will waste money and could harm students.
The Australian Psychological Society (APS) executive director, Lyn Littlefield said last week students needed professional psychological services that chaplains were unqualified to provide.
Professor Littlefield said a 2009 National School Chaplaincy Association (NSCA) report showed most school chaplains dealt with problems including anxiety and depression, alcohol and drug use, physical and emotional abuse and neglect, suicide and self-harm. She said the APS was concerned that school chaplains were counselling in areas that were outside their boundaries and training as spiritual and religious personnel.
"The evidence shows young people need support for complex personal problems and mental health issues yet chaplains are not professionally qualified to undertake this work and by their own account they very rarely refer students for specialist assistance," she said.
Read the APS submission to the National Review: http://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/APS-Submission-School-Chaplains-July2010.pdf
Asia vital to Australia's future – Asia relations must be a priority for the next Federal Government
Jenny McGregor, Asialink, 13 August 2010
"Australia's future depends on enhanced Asia relations and this must be a priority for the next Federal Government", Asialink and Asia Society AustralAsia Centre Group CEO, Jenny McGregor, said today. In releasing a statement of Asia priorities for the next 10 years, Ms McGregor said a long-term bipartisan commitment was required to ensure Australians were fully able to engage in Asia over the coming century.
"Australian governments must make an enduring and significant investment in equipping young Australians for the challenges of business, of solving regional and global issues, and of managing our increasingly complex interactions around our region," she said. "Australia's top four export markets are all in Asia. Last year, sales of Australian product to these four - China, Japan, Korea and India - dwarfed US and UK sales eight to one.
"Our services trade with Asia grows twice as fast as with the rest of the world. Our security, health and development interests lie in the Asian region. In preventing pandemics and people smuggling, in building transparent and accountable systems to support trade and investment, in forging creative exchanges in the arts, and in science, Australians need to be more than ever focused on Asia."
Read more: http://www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au/Media/election_2010
Labor's science policy boosts engagement
Darren Osborne, ABC News, 11 August 2010
Science engagement and communication will receive a boost in funding if Labor is re-elected to power in next week's election. But some believe more money is needed for science to ensure Australia remains open and competitive in the international arena.
The Science for Australia's Future policy, released yesterday, includes $21 million over three years in funding for 'Inspiring Australia', a national science communication strategy launched earlier this year.
It also promises four-year funding for CSIRO - in place of the current three-year cycle - and continued support for the Prime Minister's Science Prizes, the Australian Museum's Eureka Prizes and National Science Week.
Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, says Labor's policy will provide better support for scientists and promote more informed public understanding and debate of science. "The recent debate on climate change highlighted an unfortunate tendency within some sections of our community to denigrate science, and denigrate scientists, for some political purposes," he said.
Anna-Maria Arabia, chief executive of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), says funding of science communication is essential for the public to be part of scientific debate. "Effective science communication means we can have an informed discussion on issues that concern Australians like climate change, genetically modified foods and new technologies," she said.
Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/11/2980336.htm
Education minister promises uni spending priority
Patricia Karvelas, the Australian, 5 August 2010
Simon Crean has vowed to push for a dramatic increase in funding for universities if Labor is re-elected
And the Education Minister conceded Julia Gillard's deregulated system would work only if substantial investments were made in higher education.
Mr. Crean has also given a strong indication that funding per student would not shrink as the number of students grew under the government's new deregulated system.
"We want to finish the job. We want to tell the story that this is a benefit for the nation as well as the individual, and it's an investment the nation must make," he said.
Mr. Crean said universities would be a key second-term priority for a Gillard government and promised Labor would push again to change the law to allow universities to charge students compulsory fees to pay for sporting facilities, childcare and other amenities. Labor introduced legislation last year to allow universities to charge students up to $250 a year to fund services but it was blocked in the Senate by the Coalition and Family First Senator Steve Fielding.
Details murky, but fees may riseGuy Healy, the Australian, 11 August 2010
HECS fees could jump 10 per cent in the first year of price deregulation under a Coalition government.
But it would be unlikely to drive even poor students away from university, higher education experts say.
Andrew Norton, research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, said generous pay rises for staff under the Rudd-Gillard regime would pressure universities to avail themselves of deregulated fees under an Abbott government. "I'd be surprised if the average increase [in fees across universities] was less than 10 per cent in the first year," Mr Norton said.
The Coalition has refused to rule out an increase in HECS fees.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott failed to mention universities in his speech during the Coalition launch on Sunday, and pressure is mounting on the opposition to release its higher education and science and research policies for scrutiny.
BUILDING THE EDUCATION REVOLUTION
Impression of widespread waste on school building projects is exaggerated:
Basically it's a job well done, interim report shows.
Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 August 2010
MEDIA reporting and opposition politicking have left many people with the impression much, if not most, and maybe even all of the billions spent on school buildings under the Rudd government's stimulus package has been wasted.
It's an impression based on the piling up of unproved anecdotes about waste or rorting of particular school building projects. This means it's an impression that's not genuinely evidence based.
The real question is how significant the waste has been. And no amount of piling up of unproved allegations can satisfactorily answer that question. Only a thorough investigation of the complaints can determine the extent of the waste and the reasons.
The complaints have been seized upon and played up by elements of the media and others with either partisan or ideological motives for seeking to discredit the use of budgetary stimulus in response to the downturn in our economy prompted by the global financial crisis and the world recession.
These people want us to conclude there was never any threat to the economy, thus making the stimulus spending unnecessary and, as it turned out, quite wasteful. Those with an ideological opposition to fiscal stimulus want us to conclude it never works. That's why I've read the interim report of the independent inquiry taskforce, chaired by Brad Orgill, and want to give you a balanced account of its findings.
Labor's spending vital, say economistsThe Age, August 16, 2010 (AAP)
The Labor federal government prevented the Australian economy from falling into a deep recession and a consequent huge rise in unemployment, a group of more than 50 academic economists say. The group, which includes professors and lecturers from the nation's leading universities, on Monday released an open letter supporting the fiscal stimulus measures taken during the global economic downturn.
The letter comes as Labor and the opposition each continue to claim the high ground on economic management.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on Monday was still refusing a leaders' debate on the economy ahead of the federal election on Saturday, but described Labor's fiscal record as "laughable".
At the launch of Labor's election campaign in Brisbane, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the economy had emerged from the downturn in a strong position.
The open letter on Labor's financial management was signed by 51 economists led by Raja Junankar, Emeritus Professor of the University of Western Sydney and visiting fellow at the University of NSW School of Economics. It was also signed 15 other professionals in law, social policy and economics, as well as union advisers, taking the total signatories to 66.
"We the undersigned economists are convinced by the evidence that the coordinated policies of the Australian Labor government have prevented the Australian economy from a deep recession and prevented a massive increase in unemployment," the letter said.
TOWARDS AN AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Lacking in real vision:
Proposed changes to how the arts are taught in schools risk dumbing down the curriculum
Kerry Thomas, Sydney Morning Herald, August 9, 2010
Sit an untrained child in front of a piano and most of us would expect a discordant result. The same could be said for all of the "arts" taught in Australian schools. Like music, creativity and accomplishment in the visual arts, dance, drama, and media arts is more likely to occur as a matter of coaching and cajoling students than it is of creative imagination.
Yet a proposed national arts curriculum could drastically slash the hours devoted to the visual arts and music available at the present in early high school in NSW and roll the five "arts" into a generic approach, allotting each discipline a trivial 20 minutes a week.
For NSW, which has achieved exceptional outcomes in visual arts education, the proposal undermines decades of progress under state-based syllabuses which have incorporated philosophical developments in the humanities and approaches to learning that acknowledge recent cognitive developments. And it comes at a time when we can least afford to stall. Digital technologies are immersing us in an increasingly visual culture, which carries meanings and values beyond the appearances of things.
Specifically, The Arts: Initial Advice Paper, which forms the background to the soon to be released draft Shape Paper for the Arts, overlooks the current conceptual and practical demands of dedicated 100-hour visual arts and 100-hour music courses in NSW schools. Each Year 7 or 8 student studies these courses, which lay an invaluable foundation for success in elective visual arts courses in years 9 and 10 and the HSC. Instead, the advice paper proposes a common approach to the arts, leaving the visual arts with about 13.5 hours a year in the first two years of high school.
What is proposed contradicts what we know about "best practice" in visual arts education.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/lacking-in-real-vision-20100808-11qbd.html
Dr Kerry Thomas is a senior lecturer in art and design education at the College of Fine Arts, University of NSW
AROUND THE STATES & TERRITORIES
ACT: ACT public schools shine on solar power
Andrew Barr MLA, Minister for Education, Media Release 3 August 2010
Evatt Primary School today officially became the first ACT public school to start generating its own solar electricity under the ACT Labor Government’s Solar Schools Program.
Minister for Education and Training Andrew Barr officially ‘flicked the switch’ on Evatt Primary School’s 10 kilowatt array of solar panels. Along with Kingsford Smith School, Evatt Primary is one of the first public schools to install a solar power system and is already feeding energy back into the grid saving the school up to $7,000 per year.
“Every student in every ACT school knows the biggest challenge facing us is climate change,” Mr Barr said. “It’s clear they know about the problem and clear they want to take action to deal with it. By investing more than $3.3 million installing solar panels at every ACT public school, ACT Labor is helping school communities take practical steps to tackle climate change."
Read more: http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.php?v=9823&m=49
NSW: NSW government promises heater timetable soonAdam Bennett & Isabel Hayes, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 August 2010 (AAP)
The NSW government has promised parents they will soon know when unflued heaters will be removed from the state's classrooms, after coming under fire for releasing a priority list of just 101 schools.
NSW Education Minister Verity Firth on Thursday announced that 101 state schools would have 2738 heaters replaced by next winter, at a cost of $15 million. While Ms Firth was just fulfilling a previous commitment targeting schools in the state's coldest areas, parents and the state opposition were angered to find the wider replacement program had not been finalised.
Ms Firth ran into trouble two weeks ago when she announced without cabinet approval that the state would remove all 55,000 unflued heaters in 2100 state schools. An angry Premier Kristina Keneally gave the minister a fortnight to deliver a fully costed proposal to her colleagues - a process Ms Firth on Thursday said had yet to be determined.
Acting Premier Carmel Tebbutt stepped in to reassure parents concerned about the delay, saying a plan would be brought to cabinet "in the very near future".
NSW: Rent rise may push carers out of schoolsRachel Browne, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 August 2010
GROUPS providing before and after school care at NSW public schools have seen their rents skyrocket under a new Department of Education policy on standardised leases.
Merewether Heights Public School out of school hours service in Newcastle has been hit by a $13,000 rent increase. At The Junction Public School nearby, the rent has tripled.
When the standardised lease policy started being implemented last year, NSW Education Minister Verity Firth initially said the department had acted without her authority and ordered an investigation into the lease agreements.
Some services claim their rent increases are exorbitant.
Services run "for profit" are being hit particularly hard as they are being asked to pay commercial rents, despite their profits being small.
NT: Taken kids need skills to surviveAlyssa Betts, NT News, August 9th, 2010
KIDS taken from families are having to develop "survival skills" to deal with living in the Territory's care system, Anglicare has said. And this can have a lasting effect on their psychology - the impacts of which can be seen in the justice system, education and health.
In its submission to the Child Protection Inquiry, Anglicare NT pins the lack of care plans and huge staff turnover as part of the problem. It said lack of care plans could leave youngsters feeling trapped "in limbo" not knowing what was happening, who their case manager was, how long they would stay at their placement or where they were going.
"It is uncommon for a young person to have met or be familiar with their case worker," it said.
The submission also outlined the damage done to children who were bounced from placement to placement without proper support. "The extent and nature of attention given to the needs of the young person facing another placement change is often hasty and ineffective. This lack of consideration ... contributes to further disadvantage and distrust of the system, often leaving the young person disillusioned and angry."
Read more: http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/08/09/170571_ntnews.html
QLD: 'God botherers' infiltrate Brisbane high schoolKate Dennehy. Brisbane Times, August 15, 2010
For many parents seeking a secular education for their children, state schools were the way the go but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to avoid "god-botherers". Students at a Brisbane state high school last month were given evangelical religious pamphlets printed in the United States that arrived at the school in the mail system. The students’ names were hand-written on the envelopes but there was no indication of who had sent them.
The pamphlet, entitled Changed from the Inside Out, was printed in Illinois and included excerpts from Next Door Savior, a book written by evangelical preacher, Max Lucado. One student who received the unsolicited mail but did not want to be named, said she did not take it seriously.
Education Queensland’s executive director of school operations, Marg Pethyagoda said school principals used their discretion to determine if and how any material or publication is distributed to students. She said state schools had no control over groups that sent unsolicited mail.
SA: Pyne called to back East Adelaide trade training centre
Hon Jay Weatherill, Minister for Education, 11 August 2010
Education Minister Jay Weatherill says the planned East Adelaide Trade Training Centre would be at risk under Tony Abbott’s cuts to education funding.
Mr Weatherill is calling on Liberal education spokesman Christopher Pyne to put the futures of young people in his own electorate of Sturt ahead of party politics and tell Tony Abbott not to cut funding to Trade Training Centres.
Under the Federal Government’s $2.5 billion Trade Training Centres in Schools program, plans are underway for new facilities at Norwood-Morialta High School and Charles Campbell Secondary School, which also would be used by students at Marryatville High School, Glenunga International High School, Adelaide High School, Marden Senior College and the Kensington Centre.
“The new East Adelaide Trade Training Centre would help hundreds of young people each year to get the skills they will need to win jobs in South Australia’s growing mining, defence and advanced technologies industries,” Mr Weatherill said.
Read more: http://www.ministers.sa.gov.au/images/stories/mediareleasesAUG10/trade.pdf
TAS: Disabled children head to the gymABC News, 11 August 2010
It is hoped a new program developed in Tasmania will help special needs children across Australia keep physically active.
A Kingston gym centre has developed the Gym Ability, Gym Mix program with help from physiotherapists.
Mark Moncur put together the State Government-funded project which features gym and movement-based exercises tailored for children with disabilities.
He says it could benefit thousands of children across the country.
"If they learn these basic fundamental movement skills at a young age it gives them so many opportunities to progress in either sporting or physical activities, but also in their everyday lives whether it might be improving their posture when they're sitting or even being able to do activities around the house," Mr. Moncur said.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/11/2979721.htm
TAS: Abetz wrong over BER claimsActing Minister for Education and Skills, David O’Byrne, today called for Liberal Senator Eric Abetz to check his facts after he made false claims regarding the Australian Government Building the Education Revolution (BER) program in a desperate bid to make a political point.
“Mr Abetz has totally misrepresented the facts by falsely claiming that
the ‘rushed’ BER program was behind the discovery of a small amount of
asbestos at Ouse District School,” Mr O’Byrne said.
“This
project,was funded by the State Government’s School Futures Fund and was
underway even before the Australian Government announced its BER
program.
“The project was part of a school community
amalgamation process involving Ouse District School and the relocation of
secondary classes to New Norfolk High School.
“An important
aspect of the project was the removal of an old terrapin building which
was believed to have contained asbestos.
“All relevant
protocols and procedures, including certified removal of asbestos, were
followed by the builder and the terrapin was
removed.
“However, it was recently discovered that a small
amount of building rubble, which was believed to contain some asbestos
residue had resurfaced."
Read more: http://www.media.tas.gov.au/release.php?id=30179
VIC: Vic accused of seatbelt double standardCatherine Best, Seven News, 11 August 2010 (AAP)
The Victorian government has been accused of double standards for trumpeting an AFL seatbelt campaign while at the same time refusing to make restraints mandatory in school buses.
Essendon Football Club players will don jumpers emblazoned with red seatbelts for their clash against Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night as part of a campaign to mark the 40th anniversary of seatbelt laws. Launching the campaign this week, former Essendon player and Victorian government minister Justin Madden said seatbelts saved lives and reduced serious injuries on the road.
But long-time campaigner Leon Hain says the government's refusal to make seatbelts mandatory in school buses smacks of hypocrisy.
Some 1600 school buses travelled daily on country roads at speeds of up to 110km/h and it was only a matter of time before there was a disastrous accident, he said.
"How dare they at this stage refuse to supply buses with appropriate seatbelts and other safety (measures) at least for the children in high-speed zones," Mr Hain said. "Should they be involved in a crash - thank goodness a bad one hasn't occurred yet - the pupils are mince meat."
Read more: http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7747549/vic-accused-of-seatbelt-double-standard/
VIC: Anger as disabled pupils spend up to four hours a day on busNatalie Craig, The Age, 15 August 2010
DISABLED children are spending up to four hours a day on Victorian school buses, where they are banned from eating and drinking and cannot take toilet breaks.
Parents say their children have suffered dehydration, toileting problems and emotional distress on the free bus service that runs children to and from specialist schools.
The Education Department says it has introduced 89 bus services to special schools since 2007. But disability advocates say travel times remain excessive.
Matthew Potocnik said his nine-year-old son, who has Angelman syndrome and cannot walk unassisted or speak, is picked up from home in Brunswick at 7.20am and, after several stops to collect other children, arrives at Glenroy Specialist School about 9am. His round trip can be close to four hours.
"By the time he gets to school, he is just too tired to participate," Mr. Potocnik said. "His development is being stymied and his physical problems exacerbated." He and his wife have driven their son to school when possible but work commitments mean they must still rely on the bus service.
Disability discrimination advocate Julie Phillips said she had heard similar complaints about the bus service from about 30 parents in the past two years.
Beyond Engagement: High expectations for disadvantaged children within flexible learning options
23 August, Malthouse Theatre, Southbank, Melbourne VIC
The Pavilion School and Berry Street are proud to be presenting a rare opportunity to hear from an inspiring group of educators from the KIPP Infinity school in New York who believe that schools should have high expectations of staff and high expectations for disadvantaged children.
With assistance from the National Australia Bank’s Schools First Program, the evening will feature presentations by award winning teachers from The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) in the USA and Melbourne’s own Pavilion School.
This event will be of interest to a range of professionals including leaders within education, indigenous education, child protection, family services, therapeutic services, out-of-home care, youth justice, family violence services, sexual assault services, adolescent mental health services, alcohol and other drug services.
Read more: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=a3700ec7-afa1-491c-bcf7-986e828c6db9
Connecting the Tribe - Innovating the FutureACEL Global Emerging Educational Leaders Summit 2010
27-28 September, Sydney, Australia
The 2010 Summit will gather a ‘tribe’ of 100 of the most innovative and inspirational emerging educators (35 years old or younger) from across the Commonwealth of Nations for two days of collaboration, leadership development and exposure to the most innovative educational ideas on the planet. This Summit is set to become an annual ‘incubator’ for emerging educational thought leaders globally.
The Emerging Leaders Summit will be an intensive and customised leadership development experience. Working with leading academics and experienced practitioners from the field, participants will be equipped with the capabilities and confidence to influence their peers, school and system. Participants will develop the self-awareness, and leadership capabilities necessary for being effective change agents in a range of educational contexts.
The Summit will provide a unique opportunity for high-potential teachers and leaders to build collaborative partnerships with others from across the Commonwealth of Nations. The conference aims to connect this new ‘tribe’ of change agents in order to stimulate innovative initiatives and support the emergence of a fresh conversation about educational change. An online platform will ensure participants can stay connected and collaborate beyond the Summit.
Read more: http://www.acel.org.au/conference
Master Classes on Children’s Art, Creativity and Play14-16 October, Novotel Clarke Quay, Singapore
Presented by Dr Barbara Piscitelli (Australia) and Dr Susan Wright (Singapore), these Master Classes will focus on how best to integrate art, creativity and play in the early childhood classroom environment. Drawing on examples from world's best practice, the sessions will feature philosophies that inform high quality arts education for young children, and will provide opportunities for provocations leading to dialogue and the exploration of practical problems relating to valuing art and play in early education, arranging the physical and human environment, monitoring children's learning, and working with artists.
The evening provocation session will be followed by two days of Master Classes which will include lectures, workshops and seminars led by Dr Piscitelli in association with Singaporean colleagues involved in arts education practice and research.
Email: mailto:eec@etonhouse.com.sg
ACSSO NATIONAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE 201022 October, Greenhill Road, Parkside, Adelaide SA
The Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACSSO) cordially invites everyone with an interest in the future of education in Australia to their 2010 Annual Conference in Adelaide. In the wake of a federal election which has touched on so many varied issues relating to education and young people’s development, this event provides a significant opportunity for debate and discussion around where education should be heading in Australia – the strategies that will help every child, in every school community, to achieve their potential.
The value and depth of debate and discussion, both formal and informal, at ACSSO’s conferences is enhanced by its inclusivity – here you will be interacting with parents, principals, teachers, educational researchers. It is a unique opportunity to hear from some prominent Australians who through their thought provoking presentations and leading lively discussions will inform and challenge you – and provide much to take back to your school community.
The conference website will go online shortly.
For accommodation in Adelaide, we recommend the Franklin Central Apartments - http://www.franklinapartments.com.au/location.asp Further information on this and other accommodation choices convenient to the conference venue in nearby Parkside will be published shortly on the conference website.
19-27 August - International Conference of Mathematicians - Hyderabad, India - http://www.icm2010.org.in/
24 August - Learning from One Another - Perth, WA - http://www.acsa.edu.au/pages/page500.asp
25-27 August - European Conference on Educational Research - Helsinki, Finland - http://www.helsinki.fi/ecer2010/index.html
26-27 August - Annual School Leaders' Conference - Gold Coast, QLD - http://www.griffith.edu.au/pdn-leadership-conference-2010
29 August-4 September - National Literacy & Numeracy Week - http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/Programs/NationalLiteracyandNumeracyWeek/Pages/default.aspx
3-4 September - Future Directions in Literacy Conference - Sydney, NSW - http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/professional_learning/teachers/2010/future_directions_literacy.shtml
6 September - International Middle Years of Schooling Conference - Adelaide, SA - http://sapmea.asn.au/conventions/middleschool2010/
6 September - Learning from One Another - Canberra, ACT - http://www.acsa.edu.au/pages/page500.asp
6-8 September - London International Conference on Education - London, UK - http://www.liceducation.org/
8-10 September - Creative Innovation - Melbourne, VIC - http://www.ci2010.com.au/
15-17 September - SPERA Conference, University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland - http://www.spera.asn.au/articles.php?req=list&root_id=13&sub_id=65
22 September - Language and Culture and Social Connectedness in Our Diverse Landscape Symposium - Toowoomba, QLD - http://www.usq.edu.au/lcdl
27-30 September - National Australian Association for Environmental Education Conference - Canberra, ACT - https://www.conferenceco.com.au/aaee
27-30 September - Australian Mathematical Society 54th Meeting - Brisbane, QLD - http://www.smp.uq.edu.au/austms2010/
27 September-1 October - International Association of School Librarianship Conference - Brisbane QLD - http://www.iasl-online.org/events/conf/2010/
28 September - Australian Professional Teachers Association Conference - Sydney, NSW - http://www.apta.edu.au/component/docman/doc_view/36-aptaconference2010.html
29 September-1 October - Australian New Zealand Education Law Association Annual Conference - Sydney, NSW - http://www.anzela.com.au
29 September-1 October - Conference of the North American Association
of Environmental Educators - Buffalo, NY, USA - http://www.naaee.org/conference
October
- International School Library Month - http://www.iasl-online.org/events/islm/
12-15 October - Australian International Education Conference - Sydney, NSW - http://www.aiec.idp.com/home.aspx
12-15 October - EDGE 2010: e-Learning: The horizon and beyond - Toronto, Canada - http://www.mun.ca/edge2010/
17-23 October - Anti-Poverty Week 2010 - http://www.antipovertyweek.org.au
13 November - Hands on Literacy Conference - Singapore - http://www.handsonlit.com/
2-5 December - Second Annual Asian Conference on Education - Osaka, Japan - http://ace.iafor.org/
11-12 March - Going Global 2011 - Hong Kong - http://www.britishcouncil.org/goingglobal-gg5-general-information.htm
19-23 July - 6th World Environmental Education Congress - Brisbane, Qld - http://www.weec2011.org/
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