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TASMANIAN
EDUCATION SYSTEM
MOFO Hothouse begins on Monday
The Mercury, 30 May 2015
 The Dark Mofo Hothouse project on Tasmanian
educational issues such as student retention is due to commence this
Monday, 1 June...
MOFO Hothouse Project website
Hothouse sessions
Top thinkers speak in
Hothouse today, The Mercury, 1 Jun 2015
Jon Kudelka's cartoons,
Twitter
Kudelka's mighty pen, The Mercury, 2 Jun 2015
 MULTIMEDIA EDUCATION
Road safety video winner named
The Examiner, 29 May 2015
A Don College student has won the $5,000 first
prize in the Road Safety Week video competition...
RELIGIOUS
SCHOOLS
Religious discrimination Bill passes
LegCo
 The Examiner, 28 May 2015
The Legislative
Council has approved the Bill to let religious schools use religious
faith in discriminating against prospective students even when they
have plenty of places available...
Christian Lobby welcomes vote, The Mercury, 29 May 2015
STATE BUDGET
$68m boost for high schools
The Mercury, 28 May 2015
High schools are to receive $68 million dollars over four
years for new facilities, Taroona High in the South receiving $2.1
million...
Riverside, Prospect and Kings Meadows high schools receive funding,
The Examiner, 28 May 2015
Latrobe, Parklands, Smithton high schools boost, The Advocate,
28 May 2015
Use the GST windfall to reverse some of the 266 teacher cuts,
Michelle O'Byrne, Opposition education spokesperson, 29 May 2015
Taroona High's $2.1m is part of record $1.44 billion for education,
Jeremy Rockliff, minister for education and Training, 1 Jun 2015
TASMANIAN
SYMBOLS
Devil now state emblem
 The Examiner, 28 May 2015
The Tasmanian devil is now
officially Tasmania's state faunal emblem...
Devil
our formal animal emblem, Matthew Groom, Minister for
environment, Parks and Heritage, 31 May 2015
TEACHER
EMPLOYMENT
Teacher graduates hard done by
 ABC News, 27 May 2015
Recent Tasmanian teacher
graduates face a struggle to find work following cuts to teaching
positions and the prospect of current near-graduates receiving new
internships associated with guaranteed teaching positions...
(Image:
gradplus.com)
 DANGEROUS
IDEAS
School bugged
The Courier, 27 May 2015
Six students and a former
student caused chaos in a US high school when they released 72,000
ladybirds which they had ordered through the Internet...
AUSTRALIAN
CURRICULUM
Make maths and science compulsory for
Years 11 and 12
 The Age, 26 May 2015
Federal education minister
Christopher Pyne wants Years 11 and 12 students to be required to
study mathematics or a science subject...
Great idea but more work to
do, The
Conversation (opinion), 29 May 2015
STATE BUDGET
Spend money on health and education
TasLabor website, 26 May 2015
 Opposition leader Bryan Green says
the state government should use its $591 million GST windfall to
reverse cuts to frontline services in health and education...
SCHOOL
CLOSURES
Six primary schools need to close,
says AG
ABC News, 26 May 2015
 The
Auditor-General has recommended that the following six government
primary schools be closed:
- Edith Creek
- Geeveston
-
Clarendon Vale
- Avoca
- Risdon Vale
- Sprent
He also
identified a further 11 schools for possible closure, but education
minister Jeremy Rockliff says no school will be forced to close...
Strong case to close six
schools,
The Mercury, 26 May 2015
No school will be forced to close, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for
Education and Training, 26 May 2015
Definitely, absolutely, categorically, honestly, no school will be
forced to close, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and
Training, 27 May 2015
Unsettling say parents, voluntary closures won't work says economist,
ABC News, 27 May 2015
Analyse all government schools, says professor, The Mercury, 28
May 2015
LITERACY AND
NUMERACY
$17.7 million for literacy and
numeracy
The Mercury, 26 May 2015
 This week's State Budget will allocate $17.7 million for
literacy and numeracy, featuring the Learning in
Families Together (LIFT) program which will involve
cooperation between about 80 schools and their families, education
minister Jeremy Rockliff said...
$18m for new literacy,
numeracy program, The Examiner, 26 May 2015
K-2 focused LIFT commences Term 1 2016, Jeremy Rockliff,
Minister for Education and Training, 26 May 2015
SCHOOL
CLOSURES
Spotlight on school closures again
The Mercury, 25 May 2015
A report to be tabled by the
Auditor-General tomorrow is expected to examine school sizes and to
question the number, location and effectiveness of Tasmania's
primary schools...
SCHOOL
CURRICULUM
Force-feeding the curriculum
news.com.au, 25 May 2015
Television chef Jamie Oliver has released
a rap song with Paul McCartney, Hugh Jackman, Aleasha Dixon and
other celebrities to promote Food Revolution Day, a campaign to make
practical food education compulsory in schools around the world...
Food Revolution Day website
ANTI-TERRORIST
EDUCATION
Fighting terrorism through the
curriculum
news.com.au, 24 May 2015
 The federal government is
planning the preparation of curriculum materials to help schools
prevent students from becoming radicalised...
RELIGIOUS
SCHOOLS
Bill promotes inequity
The Mercury (opinion), 22 May 2015
Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination
Amendment Bill will give religious schools greater power over whom
they choose to enrol, to the detriment of students in government
schools, AEU state president Terry Polglase argues...
Discrimination wrong if
religious schools are accepting taxpayer funds, says civil
libertarian,
The Mercury, 23 May 2015
Bill reduces red tape and
enshrines freedom of religion, Vanessa Goodwin, Attorney-General, 23 May
2015
Restricts education choice, religious freedom, ABC News, 24 May
2015
ANTI-VIOLENCE
EDUCATION
Make domestic violence education
compulsory
news.com.au, 22 May 2015
 Learning about family and
domestic violence should be a core component of the curriculum,
advocates say. However, ACARA general manager Phil Lambert says such
an inclusion could lead to a crowded curriculum...
White Ribbon's
Breaking the Silence Schools Program
Click here
to register your school's interest
TEACHING
PROFESSION
Violence against principals increases
 The Examiner, 22 May 2015
The number of threats of
violence by parents against Australian school principals increased
from 19 to 25 per cent between 2011 and 2014, and by students from
17 to 25 per cent, Australian Catholic University research has found...
FEDERAL
BUDGET
Computer coding supported
The Conversation
(opinion), 21 May 2015
Opposition leader Bill Shorten is in tune with a world trend when he
emphasises the importance of schools teaching computer coding, an
academic writes...
BULLYING
Helping the parents of bullies
The Conversation
(opinion), 21 May 2015
 Advising parents whose
child is the bully rather than the victim can be difficult at first...
TASMANIAN
POLITICS
Kim Booth resigns
 The Mercury, 20 May 2015
Tasmanian Greens leader Kim Booth is stepping down as
leader and as a parliamentarian, following the death of his father...
Stepping down for family
reasons and Party renewal, Kim Booth, Tasmanian Greens
leader, 20 May 2015
MOFO
HOTHOUSE
Educational marijuana a creative
idea?
ABC News, 19 May 2015
A university education lecturer and artist due
to speak at the forthcoming MOFO Hothouse has suggested that drugs
such as marijuana be provided to high school students to boost their
creativity...
MOFO Hothouse Project website
Children would use customised
vaporisers, news.com.au, 19 May 2015
MOBILE
PHONES IN SCHOOL
Banning mobile phones improves school
results
HeraldSun, 18 May 2015
 A London School of Economics study has found
that a strict ban on mobile phones in a school effectively added
five school days to the year and increased exam results by up to six
per cent...
FEDERAL
BUDGET
STEM plan well-meaning but misguided
The Conversation
(opinion), 18 May 2015
In focusing on science, computing and mathematics education in his
Budget Reply speech, Opposition leader Bill Shorten has given
inadequate attention to the need to keep teachers in the profession
and to improve literacy, an RMIT adjunct professor and a lecturer in
literacy argue...
STUDENT
HEALTH
E-cigarettes and sugary drinks under
attack
TasLabor website,
17 May 2015
 Opposition health
spokesperson Rebecca White has announced polices to promote
alternatives to sugary drinks in schools and to oppose the
normalisation of the use of e-cigarettes which can currently be sold
to people under 18 years...
TasLabor's preventative
health policies
[pdf]
E-cigarettes facts, Tas Dept of Health and Human
Services
Labor would increase taxes on sugary drinks, Michael Ferguson,
Minister for Health, 17 May 2015
Sugary drinks to be taken out of schools, The Examiner, 18 May
2015
SCHOOL
CURRICULUM
Compulsory domestic violence
education call
ABC News, 17 May 2015
 A petition calling for compulsory domestic
violence education in schools has been delivered to the NSW
parliament by a girl who is a victim and who lost her mother to
suicide...
SCHOOL
TRAGEDIES
Teacher and student remembered
ABC News, 16 May 2015
 The wider Riverside High
School community has remembered a former student and a teacher who
died after they met blizzard-like conditions on a bushwalking trip
to Cradle Mountain 50 years ago...
FEDERAL
BBUDGET
Lack of vision in Budget
The Conversation
(opinion by Stewart Riddle), 15 May 2015
By failing to adequately step outside the electoral cycle, the 2015
federal Budget misses opportunities to provide much-needed reforms
in early education, school education and higher education, a higher
education academic writes...
FEDERAL
BUDGET
Youth clearinghouse loses funding
acys.info, 14 May 2015
 The federal Budget has
dropped funding for the Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies,
a national body based in Tasmania which provides the youth sector
with analysis and information that is used for policy development
and decision-making...
FEDERAL BUDGET
Opposition
Budget Reply speech
Budget 2015: BillShorten, ABC News, 14
May 2015
Experts react, The Conversation, 15 May 2015 (Scroll
down to 'School education')
Focus on computing and other STEM subjects,
news.com.au, 14 May 2015:
- computer
programming mandatory in every primary and secondary school
- 25,000 scholarships for training graduates with science
and technology degrees to become teachers
- scrapping
the HECS debt of STEM students (science,
technology, engineering and maths)
- encourage
more women in STEM
- boost the
skills of 25,000 current teachers
ANTI-VIOLENCE
EDUCATION
Embracing an anti-violence program
The Mercury, 14 May 2015
Students at Launceston
Church Grammar School are participating in White Ribbon's
Breaking the Silence program which helps young males develop
respectful relationships, particularly towards women...
White Ribbon's
Breaking the Silence Schools Program
Click here
to register your school's interest
TASMANIAN
EDUCATION SYSTEM
Promoting education options
The Examiner, 13 May 2015
Joanna Siejka from Youth Network of Tasmania
(YNOT) will be promoting alternative education options for students
outside the mainstream at the upcoming MOFO Hothouse...
MOFO Hothouse Project website
FEDERAL BUDGET
What the Budget means for education
The Conversation
(opinion by Glenn C. Savage), 12 May 2015
The most obvious educational negative in the Federal Budget is the
absence of funding for the final two years of Gonski
reforms, leaving them unfunded.
However, there is funding
for:
- students with a disability
-
pre-school programs
- teacher training
- boarding of
indigenous students.
But cuts to the federal
Department of Education mean it will have to modify and cut
back some of its programs...
No surprises in higher
education,
The Conversation (opinion by Emmaline Bexley), 13 May 2015
Tas premier disappointed over health and education, ABC News, 13
May 2015
FEDERAL BUDGET
2015 Budget Speech
Federal Budget website
Education and Training Budget Statements
Education and Training media releases:
-
Skills and training for a prosperous Australia
-
Strengthening the VET sector
-
Preschool funding certainty
2015 Budget website, ABC News
 TASMANIAN EDUCATION STAFF
Recognising excellence
Tas Govt media
release, 12 May 2015
Nominations of teachers, principals, other staff and
volunteers for the RBF Department of Education Awards for Excellence
need to be made by Sunday 14 June...
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Honours degrees for 20 principals
Tas Govt media
release, 12 May 2015
 The Tasmanian government's
School Leadership Development Initiative will offer 20
principals the opportunity to gain a Bachelor of Education with
Professional Honours, education minister Jeremy Rockliff announced
today...
NAPLAN TESTING
Students vomiting over NAPLAN tests
SMH, 11 May 2015
 Anxiety over sitting for NAPLAN
tests has caused children as young as eight to vomit and has
prompted psychologists to urge schools and parents to minimise the
stress for vulnerable students...
Around 25,000 Tas students
face NAPLAN tests today, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for
Education and Training, 12 May 2015
CHILD AND FAMILY CENTRES
Labor promises $7m for more CFCs
ABC News, 11 May 2015
 Tasmania's Opposition
leader, Bryan Green, says Tas Labor would build two more Child and
Family Centres if returned to government...
Labor pledges new Child and
Family Centres,
TasLabor website, 11 May 2015
Labor had promised 30 CFCs
but built only 11, Peter Gutwein, Treasurer, 11 May 2015
Libs' dismissal of a CFC policy is short-sighted, says O'Byrne,
TasLabor website, 11 May 2015
 EXTENDING HIGH SCHOOL TO YEARS 11 AND 12
Extension impact discussed
Tas Govt media
release, 11 May 2015
Education minister Jeremy Rockliff
said he was heartened to hear success stories at a gathering of
principals of this year's and next year's high and district high
schools extending their subject offerings beyond Year 10...
Principals share experiences, The Examiner, 11 May 2015
 TEACHING PROFESSION
Longer hours for stressed teachers
news.com.au, 10 May 2015
Many
of Australia's teachers are stressed, working longer hours and
thinking about leaving the teaching profession, an AEU survey shows...
TRANSITION TO WORK
National boost for Beacon Foundation
 The Mercury, 9 May 2015
The federal Budget will
provide $950,000 to the Beacon Foundation which originated in
Tasmania to proactively reduce youth unemployment in disadvantaged
areas by tailoring the transition from school to work for individual
students...
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS
Tas to get 50 free wi-fi hotspots
Tas Govt media
release, 9 May 2015
 A list of 50 proposed locations for free wi-fi
hotspots around Tasmania has been released by the Minister for
Information Technology and Innovation, Michael Ferguson...
TASMANIAN
EDUCATION SYSTEM
Aboriginal education has wide benefit
The Mercury, 8 May 2015
Invited thinker for the forthcoming MOFO
Hothouse Greg Lehman says classroom practices designed to help
Aboriginal students are effective in helping other students too...
MOFO Hothouse Project website
EDUCATOR
SCHOLARSHIPS
Education scholarship recipients
named
Tas Govt media release, 7 May 2015
The Minister for Education and Training, Jeremy
Rockliff, has announced that this year's Sue Napier education
scholarship winners are Lily Bartkevicius, Susan Katarzynski and
Jeff Thomas..
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Snow closes schools
DoE Facebook, 7 May 2015
 Oatlands
District High and Collinsvale Primary have closed for the rest of
the day due to snow, students remaining at school until they are
collected by parents. See
DoE Facebook
page for any updated information..
Road closures, Tas Police website
Cold snap brings snow, ABC News, 7 May 2015
TEACHER
TRAINING
Tighter trainee teacher testing looms
The Mercury, 5 May 2015
The Federal Budget will contain funding to ensure new
teaching graduates have faced literacy and numeracy tests and
graduate primary teachers hold a subject specialisation..
 FEDERAL POLITICS
Milne resigns: Di Natale new Greens leader
ABC News, 6 May 2015
Richard Di Natale is the
new leader of the Australian Greens, following the surprise
resignation of Senator Christine Milne this morning. Larissa Waters
and Scott Ludlam are co-deputy leaders.
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
Battle for anti-domestic violence program
The Mercury, 5 May 2015
White Ribbon are having
trouble getting Tasmanian schools to enrol in their anti-domestic
violence program which 360 Mainland schools have either taken up or
signed on for...
White Ribbon's
Breaking the Silence Schools Program
Click here
to register your school's interest
EQUALITY
OF OPPORTUNITY
Education the key to overcoming p overty
The Mercury, 5 May 2015
The key to helping
young people move out of socio-economic disadvantage is to enable
them to complete Year 12, a Smith Family researcher told a Committee
for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) meeting yesterday...
STUDENT
SUPPORT
School refusal is not truancy
The Conversation
(opinion), 4 May 2015
School refusal is often confused with truancy, to the detriment of
the students themselves, three academics write...
 STUDENT
SUPPORT
No time for mental health
SMH, 4 May 2015
Teachers know that the
mental health of students is important, but a significant number say
they do not have the time to deal with it, a survey shows...
TASMANIAN
EDUCATION SYSTEM
MOFO Hothouse looms
The Examiner, 1 May 2015
Ideas to promote educational attainment and
retention by Tasmanian students are being encouraged in preparation
for the 72-hour Dark Mofo Hothouse sessions to be held on 1, 2 and 3
June. [The Examiner says 2-4 June]...
MOFO Hothouse Project website
Dark Mofo Hothouse to discuss
educational challenges, The Mercury, 1 May 2015
On the road to learning, The Mercury (editorial), 1 May 2015
Hothouse thinkers revealed, The Advocate, 1 May 2015
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