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 SCHOOL STARTING AGE
Petition opposes lower starting age
ABC News, 31 Aug 2016
Parents and
childcare workers' group United Voice have handed a petition
opposing the lowering of the school starting age to education
minister Jeremy Rockliff...
 CURRICULUM
Real bush and real fire
ABC News, 31 Aug 2016
Year 9 students from Scotch-Oakburn College
have been having practical
lessons in fire and vegetation management on a farm near
Campbell Town...
 TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Springfield boost
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2016
Upgraded student learning
environments are part of the newly integrated campus at
Springfield Gardens Primary School that was opened today by
education minister Jeremy Rockliff...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Margate upgrades
Tas Govt media release, 31 Aug 2016
Two upgraded Year 1 learning
spaces were opened at Margate Primary School today by premier
Will Hodgman and education minister Jeremy Rockliff...
 THE CURRICULUM
Teach children philosophy
The Conversation (opinion by Adam Piovarchy and Laura
D'Olimpio), 30 Aug 2016
Teaching children philosophy would give them the
critical thinking skills they need to perform well in NAPLAN and
other tests, two philosophy academics write...
THE EDUCATIONAL REFORM DEBATE
Four educational reform claims
The Conversation (opinion by Alan Reid), 29 Aug 2016
An
education researcher has closely examined four claims often put
forward in the education funding debate. He says:
 education
funding has effectively not increased significantly
over the last several years;
saying that NAPLAN results
have "plateaued" is misleading as it disguises what is really
happening for particular groups;
claiming that more
education spending has not achieved better NAPLAN outcomes
ignores how much is spent on less needy schools and how much is
spent on non-NAPLAN education;
the bottom line of calling
for evidence-based measures is simply that funding needs to be
directed to the most disadvantaged schools and the most needy
students.
 STUDENT
SAFETY
Website resurfaces
news.com.au, 29 Aug 2016
A website that seeks inappropriate images of schoolgirls
has been re-established, this time including reference to a
Devonport school...
 TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Sheffield science upgrade
Tas Govt media release, 29 Aug 2016
Sheffield School's $500,000
upgraded science facilities were opened today by education
minister Jeremy Rockliff...
LITERACY AND NUMERACY
Let's celebrate
Tas Govt media release, 29 Aug 2016
 With National Literacy and
Numeracy Week commencing today (Monday 29 August) we should be
celebrating the literacy and numeracy progress being made
in Tasmania, education minister Jeremy Rockliff says...
 STUDENT
SUPPORT
Autism challenge
news.com.au, 28 Aug 2016
Views vary on the extent to
which students on the Autism Spectrum Disorder should be taught
in mainstream schools, but where they are included it is
essential for teachers to proactively foster socialisation and
to work to prevent bullying...
 MAINLAND POLITICS
Massive swing to Labor in NT
ABC News, 27 Aug 2016
Michael Gunner will be the new chief minister of the
Northern Territory, with Labor predicted to win 18 of the 25
available seats in a strong swing away from the Country Liberal
Party in today's election...
NT results so far (ABCNews)
 THE CURRICULUM
Teach scepticism
The Mercury, 27 Aug 2016 [pdf file]
Teaching about asking more questions and double checking should be
compulsory at high school to help people avoid being ripped off and scammed, a
journalist writes...[pdf file]
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Dunalley not there yet
The Mercury, 26 Aug 2016
Repairs to overcome mould at
Dunalley Primary School are progressing well, education minister
Jeremy Rockliff says...
 CHANGES
TO THE EDUCATION ACT
Lifts for truants questioned
The Mercury, 25 Aug 2016
The
government's plan to pick up truants from the streets would run
counter to their parents' stranger danger advice, Opposition
education spokesperson Michelle O'Byrne says...
 CHILD STUDIES
Fake babies shock
news.com.au, 25 Aug 2016
Teenage girls were actually
more likely to become pregnant if they had used the special
life-size baby dolls whose simulation of real baby behaviour was
designed to teach them the inconveniences of motherhood, a
randomised Australian study has shown...
 TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Oval land dilemma
The Examiner, 25 Aug 2016
Debate is brewing over whether
the East Launceston Primary School's P&F should allow land it
owns to be used in the school's $4.5 million redevelopment ...
 STATE POLITICS
Tasmanian first
The Examiner, 25 Aug 2016
The Premier, Will Hodgman, was
ejected from this morning's sitting of Parliament, the first
time this has happened to a Tasmanian premier...
Premier ejected, ABC News, 25 Aug 2016
BULLYING
Unisex toilets and change rooms
The Examiner, 25 Aug 2016
 To reduce opportunities for bullying, future schools
should have unisex toilet blocks and unsex change rooms with
separate cubicles, Working It Out executive officer Susan Ditter
says ...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Lansdowne centenary
ABC News, 25 Aug 2016
Lansdowne Crescent Primary's
students and staff are working on a special magazine to
celebrate the school's centenary...
 EDUCATION SPENDING
$110m on infrastructure
Tas Govt media releases, 25 Aug 2016
The state government is spending
$110 million on education infrastructure, and will spend money
on preparing schools for the younger Prep starting age,
education minister Jeremy Rockliff said today...
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Earthquake hits central Italy
ABC News, 25 Aug 2016
 A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has brought down
buildings in the central Italian regions of Lazio and Marche,
killing at least 247 people...
TAFE
TasTAFE seeks info on local jobs needs
Tas Govt media release, 24 Aug 2016
 TasTAFE will engage in statewide community
consultation from September to December this year on training
needs for local jobs, education minister Jeremy Rockliff said
today...
Concern over hospitality VET drop, The Mercury, 27 Aug 2016
STUDENT
SAFETY
Students expelled over Instagram images
The Examiner, 17 Aug 2016
 Two students have been expelled
from a Melbourne school for disrespectful behaviour related to
images of local girls whose photos they had uploaded to Instagram...
STUDENT
SAFETY
Charges possible over images
The Mercury, 23 Aug 2016
Police hope to lay charges over
the posting of photos of two Tasmanian girls on a website that
had been seeking inappropriate images of schoolgirls, but they stress that
images had not been uploaded of students at the two Tasmanian schools mentioned on the site...
STUDENT
SUPPORT
More disability support wanted
The Examiner, 22 Aug 2016
 The Tasmanian Disability Support Lobby has called
for students with disabilities to be given more funding, support
staff and resources in the light of their recent survey results...
Government is showing
commitment to inclusive learning environment, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for
Education and Training, 22 Aug 2016
Labor would keep class sizes down to support teachers,
Michelle O'Byrne, opposition education spokesperson, 22 Aug 2016
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Nurture gaining over nature
The Conversation (opinion by Kate Lynch), 22 Aug 2016
 As some genetic characteristics
that correlate with school performance may simply be
predisposing students to particular schoolwork-supporting
behaviours and environments, more recognition should be given to
the importance of nurture (versus nature) and the potential
effectiveness of education, a researcher argues...
THE
OLYMPICS
Bolt achieves the triple-triple
au.sports.yahoo, 20 Aug 2016
Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt has achieved the triple hat trick in
the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events at three Olympics...
STUDENT
SAFETY
Reprieve over website
news.com.au, 19 Aug 2016
The website that had been
seeking inappropriate images of schoolgirls is apparently no
longer operating but there are fears it may re-emerge in a
different form or that its images may appear elsewhere...
 TEACHING PROFESSION
More pressures on teachers' time
The Mercury (opinion by Peter Wilson), 19 Aug 2016
The doubling up of having to
apply for a Working with Vulnerable Persons certificate while
maintaining teacher registration anyway and the (laudable)
recording of approaches that work with students with learning
difficulties are examples of how teachers' lesson-preparation
time is being increasingly impinged upon by administrative
requirements, a teacher writes...
 YEAR 12
PERFORMANCE
Low Year 12 attainment must be examined
The Mercury (opinion by Eleanor Ramsay and Michael
Rowan), 19 Aug 2016
Year 12 attainment in Tasmania
is woefully low compared with schools in other states but
thankfully the government is undertaking a review of Years 9-12
education here, two professors write...
Tasmania's standards are high (response by Brian McNab), The
Mercury, 29 Aug 2016 [pdf file]
TASMANIAN LEGISLATION
Lower starting age now to be
optional
Tas Govt media release, 18 Aug 2016
The state government now plans
to introduce legislation to make a lower starting age for prep of 4
years 6 months optional rather than compulsory, education
minister Jeremy Rockliff announced today...
Lower starting age to be
optional, The Mercury, 18 Aug 2016
Thorough consultation needed instead, Michelle O'Byrne, Labor education spokesperson, 18 Aug 2016
Compulsory lower age plan ditched, ABC News, 18 Aug 2016
Change welcome but potential very wide age range in combined
prep/kinder classes, Andrea Dawkins, Greens education
spokesperson, 18 Aug 2016
Compulsory starting age stays put, The Examiner, 19 Aug 2016
Change of heart, The Mercury, 19 Aug 2016
Critics not satisfied, ABC News, 19 Aug 2016
Minister explains the new starting age policy, The Mercury
(opinion by Jeremy Rockliff), 19 Aug 2016
 EDUCATION
LEGENDS
Deaths of Bruner, Papert
The recent deaths of
world-renowned educational theorists Jerome Bruner and Seymour
Papert slipped under the radar.
Educational psychologist Jerome Bruner died
aged 100 on 5 June 2016. For an obituary, see
The Guardian, 16 Jul 2016.
Pioneer in thinking and using technology in education
Seymour Papert died aged 88 on 31 July 2016. See
NPR Ed, 5 Aug 2016.
STUDENT
SAFETY
Images alert for schools
The Mercury, 17 Aug 2016
Two Tasmanian schools are mentioned on a website that seeks
nominations of schoolgirls for others to upload information about and
nude images of, Queensland police warned today...
Respect for girls and
women must be taught from an early age, Andrea Dawkins, Greens education
spokesperson, 17 Aug 2016
Reports refer to a high school and a college, The Examiner,
17 Aug 2016
TAFE
AND IT
New IT support course
Tas Govt media release, 17 Aug 2016
A new course - Certificate IV in IT Support - is
under way as a result of a partnership between TasTAFE and IT
services company CSC ...
COMPUTER APPS AND LEARNING
Pokémon Go sure is engaging
The Conversation (opinion by Amber McLeod and Kelly
Carabott), 16 Aug 2016
Pokémon Go is a student-centred and healthy activity that links
with the Australian Curriculum, two education lecturers write...
 NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK
Getting more STEM into schools
Australian Govt media release, 15 Aug 2016
The federal government will
spend an extra $10 million on the Scientists and Mathematicians
in Schools program, education minister Simon Birmingham has
announced...
THE
OLYMPICS
Bolt successful
ABC News, 15 Aug 2016
Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt has managed to win the 100 metres
event for the third consecutive Olympics...
TASMANIAN LEGISLATION
Education Act changes Bill looms
Tas Govt media release, 14 Aug 2016
With this week's resumption of
state parliament, the government will reveal its "finalised
changes" to the Education Act - which presumably will include
changed school starting and finishing ages...
 EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION
DoE RBF Award finalists named
Tas Govt media release, 13 Aug 2016
Are you listed? The names of
individuals and teams to be considered for this year's
Department of Education RBF Awards have been announced by
education minister Jeremy Rockliff...
THE
CHANGING EDUCATION SCENE
White pills distributed in
Tasmanian schools
The Mercury (opinion by Ian Cole), 13 Aug 2016
 Back in the 1950s it was normal in
Tasmanian primary schools for goitre
tablet monitors to be handing out tablets to fellow students,
for a pair of students to have life and death control over
others when they did school crossing duty, and for fear and
punishment to be integral to school and classroom procedures, a
former MHA and teacher writes ...
NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK
STEM teacher awards
Tas Govt media release, 12 Aug 2016
Tasmanian primary and secondary
STEM teachers may be eligible to be recognised by the Tasmanian
STEM Awards, education minister Jeremy Rockliff said today ...
STUDENT
PROTECTION
Cybersafety boost
Tas Govt media release, 12 Aug 2016
The Alannah and Madeline Foundation will provide
$630,000 over four years to support anti-cyberbullying efforts
in Tasmanian schools, information technology minister Michael
Ferguson announced today...
SCHOOL
STARTING AGE
Earlier starting age opposed by
teachers
The Examiner, 12 Aug 2016
In an
Australian Education Union survey of government
principals, teachers and support staff 77 per cent
opposed lowering the school starting age...
Plan overlooks parents'
role, says AEU, The Mercury, 12 Aug 2016
No point proceeding if teachers don't support plan, Michelle
O'Byrne, Labor education spokesperson, 12 Aug 2016
Plan involves cost shifting but focus must be on measures of
success, The Mercury (opinion by Michael Rowan and Eleanor
Ramsay), 12 Aug 2016
NAPLAN
Don't compare NAPLAN results over
time
The Conversation (opinion by Kevin Watson, Boris Handal
and Margie Maher), 12 Aug 2016
 Recent NAPLAN results were said to have 'plateaued',
but research will soon show that NAPLAN results can not be
compared across years, three academics say...
 TEACHING PRACTICES
Learning styles knocked
The Age, 5 Aug 2016
Distinguishing between students' learning styles is
pseudo-scientific 'rubbish', Professor Stephen Dinham who
advises governments on education policy says ...
FINGER-CROSSING
Census available again
ABC News, 11 Aug 2016
 The
census website is back online but the Prime Minister, Malcolm
Turnbull, says "heads will roll" over the
earlier lack of measures to prevent denial of service attacks....
ABS census
website (opens in new window)
BROKEN
COMMUNITY
CONFIDENCE
Census Minister's website
hacked
ABC News, 10 Aug 2016
 Hackers have interfered with
the website of Michael McCormack, the Minister for Small
Business who earlier today had been assuring Australians that
the ABS census data was completely safe...
The website -
michaelmccormack.com.au
- is now back to normal.
BROKEN
PROMISES
Census fail
ABC News, 10 Aug 2016
 Millions of Australians were
unable to complete the census online when the Australian Bureau
of Statistics had to turn off its computers to resist a
cyberattack - despite an assurance that the computer system
would be fine. Will their assurance about our data being safe
from hackers be broken, too?...
ABS website crashes, ABC News, 9 Aug 2016
Could it be a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack?,
The Vine, 9 Aug 2016
COMPUTER
GAMES
Link between games and maths
performance
The Guardian, 9 Aug 2016
 An Australian survey shows a
correlation between playing online video games and performance
in maths and science. However, the data does not provide proof
of a causal link - as students who are good at maths and science
could simply be more predisposed to playing online games...
 COMPUTER SECURITY
Android alert
StaySmartOnline, 8 Aug 2016
Ten
million Australian Android smartphones and tablets are at risk
from the Quadrooter flaw...
Quadrooter affects over
900 million Android phones, ZDNet, 7 Aug 2016
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Early learning at Lauderdale
expanded
Tas Govt media release, 8 Aug 2016
New infrastructure worth $1.6
million has boosted Lauderdale Primary's early learning
facilities...
 AUSTRALIAN LEGENDS
'Midget' Farrelly dies
ABC News, 8 Aug 2016
Australian surfing legend
Bernard 'Midget' Farrelly has died at the age of 71...
CHILD
AND FAMILY CENTRES
Greens prefer CFCs over lower age
Tas Greens media release, 6 Aug 2016
An
additional 11 Child and Family Centres would be a more effective
and cheaper alternative to lowering the school starting age,
Greens education spokesperson Andrea Dawkins says...
Supporting Children and
Families: An Alternative to a Lower School Starting Age [pdf], Greens policy document, August
2016
CFCs a better way to target at-risk families, The Examiner,
6 Aug 2016
Principals say schools better for early learning, ABC News,
7 Aug 2016
SCHOOL
CLOSURES
School sizes out of whack
The Mercury, 6 Aug 2016
Tasmanian school data shows that
17 primary schools contain more students than the recommended
capacity while 90 schools could take a further 100 students...
SCHOOL
STARTING AGE
Learning for Life and
Hubs expanded
Tas Govt media release, 5 Aug 2016
 The government is expanding its Learning for Life
program operated in conjunction with The Smith Family and
supporting the School Community Hubs program centred on Burnie,
Wynyard and Launceston...
SCHOOL
STARTING AGE
Starting age survey launched
The Examiner, 4 Aug 2016
Demographer
Amina Keygan has set up an online survey on the school starting
age proposals to enable DoE employees to give their views
anonymously...
Survey web page:
aminakeygan.com
FEDERAL
ELECTION
Final Senate results
news.com.au, 4 Aug 2016
 The final Senate results
confirm that the government will need nine of the eleven
crossbench Senators to be able to pass legislation not supported
by Labor and the Greens.
FINAL NUMBERS:
Lib/NP:
30
ALP: 25
Greens: 9
One Nation: 4
Xenophon Team: 3
Lib Dem Party: 1
Hinch Justice Party: 1
Family First: 1
Lambie Network: 1
...
 EARLY
CHILDHOOD
B4 Early Years Coalition launched
Tas Govt media release, 4 Aug 2016
The B4 (birth to 4 years
of age) Early Years Coalition is being launched today, education
minister Jeremy Rockliff says...
 COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
Robotics program heads north
The Examiner, 3 Aug 2016
George Town, Beaconsfield and Devonport students are the first
in the North to participate in the Better Things robotics
program which originated in the Huon Valley...
STUDENT
SUPPORT
Call for more disability support
The Mercury, 3 Aug 2016
Over 40 per cent of parents of students with a
disability have been called to pick up their students from
school, a survey by the Tasmanian Disability Education Reform
Lobby shows...
Govt is supporting
students with a disability, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for
Education and Training, 4 Aug 2916
Support not adequate, survey finds, ABC News, 4 Aug 2016
Immediate funds injection needed, Michelle O'Byrne, Labor
education spokesperson, 4 Aug 2016
 HANDWRITING
Handwriting deficit exposed
by NAPLAN testing
ABC News, 3 Aug 2016
The need to hold a pencil to
complete the recent NAPLAN tests has focused attention on the
lack of correct handwriting techniques possessed by today's
keyboard age students...
NAPLAN
NAPLAN: Literacy, numeracy
plateau
ABC News, 3 Aug 2016
The latest NAPLAN results show that, overall, the
literacy and numeracy results of Australian students have
plateaued...
ACARA media release, 3 Aug 2016
NAPLAN 2016 results, ACARA (links at left)
Tasmania's NAPLAN results improving, says Minister, Tas Govt
media release, 3 Aug 2016
Funding must focus on what works, says Federal Minister,
Aust Govt media release, 3 Aug 2016
How NAPLAN results can be improved, The Conversation
(opinion by Bronwyn Hinz and Megan O'Connell), 3 Aug 2016
Tas
students closing the NAPLAN gap, The Mercury, 3 Aug 2016
 AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY
Interest rate cut to 1.5%
ABC News, 2 Aug 2016
The Reserve Bank has cut the official interest rate
by 0.25 per cent to 1.5 per cent, in an attempt to spark
immediate growth and inflation in the absence of sufficient
non-monetary measures but which is likely to reduce its ability
to handle a major economic decline in the near future...
 AUSTRALIAN LEGENDS
Forbes Carlile dies
ABC News, 2 Aug 2016
Legendary swimming coach and
Australia's oldest Olympian Forbes Carlile has died at the age
of 95...
STUDENT
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Mystical Fire eaten by students
ABC News, 1 Aug 2016
Twenty-five Queensland Year 4 students became ill after
consuming flame colorant Mystical Fire crystals which have some
resemblance to popping candy...
BREAKING
NEWS
Royal Commissioner resigns
ABC News, 1 Aug 2016
 The
NT juvenile detention Royal Commissioner, Brian Martin,
has resigned over perceptions of a conflict of interest and
following comments about his daughter having worked for a
previous NT Attorney-General.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner
Mick Gooda and former Justice Margaret
White will now head the Royal Commission...
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