|
 FEDERAL POLITICS
Sam Dastyari resigns
ABC News, 12 Dec 2017
Senator Sam Dastyari, under
pressure over his association with a Chinese businessman, has
announced he will not return to the Senate next year...
TAS EDUCATION
SYSTEM
College system questioned
TCCI, 11 Dec 2017
 Economist Saul Eslake says in a
report [pdf] prepared for the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce
and Industries that "Some if not all of the colleges could be
converted to comprehensive high schools" (page 71)...
TCCI Tasmania Report 2017 [pdf]
Eslake's comments reinforce Labor's emphasis on a smooth 7-12
pathway instead of extensions, Michelle O'Byrne, Deputy
Opposition Leader, 11 Dec 2017
TAS ELECTION
AEU calls for more teachers
ABC News, 10 Dec 2017
 The Australian Education Union
has produced a research report showing the number of base-grade
teachers has been cut by 68 during the term of the present state
government but the Premier says 107 more teachers have been
employed...
Teacher cuts, jump in stress claims highlighted in AEU (Federal)
report, AEU (Tas), 10 Dec 2017
AEU and Labor claims are false, Jeremy Rockliff, Minister
for Education and Training, 10
Dec 2017
 SPORT
Giacomo is overall winner
ABC News, 29 Dec 2016
New Zealand
yacht Giacomo which was second to cross the line has been
declared the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race handicap winner...
THE ARTS
 Debbie Reynolds
dies one day after daughter's death
ABC News, 29 Dec 2016
Actress Debbie Reynolds, mother
of Star Wars star Carrie Fisher who died yesterday, suffered a
stroke and died today aged 84...
 TASMANIAN
COLLEGE SYSTEM
Reflections on college transition
The Examiner, 29 Dec 2016
A former student looks back at
the transition from Launceston State High School to Launceston
Matriculation College more than fifty years ago...
2016 IN
REVIEW
Looking back: the year in education
The Conversation (opinion by Claire Shaw), 28 Dec 2016
 The Conversation's education editor reviews the educational
issues and developments of 2016...
SPORT
Perpetual LOYAL smashes record
ABC News, 28 Dec 2016
Supermaxi
Perpetual LOYAL took out line honours in the Sydney-Hobart Yacht
Race at 2.31 this morning, breaking the previous record by
almost five hours...
 THE ARTS
Carrie Fisher
dies
ABC News, 28 Dec 2016
Actress Carrie Fisher, best known for playing the
part of Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie, has died at
the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack on board an
aeroplane...
Carrie Fisher's mother,
Debbie Reynolds, taken to hospital with possible stroke, ABC News, 29 Dec 2016
SETTING SCHOOL PRIORITIES
Flushing with pride
Daily Telegraph, 27 Dec 2016
 The principal of Sydney's
Cheltenham Girls' High School has spent $19,000 of school funds
to install her own toilet, appearing to be too proud to use the
staff toilets located only two metres from her office door.
The same principal held this year's school presentation assembly
at the Sydney Opera House, charging parents $30 to attend...
SPORT
Yacht shock
ABC Radio, 9.40am 27 Dec 2016
Sydney-Hobart
Yacht Race favourite Wild Oats XI has retired due to equipment
damage...
T HE ARTS
George Michael
dies
BBC News, 26 Dec 2016
Now 53-year-old pop singer
George Michael has died, the latest in a string of entertainment
industry deaths in 2016...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Land deal likely
The Examiner, 24 Dec 2016
Following an
overwhelming vote by the East Launceston Primary School Parents
and Friends Association a deal involving a swap of their oval
land appears likely to be reached with the state government
early next year...
 TEACHING PROFESSION
Staff will fear loss of faith
The Mercury (subscription access), 23 Dec 2016
Teachers and other employees at
the four Christian schools in southern Tasmania will face losing
their jobs if they lose their faith.
EXTENSION TO YEAR 12
Eight more schools extending
Tas Govt media release, 18 Dec 2016
With a further eight schools
extending their classes beyond Year 10 next year, the total
number of schools committed to extending to Year 12 in 2018 will
be 38. The latest schools to extend are:
- Flinders Island
District School
- Deloraine High School
- Wynyard High
School
- Launceston Big Picture School
- Northern Support
School
- Southern Support School
- School of Special
Education – North-West
- Tasmanian eSchool...
Special schools to offer Year 11 and 12
classes, ABC News, 19 Dec 2016
Disability lobby group welcomes extensions, The Examiner, 19
Dec 2016
Principals' group welcomes extensions, The Examiner, 19 Dec
2016
INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Tas Aboriginal curriculum videos released
Tas Govt media release, 15 Dec 2016
 Five new videos with learning
tasks on Tasmanian Aboriginal culture are now available,
education minister Jeremy Rockliff said today...
Aboriginal Education
Services (DoE): scroll down for the five videos
 COMPUTER LITERACY
Call for increased digital literacy
The Examiner, 15 Dec 2016
TasICT chief executive William
Kestin has called for increased levels of digital literacy in
schools following the recent disappointing PISA results, and has
suggested coding should be compulsory in primary school...
COMPUTER SECURITY
Yahoo! hack!
techcrunch.com, 14 Dec 2016
 Yahoo! has belatedly revealed that data from one
billion of its email accounts, including passwords and security
questions, was stolen in 2013 in an incident separate to a 2014
major hack previously notified...
LITERACY
More books at East Devonport Primary
Tas Govt media release, 14 Dec 2016
 East Devonport Primary School is
the first school to receive assistance to restock its library
under the Dymocks Children's Charities Library Regeneration
program, with $5,000 in support from Petuna Seafoods, education
minister Jeremy Rockliff said today...
Welcome boost for East
Devonport Primary, couriermail.com.au, 14 Dec 2016
TEACHING PROFESSION
Time to hand trust back to teachers
ABC News (opinion by Gabrielle Stroud), 14 Dec 2016
 With politically-inspired educational change in
Australia has come a stifling of teachers' autonomy and a
suppression of their judgment - and the absence of expected
progress as illustrated by the recently released NAPLAN results,
a freelance writer says...
Focus on relevant teacher professional improvement rather than
solely on NAPLAN-style numbers, The Conversation (opinion by
Ian Hardy), 14 Dec 2016
 WEATHER ADVICE
Damaging winds warning cancelled
BoM, 14 Dec 2016 3.35pm
The severe weather warning for
winds gusting in excess of 100km/h today (Wednesday) has been
cancelled, but the winds are persisting in being strong
nonetheless...
WEATHER ADVICE
High tide alert
 BoM, 13 Dec 2016
Unusually high
tides are expected on the southeast Tasmanian coast tomorrow,
peaking at around 8.30am when the sea level is expected to
exceed the already high tide by about 35 centimetres...
EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Do schools need more money or better spending?
ABC News, 13 Dec 2016
 Australia's
social segregation and uneven spending appear to be at the heart
of our relatively poor educational performance when
compared with other countries...
SHIPPING NEWS
Massive ship
arrives in Hobart
ABC Radio, 13 Dec 2016
The fourth-largest cruise ship in the world, the Ovation of the
Seas, docked in Hobart this morning but will leave later today
and return on Sunday...
NAPLAN
Aussie NAPLAN results plateau
ACARA website, 13 Dec 2016
The NAPLAN results of Australian
students have largely plateaued, a statement issued by ACARA
confirms...
NAPLAN website
NAPLAN National Report
for 2016 [pdf]
Little change in NAPLAN results, The Conversation (opinion
by Suzanne Rice), 13 Dec 2016
Need to boost student outcomes confirmed, Simon Birmingham,
Minister for Education and Training, 13 Dec 2016
Inequality must be addressed, Andrea Dawkins, Greens
education spokesperson, 13 Dec 2016
NAPLAN
Hilliard closure?
ABC News, 13 Dec 2016
 The Seventh Day
Adventist Hilliard Christian School in West Moonah is under
threat of closure pending an appeal over a Schools Registration
Board determination on the extent of the school's Australian
Curriculum content and assessment..
Minister cannot intervene, Tas Govt media release, 13
Dec 2016
WEATHER ADVICE
Fire
weather warning for SE, East Coast
BoM, 12 Dec 2016 1.17pm
A very high fire danger warning has been issued for the South
East and the East Coast on Tuesday.
 SCHOOL
CURRICULUM
Before you add mental health to the curriculum...
The Conversation (opinion by John Moriarty), 12 Dec 2016
Before educators introduce mental health
programmes into schools, they should think about six things, an
academic writes...
 PARENTS AND SCHOOL
Free app for parents improved
Aust Govt media release, 12 Dec 2016
Something to let parents know
about in the end-of-term newsletter: the federal government has
"refreshed" its free downloadable app,
Learning
Potential, which provides parents with
information, advice and activity suggestions...
Learning
Potential website and download page
STUDENT HEALTH AND SAFETY
Teen anorexia rise looming?
ABC News, 10 Dec 2016
 An unwanted side
effect of the coming boom in televised women's sport and the
associated images of apparent perfection could well be a jump in
the number of teenage girls battling anorexia nervosa and the
critical need for such cases to be identified early...
SCIENCE TEACHING
Direct instruction beats inquiry-based teaching
Aust Financial Review, 10 Dec 2016 [pdf archive]
Students achieved better PISA
science test results if they had been taught mainly using the more
formal direct instruction method rather than relying on the problem-based
inquiry method...
 SCHOOL STARTING AGE
Tenders called for earlier starting age report
Tas Govt media release, 10 Dec 2016
Tenders
have been invited for a consultant to prepare a report on the
implementation of the earlier school starting age changes,
education minister Jeremy Rockliff said today...
Tas government seeks
report into Education Act changes, The Examiner, 10 Dec 2016
 STUDENT HEALTH AND SAFETY
Active travel at Youngtown
The Examine, 9 Dec 2016
Youngtown Primary School, Bicycle Network Tasmania
and the local council are working to promote safe walking and
cycling to and from school through the Active Paths
program..
EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Behind
Singapore's PISA rankings success
The Conversation (opinion by Amanda Wise), 8 Dec 2016
Singapore's achievement in
topping the OECD rankings in science, maths and reading probably
has something to do with private tuition being provided to 60
per cent of its high school students, 80 per cent of primary
school students and 40 per cent of pre-schoolers, an academic
writes..
 NEW
ZEALAND
Bill English to be next NZ PM?
ABC News, 8 Dec 2016
New Zealand's finance minister
Bill English looks set to become the country's new prime minister
following the surprise resignation by John Keys...
THE
ARTS
Film award winners announced
The Mercury, 7 Dec 2016
 The MyState Student Film Festival award winners come
from the following schools:
- Goulburn Street Primary
-
Rosetta Primary
- Table Cape Primary
- Tarremah Steiner
School
- Launceston Christian School
- Taroona High
-
Riverside High
- Hobart College
- Rosny College
-
Newstead College
- St Patrick's College...
View the winning films (MyState website)
Riverside High students win award,
The Examiner, 8 Dec 2016
 EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE
How to improve those declining maths and science results
The Conversation (opinion by Alan Finkel), 7 Dec 2016
Australia's school maths and science performance can
be raised by restoring maths pre-requisites for university
courses, respecting teaching and recognising the influence of
school leaders, the Chief Scientist for Australia argues...
TASMANIAN SCHOOLS
Taroona High halt
Tas Govt media release, 7 Dec 2016
Education minister Jeremy
Rockliff has withdrawn the application to subdivide land at
Taroona High School in order for the proposal to be reviewed...
ANTARCTICA
Icy McIceface?
The Mercury, 7 Dec 2016
 A
competition for Australia's school students will determine
the name of the new icebreaker to replace the Aurora
Australis...
Next generation to name
new ship, Australian Antarctic Division, 7 Dec
2016
NAPLAN
No online NAPLAN trial in Tas next year
ITNews, 6 Dec 2016
Tasmania, NSW and the Northern Territory will not
use the online version of NAPLAN tests being trialled in 2017...
EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Tas below NT in Aussie PISA decline
ABC News, 6 Dec 2016
The 2015 PISA (Program for
International Student Assessment) report for 2015 shows that
Australia has declined absolutely as well as in country ranking
in averaged mathematics, reading and science results for
15-year-old students. Tasmania fared worse than the Northern
Territory, both performing below the OECD average...
ACER: PISA Australia website
PISA 2015: A first
look at Australia's results [pdf]
OECD PISA website
Inequities in Australia's
education system will cause a PISA decline, The Conversation (opinion by Radhika
Gorur), 5 Dec 2016
Australia's educational
inequality must be addressed, The Conversation (opinion by Stewart
Riddle and Bob Lingard), 6 Dec 2016
Tassie 15-year-olds worst in country, The Examiner, 7 Dec
2016
Gonski funding needed, says AEU, The Examiner, 8 Dec 2016
 EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
A thousand days of achievement
Tas Govt media release, 6 Dec 2016
Education minister Jeremy
Rockliff has identified over 100 ways he says the government has improved
education in Tasmania during its first 1,000 days in office...
RETENTION TO YEAR 12
Countering low Year 12 attainment
Tas Govt media release, 6 Dec 2016
 Through the $15 million
Collective Ed initiative, the Tasmanian
government, the Beacon Foundation and the Paul Ramsay Foundation
will help students at Rokeby High, the Jordan River Learning
Federation and Ulverstone High transition through Year 12 to
their chosen careers. Other schools will eventually be invited
to lodge expressions of interest to be among a further three
schools to take part...
PARENT-SCHOOL RELATIONS
School rates parents A-D
The Telegraph, 3 Dec 2016
 Staff at the UK's Greasely Beauvale
Primary School have given parents a score from A to D based on
school involvement, followed by an individual explanation of how
they could improve their score thereby raising their children's
performance...
TEACHING PROFESSION
More than 3,000 Tas teachers vulnerable
The Mercury (subscription access), 4 Dec 2016
 Only about 8,000 of Tasmania's 11,529 teachers have
so far
obtained working with vulnerable people registration which is
required by 1 January. About 250 other school staff whose
deadline was 1 September are now being sent home.
More resources should have been allocated to the
registration process, Michelle O'Byrne says,
The Examiner, 4 Dec 2016
School support staff sent home, Michelle O'Byrne, Opposition
education spokesperson, 5 Dec 2016
 COMPUTER SECURITY
Google Android alert
ABC News, 2 Dec 2016
Many Android 4 and 5 devices
are vulnerable to the Gooligan malware attack which affects
users' Google accounts after the downloading of infected apps.
You can use the Check
Point website to find whether your Google account is secure...
LITERACY
Phonics screening test advocated
The Conversation (opinion by Pamela Snow and others), 2 Dec 2016
A version of the
UK Phonics Screening Check needs to be trialled in Australia
because it holds the prospect of improving the reading skills of
children, particularly those with a history of underachievement,
four academics write...
 STUDENT NUTRITION
Candy canes banned at Tas school
ABC News, 2 Dec 2016
Candy canes and
birthday cakes have been banned at Bellerive Primary School
to support the school's new healthy eating policy...
 MATHS OPPORTUNITY OR CRAZE?
School embraces bottle-flipping
ABC News, 1 Dec 2016
An annoying craze in the eyes
of some people, the flipping of partially-filled plastic bottles
with the aim of making them land standing upright has been
embraced as a means of teaching mathematical concepts at a
Sydney school...
NATIONAL POLITICS
Backpacker tax finally passes
ABC News, 1 Dec 2016
The backpacker tax has passed the Senate, with the Greens
supporting the government's rate of 15 per
cent albeit with concessions...
For the latest news items see the news page.
|
See the