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February 25: School Governance Weekly Wrap

24/02/16
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Australia

Review of Safe Schools LGBTI program ordered

The Guardian reports that the Safe Schools program, funded by the former Labor government as an anti-bullying initiative for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex students, will be reviewed after concerns from the Liberal Party’s conservative right wing. Prime Minister Turnbull has requested the review, to report in March, after Liberal backbenchers condemned the program for its ‘inappropriate’ teachings and urged the Federal government to ‘defund the program which was usurping the role of parents by taking over the role of educator on sexual matters’.  The Safe Schools Coalition has released a statement welcoming the review and ‘all opportunities to demonstrate the positive impact of this important program’.

Victorian teachers demand better pay

Teachers in Victoria are asking for a 21 per cent pay rise over the next three years as well as relief from an ever-expanding workload and a reduction in the use of short-term contracts. The Age reports that the demands will prove to be a significant test of the Andrews Government’s promise to make Victoria the ‘Education State’. Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said the government needed to pay teachers more if it wanted to attract the best and brightest and that ‘this is a significant opportunity for the government to show their support for school staff’s day-to-day working and living conditions’.

Newtown school changes gender rules for uniforms

The ABC reports that students at Newtown Performing Arts High School in Sydney have been told that anyone can wear a skirt to school, can refer to themselves as either male or female, and that those identifying as female may use the girls’ toilets. The Australian Christian Lobby has condemned the move with managing director Lyle Shelton worried about ‘rainbow politics’ entering schools. Parents at the school have welcomed the change saying that the new uniform policy ensures that children aren’t ‘forced into pigeonholes by the school’ and can feel safe.

Male teacher numbers dwindling, work in education an ‘isolating experience’ for men

The ABC reports that male teachers have become a rare sight in primary schools across Australia, and, as the number of men enrolling in education dwindles, there are concerns that they could become a thing of the past. For example at the University of South Australia, only 17 per cent of primary teaching students are male. Early childhood education lecturer Martyn Mills-Bayne told the ABC that there are two main reasons for the low numbers: the common perception that caring for and working with young children is a woman’s role, and male students fear false accusations of impropriety with young children that could end their career.

Investigation into former teacher’s employment could spark legislative change in QLD

An investigation into a former Queensland teacher’s employment history has revealed that he was working at one school while on suspension from another due to allegations of impropriety with students. The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones has vowed to change the law to allow information about ongoing investigations concerning a teacher’s conduct or registration to teach to be made available to share between schools.

Former principal took no action after learning teacher kissed boys

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard that a senior Christian Brother formerly employed as the principal of St Patrick’s College in Ballarat saw nothing wrong with one of his colleagues kissing every boy in his class before they left school for the day. The Herald Sun reports that the former principal told the Commission ‘at the time it occurred I didn’t regard it as such a serious nature. I understood it to be an expression of an eccentric old man.’ The hearing continues.

Measles outbreak in Victorian primary schools, health department warns of more cases to come

A measles outbreak has spread to two primary schools in Melbourne, sparking fears many more people will be infected by the potentially deadly infectious disease. The Age reports that the spread of the outbreak comes after the Victorian Department of Health warned of more cases to come and revealed that 21 unvaccinated children have been banned from a school where two children are infected. The President of the Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association Tony Bartone said the outbreak was ‘a huge concern’, particularly when some suburbs affected did not have the 95 per cent immunisation rates to create herd immunity.

New Victorian Commissioner for Children appointed

Liana Buchanan has been appointed as Victoria’s new Commissioner for Children. The Age reports that Ms Buchanan has said she will hold government and agencies to account and be an independent source of advice to them, informed by the voices of children and young people. The Commission for Children and Young People has extended Ms Buchanan’s new role, adding responsibility for a new centralised reporting scheme in Victoria, scheduled for release later this year.

Malek Fahd Islamic Schools says it has funds to continue

The Australian reports that the embattled Malek Fahd Islamic School has distributed a letter reassuring parents that the school has the funds to ‘continue to function as normal’ despite being stripped of $15 million of Federal funding. The School also announced that its legal team plans to seek an Internal Review of the Department of Education’s decision to cut funding and, if necessary, will make appropriate appeals to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and as a final resort, to the courts.  Executive principal Shamser Ali also wrote that a new school board would “soon be elected” in a process supervised by an “outside, totally independent organisation, not the school, community or AFIC” (Australian Federation of Islamic Councils).

International

Lifetime bans for Trojan horse teachers

Two teachers who worked at a ‘Trojan horse’ linked school in the UK where pupils were ‘fed on a diet of Islam’ have been banned from the classroom for life. ITV News reports that the National College for Teaching and Leadership panel has extended the teachers’ interim teaching bans to an indefinite ban for a minimum period of six years and three years respectively. The teachers will be permitted to apply to have the ban set aside after the minimum period, however there is no guarantee it will be lifted. To read more about the Trojan horse schools scandal see our previous article: ‘Trojan horse’ schools and radical Islam: UK teacher found guilty of professional misconduct in ongoing scandal

Elementary school under fire after sending ‘embarrassing’ prank document to parents

News.com reports that parents at an elementary school in Delaware were left fuming when they received a document titled ‘Hurt Feelings Report’ poking fun at students who ‘whine’ about their ‘hurt feelings’. The sarcastic ‘Hurt Feelings Report’ asks recipients to fill in answers to questions like ‘Type of whine used’ and ‘Which ear were the hurtful words spoken into?’ The school’s principal has sent out a recorded phone message apologising to parents stating that the attachment was something that had been sent to them from a person external to the school.

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