AUSTRALIA

Matchmakers help parents decide on private schools

The Age reports that Melbourne-based firm Regent Consulting offers a ‘matchmaking’ service that helps parents select the right school for their child. The process can take between two and 18 months and also includes negotiations with schools on a parent’s behalf to increase their child’s chances of enrolment. Managing director of Regent Consulting Paul O’Shannassy told The Age that competition is so fierce, some schools have offered him bribes in the hope they will be promoted to prospective parents.

WA non-government school brings in debt collectors to chase fees

Perth Now reports that a non-government school in Western Australia will call on debt collectors to chase up parents who fail to pay school fees on time after the school was left hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket. The school’s principal wrote in the school’s newsletter “notwithstanding that the college is willing to listen to all requests for assistance, it is essential that this trend be stopped.” The principal also pointed to a clause in the school’s fees and charges agreement that stated the school’s intention to call in debt collectors after a certain period of time following the due date.

Birth control in schools cause concern

The Age reports that doctors will visit 100 disadvantaged state secondary schools in Victoria from next year as part of a Labor election promise aimed at giving students better access to health care. Critics including the Opposition and the Australian Medical Association have voiced fears that children as young as 12 could soon have access to the contraceptive pill at school without their parents’ knowledge under the initiative. The AMA warned that a lot of work still had to be done before the program could be implemented to prevent it leading to fragmented care for students.

Last ‘all-paper’ NAPLAN tests

The Courier Mail reports that paper and pencil will be used in the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) by some students for the last time this week in Queensland. From next year students from up to 100 Queensland schools will take the test online. It is reported that 10 per cent of schools across Australia will transition to the online testing next year, but education experts aren’t convinced it is the best move with concerns that students are not equipped for the change.

Teachers evacuated following axe-wielding teen

Education HQ reports that teachers at a Cape York school won’t return for at least a week after the principal was carjacked by a group of teenagers, including one wielding an axe. It is reported that the incident was sparked by the group which attempted to break into the homes of two of the school’s teachers resulting in the principal going ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ responding to assist the teachers. On arrival the principal was confronted by the group.  The school will be closed for five school days with teachers reportedly agreeing to return to work if their safety concerns are alleviated.

Queensland urged to abolish age restrictions on suing for child sexual abuse

The Guardian reports that Queensland is yet to make a move towards removing time limits used by churches and elite private schools to reduce their exposure to abuse claims. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse included this change as one of its final recommendations eight months ago prompting three other states (Victoria, NSW and WA) to either pass or table reforms in parliament. The Queensland Government is now facing calls to act on this recommendation to abolish a loophole that prevents victims of child sexual abuse suing for compensation after the age of 21.

Parents support school’s ‘hardline’ stance on discipline

Five students have been expelled from a non-government in Queensland after two were observed smoking a ‘suspicious substance’ and an investigation revealed a further three students were involved. The Courier Mail reports that a letter to parents from the school’s headmaster included a statement that the students involved and their families had been offered support and counselling. It is reported that the response from other parents at the school has been one of strong support for the new principal’s tough ‘zero tolerance’ approach to discipline.

INTERNATIONAL

11-year-old student arrested for grievous bodily harm

ITV reports that an 11-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after another student collapsed at a school in Reading, England. A 12-year-old boy suffered serious injuries after an apparent assault in the school’s playground and was taken by air ambulance to a hospital. The police are appealing to any witnesses who have mobile phone footage of the incident to assist their investigation.

Teacher banned from classroom after messaging pupil on social media

A 32-year-old male teacher has been found by a UK teacher’s disciplinary panel to have exchanged messages with a girl on social media. While the teacher was cleared of allegations of a more serious nature, the panel struck the teacher off for two year for allegations which had been upheld which amounted to ‘unacceptable professional conduct’. Express and Star reports that it was made clear that the ban will not be lifted automatically, but rather that the teacher will have to convince another disciplinary panel that he is fit to return to teaching.