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October 13: School Governance Weekly Wrap

12/10/16

AUSTRALIA

Creepy clown threats send Colac Trinity College into lockdown

The Age reports that the so-called 'clown craze' has spread to Australia. The clown craze that has taken off involves young people dressing as frightening clowns and appearing in parklands, near schools, on public transport and in public places to frighten unsuspecting passers-by. Trinity College in Colac went into lockdown on Tuesday at about 11am after receiving threatening phone calls informing that clowns would invade the school grounds. Students were ordered to stay indoors for 45 minutes. Police attended the scene.

Record one million students to squeeze into Victorian schools

The Age reports that portables are being rolled out in schools across Victoria in an attempt to house the rapidly growing student population. The problem is most dire in the inner suburbs of Melbourne where schools are experimenting with staggered start times and lunch breaks to facilitate the growing student numbers. Case in point - Alamanda College in Point Cook has grown from 330 to 1675 students in the last three years alone. Independent and Catholic schools will have to accommodate at least 1 million students within the next four years. James Merlino, Victoria's Education Minister said that a population boom was to blame and that new three-story portables would be the way of the future – the only real solution to managing rapid growth.

Children's eSafety Commissioner reports 75 percent increase in cyberbullying complaints

ZD Net reports that there has been a 75 per cent increase in cyberbullying reports in the three months to September 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. The Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner responded to 70 serious cyber bullying complaints during that time. Andree Wright, Acting Children's eSafety Commissioner, said the department does not remove the content, its duty is education. Their focus is on a 'holistic approach'. Their aim is for no one to 'slip through the cracks'. The Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner was originally set up as part of the Australian Communications and Media Authority in July 2015 by the Federal Government after it was discovered that as many as one in five Australian children aged eight to 17 have experienced cyberbullying.

Gippsland school sends pupils to convicted child sex offender for work experience

The Herald Sun reports that as part of a work experience program, a child sex offender was given unsupervised one-to-one access to three students. The offender, Daniel John Freeman, was jailed in 2005. He was also put on the sex offenders register for life. At the time, he pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child under 16. In the past few days, he has been given a further jail term of 32 months for failing to comply with his obligations as required by the sexual offender register in utilising social media and email accounts to groom children. The children worked with Freeman at a local radio station. They were not sexually assaulted but another teenager was. Advocate against paedophilia, Senator Derryn Hinch is hardly surprised by the failure of the system to keep the children safe.

INTERNATIONAL

Boarding school principal allegedly 'gave go-ahead on exam cheating' 

The Telegraph reports that a boarding school principal has been outed as an accused purveyor of cheating who instilled a culture of exam fraud in his students. Jonathan Taylor, the Principal of Wymondham College in the United Kingdom allegedly allowed students the green light to cheat on their GCSE assessments. He did this by giving them extra time to complete their examinations. The former acting head of information and computer technology at the school, Arshad Ali, said there was a policy of cheating. Mr Ali told the employment tribunal on Monday that the impropriety was driven from the top. He was concerned about the principal's attitude regarding examinations. He also claimed that teachers were giving students marked coursework for continued improvement which was against examination procedure. The employment tribunal is expected to last three days.

Parents furious to find out children were put in small, dark room for being naughty

Stuff reports that a child with autism was locked in a small, dark, room. A group of parents from Miramar Central School in NZ met the principal after it was revealed that the 11-year-old boy was put in the room 13 times in nine days. Further, at least 10 other children had been shut in there since 2015. The Ministry of Education launched an investigation into the event to uncover the incident discovering that the incident was more systemic than initially suspected. Parents are now furious. Many are now calling for the Principal, John Taylor-Smith to step down and for the school to hold a public meeting.

Shocking video shows teacher 'dragging special needs student by hair and hitting her over the head

The Mirror reports that a video of a teacher dragging a special needs student by the hair and hitting her over the head has gone viral on the internet. The clips were reportedly filmed at Greenville High School in Mississippi on October 6. A concerned mother posted the clips on Facebook after being  sent them by her daughter. The mother, who also has a special needs child at the school, believed other parents in her position would support her too. Errick D Simmons, the Mayor of the Region responded to the footage by saying that 'I am deeply concerned, like many of you.' He reassured parents that the school district had begun to take appropriate actions to continue efforts to guarantee the safety and integrity of the educational environment.

 

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