AUSTRALIA

Education experts say school week could be cut to three days, online lessons added

According to the Herald Sun, the school week in Victoria could be reduced to three days as a growing cohort of students are taught in shifts.  This idea comes from a Deakin University associate professor of digital learning who said that ballooning numbers may send students online and rotating students through fewer classroom lessons and offering top-education online is the future of education.

Autistic children in classroom help mainstream peers, learning specialist says

ABC News reported about an Edith Cowan University senior lecturer in education saying that having children with autism can benefit all students.  However, the senior lecturer says that teachers must be properly trained so they can deal with children with autism.  This is in response to Federal Senator Pauline Hanson’s comments during a parliamentary debate.

South Yarra Primary School parents call for new classrooms, tougher school zone restrictions

The Leader wrote about parents of a Melbourne school saying their school is bursting at the seams due to some parents faking details and renting properties in the area just to get into the school’s area.  Victoria’s Education Minister has disapproved the acts of parents who are faking their way into popular school zones to enrol their children.

Schools should involve families when looking for solutions to bullying, university study finds

According to The Advertiser, a UniSA study showing that parents should be more involved in school bullying strategies, but are often being excluded from the solution to the problem.  Research shows that one third of the schools surveyed are not involving parents as part of their anti-bullying strategies, despite ranking this as one of the five most effective ways to stop bullying.

INTERNATIONAL

Turkey: Turkey to stop teaching evolution in schools

Sky news reported that Turkey is to stop teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in high schools, deeming it controversial and difficult to understand. The chapter entitled, ‘Beginning of Life and Evolution’ will be removed from the biology text books, but the material will be available to university studies from the age of 18 or 19.  The senior education official said: “We are aware that if our students don't have the background to comprehend the premises and hypotheses, or if they don't have the knowledge and scientific framework, they will not be able to understand some controversial issues, so we have left out some of them.”

UK: School apologises after students made to write suicide notes for assignment

9 News reported about teachers at a UK school setting students an assignment to write suicide notes as part of their studies on Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  60 students completed the assignment before a number of parents complained.  The school posted a statement on their social media page saying their year eight students were asked to write a suicide letter from Lady Macbeth to her husband, explaining her decision to kill herself.

UK: Private religious school fails third Ofsted inspection because it does not teach about LGBT issues

The Telegraph reported about a UK religious girls’ school failing its third Office of Standards of Education (Ofsted) inspection because it does not teach students about homosexuality or gender reassignment.  Ofsted said that "this restricts pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and does not promote equality of opportunity in ways that take account of differing lifestyles.

Canada: Banning of junk food sales in Canadian schools having a positive effect: study

CBC News reported that over the past 12 years, six provinces have banned junk food from schools, and a new study says the measure is having a positive impact on student health.  A health economist from the University of New Brunswick said, "it's a small step in the right direction … Combined with other policies of this type, you can hope to see real difference over time."  Research revealed that for each year a student was exposed to a junk food ban, there was a corresponding 0.05 decline in their BMI.