AUSTRALIA

Adelaide school bans students from ordering UberEATS

9 News reported about an Adelaide school banning students from ordering lunches using UberEATS app.  The school issued a warning to parents, warning them of significant safety risks for their children to leave school grounds and have contact with adults that have not had proper screening.

Private schools surveyed on students’ mental health

The Educator wrote about the NAB Independent Schools Wellbeing Survey 2017 identifying how one-in-seven primary school students and one-in-four secondary school students have significant psychological problems.  The NAB engaged 90 non-government schools across Australia to Assess the wellbeing of their students.  Overall, independent schools believe their students are coping only “moderately” well with their anxiety, however, primary school students – both boys and girls – are coping much better than secondary students.

Private school to pay back $4.3 million to the NSW Government

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a non-government school will have to pay back $4.3 million in taxpayer funds to the NSW Government after it was found to be operating illicitly for profit for seven years.  The repayment agreement between the NSW Government and the non-government states that it will lose all future funding if it ever employed, contracted or paid its former principal or any member of his family.

Schools are struggling to deal with a surge in the number of students who cannot speak English

The Daily Telegraph reported about how an entire school in Western Sydney are now made up of foreign speaking student, with teachers and experts warning more funding is needed to cope with the growing language barriers.  The school’s 520 students, speaking 39 different languages from 31 countries.

Boy taken out of school by police after drug find

The Age reported about a student being marched out of an unnamed Victorian non-government school, by Police, after being arrested for drug trafficking allegations.  A few weeks before the arrest, the student and a few friends decided to buy 100 tabs of acid off the dark web, but Police became involved after one of his friends took the hallucinogenic drug and ended up in hospital.

INTERNATIONAL

China: Why Chinese Education Companies are Chasing US Teachers

Forbes Magazine reported about how Chinese parents are eager to have US teachers teach their students. Unsatisfied with Chinese classrooms’ stilted teaching style – and armed with the belief that good English skills are a necessity in the increasingly global China – they want to connect directly with teachers from the US. The process works like web conferencing. During lessons, which are usually 30 minutes long, students sit in front of their computers and watch their teachers speak, while they are halfway across the world.

UK: Grammar school 'unlawfully threw out' students who failed to get top grades

According to The Guardian, families launched legal action against a prominent grammar school in London after the 16 students were denied final year places.  The school informed the students that they were being withdrawn from receiving final year placements because they did not get the required grade on their exams. One father accused the school of dumping his son like “old garbage."

USA: Lawsuit: School created culture of abuse and excessive force

680 News reported about how Pittsburgh school with a history of racial tension created a culture of verbal abuse and excessive force.  Lawsuit by the guardians of five African-American former students of school, also says the school administrators “intentionally discriminated” against students because of their race and filed false charges to cover up abuse.