Australia

Education is a big winner in QLD State Budget

The Queensland Government has delivered its first budget with a record $9 billion to be spent on education in 2015-16. In good news for private schools, the 2015-16 budget disclosed $757 million in total assistance for non-state schools.

The Budget papers reveal that the $9 billion will be used to provide more teachers, boost student support, upgrade facilities and build new schools. The Educator reported that $123.6 million over the next three years has been allocated to the non-state schooling sector to enable it to meet enrolment growth. $45.9 million has been specifically delegated to assist private schools in providing, converting, refurbishing and upgrading educational facilities or boarding accommodation.

Banning nuts not necessary in schools

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that banning nuts in schools does not protect students from anaphylactic attacks but instead can cause resentment and bullying of children with food allergies. Official anaphylaxis prevention guidelines from the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) form the basis of each State and Territory’s individual anaphylaxis guidelines. The ASCIA’s guidelines will be updated in the coming months to explicitly state that food bans in upper primary and high schools have not been proven to reduce risk, are difficult to enforce, may result in a false sense of security, may trigger resentment and lack of co-operation with more important measures and may at times result in the bullying of the individual students.

NAPLAN essays to be typed as handwriting skills wane in schools

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has decided that the national literacy exam will no longer be a handwritten test from 2017. The Australian reported that Year 3 students will be given up to an hour to type a half-page story when the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) goes online. The ACARA General Manager insisted that the online test would not give students with superior typing skills any advantage over slower typists. ACARA’s CEO said that the change will mean better tests that meet the needs of all students, including those with a disability, as well as more precise results with the use of a tailored test design.’

Former Geelong Grammar teacher admits to sexually abusing six students in the 1980s

The ABC reported that John Hamilton Buckley has plead guilty in the Victorian County Court to 13 charges of sexual abuse against children under 16. Buckley, now 74, was a boarding house master and drama teacher at Geelong Grammar’s junior school in the 1980s. Buckley’s guilty plea comes just days after the Royal Commission announced it would hold public hearings into Geelong Grammar later this year. The court heard of how one of the victim’s parents had made a complaint to the principal of the school at the time of the incident, but nothing came of the complaint. Buckley will be sentenced later this year, and the Royal Commission will continue with public hearings into Geelong Grammar as planned.

International

USA: Family of autistic boy sues  Catholic School District for failing to provide care

The Edmonton Journal has reported that the parents of a 19-year-old autistic boy are suing the Edmonton Catholic School District (ECSD) for $824,428.98 to compensate the family after the student fell down the steps of a school bus.

The parents of Artur Rzadzinksi are claiming that the ECSD failed to provide proper care for their son on a class field trip last February. The teachers on the field trip were aware of Artur’s disabilities including poor depth perception and other eyesight problems that led him to have balance problems and an unstable gait. As a result of the fall the special needs student spent seven weeks in hospital, requiring surgery on a fractured hip and will likely need ongoing physical therapy for the injury.

Burnt to a crisp:UK school bans spicy Doritos after they cause boy to stop breathing

14-year-old Beth Laybourn thought she was ‘going to die’ after eating a packet of Doritos Roulette chips at a UK school, The Guardian reported. A description of the product on the Doritos website states ‘one chip in every handful is so spicy it may bring you to tears.’ The student, who suffers from extreme asthma, had difficulty breathing and had a major asthma attack at the school after consuming the chips. The United States have already banned the fiery flavour and several UK schools, believing them to an unacceptable health and safety risk, have done the same.

Mother accuses UK school of ‘total neglect’ after her teenage soon suffers agonising sunburn blisters after ignoring teachers’ advice

Also in the UK, the Daily Mail has reported that teachers from Buile Hill Visual Arts College in England, told pupils to wear sunscreen on their excursion to a water park in Barcelona, but several students failed to do so. Four students required hospital treatment for severe sunburn, including 15-year-old Connor Pritchard. Pritchard’s mother is alleging neglect on the part of teachers for not telling students to reapplying sunscreen throughout the day and adequately warning the students about the risks of sun exposure. Teachers from the college were not allowed to enforce their guidance by applying sunscreen to students themselves because of school rules. The school’s headteacher has said that he might have to cancel future trips abroad if pupils cannot follow instructions from teachers as the health and safety risks are too high.

Group sues 13 school districts for not using test scores in teacher evaluations

An education advocacy group has sued 13 California school districts, claiming that they have ignored a state law requiring teachers’ performance evaluations to include their students’ standardised test scores. The LA Times reported. that this is the second time that a California court will rule on whether test scores are mandatory in teacher reviews.  The Obama administration has offered incentives to schools that use these scores in their evaluations of teaching staff; however some of the largest school systems in California have barred this procedure through collective-bargaining agreements with teachers unions. The education advocacy group who filed the complaint allege that these agreements are illegal under state law