Australia

Survey shows principal health and wellbeing is deteriorating

Preliminary figures from this year’s Australian Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey reveal that one in 10 principals thinks about self-harm or has a low quality of life. The Age reports that approximately 1200 Australian principals have taken part in the survey so far this year. Leaders of the survey say that excessive administration tasks and demands from parents are to blame.

New online tests for South Australian students

South Australia will be the first jurisdiction to adopt a new online reading comprehension and mathematics test for students in Years 3 to 10. The ABC reports that the annual test will be used in addition to NAPLAN tests. SA Education Minister Susan Close said the results of the online tests will be available to schools immediately, enabling teaches to evaluate their teaching and learning strategies.

Students are stealing teachers’ passwords to bypass internet filters

A study by Monash University found that nearly 60% of the 1200 Victorian high school students surveyed are bypassing the Education Department’s internet filtering software to access restricted sites in class. Stealing teacher logins, reconfiguring devices, using anonymous proxy servers and finding system loopholes are listed as the main strategies. The Age quotes a Victorian Education Department spokesman as saying that parents and students need to be educated on cyber safety because no filtering system is ‘bulletproof’.

ACT schools engage transgender support organisation

The Canberra Times reports that over 20 ACT schools have engaged A Gender Agenda to provide support and education to staff and students about gender dysphoria in young people. The organisation works with schools to increase awareness and understanding of sex and gender diversity issues.

International

Teacher facing jail time for fraud

A teacher from an Auckland grammar school charged with unlawfully using colleagues’ personal details in a bid to make money is now facing further charges of credit card fraud. Using the personal details of the other staff members, the teacher allegedly applied for various credit cards in their names, the NZ Herald reports. The teacher will face up to seven years in jail if found guilty.

Teacher suspended for profane tweets

St. Louis Today reported that a teacher was placed on administrative leave on Tuesday after profane tweets about baseball and Ferguson protests landed her in hot water. The school district announced that the teacher will keep her job and that the incident has prompted the creation of a policy specific to social media communication.

Controversial government experiment in English schools

The UK government received mixed feedback when it introduced Chinese-style maths lessons into English schools, however Schools Minister Nick Gibb has heralded the experiment as one of the most successful things the Department of Education has done. The Guardian reports that the minister has described the results as incredible, and that less-able children are faring particularly well.

NZ schools need more funding to tackle violence in schools

A New Zealand teachers’ union has said that there is an urgent need for more funding to address violence in schools, 3 News reports. Half of Northland principals surveyed feel ill-prepared to deal with disturbed students and the union believes extra funding to provide more teacher aides and professional mental-health staff would be a big help.