Australia

Students use social media to ruin reputation of school

Queensland Education cyber-safety teams received close to 340 calls from schools in 2014-15 due to reports of students using Facebook and Instagram to damage the reputation of schools and individual staff. The Courier Mail quotes Queensland Teachers’ Union president Kevin Bates as stating that these posts ‘sometimes involve students making spurious claims about teachers or principals at their school, which are both frivolous and vexatious’.

New approach to teacher training

The Australian reports that over the next couple of months about 17,000 new teachers will graduate across Australia with many feeling underprepared and overwhelmed when they enter classrooms. Learning First, a Melbourne-based education reform organisation, has hosted teacher educators from seven countries to discuss new ways to train teachers for the classroom and prepare a report for government reform.

Students who miss school due to illness are being left behind

A new report has found that close to 60,000 school students in Australia experience significant absence from school due to illness but there is no uniform mechanism to help students to continue learning during their absence. The ABC reports that the use of technological innovations such as Skype to bring children into the classroom for home could be the answer to this national issue.

Parent accuses school of child labour

The NT Times reports that a mother has accused a non-government school in Darwin of using children as cleaners in a bid to save money. The school denied the claims, stating that students are encouraged to clean their classrooms each afternoon to ‘respect their environment’. The primary school students clean their classroom whiteboard, sweep the floors and stack the chairs at the end of each day.

Knives and guns brought to West Australian schools

Perth Now News reports that flick knives, fake guns, slingshots and pepper spray were among weapons brought to school by WA students over the past year. The Education Department reports that there were 60 incidents involving a prohibited weapon and in most incidents students were carrying the weapons to protect themselves from perceived threats.

Chairman and board of Islamic college sacked after complaints

The Australian reports that the chairman of the Islamic College of South Australia has been dismissed by the President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils following months of complaints and protests by school parents and numerous investigations into the management of the school. While the dismissal is the action the protesting parents have been waiting for, it may plunge the school into further crisis in terms of funding and the potential closure of the school by government authorities.

Victorian schools banned from restraining students with straps

The Department of Education has released new rules regarding ‘violent and dangerous student behaviours’ that prohibit teachers from using straps to restrain students, holding them on the ground or locking them in seclusion rooms. The Age reports that the new rules were emailed to principals last week as part of a crackdown on forced restraint and seclusion in Victorian schools.

Social and emotional learning in Tasmanian schools

The ABC reports there has been a push in Tasmania from the Opposition to make social and emotional learning compulsory for primary and high school students. The classes, supported by Tasmania’s Mental Health Council, focus on the mental health of students in the same way physical education classes focus on the physical health of students.

International

California schools becomes first to lose chairs for standing desks

An elementary school in California will be the first school in the country to have standing desks in all classrooms. CBS News reports that the benefits to students trialling the desks were almost immediate with an increase in grades, attention-span and energy burn.

Students asked to sign ‘hard work contracts’

The Scotland Herald has reported that in an effort to improve standards, a Scottish high school has asked students to sign ‘contracts’ pledging to work hard to pass exams. By signing the contracts the students agree to act on their teacher’s advice, take care of their textbooks and supplies, meet all deadlines and study for and pass preliminary examinations.

Mother banned from school after heated argument with staff

An English mother has received a letter banning her from school premises after a confrontation with staff about a uniform policy. Yahoo UK reports that the school accused the parent of being rude and aggressive towards teaching staff in front of children when she confronted them about the uniform ban.