MySchool website to include disability access information

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the MySchool website will soon include information showing the level of disability inclusion at schools around Australia, with every State and Territory Education Minister in agreement. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) announced the change one week after a Senate inquiry found ‘disgraceful’ treatment of school children with disabilities in Australia.

John Marsden’s creative school breaks the independent school mould

The Age reports that the Alice Miller School, brainchild of bestselling children’s author John Marsden, will open its doors to students next week. Students at the new school will start classes at 10:30am, read the paper and chat with teachers over coffee in the school’s café and spend 20 minutes at the end of the day cleaning the school. Marsden told The Age that he believes there’s no point opening a new school if it replicates what is already out there.

Teaching students to face personality assessments

The NSW Board of Studies has confirmed that teaching students in NSW will face personality tests from next year. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Board of Studies’ move to implement personality tests at all universities is the latest development in the NSW Government’s crackdown on teacher training. President of the NSW Council of Deans of Education Chris Davison said the assessments will draw from tests similar to those undertaken for the army to weed out candidates unsuited to teaching before they begin their degrees.

New Victorian teachers fear they won’t be registered in time for school

The Age reports that a significant number of graduate teachers fear they will be unqualified to teach when school returns this week due to delays in their registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). Teachers’ applications must be completed prior to commencing employment at a school. Australia Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said that some teachers have been waiting since September for their certification.

Prep to become compulsory for Queensland children from 2017

The ABC reports that Prep attendance will become mandatory for Queensland children from 2017 under proposed legislative changes to ensure that ‘no child is left behind’. In Queensland Prep is recognised as the first year of school for children and provides the foundation of a child’s education prior to commencing Year 1. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told the ABC that while most people believe that Prep is already compulsory, it is not but will be from 2017.

Queensland children potentially at risk of sexual abuse

The Queensland Times reports that child protection reports sent from local principals and teachers through Queensland’s OneSchool computer system between January 28 and July 30 2015 did not reach authorities. There were 644 reports sent during this period and police have refused to say whether children are still at risk of sexual abuse after the computer program malfunction or if all have been checked.

International

Teacher suspended after buying LSD

A New Zealand teacher has been censured and suspended by the Education Council after buying tabs of the psychedelic drug LSD for his friends. Radio New Zealand News reported that the Council decided that due to the teacher’s history with similar drugs, this amounted to serious misconduct and suspended him for 12 months.

New rules to ban secularist groups from complaining against faith schools

The UK Government has announced new rules to stop admissions complaints against faith schools from secularist campaign groups. Education Minister Nicky Morgan announced that the rules will eliminate the ‘admissions bureaucracy’ to ensure that parents have more of a say in the process. She said ‘we are ensuring only local parents and councils can object to admission arrangements, which will also put a stop to vexatious complaints against faith schools by secularist campaign groups.’ The plan has been condemned by some campaigners as ‘an affront to democracy and the rule of law’.

Six-year-old’s head injury shows need for school repairs

A Year 2 student in Canada received a concussion when she was pinned down under a broken bathroom stall at a school ranked by the government as in need of ‘critical’ repairs. CTV News Toronto reported that the school board has said that while there was a ‘critical’ rating, the ratings do not mean that schools are unsafe but rather that repairs or renovation are needed.