Australia:

More than 50 students suspended following cyberbullying incident

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that more than 50 students were suspended from a high school near Newcastle in NSW. In a letter to parents, the school’s principal said that the suspended students had made negative, abusive and harassing comments about other students on social media or had ‘liked’ the inappropriate comments. The parent community are divided over the suspensions with some believing it was appropriate to ‘nip this behaviour in the bud’, but others viewing the 20 day suspensions as unjustified.

VRQA investigates alternative ‘stress-free’ private school

The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) is investigating a Victorian independent primary school after receiving a series of complaints that its implementation of a ‘stress-free’ environment actually induced stress in its students, and the parent body. The school offers ‘consciousness-based education’ and teaches meditation techniques embraced by the Beatles. The Age reports that an Education Department spokesperson has said ‘the VRQA’s review will investigate the active compliance of the school in relation to potential breaches of the relevant minimum standards.’

New South Wales school tackling domestic violence

The ABC reports that a school in northern NSW is tackling the issue of domestic violence head on and its young men are reaping the reward. The Tamworth school runs a White Ribbon domestic violence program all year round, this year adding female students to the program. The school’s principal has said that the program encourages self-confidence and teaches self-worth through a series of workshops, providing a safe platform for students to speak about issues they may be facing at home.

Catholic school censors health workbook according to religious teachings

The Age reports that a Victorian Catholic school has asked its students to tear out a page of their health textbook that refers to pre-marital sex and homosexuality. The page asked students whether they believed in sex before marriage and what tips they would give a friend who was thinking of losing their virginity. It also included a photo of two men hugging and smiling, listing different sexual preferences. The school’s principal said that students were asked to remove the page because it referred to issues that were better dealt with in religious education classes.

School writes to parents warning against online teacher abuse

The Herald Sun reports that parents bullying teachers online and unleashing nasty comments on social media is becoming such a problem that one Victorian school has resorted to firing off legal letters. Many schools are reprimanding parents for making defamatory remarks about the school and its teachers on public forums, and including parents and carers in the school’s social media policies, as teachers are increasingly subject to abuse.

Federal government reinstates funding to three Islamic schools

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham has announced that three Islamic schools whose funding was threatened earlier this year would continue to receive funding under the Education Act. The governing bodies of the schools have promised to reform their ways after an audit uncovered governance failures and financial mismanagement. Mr Birmingham said that they had ‘identified and committed to implementing substantial changes to their operations’ including substantial changes to their constitution and commencing an implementation plan of self-identified improvements and changes stipulated by the Education Department.

Private school students in knife incident at camp

The Australian reports that two students at a non-government school in South Australia have been involved in a serious incident during a year 8 camp involving a knife. A spokeswoman from the school has said that the school and South Australian police were made aware of the incident on a recent school camp and that the South Australian police were managing the incident with the school’s cooperation. One parent is reported to be unhappy with the way the matter is being dealt with and said the incident involved other inappropriate behaviour besides the misuse of a knife.

International:

Auckland school attacked for telling females to lengthen skirts

The ABC reports that a New Zealand high school has been blasted by social media users for instructing its female students to lower their skirt hemlines because they were ‘distracting’ for male teachers. The school’s deputy principal summoned 40 female students to a meeting to instruct them to lower their hemlines in order to ‘keep our girls safe, stop boys from getting ideas and create a good work environment for male staff’.

Former school principal found guilty of professional misconduct

A former school principal in Canada has been found guilty of professional misconduct following charges of bribing teachers to change her daughter’s marks and mishandling classes for other students. CKOM reports that six months after the principal left the school she sent text messages to two English teachers asking them to ‘upgrade’ her daughter’s Grade 12 English grade so that she could skip a university course she was having difficulty with. The guilty verdict by the disciplinary board will most likely see the former principal lose her teaching certificate.