AUSTRALIA

English to become compulsory in Queensland

Education HQ reports that while 98 per cent of students in Year 11 and 12 already study English, the Queensland Government is set to make the subject compulsory subject for all students. Currently it is up to each school in Queensland whether English is compulsory for its senior secondary students. Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones has assembled a taskforce to examine senior assessment and tertiary entrance which will next week decide whether English will be a compulsory subject.

School theatre building set on fire deliberately

The ABC reports that a fire that caused extensive damage to a building at a Gold Coast non-government school is believed to have been deliberately lit. Police have declared the site a crime scene and are treating the blaze as suspicious. The school’s principal stated that while it was devastating to see the building destroyed, class will continue for senior students as usual and ‘everyone will really rally around’.

Probe into WA holiday programs after child sex abuse

Western Australia’s Department of Local Government and Communities will investigate how the actions of staff at a childcare centre led to a 4 and 5-year-old child being abducted and sexually abused. WA Today reports that a man has been charged with the offences and now the focus will turn to the actions of both the staff and the company that employs them, as well as the operations of the out-of-school and vacation care centre. Staff never noticed the children missing and were contacted by police after a member of the public found them wandering in a park nearby.

Queensland schools issue warnings after attempted abductions

The Morning Bulletin reports that a number of warnings have been circulating social media regarding attempted child abductions in the Rockhampton region of Queensland. Rockhampton Grammar School issued a ‘stranger danger’ message push this week after recent reports of ‘unauthorised access to local schools by a person or people attempting to abduct or otherwise unlawfully interact with a child’.

Private school students selling drugs to fellow students spared jail

A South Australian private school student who trafficked illicit drugs to fellow students has escaped an immediate jail term and has been warned by District Court Judge Steven Millsteed that he would be ‘an absolute fool’ if he ever offended again. Adelaide Now reports that the student pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking a controlled drugs and one count of possessing a drug for supply. The school’s principal said the school had ‘very clear’ policies on drugs that prohibit possession, use, exchange or sale.

New Tech Schools aim to bridge skills gap

The Educator reports that the Victorian Government’s state budget has revealed an allocation of $116 million to opening 10 new ‘Tech Schools’ in 2017 and 2018. The schools will provide students tertiary training alongside regular schooling. Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino has said in a statement that the building of the schools delivered on a key promise of the Andres Government – ensuring the Victoria is the ‘Education State’ and that students get the vital STEM skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow.

School’s Google dispute escalates

A Sydney Catholic school is demanding that Google remove images showing large phallic symbols that were etched into its oval by a prankster. The Educator reports that Google have initially refused to remove the images from its Google Earth Program, resulting in the school lodging a formal complaint. The Sydney Catholic Archdiocese has written to senior Google executives in Australia and the US in an attempt to have the matter escalated, adding that it expects Google to demonstrate that it’s a ‘good corporate citizen’ and remove the images.

INTERNATIONAL

Students face suspension over immunisation records

Health officials in Toronto, Canada are poised to suspend 320 primary students because their immunisation records are not complete, raising concerns that the students have not received mandatory vaccinations. The Toronto Sun reports that to date, for the 2015-2016 school year, Toronto Public Health has mailed out approximately 5,000 suspension orders to primary students. The latest crackdown came in the lead up to World Immunisation Week, celebrated April 24-30.