New acting principal announced for embattled QLD school
The Cairns Post reports that a principal with 16 years’ experience in Queensland schools, many with large Indigenous student populations, has been brought into the Cape York Aboriginal Academy in Aurukun. The new appointment comes after the school’s current serving principal and 25 teachers were evacuated for the second time last month over safety concerns from two armed attacks on the school’s current principal. At the request of the Queensland Teachers’ Union the new principal, and relief staff brought with him, have been provided with secure accommodation while the review into education delivery in the remote community is undertaken.
Teenager describes how teacher tried to kiss her
The West Australian reports that a Perth teenager has told the District Court how her former female teacher allegedly drove her to a carpark and touched her thigh before trying to kiss her. The former teacher is currently on trial, accused of attempting to indecently deal with a child older than 13 and younger than 16 while she was acting as a mentor in an extra-curricular activity the student was taking part in at the school.
App for Canberra students to champion school work
The ABC reports that a new app introduced at a Canberra primary school will allow parents to keep tabs on their children’s progress in school. Every week students will take photos and videos of work they are proud of and upload them to a new online portfolio called ‘Seesaw’. The program aims to have students’ families, and extended families, involved in their child’s work and to also teach children from a young age how to use social media responsibly.
NSW public schools paid $10,000 a year by Chinese government body
A number of schools in NSW are being paid at least $10,000 a year and supplied with ‘teaching assistants’ by the Confucius Institute to offer its Chinese language and culture courses, which some schools are making compulsory for students to attend. The program, known as Confucius Classrooms, is an attractive package for cash-strapped public school principals eager to offer their students Asian languages. The SMH reports that the program is offered at four public primary schools, nine public high schools and now at two Sydney non-government schools, Wenona and The King’s School.
Melbourne private school’s little-known deal
The Age reports that a non-government girls’ school in Melbourne’s south-east has been quietly offering students at the neighbouring state school a discount of up to 50 per cent under an official deal. The school’s principal acknowledged that it was an ‘unusual arrangement’ but one that has been in place for about 10 years to help boost enrolments. However now that the school’s enrolments are almost at capacity the school will soon phase out the discount.
Queensland government announces disability review
The Courier Mail reports that Queensland’s Education Minister Kate Jones has announced that the Education Department is seeking applicants to lead a 14-week independent review of schooling for Queensland children with disabilities. The review is expected to look at all aspects of education and the policies in operation, including how children are disciplined. The announcement comes after reports last year of an autistic student being locked in an unsupervised room with boarded up windows for some ‘time out’.
Guards posted at Perth school after brawl between students
The West Australian reports that the state’s Education Department has confirmed that more than 20 students and parents threw punches at each other and yelled abuse during a fight at a state high school’s car park earlier this week. Security guards have been posted outside the school following the brawl, which is said to have been sparked by a verbal exchange between a student and another student’s father. The police attended the school to help mediate between the two groups, and the school is now investigating the incident.
Senior academic suggests schools need to rethink disciplinary practices
The Educator reports that Dr Anna Sullivan, a senior lecturer in Education at the University of South Australia and veteran teacher, has said that rather than having a heavy-handed approach, schools should instead focus on relational aspects and take a more educational – rather than managerial approach – to discipline in the classroom. She said “the hard reactions to student behaviour tend to come from the taken-for-granted notions of what is understood to be common sense”. Dr Sullivan recommends discipline policies that provide complex solutions informed by research rather than ideology.
Top UK schools interview children for six hours
The Telegraph reports that a top private school in England has introduced a six-hour interview process to help teachers see beyond children who have been tutored in efforts to select those who don’t ‘behave like robots’. The process was introduced two years ago to allow teachers to spot intellectually curious students with academic potential but who are also well-rounded and can relax into the process. The selective school conducts the usual numeracy and literacy tests that selective schools are known for but also sees the importance in evaluating other social dimensions beyond academics.