The information in the Weekly Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the education sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of CompliSpace.

AUSTRALIA

Australian-first National Guideline to better support autistic children

According to a media release by the Ministers for the Department of Social Services, autistic children and their families will be better supported with Australia’s first national practice guidelines to promote the early development of autistic children, their participation in childhood activities and their overall wellbeing. The “National Guideline for supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families” has been developed by the Commonwealth-funded Autism CRC in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s framework for best practice guidelines. Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said that the Guideline will help practitioners to better understand what early supports may be needed to create a positive and bright future for autistic children and tailor their support. Around 1 in 70 Australians have been diagnosed with autism.

Government outlines plans for educational reform

According to The Educator, Education Minister Jason Clare has announced that 2023 will see major reforms to early education, school education and higher education. In a press conference on Monday, Clare detailed the Government's plans for these three critical areas of education, highlighting how work in each area could help address education inequality. As for school education, Clare said that reforms will focus on the next National School Reform Agreement, with the aim of addressing issues with the current agreement. “Funding is important, but so is what it's spent on, what it's invested in, and that's what the work that we will do this year will be focused on,” the Minister said. The Productivity Commission previously released a report on the current National School Reform Agreement, which recommended redesigning the agreement to focus more attention on lifting students’ academic results and supporting students’ wellbeing.

Submissions to Senate sports concussion inquiry call for more funding, research and education and consistent guidelines

ABC News reports that Australia's peak body for general practice has called for government investment to tackle the issue of concussion in sport. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is one of a number of groups and individuals to put in submissions to a Senate committee inquiry into the impact of concussion and head trauma in contact sports. The RACGP said that the current lack of consistent definitions for concussion was resulting in confusion and an inconsistent approach to treatment and management of concussion, while differences in protocols between sports were adding to the problem. Legal firm Shine Lawyers made a submission based on the experiences of their Head Trauma division. Their recommendations include reducing exposure to repeat head injuries by banning headers in soccer under the age of 14, considering weight divisions in tackle sports, and removing tackling from sports until the age of 14.

Improving a school reporting system

According to Teacher Magazine, teachers and school leaders spend considerable effort and time writing and checking student reports. But how effective are they? And, are they the best way to communicate information about student learning to parents and carers? Anthony Hockey faced these questions during his time as Principal of St Paul's Catholic Primary School in Darwin, Northern Territory when helping to develop a new reporting system. The new reports had significantly fewer words printed in them and had a student mark next to a teacher mark. The teachers also tried to dedicate a section of the report to parents and what they could do to further enhance the learning of their child. As a result of the changes, Hockey says that staff found that conversations at parent-teacher interviews changed because students were more involved in the process. “It really enabled richer conversations between the teacher, the student and the parent,” he says.

The My School website has just been updated. What makes a “good” school?

According to The Conversation, the My School website has just been updated for 2023. My School includes information about enrolment numbers, attendance, the socioeconomic background of students and NAPLAN results since 2014. The site also provides information about schools’ finances, funding sources and the “post-school destinations” of students, which includes information about further education and training or employment six months after completing Year 12. My School says that it “does not measure overall school quality”, but instead “complements other reporting measures aimed at ensuring schools and school systems are accountable to parents.” School choice is taking place in a highly pressurised and ongoing debate in Australia. According to the article, a good school is one where your child is safe, feels like they belong and can participate in a rich learning environment.

Former Melbourne High business manager facing jail for $430,000 theft

The Age reports that a former Melbourne High School business manager faces time behind bars after pleading guilty to stealing more than $430,000 from her employer over nearly a decade. Frances Walshe, 65, faced the County Court of Victoria recently after she admitted to stealing funds to support a gambling habit while overseeing the school’s multimillion-dollar finances from 2012 to 2021. Walshe made 254 payments from the school’s accounts to her own personal bank account after an “administrative oversight” allowed her to authorise payments without supervision. Walshe’s barrister, Hayden Rattray, said, “Walshe knew structural and governance issues meant her offending was unlikely to be uncovered.” The thefts were uncovered after newly appointed principal Tony Mordini set out to address the Education Department’s concerns about potential poor financial governance.

Push for Victoria to implement a licensing scheme that extends to both cigarettes and vapes

According to the Herald Sun, Victoria is being urged to follow other states and adopt a licensing scheme for vape and tobacco sales to give police stronger powers to crack down on the black market in the industry. The Andrews Government is currently sitting on an independent review of illegal tobacco sales, from the Commission of Better Regulation. It comes after the Herald Sun revealed a litany of illegal vaping incidents at schools so serious that they were reported to the Education Department, including many cases where police and ambulances were forced to attend. Australian Association of Convenience Stores chief executive Theo Foukkare said that the growing black market showed that action was needed. “The current legislation effectively has the police hamstrung and while they are hamstrung the black market flourishes and continues to sell to kids and affects legitimate retailers,” he said.

Three students hospitalised after wasps send Melbourne school into lockdown

According to 9news.com.au, three students were hospitalised and a school in Melbourne's west was sent into lockdown after a swarm of wasps descended on the campus recently. The wasps stung several students at Featherbrook P-9 College in Point Cook, leading to two being taken to Werribee Mercy Hospital and one being taken to Western Health Sunshine, all in a stable condition. The school was then sent into lockdown as paramedics arrived and assessed 32 primary school students. A Department of Education spokesperson has confirmed that the school "enacted its safety protocols" after "several students were stung from a swarm of wasps on school grounds". "Students remained inside and away from the affected area, with paramedics treating affected students," the spokesperson said. An email sent to families at the school by Principal Kerry Clayton has advised that "the school has engaged pest controllers to prevent further incidents of this nature".

Victorian school library discards outdated and offensive books on colonisation

The Age reports that dozens of 20th century non-fiction titles deemed historically inaccurate or offensive have been removed from the Northcote High School library as part of a push to decolonise the school’s book collection. Texts that refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as nomads or hunter-gatherers, or that depict European colonisation as peaceful and omit reference to frontier conflict, are among those that were cut from the school’s collection. The audit resulted in 36 books being removed from the library and a further 12 titles being filed under a new restricted category. Victoria’s school librarians’ association, which is developing a “diversity toolkit” for schools seeking to update their collections, said that Northcote had set an example for other schools to follow. The school leaned heavily on the guidance of Dr Al Fricker, a Dja Dja Wurrung man and expert in Indigenous education with Deakin University, in auditing all 7000 titles on its library shelves.

Queensland teachers rave about ChatGPT after using bot for lesson preparation, notes to parents

According to The Courier Mail, Queensland teachers are embracing artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT to create lesson plans and write letters to parents, despite the software being banned on state school networks over student cheating concerns. Teachers have praised the bot in an online forum, with one saying they used it to make a letter of concern to a student’s parent “sound more supportive”. Another used the OpenAI creation to compose “welcome letters to parents”. A different educator enlisted the software’s help in creating a lesson plan for Newton’s Law of Gravitation for a Year 12 class. They described the results as “excellent and simple”. One teacher even said that ChatGPT’s response complied with requirements for students with special needs. Independent Education Union Queensland and Northern Territory branch secretary Terry Burke said that AI could ease the profession’s workload crisis, but controls were needed.

More than a dozen students hospitalised after gas leak at Queensland school

ABC News reports that students as young as five years old have been taken to hospital with minor symptoms after a gas leak at a primary school in Queensland. Paramedics were called to the incident at St George State School shortly before 9:30am on Tuesday following reports of a suspected gas leak on site. Authorities said that the source of the leak was traced to gas cylinders near the school office, which were quickly isolated by council staff and firefighters. Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor John Nolan said that 32 people were assessed. "Of those patients assessed, 14 paediatric patients and two adults were transported to St George Hospital," he said. Mr Nolan said that the patients suffered minor symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, headaches and mild respiratory symptoms. Queensland Education said that the school acted quickly to evacuate students and staff after the gas leak was detected at the administration building.

WA Premier weighs in on school violence incident

According to news.com.au, the Western Australian Premier has weighed in after a man allegedly smashed property at a Perth school while armed with an axe and a hammer. Police said that the 21-year-old entered the grounds of a school in the southern suburb of Cannington then allegedly used the tools to smash a glass door before he was taken into custody. Mark McGowan on Tuesday said that he was aware of the incident. “If it’s correct, it’s totally and utterly, utterly inappropriate,” he said. “People should be able to go to school, teachers should be able to go to school, students should be able to go to school without those sorts of things occurring. Police have been involved. Obviously, if you do those sorts of things, you are subject to penalties.” The man in the Cannington incident is due in Armadale Magistrates Court on 10 March on two charges. Mr McGowan said that the law still needs to apply to people in these matters, even if they’re juveniles.

Hillcrest jumping castle inquest cannot begin as WorkSafe Tasmania refuses to release findings to coroner

ABC News reports that an inquest cannot begin into the deaths of six Tasmanian children in a jumping castle accident because WorkSafe Tasmania is refusing to release its investigation. Six children died in December 2021 when a jumping castle was blown into the air during an end-of-year celebration at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport. Three other students suffered serious injuries. During a pre-inquest hearing on Tuesday morning, it was revealed that WorkSafe Tasmania is refusing to provide its report because it believes that it will prejudice "any potential prosecutions" under work, health and safety laws. Coroner Olivia McTaggart said that the decision was "unfortunate" and that the inquest was adjourned pending an appeal in the Supreme Court in April. Ms McTaggart said that, because she did not have expert opinion and engineer reports, she could not properly investigate. The coroner and lawyers representing families of the children will appeal.

INTERNATIONAL

Games developers issued new guidance on protecting children (United Kingdom)

According to The Irish News, video game developers must identify if their players are under 18 and ensure that their games are not detrimental to children’s wellbeing under new guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The data protection watchdog has issued the new recommendations to ensure that game makers and providers comply with the UK’s data laws. The ICO said that the guidance would ensure that video games conform with the Children’s Code, a code of practice for online services that outlines how UK data protection rules apply to children using digital services. The recommendations say that games developers should not only identify if players are under 18, but also discourage false declarations of age. Games should also ensure that they are not detrimental to children’s health and wellbeing by including checkpoints and age-appropriate prompts to encourage players to take breaks from play, while behavioural profiling should be switched off by default.

Texting parents may help schools tackle “truancy crisis” in England, say experts (United Kingdom)

The Guardian reports that personalised text messages to parents could be used to help improve school attendance rates, as teachers struggle to re-engage children and their families after the disruption of Covid, according to experts. Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said that there was a “national persistent truancy crisis” in England, with significantly more children now missing lessons compared with before the pandemic. A range of measures, including family liaison workers and attendance officers, are already in place, but trials across the world suggest that text messaging parents could be an effective and low-cost approach to boost attendance, said Elliot Major. School staff already use text messages routinely to keep their parent body informed, but Elliot Major is proposing the use of more personalised messages on the back of a broader effort to build deeper relationships between schools and families.