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

Sending new teachers to difficult schools could be driving them out of the profession

According to The Guardian, up to half of all new teachers in Australia leave the profession in the first five years and a new report identifies a possible reason: programs which encourage sending novices into the country’s most challenging schools. Released by the OECD, the Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners report suggested sending early-career teachers into difficult school environments could contribute to the problem. It suggested redirecting incentives to later-career teachers, which would potentially help foster equity “as students in challenging schools would be taught by more experienced teachers”. The report also found teaching was the first-choice career for only 58 per cent of teachers in Australia compared with 67 per cent across the OECD countries, and that although Australia had a higher-than-average proportion of female teachers, that was not backed up in leadership positions. It also revealed that Australian teachers were more concerned about increasing support staff to limit administrative burden than about individual pay.

The “problematic” rise in students excluded from mainstream classes

The Age reports that an increasing number of students with autism are being excluded from mainstream classes, according to new research which raises concerns about the segregation of children with disabilities. The Monash University research found that between 2009 and 2015, the inclusion of autistic students in mainstream classes dropped from 18.8 per cent to just 3.3 per cent. During this period, the proportion of students with autism in special schools increased from 37 to 52 per cent. The research, which was published in the International Journal of Inclusive Education and draws on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, found students with autism were being segregated at much higher rates than students with other disabilities. The study’s author, Dr Kate de Bruin, said a lack of resources, inadequate teacher training and myths about students with a disability being disruptive were fuelling the segregation.

Greater focus on regional students needed – private schools

According to The Educator, the Melbourne Declaration review should specify policy action for regional and remote students, says the nation’s peak body for private school leaders. On 14 December 2018, Education Council Ministers agreed to undertake a review of the Melbourne Declaration and hold an initial forum in February 2019 to consult and collaborate with key stakeholders and experts. In a statement, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) said the challenges of education provision in regional and remote areas should be specifically recognised in the Declaration’s areas of commitment to action. AHISA’s submission to the Review of the Melbourne Declaration also calls for explicit recognition of the importance of the professional expertise of educators in students’ development and academic achievement, and recommends the Declaration be used as a vehicle to proclaim a national vision for schools as well as for students.

Caning for Victorian schools’ child-safe overseer

According to The Australian, Victoria’s chief auditor has called for an overhaul of the processes of ensuring child safety standards across the state’s schools after finding about one-third have failed compliance checks. It has also exposed a glaring lack of oversight by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, which is charged with regulating schools’ compliance with the mandatory standards. According to a scathing report from the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, “schools have been working to implement the standards, but the regulator cannot assure itself or its ministers of school compliance, or whether schools have effectively embedded child-safe cultures”. The report highlighted the impact of the authority’s decision to outsource compliance to a panel of providers, which then contracted work out to individual assessors, finding that compliance data was unreliable. Victoria’s child safety compliance regime, which includes seven child-safe standards and 57 ministerial order requirements, came into effect in 2016 in response to the inquiry into institutionalised child abuse.

Teachers told to ignore “NAPLAN-style” phonics test for six-year-olds

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that teachers are being told to ignore a new opt-in phonics test for year 1 students. "We're telling teachers to ignore the politicians who have no expertise in this area and stick to the syllabuses that have been written by professional educators and include a range of sophisticated reading strategies," said Maurie Mulheron, president of the NSW Teachers' Federation, which represents 60,000 educators across the state. The optional state-wide phonics trial test was announced by the New South Wales Government and will be based on similar checks that have been implemented in South Australia and England. A year 1 check based on England's test was recommended by an advisory panel established by former Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham in 2017. SA and NSW have so far been the only states to implement the recommendation in government schools. Catholic schools in Queensland trialled the checks last year, while the NSW Catholic Education Commission said it has checks in place to identify which students need more support and rejected the "one-size-fits-all" approach when the panel's recommendations were released.

NSW budget: giving schools extra money only if they meet “outcomes” can hamper teaching standards

According to The Conversation, the New South Wales budget delivered some good news for education. The government promised 4,600 extra public school teachers, more than 600,000 free TAFE and VET courses, additional funds for building and refurbishing schools, and an allowance for an extra 100 school counsellors or psychologists. But the government’s commitment came with a caveat. Schools will need to justify these, and future budgetary allocations and spending, through explanations for their need and by delivering quantifiable outcomes. At first glance, this may appear fair. After all, as NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet pointed out: “… parents want to know that every dollar we spend will improve their kids’ education”. However, experience (and research) tell us that this simple method of aligning funding with targeted outcomes – essentially providing funding not based on need but on results – can have some unintended consequences. These can be detrimental to the quality of education and particularly affect the most marginalised students.

The educational benefits of outdoor play

According to The Educator, contrary to the belief that Australians are a nature-loving outdoor nation, research suggests we’re spending less and less time outdoors – and schoolchildren are no exception. In an article published in The Conversation, Professor Tonia Gray from the Centre for Educational Research at Western Sydney University said this worrying trend is also becoming increasingly apparent in our educational settings. Professor Gray said that outdoor play is not only central to children’s enjoyment of childhood, it teaches critical life skills and enhances growth and development. “Contemporary research shows outdoor play-based learning can also help improve educational outcomes. A recent study found being outside stimulated learning and improved concentration and test scores,” she said. Nature contact also plays a crucial role in brain development, Professor Gray notes. “Practical lessons outside will stick better in young brains than learning theory from a book. This may be why in 2017, ACARA included outdoor learning in the national curriculum,” Professor Gray said.

$13 million package to help teachers, principals prepare as Year 7s move to high school

The Advertiser reports that the South Australian State Government will spend another $13 million as Year 7s prepare to move to high school, this time to train teachers and principals. Primary teachers will be funded to obtain the necessary qualifications so they can switch to high schools, while high school teachers will undergo professional development on supporting early adolescents. SA is the last state to move Year 7s out of public primary schools and the training, to start next year, will be modelled on programs run in Queensland and Western Australia when they made the switch. There is also a $40 million extra annual cost as high schoolers are more expensive to teach because they take more specialist subjects in smaller classes. The Advertiser revealed in April that the Government had launched a new professional development hub at Hindmarsh called Orbis, with a $16 million investment over three years which is separate to the Year 7 training package. Orbis’ main focus is improving literacy and numeracy teaching. Its funding will also train principals in leadership.

Thousands of children say “no” to bullying

SBS News reports that students from across the country gathered in Government House in Sydney for an annual anti-bullying poster design competition. Out of the 4000 entrants this year 41 students made the finals. Now in its sixth year, the competition aims to shed light on the importance of kindness and inclusion among children. Bullying is an endemic problem in schools across Australia. NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, who presented the prize, warned students that there were bullies at every stage of life, and all levels. The former lawyer, who became the first woman appointed to the NSW Appeals Court, pointed to the enormous financial as well as personal cost of bullying on the state's education system. "It comes to $2.3 billion for the cost of bullying over 20 years if not handled," Ms Beazley told the gathering.

Furry friends helping struggling school kids learn to read

Channel 9 reports that children struggling to learn to read are getting some unorthodox help around Australia from some very furry partners. The Story Dogs program was founded by Janine Sigley 10 years ago, based on a similar program in the US. In the program, Year 2 and 3 students who lack confidence in their reading are once a week partnered with a pooch to act as a sympathetic and non-judgemental audience. Story Dogs now has 473 volunteer dog teams in 278 schools around Australia. "We would love a story dog in every school. Our biggest problem at the moment is funding," Ms Sigley said. "We get no government funding at all, so we rely on donations and dog sponsors."

INTERNATIONAL

Middle school students ask, “What can we do about truth and reconciliation?” (Canada)

According to the CBC, Grade 7 and 8 students have spent the school year coming up with their own answers to a difficult question. Beth Weatherbee's Grade 7 and 8 students managed to stump her this year when a class discussion about Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, ended with a tough question for the longtime teacher. "The students asked, 'What can we do about truth and reconciliation?'" said Weatherbee. "And my answer to that was, 'I have no idea.'" That was the beginning of a year-long quest to learn more about indigenous people and specifically the Mi'kmaq culture by the entire student population at Port Elgin Regional School. Weatherbee describes the past school year as a journey that has included visits from elders, indigenous artists and lots of research by her students. Sitting in a circle, rehearsing the Mi'kmaq Honour Song, which was gifted to elder George Paul and shared with the class, the students all agree that being an ally and standing up against racism is how they will contribute to truth and reconciliation in Canada.

Deputy headmaster's career in ruins after shooting pupil (New Zealand)

The NZ Herald reports that a deputy headmaster's 30-year career in teaching is in ruins after he shot a pupil with an air rifle during an after-school club. Simon Gitlin, 51, was overseeing the shooting club at a preparatory school when the 11-year-old boy asked what "it would be like to be shot". The teacher replied "it would bloody hurt" but then opened fire with the airsoft gun as the pupil ran round the hall saying: "Shoot me, shoot me." The boy was hit at least twice from a distance of between 30 ft and 45 ft and was "extremely upset" by the incident. Gitlin - a member of St John Ambulance - was subsequently charged with assault by police and has resigned from his position at the $23,163-a-year school in Cheshire, which cannot be named for legal reasons. He wept at Stockport magistrates' court as he admitted assault by beating but claimed the shooting was a "momentary lapse of judgment", saying he was going through an acrimonious divorce at the time and was not sleeping well. He was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay the boy $241 compensation. The incident happened in a room full of other children and adults on January 14 this year.