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

Minister flags 2030 target to make Australia an education superpower

The Educator reports that Australia’s education system should set itself a 2030 target to regain its place in the top group of nations across the three major domains of reading, maths and science, says Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge. Speaking at the Menzies Research Centre last Thursday to outline his focus on improving Australia’s educational performance, Minister Tudge said Australia is “not living up to the aspiration of a world class education system” as set out in the Mparntwe Declaration. “In fact, based on international benchmarks, we have moved further away from it over the last twenty years,” he said. Minister Tudge said declining outcomes have not been a result of a decline in funding but what is happening in Australia’s classrooms. Responding to the Minister’s address, National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) executive director, Jacinta Collins, said the Catholic sector has developed its own set of national priorities to support the continual improvement of educational outcomes for all students in its 1,751 schools.

Catholic schools to review how sexual consent is taught in religious context

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the NSW Catholic school sector will lead its own review of how it delivers sex and consent education in a religious context, saying a “one size fits all” approach across the state is unlikely to fix the problem of teenage sexual assault. A three-person panel has been tasked with assessing how Catholic schools in NSW teach about consent and respectful relationships, as well as their mandatory reporting obligations, after an online petition last month exposed thousands of sexual assault allegations among school-aged children. Several Sydney private schools have since begun their own reviews of programs around sex and consent education. Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney said the Catholic school sector was committed to working with the NSW Department of Education and Association of Independent Schools NSW to craft a “statement of intent” around consent education and reporting protocols, as first discussed in a meeting between the education sector and sex crimes squad boss Stacey Maloney.

Review into sex education in Queensland schools welcomed by teachers and advocates

The ABC News reports that the state government's decision to review sexual education in Queensland schools, particularly teaching sexual consent, has received high marks from teachers as advocates call for the topic to be discussed from a younger age. Education Minister Grace Grace last week instructed the Director-General to work across non-government and state education systems, as well as P&Cs and school communities, to examine the issue. The measures will include looking into the Respectful Relationships Education Program (RREP) to "ensure it adequately addresses sexual consent and reporting and seeks the views of young people through the Minister's Student Advisory Council". Ms Grace said Australia's health and physical education curriculum would also be assessed to see if it was "addressing the needs of students in relation to these issues". The Queensland Teachers' Union's Cresta Richardson said teachers needed professional development to be able to teach the courses.

Federal taskforce needed to tackle “mental health crisis in school leadership” – major report

According to The Educator, a federal taskforce is needed to address the mental health crisis plaguing Australia’s school principals, a major report says. The Australian Principal Occupational, Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey 2020, released on Monday, found more than 40 per cent of Australian school leaders reported being exposed to threats of violence or being a victim of physical violence – 9 times greater than the general population. While there was a slight decrease in some categories of offensive behaviours due to reduced face-to-face contact, there was a steady increase in bullying, physical violence, threats, slander and verbal and sexual harassment over the study’s 10-year lifespan. The report also highlighted soaring workloads. One of the report’s authors, Phil Parker, Professor at the ACU’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, said significant policy changes have been made to support principals, particularly in Victoria, Queensland and Northern Territory.

Australia facing “looming crisis” as principals set to retire en masse

The Canberra Times reports that Australia faces a looming crisis in filling school principal roles, an academic has warned. The Australian Principal Occupation Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey 2020 found 6.8 per cent of school leaders planned to retire in 2021. Co-chief investigator for the survey and ACU Institute for Positive Psychology and Education Professor Herb Marsh said a large portion of principals was approaching retirement age but potential applicants for principal roles were being put off the demanding leadership positions. Chief Executive for the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia Beth Blackwood said "We have an aspirant membership to our association so we know that there are some well-trained aspiring principals in the wings to step into leadership positions. But we have to make the job more attractive and reports such as this occupational health and safety well-being survey suggests there's much more that we can do to support, and provide safe working environments for leaders.” The research was conducted by Australian Catholic University and Deakin University.

School refusal almost triples since COVID-19 lockdowns, say parents and expert

The ABC News reports that Bayside School Refusal Clinic director John Chellew said he had noticed a "significant increase" in referrals since the COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne last year. "Statistics were saying between 2 and 5 per cent of children, up until last year, were school refusing. That then doubled last year," Mr Chellew said. “Anecdotally, now we are thinking about the statistics trebling." School refusal is when children or teenagers get extremely upset about going to school, and consistently say they cannot or will not attend classes. It is an emotional or behavioural problem, not a formal psychiatric diagnosis. There are many reasons a child might start refusing to go to school including social problems, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, or trauma. Mr Chellew said treating students for school refusal was like being a detective — you had to find out where the problems were in the child's world and collectively come up with a "return to school plan". "For every child, there is a different solution," he said.

Push to tackle children’s mental health in primary schools

The Age reports that 26 Victorian primary schools will employ a mental health and wellbeing co-ordinator to provide training and be a link between classrooms, families and external support as part of a program that was co-designed by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. The plan is being trialled in state schools, with additional funding from the Ian Potter Foundation to respond to a need exposed by the coronavirus pandemic for more sustainable, everyday ways for schools to help their students. Professor Frank Oberklaid, of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, said the importance of addressing children’s mental health had long been overlooked before the effects of the pandemic, including lockdown and remote learning, made the problem highly visible. The pilot program ran in 10 primary schools across metropolitan and regional north and south west Victoria last year. If the expanded trial is a similar success, then it may be rolled out across all state schools.

Vaping crackdown at Melbourne’s top schools

The Herald Sun reports that leading schools are conducting bathroom patrols and bag checks to flush out students as young as 12 vaping between classes. Several students caught smoking e-cigarettes on school grounds have been suspended, amid concerns about the emerging “craze”. Top private and public schools across Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs are checking bathrooms, doing bag checks and closely monitoring formal dances and other school events. Senior students are dobbing in students from other year levels, while random checks are being conducted at off-campus sports events and parents are being called in for urgent meetings. Research from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales suggests, while smoking levels among young people are low, “vaping may introduce a new generation to nicotine use” and “little is known about the smoking and vaping characteristics of young adults over time”.

Butterfly Foundation launches in-classroom education sessions in Queensland schools

The Courier-Mail reports that secret diet clubs in school playgrounds are leading to children not eating at lunch and recess and the Butterfly Foundation fears the meal skipping could lead to eating disorders. The eating disorder experts are fielding many calls from parents worried that their children are not eating during the day due to diet clubs, lunch box shaming and body dissatisfaction with reports that meal skipping is starting in primary schools. The Foundation is so concerned it is holding in-classroom education sessions in Queensland schools this month to help educate students, teachers and parents of the dangers of these trends. Butterfly reports that parents who have had a child with an eating disorder often say that skipping lunch is one of the first behaviours they engaged in. Eating disorders can impact children as young as five and the average onset is between 12 and 25. Butterfly Foundation also encourages schools to allow children enough time to eat their lunch. Schools play an important role in helping children establish positive eating habits, the experts said.

CCTV cameras in schools improve safety – until hackers access them

The Educator reports that when CCTV are installed in schools, the reasoning always has student and staff safety at its core. However, a recent cyberattack suggest the risks may outweigh the benefits. On Thursday last week, a group of hackers gained access to more than 150,000 CCTV cameras operated by a global company Verkada. The surveillance cameras breached included more than 100 early childhood centres, schools and universities throughout Australia. In a statement to the ABC last week the culprits – a group called “APT-69420 Arson Cats” – said they breached the company’s systems “to draw attention to the widespread use of surveillance cameras, and the ease by which outsiders can gain access to these systems”. While this particular group acted with good intentions, the next massive hack of CCTV cameras by a clandestine group of hackers may well be done for more nefarious purposes. For this reason, and a litany of others, the use of surveillance cameras on school grounds has long been a controversial topic.

Some young SA students using smartwatches to try to outsmart school phone bans

The Advertiser reports that smart watches are being used by some young students to try and outsmart a ban on mobile phones in the state’s primary schools, the SA Primary Principals Association (SAPPA) says. SAPPA president Angela Falkenberg said how to manage the wearable digital devices was emerging as one of the early tests for teachers in implementing the new policy. “One of the challenges people are talking about is the use of wearable technology, so smart watches and some children have very high-tech smart watches … allowing them the ability to text, access apps and so on,” Ms Falkenberg said. “Children, as well as their parents, can be quite reluctant to hand over (these devices) and so this is an area schools are spending time exploring, both in terms of what the impact is on learning as well as what the management might be. “It is important because the intent of this (mobile ban) policy is to reduce distractions to learning. So, while some might argue, ‘it’s not a phone’, we would say it is a distraction in the same way a phone is.”

Queensland government offers more cash incentives for visitors to Great Barrier Reef

The Courier-Mail reports that the state government will shell out $1 million for Queensland schoolkids to go on class excursions to the Great Barrier Reef in the latest push to spark the ailing tourism industry. Just days after announcing a promotion entitling travellers to $200 vouchers to tour Cairns and the tropical north, the state government last week unveiled a program to encourage more Queensland kids to visit the reef on school excursions. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said a trip to the reef should be at the top of every Queensland school kid’s excursion wish list. Ms Palaszczuk said the state government was doing its best to help an industry in need, with a subsidy of up to $150 per student now on the table for school excursions to the reef. The program will come into effect from term three this year, with every Queensland school eligible to apply.

INTERNATIONAL

NZ kids not getting enough physical activity at school – study (New Zealand)

Radio NZ reports that New Zealand schools should devote more time to physical education to tackle the shortage of exercise experienced by many children, according to new research. The recommendation comes from a University of Otago research paper, which found more than one third of primary and secondary school-aged kids do not clock up seven hours of exercise per week - the level deemed "sufficient" by international guidelines. The paper said the situation has become "urgent". Lead researcher Dr Anja Mizdrak told Morning Report that the recommended seven hours of exercise was "any kind of activity". She said at present, there was no specific requirement in the curriculum for a minimum level of physical activity. Asked about whether kids were getting their activity in outside school hours, Dr Mizdrak said: "The reason we looked at the school setting is it has the ability to really reach the kids who need it most, the kids in the least active category, and also to reach kids in more deprived areas who do not have access to the other physical activity opportunities". Thirty minutes of physical activity at school per day was the level the researchers advised.

Countries are still falling short of developing textbooks free of gender stereotypes (Global)

According to the World Education Blog, textbooks are powerful factors in the construction of gender identities. They transmit knowledge and present social and gender norms, shaping the world vision of children and young people. In some contexts, textbooks are the first and sometimes the only books that a young person may read and can have a lasting impact on their perceptions. And yet they still often perpetuate discriminatory social norms and values. This must be challenged. Under its strategic objective B.4, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a blueprint for women’s rights signed by 189 countries in 1995, called upon countries to develop curricula, textbooks and teaching aids free of gender-based stereotypes for all levels of education, including teacher training. Twenty-five years after the adoption of this objective, girls and women are still under-represented in textbooks or, when included, depicted in traditional roles in many countries, a truth found in in teaching and learnings materials from all corners of the globe as new analysis in the recently released 2020 GEM Gender Report shows.