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

How principals can leverage AI to improve staff and student wellbeing

According to The Educator, with the emergence of sophisticated AI chatbots, there is growing debate over whether this technology is doing more harm than good in Australian schools. Dr Rebecca Marrone is a lecturer at The University of South Australia’s Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning. She says that as the role of technology in education continues to evolve, school principals could leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications to tackle another important issue – staff and student wellbeing. “AI can assist principals to pinpoint areas where intervention is needed and can be used to support staff and student wellbeing,” Dr Marrone told The Educator. “One of the significant benefits of using AI in schools is its ability to detect patterns and trends that are often difficult to identify with the naked eye.” Dr Marrone said that AI can also play a role in promoting positive mental health in schools.

Tech giants ordered to explain efforts to combat child sexual abuse or face fines

SBS News reports that Twitter, TikTok and Google will be forced to answer questions about how they tackle child sexual abuse and blackmail attempts on their platforms after the Australian eSafety Commissioner issued legal notices to the companies. The tech giants, as well as gaming platforms Twitch and Discord, will have 35 days to respond to the Commissioner's questions or risk fines of up to $687,000 a day. The legal demands come six months after similar notices were issued to Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Snap and Omegle, which revealed that some tech platforms were not using well-known safety measures to detect abusive content and protect users. The Commissioner of eSafety, Julie Inman Grant, said that she was particularly concerned about the treatment of illegal material on Twitter following massive job cuts to its Australian and safety teams.

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson calls for welfare payments to be based on school attendance of Aboriginal children

According to skynews.com.au, prominent Indigenous leader Noel Pearson has called for welfare payments to be contingent on school attendance by Aboriginal kids in the face of plummeting participation rates. Mr Pearson said that he believed that a change to welfare payments was needed to help alleviate the problem, through implementing a system of welfare management. He cited the results of the Cape York Welfare Reform Trial – which was axed in 2013 – as an example of the effectiveness of welfare denial on school attendance rates. The program utilised a Family Responsibilities Commission comprised of community elders who dealt with school absenteeism, child abuse and criminal offences. Parents of children who have an issue with truancy were called before elders throughout the program.

NSW teacher accreditation reform

According to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), NESA is updating teacher accreditation requirements in NSW to better protect children, improve national consistency, streamline processes and make clearer what teachers need to do at each stage of accreditation. NESA will implement these important reforms in stages, beginning with the publication of a Public Register of teachers and the NSW Teacher Accreditation Manual (the TA Manual). On 29 November 2022, NESA became the sole accreditation decision maker for all levels of accreditation for the three school sectors and early childhood services. NESA has also updated its accreditation procedures to clarify steps in the accreditation process. The accreditation requirements detailed in the TA Manual will be phased in over the reform timeline.

NSW 2023 HSC Disability Provisions

According to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), online disability provision workshops are available for teachers, executives and learning support personnel. The workshops will cover how to better understand the HSC Disability Provisions program, how to evaluate application submissions, and how to ensure that applications have appropriate supporting documentation.

Demand for Sydney all-girls schools soaring – survey

According to The Educator, a staggering 96 per cent of girls’ schools across NSW increased demand for places in 2023, according to a new survey by Australia’s peak body for girls’ schools. While 17 per cent of the schools surveyed were already at full enrolment with no capacity to expand, they reported strong waiting lists for places as parents and students recognise the value-add of an all-girls learning environment. The survey, conducted by the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia (AGSA) included government, independent and Catholic sectors and follows new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that independent schools recorded a 3.3 per cent rise in student numbers. When looking at the reasons parents would choose a girls’ school, AGSA found that confidence, independence, increased opportunities, sports participation, STEM, safety, and academic performance were cited by Australian parents as the leading benefits.

Teen released after stabbing at high school in Melbourne’s north

The Age reports that a 14-year-old boy has been given an official caution after a student, 15, was stabbed at a high school in Melbourne’s north. Officers responded to reports of the stabbing at Reservoir High School on Tuesday morning. The 15-year-old boy with non-threatening upper body injuries was treated by paramedics and taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a stable condition. Police arrested the 14-year-old but in a statement on Tuesday night said that he had been released with an official caution. Reservoir High School declined to comment, but a spokesperson confirmed that the school was still open on Tuesday. The co-ed public school has about 700 pupils. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that while the school took “appropriate action in response to the incident”, it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Melbourne private school teachers targeted by aggressive students and parents

According to the Herald Sun, Victorian teachers are being subjected to violent attacks from students and say that parents have become “increasingly” aggressive. It comes after new research revealed that a quarter of Australian teachers say that they do not feel safe at work. Just three in 10 teachers plan on staying in the profession and 70 per cent say that they don’t think that the profession is respected or appreciated by the public, the Monash University study shows. The research, which surveyed more than 5000 teachers nationwide, found that two thirds of staff who felt unsafe at work said that student behaviour and violence was the main reason why. Respondents said that some students were “abusive”, “aggressive”, “violent” and “threatening”, and that feeling safe in certain situations was not possible. Other reasons for feeling unsafe at work included parent abuse, negative relationships with other staff members, and mental health and wellbeing concerns.

Victorian teachers upset over “dodgy” approach to cut in class time

According to the Herald Sun, Victorian teachers granted an hour less of teaching a week are being given the time in three-minute blocks at some schools as staff shortages continue to bite. The reduction in face-to-face teaching – the first granted in 30 years – was a hard-fought industrial win for educators across the State. The Herald Sun has seen complaints by teachers who say that their schools have shortened lessons by three minutes a session to give them the time off. Teachers have described the “dodgy implementations” of the reduction in teaching time as “not fair”. The move comes as principals from schools in Melbourne’s southeast expressed ongoing concerns about teacher shortages this week. Australian Education Union Victorian Branch President Meredith Peace said that teachers should be given blocks of time no shorter than thirty minutes.

Darwin college locked-toilet policy “at odds” with human rights, researcher says

ABC News reports that students at a Darwin school are choosing to go thirsty to limit the need to use the toilet after the introduction of a locked-bathroom policy during class time to deter anti-social behaviour. Taminmin College says that the new policy is for the safety of students and the toilet blocks are closed during class but open at all other times. Students wishing to use the toilet during class time must now request a pass from their teacher, sign out the next available bathroom key from reception, and return the key again before they return to class. The toilet blocks are open all other times, including between classes. Social planning researcher Katherine Webber has researched toilets globally and says that the school's bathroom policy creates obstacles for students being able to access a toilet, which is a human rights issue. A Department of Education spokesperson said that the policy was met with support from the students and supported by the school board.

Elite Adelaide private school St Peter’s College introduces traditional Aboriginal game Parndo

According to The Advertiser, Kaurna football is coming back to country with the game of Parndo soon to be introduced at one of South Australia’s most prestigious schools, St Peter’s College. Parndo, an original football-style game played by the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, is being used to build cultural knowledge and understanding with the game being taught to students in a new five-week course. Leading researcher in physical education and sports coaching, Associate Professor Shane Pill, said that the approach to teaching Parndo – which uses a possum skin ball – encompasses eight ways of Indigenous learning. “When we teach a new sport, most commonly we take a skills-first approach,” he said. “But in our work with St Peter’s College, the school made it a priority to teach the core nature of the game – what its place is within Aboriginal culture and then over the five weeks, they set about introducing the skills of Parndo at a manageable pace.”

INTERNATIONAL

French teacher killed in attack by student who claimed to “be possessed” (France)

According to 9news.com.au, a high school student has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a teacher to death in front of other students in a classroom in southwestern France, officials said. The 50-year-old female Spanish language teacher died from injuries inflicted by the attacker, a 16-year-old student, French government spokesperson Olivier Veran said. The assailant was a teenager suffering from psychological issues who claimed to "be possessed" after stabbing the teacher in the chest, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV. BFMTV reported that, following the attack in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the assailant fled into a neighbouring room where he told a teacher that a voice had told him to commit the attack. The teacher took the weapon from the student and remained with him until police arrived, BFMTV said.

Chilliwack RCMP investigation determines that content of books in schools does not meet the definition of child pornography (Canada)

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), on 17 February 2023, the Chilliwack RCMP received a report alleging that written publications within School District #33 school libraries contained child pornography. An investigator from the Chilliwack RCMP’s Serious Crime Section has reviewed the publications containing the most concerning material identified by the complainant. The investigation has determined that this content does not meet the definition of child pornography under the Criminal Code of Canada. Police have a duty to investigate these allegations, but it became clear to the investigator who has years of experience in investigating child pornography offences, that, while the material may be deemed inappropriate or concerning to some people, it does not constitute child pornography.

More American schools are switching to four-day weeks. Could Australia follow their lead? (United States of America)

ABC News reports that in the small community of Lathrop, Missouri, school doesn't start until Tuesday each week. For students, it means that every weekend is a long one. For teachers, it can be a chance to take a day off or prepare for the week ahead. Four-day weeks are becoming more popular in Missouri, and across the United States, as schools grapple with widespread teacher shortages. Classes run for about an hour extra on Tuesdays through Fridays to make up for the missing Monday, meaning overall instructional time has increased slightly compared to when the district had a five-day week in place. Four-day school weeks are managed differently across the United States, meaning results are mixed when it comes to trying to measure students' academic performance. A 2022 study suggested that academic achievement was tied to the overall amount of time that students spent in school, rather than how the week was organised.