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Weekly Wrap: October 15, 2020

14/10/20
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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

Pandemic-tainted future puts school funding under microscope

The Age reports that it was a no-surprises Federal budget for the independent and Catholic school systems, which educate 36 per cent of Victorian students and are subject to long-term funding arrangements. The 2020-21 budget showed non-government schools will receive $12.8 billion in federal funding this year and government schools will pocket $9 billion. Federal Government funding of non-government schools will rise 26 per cent over the next three years to reach $59 billion. This is in addition to tuition fees. Trevor Cobbold, from state school lobby group Save Our Schools, said the large jump in funding for private schools meant an "acceleration in the long-standing large disparity in funding increases between private and public schools over the next decade". Meanwhile, Independent Schools Victoria has expressed concern about the financial health of some schools. The Federal Government also committed $25 million to "respond to education priorities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic".

 

Ballots, wait lists and no dancing — this is what Year 12 formals will look like in the age of COVID-19

The ABC News reports that school formals have become a rite of passage for many Year 12 students, but the class of 2020 is being confronted with everything from cancellations to bans on dancing and even a ballot system to see which classmates can attend. Each state has slightly different regulations that govern end of year formals, with Victoria flatly forbidding any events. Yet schools in NSW, Queensland and even Tasmania are charting a tricky path to hosting end of year celebrations. For students, it means a somewhat strange end to a tumultuous year. The NSW Government first banned them and only overturned that decision last month. As for Victoria, which is still living under strict rules that limit travelling and gathering, school formals have been entirely cancelled. The article summarises the rules for formals for each jurisdiction.

 

Half a million Victorian kids to miss out on school photos as parents demand a rethink

The Herald Sun reports that a ban on school photos has enraged families and businesses, with estimates that half a million Victorian kids will miss out having cherished annual pictures. New rules for reopening schools prohibit school pictures from being taken on campuses across Victoria. Photography businesses have slammed the rules, saying there was no evidence that photo shoots caused transmission. Regional photography business owner John Ansell said it was “frustrating” that Gippsland had just one active case on Tuesday last week yet on-campus photography was banned just like Melbourne. Meanwhile, regional students were permitted to go on excursions, school camps and overnight stays. A DHHS spokeswoman said visitors to school grounds were “limited to those delivering or supporting essential school services and operations, including student health and wellbeing services, safety, cleaning and maintenance workers to reduce the movement of people to an absolute minimum”.

 

Australians say big “thank you” to teachers

The Educator reports that the #ThankYourTeacher hashtag campaign, conducted by Monash University on social media last year, called on Australians to express appreciation for educators who have been working hard to ensure children continue to learn during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative was in response to research that revealed 71 per cent of Australia’s educators feel underappreciated in the classroom and struggle with excessive workloads. An analysis of the responses found that Australians were most grateful for teachers’ ability to inspire, encourage and provide kindness to students, as well as their dedication and leadership in the classroom, rather their general subject knowledge. The survey results, released to coincide with World Teachers’ Day on Monday 5 October, found that of the total 328 posts analysed, nearly half expressed gratitude for the social and emotional support, compassion, encouragement and sense of connections provided by teachers.

 

How principals' professional development is changing

The Educator reports that, in September, a new report by AITSL examined the evidence base of leadership required during the massive changes that principals have had to navigate over the past 12 months. PeopleBench, a school workforce research and analytics company, has been helping principals access rigorous, data-driven insights so that they can keep a firm finger on the pulse of staff and student wellbeing. Dr Vicki Cameron, PeopleBench Chief Education Officer, said principals’ choice of professional development has been strongly influenced by the leadership skills needed within their context to lead their school community during the pandemic. AITSL CEO, Mark Grant, said principals and teachers across Australia should be congratulated for the tremendous job they’ve done rising to the challenges that the bushfires, drought and pandemic have presented to their schools.

 

Helping kids form new bonds, and kick the COVID blues

The Educator reports that studies show that Australian children have been experiencing heightened levels of loneliness and isolation during COVID-19, with 40 per cent of young people reporting concern for their mental health during the pandemic. With October being National Mental Health Month, many organisations have been ramping up efforts to address this issue through various awareness-raising initiatives. Researchers from ten universities recently converged to launch a survey of current students to better understand their perspective on universities’ support during the pandemic. According to Black Dog Institute Australia, young people are likely to turn to friends, parents and the internet for support, and this is something that mental health support networks are leveraging to address the isolation and loneliness young people have been feeling during the pandemic.

 

VCE students asked to assess how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their learning

The Herald Sun reports that VCE students have been asked to assess how the COVID pandemic has affected their learning, home life and wellbeing. Their views will be taken into account by teachers who will help with the moderation of each students’ marks. Until now, students have not been expected to provide any evidence of their own disadvantage, leaving it up to teachers to tell the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority how their scores been impacted by COVID, the bushfires or both. The VCAA has just released the student statement which asks students to tick “yes” to nine types of disadvantage that they have experienced. Students can rank each from one to three in terms of seriousness, with number three reserved for those who found it hard to focus on learning and couldn’t complete all their work. Students will not be asked to provide any external evidence of their claims, but schools can ask for clarification if needed.

 

Dairy industry wants national school milk program revived to improve health of school-aged children

The ABC News reports that it has been almost 50 years since Australia had a national school milk program. Now Australia's dairy industry wants to bring the program back into schools to help address a significant shortfall in the dairy intake of school-aged children. According to Dairy Australia, children need on average three serves of dairy a day but four out of five are missing out on the daily recommendation. The free school milk program was first introduced by the Menzies Government in 1951. Called the Milk for School Children program, it was adopted in all Australian states — with the exception of Queensland, which raised concerns about its tropical climate and huge distances between centres. An agreement saw the scheme operating in the state from 1953. The Coombs Report, released in the early 1970s, determined continuation of the free milk scheme could not be justified on nutritional grounds. After a cost blowout, the federal program was ended by then prime minister Gough Whitlam in 1973. Various states implemented versions of the milk in schools program until as late as the mid 1980s.

 

Opinion: Harry was 7 and thought life wasn't worth living: Why suspending kids doesn't work

According to an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald by a parent advocate for children with ADHD., school suspensions and expulsions are a topic fraught with emotion. The NSW Government recently released a draft behaviour strategy for public schools that will help ensure inclusive education for students with disabilities. A small but loud minority vocally opposes these reforms, painting a picture of violent bullies attacking teachers and students. This has created unnecessary conflict. It's a common misconception that students with challenging behaviours are violent. In reality, this is a vulnerable cohort of students, often with neurological disabilities. Recent figures revealed that of the suspended population of primary school students, almost three out of four have a disability. Seven out of 10 kindergarten suspensions are students with disabilities. The experience of being suspended or expelled doesn't fix the problem. It can make it worse.

 

Ed-tech study reveals key learnings for schools

The Educator reports that Australia saw the greatest surge in the use of ed-tech tools globally during COVID-19 with a staggering 190 per cent increase, according to a new global report. However, while edtech adoption has skyrocketed, the move to remote learning has been inconsistent, presenting key learnings for schools across all three sectors. The “Lockdown and beyond: Learning in a changing landscape” report by Texthelp examined how schools in Australia, the US and UK approached the challenges posed by the pandemic, and the role that technology played during this time. According to new data by UNESCO, by the end of April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the shut-down of educational institutions in 181 countries affecting 73.5 per cent of enrolled learners. Additionally, international evidence suggests that engagement with remote and online learning has been inconsistent at best. A report by the Grattan Institute found that just 35 per cent of Australian teachers were confident that their students were learning well in remote learning.

 

Fresh schools discrimination clash for Andrews' government

The Age reports that non-Christian applicants for taxpayer-funded school counsellor jobs are still being denied employment on the grounds of their faith, despite the Victorian government agreeing last year to stop the practice. The State’s anti-discrimination authority believes schools, hiring under the Federal Government’s National Schools Chaplaincy Program but only offering jobs to Christian applicants, are in breach of the state’s equal opportunity legislation but has made no move to challenge the status quo. But Reason Party MP Fiona Patten will bring forward legislation in Parliament this week aimed at forcing the Government to uphold its own human rights and equal opportunities legal regime. The states have run the national $61 million-a-year program on behalf of the Commonwealth since 2014 using federal money to pay the chaplains’ wages, but Victoria amended its hiring policies and practices in 2019 after a legal challenge from a school counsellor who had been denied work because they were an atheist.

 

INTERNATIONAL

There has been a huge leap forward in girls’ education over the past 25 years (Global)

According to the World Education Blog, the 2020 Gender Report, released last Friday, shows that 180 million more girls have enrolled in primary and secondary education since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark commitment to advance the rights of girls and women made in 1995 by 189 countries. Released on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, which is celebrated on October 11, it shows that, despite an increase across all levels of education, girls are still more likely to suffer exclusion than boys. New analysis shows that the benefits of maternal education accumulate and can break the cycle of disadvantage between generations. Girls born in low-income countries in the 1980s acquired seven more months of education for every year of education their mothers received. Education is the springboard for achieving the six Action Coalitions at the Generation Equality Forum planned for 2021, where the next iteration of the Beijing Declaration will be produced.

 

Church of England helped paedophiles, inquiry finds (United Kingdom)

The New Daily reports that senior church figures chose to protect the Church’s reputation rather than protect children, Britain’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said. From the 1940s to 2018, 390 adults linked to the Church of England and Church in Wales – both of which sit within the Anglican Communion – were found to have committed sexual offences against children. IICSA’s report, released on Wednesday morning last week (Australian time), details how senior clergy often declined to alert authorities when victims came forward with allegations. In some cases, leaders hindered criminal investigations. The Church has apologised for the abuse and said it would learn lessons from the inquiry. The report recommended the Church of England and the Church in Wales should each introduce a church-wide policy on funding and provision of support to victims of child sexual abuse concerning clergy. IICSA in England and Wales is a wide-ranging probe investigating claims against famous people, local authorities, religious organisations, defence forces and public and private institutions.

 

“Child-centred” teaching blamed for NZ's educational decline (New Zealand)

The NZ Herald reports that the NZ Initiative report, New Zealand's Education Delusion, calls for a much more detailed curriculum specifying what children should learn at each level and standardised national assessments to ensure they learn those things. But Kiwi experts have hit back at the findings, saying prescriptive "Eurocentric" teaching practices risk ignoring the needs of indigenous communities. Report author Briar Lipson, a former British maths teacher who helped set up two charitable low-decile primary schools in London, says encouraging children to choose what they want to learn entrenches the differences that children start school with. International surveys show NZ 10-year-olds' reading levels fell in 2016 to their lowest since the surveys started, and 15-year-olds' reading and maths levels declined in every survey between 2000 and 2018. Briar Lipson cites Professor John Hattie's research showing that inquiry-based teaching has an effect size that is far below direct instruction. However Professor Hattie, a former Auckland University professor now based in Melbourne, says there is "not one iota of evidence that NZ has slipped in the international assessments because it has adopted a child-centred philosophy".

 

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