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

From WW2 to Ebola: what we know about the long-term effects of school closures

According to an article in The Conversation, closing schools has been one response around the world to try to stop the spread of COVID-19, but public debate must also consider the potential long-term costs of school closures. More disadvantaged kids may drop out: in Victoria, a report found more than 10 per cent of Victorian students from disadvantaged schools were absent during the state’s first period of remote learning – compared to 4 per cent in advantaged schools. And an organisation working with disadvantaged children in Sydney recently reported that more than 3,000 public school students in NSW have not returned to their classrooms since the remote learning period ended in May. Kids may have less access to food: evidence from the US and EU shows that school lunch is associated with improvements in academic performance, as schools can provide access to more regular and healthier diets. It may affect future earnings. Future studies may find increments in earnings and education inequality resulting from COVID school closures.

Australian students have self-efficacy skills to help cope with pandemic: PISA data

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australian senior school students tend to have a strong belief in their abilities and feel supported by their teachers, which will help them persevere through adverse events such as disrupted schooling and the coronavirus pandemic. Data gathered from the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) suggests that the Class of 2020 had strong foundations to deal with the year's setbacks, which have included cancelled co-curricular activities and end-of-year milestones, as well as prolonged periods of remote learning. But it reveals that high levels of self-efficacy – defined as a belief in one's own ability – skewed more towards male students, those in private school systems and either overseas-born or first-generation students. PISA national project manager and the report's co-author, Sue Thomson, said the 15-year-old students who sat PISA tests in 2018 would be in their final years of high school now.

Building a culturally competent teaching workforce

The Educator reports that, earlier this year, the 12th Closing the Gap report, found that Aboriginal children still trail far behind non-Indigenous children in literacy, numeracy and writing skills. The report’s findings were met with renewed calls for fresh approaches to the situation. One approach that is being examined as a potentially effective solution is connecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with local Aboriginal community members, families, children and staff to create a culturally relevant teaching framework. Last week, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) launched a new discussion paper which aims to facilitate a re-imagining of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ cultures, identities and histories are reflected and understood in Australian classrooms. The responses received from the online submission process, combined with national consultation, will inform key findings and recommendations to be presented and discussed at a National Dialogue in 2021.

Do policies on smartphones need a rethink?

The Educator reports that, earlier this month, a global survey revealed that 73 per cent of parents believe that their child’s primary or secondary school was only “partly prepared or not prepared at all” to facilitate remote learning. In June, several award-winning principals told The Educator how they have been using cutting-edge technology to improve academic outcomes, aid in the design of innovative learning spaces and to improve student wellbeing before, and during, the pandemic. While some states have moved to ban mobile phones and digital devices from classrooms, COVID-19 has put the importance of effective educational technologies back in the spotlight. Some experts believe this unique time calls for a rethink of such policies. One of them is Neil Selwyn, a Distinguished Research Professor at Monash University's Faculty of Education, and a world-renowned expert on the role of digital technology in education. “Remote schooling has seen teachers, students and parents work out some really creative ways of using smartphones as learning devices,” Professor Selwyn told The Educator.

New study reveals a surprising fact about bullying

The Educator reports that, while bullying is recognised as a massive issue for schools, attempts to stamp it out are not always successful, and this is due to a range of complex factors. Last week, a new study identified another spanner in the works when it comes to schools tackling this important issue. Researchers from Flinders University have found that it’s the less potent instances of bullying that matter most – with victims identifying the pain of relational bullying from best friends, such as spreading rumours or exclusion, being especially harmful to them. The Global Results of Peer Aggression and Wellbeing Study conducted by Flinders University researchers Dr Grace Skrzypiec and Dr Mirella Wyra has found that spreading rumours or exclusion by best friends results in greater harm to victims than if the same type of bullying was instigated by someone else. This has implications for the future development of young people and how they conduct themselves in future relationships into their adult lives.

Preschool and childcare have little impact on a child’s later school test score

According to an article in The Conversation, early childhood education and care is widely regarded as helping children’s academic, cognitive and social development. The authors’ study, published in the journal Behavior Genetics, looked into whether attending preschool or childcare influences later academic achievement. They found no statistically significant difference between the literacy and numeracy scores of school children who had attended preschool or childcare and children who didn’t. Nor did the duration of preschool or childcare attendance have an impact on later literacy and numeracy scores. The authors did not look at the relations between social and emotional skills, and early childhood education and care. The authors used data from the Academic Development Study of Australian Twins, which has been following children since 2012 to investigate how genes and environments influence their literacy and numeracy abilities in primary and secondary school.

Boarding schools seek AFL-style quarantine hub

The Age reports that boarding schools are pushing to establish an AFL-style quarantine hub to boost Australia's international secondary student market, which has been rattled by international and state border closures. The Australian Boarding Schools Association is proposing international students be allowed to quarantine at Queensland schools or hotels in January, before heading off to boarding schools around the country. The idea was raised at a roundtable attended by the association, the National Catholic Education Commission, Independent Schools Council of Australia and the Isolated Children's Parents' Association the week before last. Other Victorian boarding schools are exploring quarantining international students in the Northern Territory. A handful of Victorian boarding schools have stayed open over the school holidays rather than lose international students to coronavirus border restrictions. Victoria enrols more international school students than any other state or territory, with more than 9500 enrolled in 2018, primarily from China, Vietnam and Cambodia. International students account for about a third of the country's 23,500 boarders.

How raising the school-leaver's age transformed NSW schools

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that high school principal Craig Petersen used to give "the speech" to his incoming grade 11 students each year. "You’ve made the decision to come back to school," he would tell them. "So we’re treating you as young adults and independent learners from now on." The teenagers who weren't interested had dropped off the class roll over the summer, usually in search of employment or training opportunities outside the classroom. The NSW government's decision to raise the school-leaving age from 15 to 17 ushered in an era of universal senior school participation in 2010. Few oppose the principle: with greater educational attainment generally comes better life opportunities. But that decision also transformed the state's schools. Some students sit in classrooms they don't want to be in, and with that comes low attendance and behavioural challenges. Teachers have needed to find new ways to engage them, as their own workloads grow. The senior curriculum was reshaped to teach vocational skills, which has cost time and money that not all schools have.

Lockdowns put VCAL students at risk of not completing year 12

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that thousands of year 12 students taking the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning are at risk of being unable to complete their studies this year because of coronavirus restrictions and school closures that have prevented them doing essential practical work. Principals at schools with large VCAL programs held urgent talks with Victorian education authorities last week, warning them that many students simply would not have enough time to complete the requisite number of hours of practical work they must do to pass. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has identified 321 schools in Victoria with students who could run out of time to complete their VCAL in term four — more than 90 per cent of secondary schools in the state. Every VCE student will receive special consideration of educational disadvantage due to COVID-19, but authorities are yet to land on a solution for affected students who must complete at least 90 hours of assessment to meet national industry standards for vocational subjects.

Queensland schools to close two days earlier to allow pandemic leave

The Courier-Mail reports that the Queensland school year will be cut short in a frantic bid to give teachers long-promised pandemic leave in a move that has left parents fuming. Education Queensland last week announced that schools would close two days earlier this year, with the final Thursday and Friday of the term declared student-free days. This means the state’s metropolitan schools will finish the year on Wednesday, December 9, while regional, rural and remote schools will finish one week earlier on Wednesday, December 2. It is understood that schools across the state will be closed to all staff on both days – unlike typical student-free days when teachers are required to be present. The additional two days of leave was promised to teachers in late July after the State Government controversially deferred a 2.5 per cent pay rise for public servants until 2022. The pay rise was scheduled to come into effect in this year, meaning the two-year delay effectively resulted in a 5 per cent salary cut for teachers and other affected professions.

SA mental health commissioner David Kelly calls for end to COVID-19 response legislation

The ABC News reports that South Australia's mental health commissioner has called for the state's COVID-19 response legislation to be ended "as soon as possible", criticising its effect on vulnerable individuals. David Kelly told SA Parliament's COVID-19 response committee last Thursday that the Emergency Response Act failed to support South Australians with a disability, in particular those with mental health issues. "We were extremely concerned by the South Australian COVID Emergency Response Act, as the worst example of a piece of legislation that does nothing about support and only focuses on containment," Mr Kelly said. "More seriously, the act is not aligned to our responsibilities under the United Nations convention on the rights of people with disability." Mr Kelly specifically criticised parts of the act that allow the movements of individuals in supported residential facilities who may be deemed at risk of contracting or contributing to the spread of COVID-19 to be restricted. "Overall, the response appears to be one of containment rather than support and care," he said.

Suicide video shown in Busselton school results in teacher being stood down

The ABC News reports that a teacher in Western Australia's South West has been stood down after allowing students to watch an "absolutely unacceptable" video of a suicide during class time. About half a dozen students at Busselton Senior High School watched the video last week, despite parents and schools being warned the day before that a video of a man taking his own life was circulating on social media and could be extremely distressing to viewers. WA Education Director-General Lisa Rodgers said immediate action was taken. An investigation is underway, but Ms Rodgers said she understood the children had asked to see the footage. "Regardless of if the students asked to see the video, the video should not have been shown." Ms Rodgers said support was immediately given to the students. She said, however, that there was only so much parents and teachers could do to educate children about dangerous content on social media.

INTERNATIONAL

COVID-19 swish, gargle and spit test coming for school aged children in British Columbia (Canada)

The CBC reports that British Columbia is introducing a new mouth rinse, gargle and spit test for students from kindergarten to Grade 12 to help make it easier for children and teenagers to check whether they have COVID-19. Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry says the new test is the first of its kind in the world and was developed in BC. "Unlike the nasopharyngeal swab this is a new saline gargle, where you put a little bit of normal saline — so the sterile water in your mouth — you swish it around a little bit and you spit it into a little tube, and that's an easier way to collect it for young people," said Dr Henry. Dr Henry says the made in BC product will reduce the province's dependency on the global supply chain for lab testing. The nose swab will continue to be used for younger children or those who can't follow the swish, gargle and spit instructions. The BC Centre for Disease Control says both tests are able to detect if a child has COVID-19.