Education

School News4 days ago
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The proposed new maths curriculum doesn’t dumb down content. It actually demands more of students

Another criticism is that the new curriculum apparently delays linear equations — such as x + 3 = 11 (find…
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School News4 days ago
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A ‘crowded curriculum’? Sure, it may be complex, but so is the world kids must engage with

The Australian Curriculum is going through a review process with proposed changes released for public consultation at the end of…
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School News2 weeks ago
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‘I always get horny … am I not normal?’: teenage girls often feel shame about pleasure. Sex education needs to address this

Good school-based sex education means providing teachers with the training and support they need without fear of backlash. In the…
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School News3 weeks ago
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Teaching young people about sex is too important to get wrong. Here are 5 videos that actually hit the mark

Two videos were removed this week from the Australian government’s recently released sexuality education resource for schools.
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School News3 weeks ago
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TIMSS report demands effort to lift Aussie school standards

Only half of Australia’s Year 4 students attended schools where more than 25 per cent of students enter school foundational…
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School News3 weeks ago
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It’s time to teach the whole story about ovulation and its place in the menstrual cycle

Health education frequently fails to teach the menstrual cycle in its full entirety, focusing mostly on the bleeding part of…
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School News3 weeks ago
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1 in 4 Australian year 8s have teachers unqualified in maths — this hits disadvantaged schools even harder

Students with expert maths teachers score higher...
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NSW Department of Education4 weeks ago
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Mathematics is beautiful

Michelle Tregoning shares insights into the department’s approach to increase student participation and engagement in maths.
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School NewsTuesday, May 11, 2021
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Time’s run out for NAPLAN, says teacher union

The annual NAPLAN tests, which commenced in schools this week, are simply not fit for purpose, according to public school…
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School NewsTuesday, May 11, 2021
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To understand racism, kids must empathise with its impact — and teachers must embrace discomfort

This kind of education is known as “pedagogies of discomfort”. It involves teachers deliberately placing students in situations where they…
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Interactive, anti-bacterial touch screens that test air quality, kill most germs, and protect from eyestrain will provide your teachers the peace of mind they deserve post-COVID. With school health and air quality concerns at an all-time high across Australia, BenQ’s latest interactive boards are a breath of fresh air. They enable your teachers and learners to interact in a classroom space that supports healthy collaboration day-to-day, wall-to-wall, whiteboard-to-whiteboard. ‘Deep breath in, slow breath out…’ Breathing techniques to quieten chaotic classrooms are vital, but not so calming in low-quality air. Just last month, cutting edge research undertaken at UNSW Sydney’s School of Built Environment brought to light the shocking issue of poor air quality in Aussie schools. The research team found that concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in classrooms peaked significantly higher than the 850-ppm threshold prescribed by the National Construction Code and suggests that enhancing ventilation and environmental quality must be a critical consideration for schools equal to enhancing teaching materials. As children spend the vast majority of their school days learning inside classroom environments, indoor air quality should be a core concern for schools. In fact, based on government figures, we know that Australian students are couped up in …
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A yellow car, an epiphany and the secret to happiness

Toni Powell is the author of two funny-ish books. ‘What A Feeling’ is a surprising and eye-opening book on relationships and ‘The Yellow Car’ is a short and powerful true story that teaches people not to worry.
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‘How can we challenge a conversation if we lack courage’?

After losing a Year 9 student to suicide, educator, Rachel Downie decided that she needed to find a way to support our young people to say something when things ‘aren’t right’. She discovered that in emergent situations, students often felt too frightened to come forward with possible life-saving information, due to their social expectations and Australia’s cultural acceptance of bullying. This led Rachel to developing Stymie – harm reporting without fear. Rachel was recognised for her work with young people at risk of harm, receiving the Queensland Australian of the Year Award in 2020 and she has an important message for educators… How can we challenge a conversation if we lack courage? It’s a powerful message given the revelations facing some schools about sexual assault and issues of consent. So how can education leaders address these issues? What role do you see schools playing in addressing concerning societal issues that play out in schools? It is extremely difficult at the moment to stand in front of students (thousands of them every week) and ask them to Say Something if they are seeing or experiencing harm, when in every corner of our society and at our highest levels of leadership, confidentiality, …
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International Conference on Thinking Returns to Melbourne for 2021 Headlined by Dr. Edward de Bono

The International Conference on Thinking (ICOT) is an internationally renowned cross-disciplinary event that connects a diverse group of trailblazers and disruptors from a range of industries and disciplines. The conference aims to help educators, academics, professors, and business professionals provoke, challenge, learn, and discuss the many forms of thinking and its application in creating new ideas and problem solving. ICOT is the world’s largest conference on the practice of thinking and is returning to Melbourne for the first time since 2005. The five-day programme runs from 4 – 8 July 2021 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and for the first time in the conference’s history, ICOT 2021’s new hybrid model combines virtual and live elements to ensure participants can still meet, exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences and have greater connectivity across the globe. Headlined by renowned lateral thinking pioneer, Dr. Edward de Bono, ICOT 2021 participants will have the opportunity to hear from over 30 world class speakers across various disciplines in an inspiring five-day programme that includes keynotes and feature presentations, interactive workshops, challenge groups and offsite learning journeys. From machine learning to a travelling high school, to education and technology; the ICOT 2021 conference speakers span …
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National Education Summit Brisbane

The National Education Summit Brisbane is professional learning designed by Australian educators, for Australian educators. Hear from educational experts and connect with the Australian community via a series of 4 conferences and a free seminar program. All events are mapped to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers providing you with self-identified continuing PD.
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Bring the science of reading into your classroom with literacy programs and resources from MultiLit

Many teachers are now looking to incorporate the latest scientific research on how to most effectively teach reading into their professional practice, to get students off to a great start on their literacy journey. Leading Australasian literacy provider, MultiLit, publishes a range of evidence-based literacy support and intervention programs for use by primary and secondary schools. As a research initiative of Macquarie University, MultiLit’s publications and associated professional development are continually informed by an ongoing program of research, led by Emeritus Professor Kevin Wheldall AM. Established 25 years ago, MultiLit’s mission is to bring about major educational change so that far fewer children are left to struggle in school with inadequate reading and related skills, the skills essential for academic success in all areas. The most recent addition to MultiLit’s suite of programs is InitiaLit, a three-year whole-class initial instruction program, for students from Foundation to Year 2. In the context of a Response to Intervention framework, InitiaLit is a Tier 1 program, and provides the essential core knowledge and strong foundations for students to become successful readers and writers. Since its release in 2017, InitiaLit has been implemented by more than 500 schools throughout Australia. In 2020, InitiaLit–Foundation, InitiaLit–1 …
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