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Recent headlines . . .
Educators challenge policy to limit bilingual
education
NT - A group of educators and academics
have started lobbying to change a Northern Territory Government
policy, which currently forces remote schools to teach in
English for the first four hours of the school day. The
group argues that the policy defies research and national
and international trends in education.
Read
newspaper report
Teachers demand Tasmania Tomorrow program
to be scrapped
TAS - The Tasmanian government's Tasmania
Tomorrow program is receiving opposition from teachers across
north-west Tasmania. Greg Brown from the Education Union
says that "manipulation, a misrepresentation and an
abuse of process" may have occurred in signing up a
Hobart college to the reforms.
Read
newspaper report
Teacher target of Facebook 'hate group'
QLD - Students may be sued for defamation
and face stalking charges after creating a Facebook 'hate
group' against a Queensland High School teacher. The group,
which was shut down, contained threats and rants against
the teacher.
Read
newspaper report
Hugging controversy
QLD - Debate has sparked in schools around
Queensland on whether or not students' hugging is deemed
inappropriate behaviour, after two students where put in
detention for their 'public display of affection'.
Read
newspaper report
Law school head quits to seek protection
for refugees
VIC - James Hathaway, the head of Melbourne
University's law school, has left his position to focus
on helping protect refugees by advocating global reforms.
Read
newspaper report
Education changes 'disaster for rural industry
in Tasmania'
TAS - Criticism rises over the Tasmania
Tomorrow changes as students are 'driven away' from the
agriculture and industrial sectors in the TAFE system. Mike
Badcock from Rural Industry Training and Education says
student numbers in rural-based studies have dropped from
30 to zero this year, due to the 'disorganised and confused'
system.
Read
newspaper report
Primary school closes to give way to a new
'state-of-the-art' P-10 school
ACT - Urambi Primary School will be closing
at the end of next year to give way to a new $56.5 million
school, which will cater to students from preschool to year
10. Education Minister Andrew Barr says work on the 'state-of-the-art'
school was already underway.
Read
newspaper report
Making low standards unacceptable
NATIONAL - John Fleming, one of Australia's
leading teachers, supports national testing and reporting
of schools results, declaring that schools and teachers
currently set their standards too low and accept bad results
and that league tables 'will force schools to lift their
goals'.
Read
newspaper report
Opinion . . .
Staff development, or Christmas shopping,
days
NATIONAL - An opinion piece by parent
Helen Dempsey, on her view of pupil free days, and how the
'punish the parents'
Read
newspaper report
Good news . . .
Teacher awarded Australia's highest teaching
award for helping the Sudanese community
NATIONAL - Western Australian teacher,
Tracy Anthony, has won the Best National Achievement gong
in the Australian Awards for Teaching Excellence, the nation's
highest teaching award. Anthony was awarded for pioneering
new, imaginative approaches to teaching, and her efforts
to 'bridge cultural divides' between Sudanese students and
the community.
Read
newspaper report
International
Cutting costs to reduce cuts
USA - Michigan's bipartisan State Board
of Education urged the Governor Jennifer Granholm to find
a solution for the states public education funding, as an
education budget, which contains a cut of $165 per student,
was signed and will take effect unless more money is raised
within a month.
Read
newspaper report
ACEL Noticeboard
How can corporate Australia support our schools?
Business Class: How Can Corporate Australia Support
Our Schools? is to be held at Melbourne's iconic
NGV International on October 20 and will feature a panel
of leading figures from some of the most influential and
respected organisations operating in the Australian education
landscape today.
The panel put in place by Spheres of Influence to debate
the issue of how corporate Australia can support our schools
features:
Prof. Brian J Caldwell, Managing Director, Educational Transformations;
Adam Smith, CEO, Foundation for Young Australians; Dr Steve
Holden, Managing Editor, Teacher Magazine; Jenny Lewis,
CEO, Australian Council of Educational Leaders, and Rupert
Macgregor, Executive Director, Australian Council of State
School Organisations.
''The aim is to disseminate the major issues on the
subject of corporate Australia's involvement in education
and create some tangible outcomes to help shape the future
of a subject that is gaining an increasing amount of attention
and has a significant bearing on the future education of
Australia's children and young people,' said Patrizia Torelli,
Managing Director, Spheres of Influence International.
The event comes at a time when the answer to the question
of corporate Australia's role in supporting our schools
is yet to be answered by Government. Speaking recently on
the
topic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education
The Hon Julia Gillard MP said: ''Clearly, we [The Rudd
Government] believe the engagement of corporate Australia
with schools has to be on the basis of making a genuine
difference, not on the basis of product promotion [...].
But I do believe that corporate Australia can play a role
in supporting our schools.'
It is critical that in the next few months the education
sector takes steps to develop a concerted viewpoint on how
corporate Australia can support our schools and Business
Class provides a significant opportunity to foster dialogue
on the subject.
Spheres of Influence aims to produce tangible outcomes with
which to move forward and ensure Australia is a world leader
in the responsible and mutually beneficial engagement of
the corporate world with schools.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting: http://www.sofiibusinessclass.eventbrite.com/
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