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Breaking
News: Week of 21 August 2006
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Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 August
- Media Release: David Wood named Chief Executive Officer of the Curriculum Council
David Wood named Chief Executive Officer of the Curriculum Council
Education and Training Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has welcomed the appointment of David Wood as the new permanent head of the Curriculum Council.
Ms Ravlich said Mr Wood was a career educator and highly capable of continuing the significant progress made in implementing new courses for Year 11 and 12 students.
"Mr Wood, who was previously the principal at Sevenoaks Senior College, is a life member of the Science Teachers' Association and has had substantial experience in curriculum issues," she said.
"He has spent 10 years at the Secondary Education Authority (prior to it becoming the Curriculum Council) and has been involved in a number of strategic programs, including refinement and publication of the Western Australian Outcomes and Standards Framework.
"As a principal, Mr Wood knows the importance of a student-focused approach, especially for senior secondary students, which is why the current implementation process needs to be carefully monitored, properly evaluated and well-supported."
Ms Ravlich thanked acting CEO David Axworthy for his leadership and professionalism during his time at the helm of the council.
The Minister said Mr Wood would continue the task of refining the new courses of study for Years 11 and 12 and would ensure a smooth transition to Outcomes and Standards Education.
"The new WA Certificate of Education courses will benefit all students and better prepare them for further study, training or employment," she said.
Ms Ravlich said now the Government, the teaching unions and all the public and private school sectors had agreed to a way forward for the new courses, she wished Mr Wood every success in carrying out the Curriculum Council's supportive role in the process.
Minister's office - 9213 6800
- For info: David Wood's submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Post-Compulsory Education
- The West Australian
- Editorial
National history a vital part of education for all Australians (page 18)
"Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has struck a chord with many Australians with her push to make the teaching of our nation's history compulsory in all Australian schools.
"It should be obvious even to WA's ideologically driven Curriculum Council that it is important for all young Australians to get a solid grounding in Australian history..."
"WA students from Years 1 to 10 do not study Australian history as a separate subject. It is taught as part of the Time, Continuity and Change course, something which Ms Bishop says should be seriously questioned.
"Her criticisms have been echoed by historians, teachers, parents and community members. This month, a Westpoll survey of 402 people found than an overwhelming 83 per cent wanted Australian history to be taught as a compulsory stand-alone subject at some stage of high school..."
"It is hoped that WA's educators will see the light and follow the NSW example by making Australian history compulsory for all students in Years 9 and 10 without having to be bludgeoned into compliance by the threat of Federal funding being withheld..."
- Op Ed
System to blame for kids who can't read (page 18)
by Bettina Arndt
"Many are applauding the news that a mother has won a payout from a top Melbourne school which failed to teach her son how to read. This shot across the bow alerts those running our education system that there may be a price to pay for the generations of students who have missed out on literacy skills..." [See the Breaking News Archive for the Week of 14 August for more articles on the story.]
"The major reason so many children are struggling – according to the national inquiry into literacy which reported in December last year – has been the failure of our education system to include proper instruction in phonics. Teachers haven't been properly taught to teach phonics and hence students have missed the essential building blocks to literacy.
"Children have paid the price for replacing proper phonics-based reading instructions with the fad of whole-language – an approach which has dominated our system for more than 20 years.
[More details on the Melbourne story.]
"Sadly public schools have suffered even more strongly from educational adventurism, such as the whole language fad. With no control over quality of teachers, State education has more than its fair share of poorly prepared teachers. For decades, many teacher-training courses have not only failed to provide a thorough grounding in phonics but given little instruction in how to teach.
"So teachers are not to blame for the current crisis – indeed many are well aware of the deficiencies in their training. While most university courses claim to include phonics, many give it only lip service.
"A survey of primary school teachers conducted by the Queensland University of Technology found more than half of the teachers did not know what a syllable was and three-quarters could not count the sounds in words. A group of recent graduate teachers is apparently exploring legal options to try to sue the university concerned..." [emphasis added]
- Two years in preschool best for children, says researcher (page 6)
"A national preschool system that gives children at least two years education before they start school is the ideal child-care system, says a paper to be released today by 21 social policy researchers..."
Based on a story in today's The Australian
- Schools are safety risk: WorkSafe (page 7)
by Keryn McKinnon, FOI Editor
"Dangerous chemicals kept in drink bottles, first aid supplies past their use-by dates, damaged electrical cords and blocked access to fire equipment are among a list of unsafe work practices at WA schools exposing students and teachers to life-threatening risks..."
"An investigation by The West Australian has revealed many WA schools are putting students and staff at risk of electric shock because they fail to check and update electrical equipment."And machinery in some metalwork and woodwork classrooms did not have proper guards or emergency safety switches to protect students and teachers from injury.
"Several schools have been ordered to improve the storage of chemicals after science laboratories were left unlocked and storage containers were not labelled. At one school, drink containers with the drink labels still on them were used to hold chemicals.
"Many schools did not practise evacuation procedures and in some cases staff had not been instructed how to deal with violent situations. In another school with more than 400 staff and students, not one staff member had first aid training.
"Nearly 150 dangerous work practices were exposed by WorkSafe inspectors visiting public and private schools over the past two years. The improvement notices ordering the potential hazards be fixed have been obtained by The West Australian under Freedom of Information laws.
"State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely said workplace safety was an area of concern for the union and he did not believe enough emphasis was placed on it.
"Teachers were already under pressure and safety problems were often exacerbated because they were not as alert, or well trained as they should be, to identify and prevent potential hazards.
"Education Department manager for employee support services, Wendy Doyle, said principals and department heads must provide and maintain a safe workplace. Safety officers helped them meet health and safety requirements.
"She said many improvement notices received by schools were relatively minor and schools were helped to comply with them.
"WorkSafe Commissioner Nina Lyhne said the notices were an opportunity for workplaces to fix problems before a serious accident occurred. About 1100 improvement notices were issued every year to public and private businesses.
"Ms Lyhne said schools were no different to any type of business and inspectors were particularly vigilant in ensuring staff were trained in dealing with violent situations they may encounter with parents or students."
From The West Australian at link
- Junk food ban sought to end 'diabesity' (page 11)
Based on a story in today's The Melbourne Age
- High school age concern (page 16)
"Parents have called on Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich to retain the current high school entry age or risk the viability of country schools.
"The WA Council of State School Organisations annual conference yesterday bolstered opposition to the shirting of Year 7 students to high schools.
"The Department of Education and Training is investigating reducing the high-school entry age by one year to put WA in line with other States.
"Conference delegates also called for a quadrupling of country teaching incentives to $100 per week.
"A spokesperson for the Minister Assisting for Education, Norm Marlborough, declined to comment while Ms Ravlich was on holiday." [emphasis added]
- Letters to the Editor
Two letters on education issues today: one opposes full-time kindy, while the other applauds the Federal history teaching initiative.
Full stories in The West Australian
- The Guardian
- Third of employers forced to teach basic maths and English
by Rebecca Smithers, education editor
· CBI says government must act now to raise standards
· GCSE results expected to indicate poor core skills
"One in three businesses is having to send staff for remedial "catch-up" lessons in basic literacy and numeracy skills that they have failed to acquire at school, a damning report reveals today."The employers' organisation CBI says the government must act urgently to improve poor standards of maths and English among Britain's school leavers. The evidence emerges days before GCSE results are expected to show that more than half of all 16-year-olds have failed to achieve good grades in both key subjects.
"In the 112-page report, the employers condemn poor standards of spelling, handwriting and mental arithmetic among school leavers, noting that their social and practical skills have also declined. The report claims that "people become extraordinarily adept at hiding their poor skills and go to great lengths to avoid the stigma often associated with them".
Full story in The Guardian at link
- Similar stories in The Independent
- The Australian
- Teacher joins exodus for better pay
by Patricia Karvelas
"At midnight last night, Australia lost another of our youngest and brightest teachers to the British education system."Luke Hall, 23, a maths and science teacher from country Victoria, hopped on a jet for a new life working in London.
"His departure and that of thousands of other teachers each year has led to calls by Labor backbencher Craig Emerson for a model that would allow all state school principals to pay teachers more money for good performance instead of seniority.
"According to previously unpublished data obtained by Dr Emerson, Australia is experiencing an exodus of teachers, with 8400 teachers leaving our shores in 2004-05, twice the number who left a decade earlier.
"Even after taking account of foreign teachers coming to the country, Australia has lost more than 18,000 teachers in the past decade, whereas before then there had been a small net gain.
"Dr Emerson says that to stem the trend, Australia must introduce performance pay in all state schools. Under his model, which will anger unions, principals would get more money to attract and retain the best teachers. "The principal could offer extra money to a teacher or teachers that the principal wants to retain, or offer extra money to teachers that the principal wants to attain from other schools," he said..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Howard accused of bullying on history
by Imre Salusinszky
"The states are continuing to claim the Howard Government is bullying them into reinstating traditional history teaching in schools, despite having been officially invited to contribute to last week's history summit in Canberra."The Australian has learned that federal Education Minister Julie Bishop wrote to all states and territories last month to seek their input to the summit.
"I am very willing to work with the states and territories ... to further strengthen the place of history in the Australian classroom," Ms Bishop said in her letter.
"As part of the preparation for the summit, and to assist the participants at the summit to appreciate each state and territory's views, I would appreciate you writing to me to advise me of your thoughts on the current state of the teaching of Australian history in your jurisdiction's classrooms, and on what initiatives your government, together with the federal Government could be taking to strengthen the place and maintain the integrity of Australian history in your jurisdiction's classrooms."
"Only the ACT Government bothered to reply.
"Despite this, West Australian Education Minister Norm Marlborough told The Australian the Howard Government should drop its threats to withhold education funding and "start talking to the states". [Right: The DET and Minister to drop their threats and "start talking"... Web]
"What we need to do is create an atmosphere of co-operation whereby the states and federal Government can sit down and intelligently produce a model of Australian history that should be measured by improved participation and educational outcomes," he said..."
"Meanwhile, the state opposition parties have grasped the political opportunity of the summit and endorsed a return to traditional Australian history."West Australian shadow education spokesman Peter Collier, who was a history teacher for 23 years before entering politics last year, said the summit proposal was a "fantastic idea". [emphasis added]
Full story in The Australian at link
- Op Ed
Peter Craven: A great story that deserves to be taught
John Howard's political and cultural opponents should praise the Prime Minister for talking up Australian history
"You can disagree with John Howard about most things and still think he's right about history, just as he was right when he bought into the literature syllabus debate a few months ago."The Labor Party, together with liberals of all descriptions, will only look wrong-footed if they object to the Prime Minister making some gesture towards rectifying a situation where history is taught as a separate school subject only in NSW and Victoria.
"It helps, too, that Bob Carr, the former politician famous for his love of history, the man who as Labor premier of NSW established a history prize, should back him to the hilt. And Carr, who likes reading about the idealism and turbulence of America's history, cannot be accused of parochialism in these matters.
"Nor can anyone be dismissive of a history get-together that not only invites Geoffrey Blainey (the greatest living historian; who cares that he's conservative?) together with Geoffrey Bolton, Inga Clendinnen and John Hirst, historians who command the attention of whatever general public reads history. Stuart Macintyre, that eminent historian of the Left, who was also invited (though he could not attend), could hardly fail to approve of the PM talking up of history..."
Peter Craven, a Melbourne writer, is the former editor of Quarterly Essay.
Full story in The Australian at link
- Plan calls for two pre-school years
by Elizabeth Gosch
"All children should have at least two years of pre-school education, according to a group of Australian researchers."The recommendation features in a 10-point plan for early childhood education and care put together by the panel of 21 researchers, including Eva Cox and Barbara Pocock.
"The plan calls for greater government involvement in the care and education of 0-5-year-olds.
"In the last 10 years, 0-5 education and care has been left to the market but government needs to play a larger role both with funding and organisation," panel convenor Elizabeth Hill said.
"The panel recommended that governments implement a national, universal and integrated early childhood education and care system, particularly for children in the two years prior to starting school. "International evidence about the positive role that early childhood education and care plays in the development and well-being of all young children provides a strong case for this," the panel said.
"Social commentator Ms Cox said arrangements for pre-school care and education across the country were chaotic."
From The Australian at link
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph
- Editorial
Bleak echoes of blackboard jungle
"We demand far more than we reasonably should from our teachers. Today's teachers are expected to pick up the slack on a range of fronts where society and parents are failing - as well as imparting exemplary maths and literacy skills."For little more than $50,000 a year, we demand they keep our youngsters fit, provide frontline child protection services, counter damaging popular culture influences, install a moral compass and create informed model citizens.
"With so much expected, the least we can do is ensure that teachers can do their jobs without threats and intimidation.
"Today The Daily Telegraph reveals that the teachers are battling a disturbing range of physical and verbal attacks from a small minority of troublesome students. Incidents range from punches and karate kicks to the stomach to head butts, acid splashes and choking..."
Full editorial in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- Independent schools swamped
"Thousands of parents are inundating private schools with enrolment applications for their children – including new-born babies who haven't yet been given a name."Waiting lists at some prestigious schools are so long that parents applying 12 years in advance are being told they cannot be guaranteed a place.
"The enrolment growth in independent colleges charging as much as $20,000 a year dwarfs recent gains by the best government schools..."
"The Association of Independent Schools has told The Daily Telegraph enrolments are growing by as many as 5000 a year – mostly in high-growth spots in outer Sydney and regional areas such as the North Coast."Enrolments in Catholic schools have also increased slightly while the public system has contracted by almost 14,000 over the last three years..."
Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- The Melbourne Age
- Op Ed
The questions of history will be answered
by John Hirst
"The participants at last week's history summit broadly accepted the Prime Minister's critique of Australian history teaching in schools, but they came to their own solutions."The composition of the summit was criticised as having too few practising school teachers. This was puzzling to me — as if intelligent people, summoned to consider school curriculum, would heed the voice of teachers only if they were outnumbered by them.
"The teachers who came to Canberra last Thursday were listened to with respect. But better than any individual contribution was the paper and advice of Monash University professor Tony Taylor, an expert in teaching history in schools.
"His report showed how scrappy and incoherent are the offerings on Australian history (except in NSW), with some topics repeated year after year and others never treated. But his warning to the summit, the first thing that those attending heard, was that if a curriculum was developed that alienated teachers and bored students, we would be worse off than we are now.
"The summit also considered a paper by University of Wollongong history and politics professor Greg Melleuish, outlining what he thought a student should know of Australian history by the end of year 10.
"This sought to rectify some of the imbalances and omissions in standard accounts of Australian history. Melleuish wanted more attention paid to middle Australia, to the role of religion, to economic history, to the NSW Free Trade Party in the early days of the Commonwealth. It was defeated then by the Victorian protectionists, but looks better these days, as we are all free-traders now.
"His paper impressed and dismayed those involved in the summit. Several speakers said that it covered more ground than a university course and some of it required abstract thinking that would be beyond a young teenager..."
John Hirst, a reader in history at La Trobe University and an author, is chairing the working group that will refine the lists of questions and landmark events.
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link [Slightly edited version of the same Op Ed in The Sydney Morning Herald]
- Top pupils poached, schools say
by Michael Bachelard and Brydie Flynn
"Private schools are continuing to try to poach sports stars from each other, despite an agreement to end the controversial practice, some principals claim."The agreement has certainly not been enforced," the principal of St Bede's in Mentone, Brother Ken Ormerod, said..."
"Associated Public Schools principals agreed last year not to directly approach each others' sports stars. But they have since had legal advice that the ban is legally unenforceable because it amounts to a restraint of trade..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- New call for ban on junk food, drinks
by Carol Nader
"Junk food and soft drinks should be banned from hospitals, schools and other public institutions to help stem growing "diabesity", health experts say..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- The Canberra Times
- Teachers, minister agree to more talks
by Markus Mannheim
"A small concession was made yesterday in the long-running dispute on ACT teachers' salaries, as both sides grudgingly agreed in principle to resume negotiations."The education union offered at the weekend to call off planned strikes if the Government agreed to rule out job losses..."
Full story in The Canberra Times at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Two years' preschool for all, pay rises for staff urged [late edition]
by Stephanie Peatling
"A national preschool system that gives children at least two years' education before they start school is the ideal child-care system, says a paper to be released today by 21 social policy researchers."Much greater Federal Government co-ordination is needed, the group says, to plan for care, to check standards in centres and to increase the numbers of people who work in child care by raising wages.
"The Federal Government is paying a big bill [for child care] at the moment and it will grow," said the director of the Centre for Work and Life at the University of South Australia, Professor Barbara Pocock. "The dollars spent on preschool will be recouped later in life..."
"Education and care interventions in the early years have a demonstrated capacity to narrow social inequity and improve the health, educational and economic outcomes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds over the life course," the paper says..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Leading principal gives new reports system an E grade [late edition]
by Anna Patty Education Editor
"Sixty students at a Sydney high school can expect to be labelled failures 76 times over the next four years under the compulsory A to E grading system, the school's principal says."Judy King, the principal at Riverside Girls High School, near Gladesville, said 60 of her 1050 students were struggling to learn and cope with the demands of the curriculum in years 7 to 10.
"The students do not qualify as special education students, who are exempt from A to E grading..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Letters to the Editor
- Whose version will rule the history syllabus?
"Good on the Prime Minister for wanting everyone to be well-educated in history. With a good history education everyone will be able to see the uncanny parallels between the cases of the alleged anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti in the 1920s and the alleged terrorists "Jihad" Jack and David Hicks. Everyone would immediately recognise the predicted 50-year war against the "Islamofascists" as pure Orwellian spin from Big Brother's state of perpetual warfare. We might also be able to avoid the mistakes of the past, so we don't have to add the name of some Iraqi village to Australia's list of historical villages such as Fromelles and Long Tan."
Dr Phil Gregory, Narrawallee
- "It is good to hear that our Prime Minister is so keen for Australians to learn about their country's history. Isn't he the one who, not so long ago, said Australians would be insulted to be told the nation had a racist, bigoted past and that it was wrong for this to be taught in schools? Would our Prime Minister now tell us which part of our history should be left out of the curriculum?"
Francis Lee, Pyrmont
"Whatever is decided, white Australia will always have a black history."
Kevin Williams, The Hill
"John Howard rightly apologises to Vietnam veterans for the despicable way they were treated when they returned from an unpopular war. Can we now expect him to do the same for the stolen generation? If not, will the new history books he is espousing for today's schoolchildren at least reflect the criticism of the nation for his continuing refusal to say sorry lest we are all tarred with the same brush?"
Eddie Raggett, Mosman
"The Federal Government wants to take over history teaching in high schools because its wants to have history presented totally from the point of view of the winners of history. That means it wants the white-hooded version or the white blindfolded version taught, rather than what it calls the "black armband" version. It wants to whitewash history, and pretend there were no victims of a white holocaust, a white military invasion and a massacre of the original inhabitants of Australia. Just like the Liberal Party wants to pretend that there have been no victims of their invasion of Iraq. They want that history rewritten as well."
Gavin Date, Marleston (SA)
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
- The Adelaide Advertiser
- Editorial
Howard joins the chorus on seatbelts
"Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith is becoming increasingly isolated as she continues to oppose the blanket introduction of school bus seatbelts.
"Since The Advertiser first highlighted the issue two weeks ago, a growing body of public and political opinion has swung behind the push to improve the safety of children who travel to and from schools on government transport."Prime Minister John Howard has become the latest to join those calling for the fitting of seatbelts in all South Australian school buses, regardless of the cost..."
Full editorial in The Adelaide Advertiser at link
- The West Australian
© The West Australian
"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich says it is not important for students to know key historical dates, saying they can find the information using the internet search engine Google.
"Ms Ravlich also said yesterday that lack of knowledge about Australian history was similar to students not knowing “the internal workings of a computer”.
"And when asked about the significance of the date 1788 — the year the First Fleet landed — she replied, “I am not getting into that”, and hung up the phone. [emphasis added]
"Ms Ravlich said the advent of Google meant important dates were at students’ fingertips. It was more important that students knew the context in which events took place.
“I think you can overplay the importance of dates, it’s important to understand the context in which history was made,” she said.
“I’m one of these people who have also recognised that time has moved on and any young person, if you ask them to find something, it will probably be at their fingertips.”
"Questioned about a straw poll by The West Australian which revealed a lack of knowledge of key events in Australian history, she said: “You can ask many students a range of questions about the internal workings of a computer and chances are they wouldn’t know anything about that.”
"Ms Ravlich was responding to a push by Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop for a compulsory history curriculum for Years 9 and 10.
"WA students from Years 1 to 10 do not study Australian history as a separate subject. It is taught as part of the Time, Continuity and Change course.
"The existing system was criticised by Ms Bishop and leading historians at a history summit in Canberra last week. They said history was “mushed up” with other subjects.
"Ms Bishop and Prime Minister John Howard have said history should be taught with an emphasis on dates and facts.
"Ms Ravlich said she was offended by Ms Bishop’s threat to withdraw billions in Federal funding if the States did not commit to developing a new national history curriculum.
"She accused Ms Bishop of not consulting the States properly before revealing her plan, but said in the interests of WA students she would investigate the concept. States had been invited to contribute ideas but not to attend the summit. “It’s like being given a pie and being told you can’t eat it,” Ms Ravlich said.
"She said the State would do its own research and consult widely on the proposal for all Year 9 and 10 students to study a stand-alone Australian history subject.
“In terms of making (history) a compulsory subject in Years 9 and 10, I don’t have a problem with that necessarily,” she said. “I don’t underestimate the importance of Australian history but it’s important to engage students so they will want to learn.”
"Asked about the significance of 1788, shadow education minister Peter Collier said it marked the European settlement of Australia. He said it was essential for students to have a sequential knowledge of key events, dates and facts.
"UWA associate professor of history Jenny Gregory said context was important but there were dates and events every Australian should know."
From The West Australian at link
- Newly appointed curriculum boss backs "sweeping education reforms" (page 15)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich yesterday appointed a public school principal as the new permanent head of the Curriculum Council.
"David Wood, the fourth chief executive the troubled organisation has had in the past 12 months, said he strongly supported the direction of the current education reforms.
© The West Australian
"The Curriculum Council has been at the centre of controversy over the introduction of outcomes-based education to Years 11 and 12, with Alan Carpenter forced to step in to broker a compromise deal with the State School Teachers Union last month.
"Before taking on the role of principal at Sevenoaks Senior College six years ago, Mr Wood was a senior policy advisor for 10 years at the Secondary Education Authority, forerunner of the Curriculum Council.
"He denied he had taken on a poisoned chalice, saying he applied for the job because of his strong belief WA students needed the sweeping education reforms. "I think there are some immediate challenges about making sure we work very collaboratively," he said.
"Mr Wood would not say why he believed implementation of OBE went off the rails. "But I think it;s widely accepted that the approach to curriculum design wasn't broad enough," he said.
"He promised to consult teachers before revised courses were accredited, which he expected would take place later this year. He hoped sample exams would be released at the same time.
"The West Australian predicted three weeks ago that Mr Wood would be the new substantive head of the Curriculum Council when it revealed acting chief David Axworthy had not been recommended.
"People Lobbying Against Teaching Outcomes (PLATO) co-founder Marko Vojkovic said he hoped Mr Wood's background in science would help him bring a commonsense, analytical approach to the role."
From The West Australian
- Correction: OBE mailout ONLY to cost $57,000 (page 16)
- Concern at school library staffing (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
"A serious shortage of trained teacher librarians in State schools is leading to a decline in children’s reading and writing skills, academics and teachers have warned.
"Submissions to the WA Literacy and Numeracy review say recent research shows that poorly resourced school libraries hinder students’ literacy development."They want the Education Department to supply a qualified library or resource teacher to every public school.
"They say many school libraries are not staffed by trained professionals because principals limited by strict staffing formulas are giving priority to employing specialists in other areas such as music, physical education or art..."
Full story in The West Australian at link
- Industrial action threatened over latest education pay dispute (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
"The State Government and the Department of Education and Training have been plunged into another industrial dispute, with thousands of education assistants threatening rolling stoppages at schools across the State.
"The Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union says the dispute is over a pay discrepancy between education assistants at special needs schools and those at mainstream schools. Assistants from special needs schools have agreed to industrial action in support of 158 education assistants at mainstream public schools. Education assistants care for the needs of children with disabilities, such as taking them to the toilet, restraining them and giving medication."Assistants at mainstream public schools get paid $2 less an hour than their counterparts at special schools.
"LHMU assistant secretary Sue Lines said two years of negotiations had proved fruitless and the union put its final position to the department on Friday.
"Education Department human resources director Alby Huts said the matter was under discussion at the WA Industrial Relations Commission."
From The West Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
- There are three Letters on educational issues. One compares Julie Bishop to Joseph Stalin; one quotes Albert Einstein to oppose full-time kindy; the third one follows:
- "While our beloved Education Minister remains on holiday, her "Minister Assisting", Norm Marlborough, said (Report, 19/8):
"Unfortunately, the present state of mind of the Federal Minister for Education seems to be based on threatening and bullying the States... What we need to do is create an atmosphere of co-operation..."
"This from the bureaucracy that punishes teachers for blowing the whistle on child abuse, does everything in its power to stifle and gag debate on OBE, and wants the shadow education minister kept on a leash and prevented from visiting government schools.
"A bit rich, Norm, coming from the most oppressive educational bureaucracy in Australia's history!"
Steve Kessell, Willetton
Complete Letters to the Editor in The West Australian
- The Australian
- Algebra + toddlers = head start in mathematics
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"Preschool children as young as 3 1/2 years who are taught algebra to help them recognise the pattern and structure underpinning mathematics develop skills years ahead of their peers."A trial by Macquarie University researchers run in two Sydney preschools found that at the end of their first year of school, the children could solve grade three maths problems..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Close call on school bus
by Richard Sproull
"School students on an Adelaide bus escaped death by millimetres yesterday when heavy steel girders speared through its windows after a truck collided with it in peak-hour traffic."The bus had 45 students on board and was parked when the truck crashed into its side and three heavy girders slid off a rack through the windows, hitting one passenger and narrowly missing others..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Aboriginal children to learn work-skills at school
by Patricia Karvelas
"Aboriginal children as young as 13 will be offered pre-apprenticeship training in their second year of high school under a proposal to be adopted by Education Minister Julie Bishop."The idea of introducing trades training in schools, put forward by the nation's peak indigenous advisory body, has won the support of the Howard Government..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Accenture to build $120m school system
by Ben Woodhead
"Systems integrator Accenture is poised to build a $120 million computer system to run Queensland schools, after the state's Education Department dropped initial plans to award the contract to Fujitsu."Education Queensland is understood to be in talks with an Accenture-led consortium for the school management system project, which was first launched by the department in 2002..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
Teachers' viewpoints vital in deciding curriculum
Most Talked About: Lessons of History
- "Like nurses, the history teacher is at the bottom of the food chain in the debate on how any service needs to be structured and delivered. Teachers need to be aware of what specific services are required and must be motivated to provide them. The great debate does not tell me what the aims of the revitalised history curriculum are.
"If it is to stimulate interest in our unique past and give a thirst for more detail, then this will be achieved by enthusiastic teachers and not by some bureaucrats’ syllabus based on their interpretation of the results of the great debate. It won’t be achieved by making the kids learn by rote a list of dates and significant characters. Depending on the quality of the teacher, it may be achieved by comparing the reasons for what happened in the past to what is actually happening now.
"History does not stand alone, nor does science or any other area of knowledge."Good teachers know this, and they are able to give emphasis where it is needed while keeping the main agenda in context. And they are also able to inspire the students with a love of the subject and give them the motivation to seek more knowledge outside the context of the class. Please give them a say in the grand scheme of things and pay them adequately."
Mick Hawkins, Warradale, SA
"I amfrequently staggered by how little people know of our history. My adult sons reflect on a state school education that taught them nothing of it, yet Australia has a richness of history full of the drama, tragedy and joy of human experience. It is a unique tapestry that for too long has been hijacked by the self-interest of those who seek to force a dominant view and have stifled argument by controlling the education of our children. The emotional health of an individual or a nation does not come from denial or ignorance of our past; it comes from understanding it in its context. Congratulations, Julie Bishop, on kicking off an essential debate."
Jenny Hammett, Hazelwood North, Vic
"If the principal agenda of the history summit was to restore history’s status as a stand-alone subject as stated by Bob Carr ("Our history in disrepair”, Inquirer, 19-20/8), we need to be careful about collateral damage to geography and environmental studies.
"I write from the perspective of being a geographer, historian and environmentalist who was involved with curriculum development in Victoria which resulted in the sensible merging of history and geography into the new subject, Studies of Society and Environment, or SOSE.
"If history is to return to its former status, where does that leave geography? A properly balanced summit would not have considered history in isolation from these closely related disciplines and I can only hope that this mistake will be addressed in the not too distant future."
Geoff Mosley, Hurstbridge, Vic
"I applaud the Howard Government’s push for reform in history teaching. However, as a history teacher from Queensland, I noticed that the history summit heard the voices of privileged politicians, university professors and historians but not those of history or SOSE teachers. We were probably in the classroom teaching students to scrutinise all sources carefully for bias, omissions and accuracy because, as we all know, history is written by the victors. Readers need to be informed about the views of teachers."
Catherine Delaney, Cairns, Qld
"It seems to me that history is the story of one’s ancestors and thus the history of Australia for me began in 1949. My history then weaves into the history of continental Europe. I agree with some of the views expressed that the history push by the Prime Minister is to restore and maintain the Britishness of Australia. It fits with the pattern of his leanings as illustrated by his stance on the republican debate and the invasion of Iraq. I am not anti-British. I love my fellow Australians and realise that most of them are entitled to be as proud of their British heredity as I am of mine. We as a nation are increasingly becoming more diverse and I believe that the PM, like King Canute, cannot hold back the tide."
Edward Schuch, Gold Coast, Qld
"Imre Salusinszky reports ("Restore subject or funding is history”, 17/8) that I suggested in a Melbourne paper that last week’s history summit would lay down a single and binding account of Australian history. I said no such thing. Indeed I welcomed the Minister of Education’s inclusion of participants with different understandings of Australian history. I therefore find it bizarre that Salusinszky should ask various participants in the summit to comment on a proposition that is the reverse of the one I formulated. Even my name was misspelt. Equally, your editorial (17/8) claimed that I am “intellectual father to a generation of postmodernists”. This surprised at least one of my former students, who wrote to me expressing surprise that he could recall no mention of Bakhtin, Derrida or Lyotard in my lectures. I am in fact an unashamed modernist.
"The measure of agreement reached at the summit was encouraging to all who care about school history. I sometimes think that if your newspaper would desist from its prosecution of the history wars and denigration of teachers, we might be surprised by how much we have in common."
Stuart Macintyre, University of Melbourne
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Australian at http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- The sums of all fears: HSC students deserting maths
by Anna Patty, Education Editor
"An easier mathematics course for HSC students may be introduced to arrest falling enrolments in the subject, in the biggest overhaul of the syllabus for more than 20 years."Maths educators debated the merits of the present syllabus at the weekend, with traditionalists warning against following postmodernist trends and changing the two-, three- and four-unit calculus courses.
"However, there was agreement that general mathematics, which has no calculus, was still too hard for weaker students and another choice was needed..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Letters to the Editor
- A summit that makes history - by being democratic
"John Hirst's account of the Prime Minister's history summit was an illuminating telling of its events ("Questions will alter the course of history", August 21).
"It was striking that people with divergent ideologies came together to develop a philosophical framework about the way forward. It appears to have been a highly consultative, democratic process, which - shock, horror - may have approached a form of consensus.
"The great shame is that this seems an isolated event; yet major policy challenges that this country faces - such as health, education, environment, public infrastructure, the tax system and (sadly) workplace reform - are approached with blinkered ideology, or avoided altogether.
"Perhaps the Federal Government could learn from these teachers and produce balanced results that really do maximise our common wealth."
David Cumming, Mosman
- "In John Hirst's brief exploration of questions in Australian history, there are many excellent ideas and lessons for us. Among them, I couldn't help noticing the integral part that is played by immigrants, of all types, in enriching our nation's history.
"What a pity the Government is intent on stopping so many of them nowadays."
Andrew Dunstall, Gladesville
- "A fragmented approach to teaching Australian history in schools in units - Aborigines, convicts, gold rushes, explorers, wars - effectively kills interest in the subject.
"Australian history should be taught as a continuum of events and philosophies, engendering in students an intelligent and perceptive overview that can lead them to a critical understanding of their nation."
David Wall, Newtown
- "History students are now to learn that the opposition to the Vietnam War was due to "anti-American feeling". It is just replacing one version of political correctness with another."
Robin Herbert, Hornsby
"Why only Australian history? Aren't we parochial enough? In any case, the whole world's story (as so well told by Geoffrey Blainey and by many others) is more varied and interesting than our own small part in it."
Barrie Smillie, Duffy (ACT)
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
- The Melbourne Age
- [late-updating] Monday Education Section has 16 articles, including:
- Call for national teacher standards
A new report recommends an overhaul of how teachers are judged, writes Caroline Milburn.
"School teachers should be able to measure their competence against national standards that could herald a new era of performance-based pay, according to the author of a report on the profession."Dr Lawrence Ingvarson said teaching, unlike most other professions in Australia, had not developed uniform standards that applied to its members regardless of where they worked.
"Other professions would find it odd that in teaching, it has typically been governments or other employer bodies, rather than teachers, who develop professional standards," he said.
"Most standards developed by employers do not drill down beyond generalities - they're designed to be used by managers for assessing teacher performance, they're not designed to be used by expert peers who can decide whether people are up to date with their professional knowledge. So we get situations where a principal can go and assess a teacher who teaches French and not have a clue about the content of the subject matter or the skills needed for accomplished French teaching."
"Dr Ingvarson's report on professional standards for teachers was commissioned by Teaching Australia, the national agency representing teachers, established by the Federal Government.
"The report examined the development of national standards for advanced teaching in four countries, including Australia. It found standards for Australian teachers were piecemeal and varied between states and school sectors. State teacher registration agencies had developed some generic standards while some professional associations, such as those in maths, science and English, had developed specialised standards for their subject areas. But the report said if national standards for advanced teaching were established, they would need to go deeper than generic categories of practice because the skills and professional knowledge of an effective prep teacher were very different from those of an accomplished art teacher in secondary school..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- Letter to the Editor
- 40,000-year black hole in our nation's story
"John Hirst's article, "Questions of history will be answered" (Opinion, 21/8) inadvertently illustrates exactly why leaving the school history curriculum in the hands of academics and politicians is a recipe for bland servings of the same old same old."It seems our schools and universities largely ignore 40,000 years of the history of this continent because they can't be bothered learning anything about this period in order to teach others. While our students study historical events of the Ice Age, Stone Age and Bronze Age relating to European countries and political and social events from Asia and America, try finding any who can name the Aboriginal tribes from the area in which they live. Better still, try finding any who can describe the spiritual, social, cultural and scientific practices used in Aboriginal communities to maintain the integrity of their community and thrive in many different environments across Australia, as the oldest living culture on the planet.
"The great minds in Canberra continue the practice of defining Aboriginal history, culture and achievement only in the context of interaction with European culture since colonisation. And even this approach glosses over the attempts to "breed out the colour" during the eugenics period of the early to mid-1900s and the use of Aboriginal children in missions as child labour.
"We need the "bedrock" of understanding Aboriginal cultural and spiritual values to understand why communities attempted to adapt to the life imposed on them by European invaders rather than continue and build on the guerilla warfare they undertook in the beginning: much as we understand the Catholic Church's adapt-and-survive response under Roman rule where it incorporated aspects of pagan culture so as not to offend those in power and survive in some form.
"I've been lucky enough to see the response of teenagers - most of whom were alienated from mainstream schooling - in one-day indigenous cultural awareness workshops, wanting to add another day so they could learn more. The common question as the session closed was: "Why didn't we ever get taught this stuff at school?"
"The answer is that teachers do not know enough themselves to do it justice. And that is a failing of the system of teacher education and university undergraduate education. However, history teachers can educate themselves and make contact with local indigenous community organisations and individuals who would be rapt to be involved. It would also demonstrate practical reconciliation in action and ground-up rather than top-down leadership in creating a better history curriculum."
Terry Kennedy, Ringwood North
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Melbourne Age at http://www.theage.com.au/letters/
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph
- Editorial
Teachers battling balance of power
by Rod Markham
"Teachers need self-defence training. Verbal and physical abuse is a threat to people young and old and can occur outside and inside the school environment."Many teachers in primary and high schools feel insecure and threatened by violent students.
"When these incidents occur, at or outside school and where there may be an uncaring and indifferent administration, it is far worse for the teacher lacking that needed support..."
Full editorial in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- The Canberra Times
- Teacher strikes on again as talks fail
by Kanchan Dutt
"Thursday's teacher strike over salaries is back on after ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr refused to rule out job cuts."Branch secretary of the ACT's Australian Education Union Clive Haggar warned that without a guarantee no positions would be cut, industrial action in the Brindabella electorate was back on..."
Full story in The Canberra Times at link
- The Guardian
- Qualified successes
by Estelle MorrisWhy should one student's pass mean another's failure?
"... We have to decide whether we want to go back to an exam system that is designed to allow only a few to pass, or whether we accept that far more people have the ability to achieve high academic standards..."
Full story in The Guardian at link
- The Hobart Mercury
- Push for full year's wage
by Michelle Paine
"Hundreds of Tasmanian teacher aides are forced to apply for Centrelink benefits every year.
And they have to get Education Department permission for the privilege of looking for a holiday job."A new campaign to give a full year's pay to Tasmanian teacher aides and other support staff has been started.
"The state's 2000-plus teacher assistants are only paid 40 or 42 weeks a year.
"Unions said Tasmania was the only state that paid permanent staff only during term time..."
Full story in The Hobart Mercury at link
- The West Australian
More flack for our
Photo © The West Australian
- Editorial (page 24)
An Education Minister who disdains learning
"Just when it seems Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich cannot possibly reach new extremes of foolishness, she delivers more damning evidence of her unsuitability for the job.
"This time she has come up with an unabashed endorsement of dumbing-down – that it's not important for students to know key historical dates because they can just Google them.
"It is evident from this and her outcomes-based education misadventures that we have an Education Minister who disdains knowledge and learning. A new title is in order: Minister for Social Engineering."
- Op Ed
Making of the history wars (page 25)
by Tony Rutherford
"We have public debates – in the papers, in current affairs programs, over the dinner table – about all sorts of things, all the time: interest rates, petrol prices, real estate values, immigration policy, all the usual topics.
"But we rarely have debates in public about things like the content of the school curriculum..."
"Here in WA we have had a wide and interesting debate about the whole OBE issue, about its implications for both assessment and curriculum content. And that precedent seems to point to a widely felt lack of faith in the degree to which we can no longer feel confidence in those who were once unthinkingly entrusted with educating our children.
"This unease is related to the obvious things, such as the basic skills of reading and writing and numeracy. The recent case in Victoria in which a mother sued her child's school for failing to teach him to read stands as a useful measure of this..."
"And, of course, our own WA Minister, Ljiljanna Ravlich, whose gift for effortlessly putting her foot in her mouth could win her Olympic gold. She now tells us that the chronological framework is not important, that anyone in need of historical fact can Google it..." [emphasis added]
"But perhaps the biggest problem, and the one least referred to in the [teaching history] debate, is a more basic one: the question of how well any course such as this one being contemplated will be taught.
"There are some terrific teachers of history, at schools and universities, who are no slaves to any kind of orthodoxy and who could devise and teach a basic history course that no reasonable person could object to.
"There are quite a few who could not. This would seem to be a solid barrier to the implementation of the Prime Minister's dream.
"It will be interesting to follow the progress of all this; it may have every chance of being something of a blind alley."
- Letters to the Editor (pages 26 - 27)
SIX Letters, all highly critical of Ravlich
- "After reading our Education Minister's latest fatuous remarks, this time on the value of letting Google do the learning, I await, in fear and trepidation, her valuable tips on how to engage students so they will want to learn."
Marina Foster, Menora
- Popular TV shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Temptation and The Einstein Factor will fall by the wayside if we are to believe Ljiljanna Ravlich. We can, however, look forward to watching "how fast can you Google" in the not-too-distant-future.
Rhys Winterburn, Denmark
- Young minds will be subverted
"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich's analogy of students not having to know the inner workings of a computer to be able to use it exposes the fatal flaws in her thinking (Don't learn it, just Google it: Ravlich, 22/8).
"The student is totally at the mercy of other people who have taken the trouble to learn the inner workings of the technology or process. Any nation that fails to instil its history and cultural values in the minds of its students from a very early age is putty in the hands of those who wish to manipulate its population..."
"Unfortunately, New-Age academics who have gained control of our education system have little or no knowledge themselves of their ancestral heritage and therefore see no reason to instil it in others.
"This is shown by the numbers of first or second-generation Australians now in positions of power. Far from overloading students with extra work, as some opponents to history teaching claim, we should remove much of the superficial and nebulous garbage which has been crammed into the curriculum and ensure more time is devoted to the three Rs and knowledge of this country's proud history."
Daryl Binning, Winthrop
- It doesn't add up
"Schools do not need to teach Australian children our history because they have Google. Why, then, do we have to teach them to spell or to add and multiply, because they can also do that on a computer? And they should not be taught to write or verbalise because emailing and texting with spell check is easier.
"Maybe at birth the Government should give each baby a computer, iPod, GPS, Xbox and a mobile phone with internet access and they will not need to go to school.
"The Government could offset this cost by not having to build schools and pay teachers and, more to the point, we would not need highly paid education ministers.
"Now that's progress – and I did it all on my computer."
Tony Allen, Karrinyup
- Common link
"... First it was outcomes-based education, now Ms Ravlich consigns history to the dustbins. If Premier Alan Carpenter was a strong leader he would sack her..."
"Truly, the asylum is being run by the occupants." [emphasis added]
Greg Smith, Balcatta
- Strange logic
"It has been said that if a million monkeys type long enough on a million typewriters then, by sheer weight of words, eventually a Shakespeare play will emerge.
"Do politicians work by the same logic? Ljiljanna Ravlich says to ignore the dates; just get things in context. How do we get things in context without knowing the chronology (that is, the date order, Ms Ravlich) of events? That these statements come from our Education Minister simply confirms that the patients have finally taken over the asylum. [emphasis added: seems to be a common theme today. Web]
"Keep talking (or typing), Ms Ravlich, and perhaps, eventually, some sense will emerge."
John Smith, Currambine
- Google OK, says history fan Beazley (page 5)
by Rhianna King, Canberra
© The West Australian
"Kim Beazley has backed Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich's claim that students do not need to learn significant historical dates because they can find them on the internet using Google, saying yesterday that "she was on to something".
"Mr Beazley said he loved Ms Ravlich's "Generation-X" comments, in which she also likened a lack of knowledge about Australian history to not knowing the internal workings of a computer.
"His support came after Ms Ravlich criticised a Federal push for a new Australian history curriculum which puts emphasis on dates and facts, saying on Monday that learning context was more important than dates, which students had at their fingertips thanks to the internet.."
"Ms Ravlich had said the advent of Google meant important dates were at students' fingertips..."
"Mr Beazley said Ms Ravlich was more in touch with contemporary education tools than Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop..."
"Ms Bishop, who sparked the debate by calling for Australian history to be compulsory in Years 9 and 10, said she was astonished and disappointed by Ms Ravlich's stance.
"These comments reveal Ms Ravlich is hopelessly out of touch with parents, educational experts and the broader community," she said.
"She also rejected claims that States were left out of last week's Australian history summit. WA was invited to contribute to the summit but did not, Ms Bishop said."
Full stories and letters in The West Australian (none of these available online)
- The Australian
- States' history stand weakens
by Justine Ferrari and Tony Koch
"The states' opposition to teaching history as a stand-alone subject faltered yesterday with Queensland Premier Peter Beattie pledging to introduce a compulsory Australian history subject if re-elected."The West Australian and Tasmanian governments also indicated they would look at how history was taught in schools, with the Carpenter Government not opposed to teaching Australian history as a separate, compulsory subject in years 9 and 10.
"But West Australian Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich dismissed the importance of students knowing historical dates, saying they could use the internet..."
"Ms Ravlich dismissed the knowledge of key historical dates as unimportant and was reported yesterday as saying it was akin to not knowing "the internal workings of a computer".She said the advent of the internet and search engines, such as Google, meant students had those dates at their fingertips.
But Ms Ravlich went on to say that in terms of making Australian history a compulsory subject in years 9 and 10, "I don't have a problem with that necessarily"... [emphasis added]
Full story in The Australian at link
- Op Ed
Gregory Melleuish: Missing ingredients in history's stew
A key history summit participant laments that a great opportunity has been wasted
"History, as we all know, consists of a range of competing stories and interpretations. Over the past few days there has been an almost indecent rush to ensure that an official narrative of last week's history summit in Canberra be established in the public arena."But, of course, there are many stories that can be told, and interpretations made, of what happened at the summit. Historians in the future will read the Prime Minister's opening remarks and the final communique and puzzle over how the one relates to the other.
"They will read the communique and note how, after weeks of previous discussion of the idea of narrative, the word narrative was omitted from it. They will wonder at the ambiguous language in which the communique was couched and compare it with both what was intended before the summit and the eventual outcome..."
Gregory Melleuish is associate professor of history and politics at the University of Wollongong.
Full story in The Australian at link
The Higher Education Supplement has 13 articles today, including:
- Principals lose their job appeal
by Lisa Macnamara
"A leadership crisis is brewing in Australian schools as teachers turn their backs on moving up the ladder to take on the boss's job, new research reveals."The once coveted role of school principal had taken a battering during the past two decades, with fewer people wanting a job that was more akin to a chief executive than an education provider, according to Deakin University academic Karen Starr..."
Full story in The Australian's Higher Education Supplement at link
- Milestones on the road to history
by Tony Taylor
"For the media, history horror stories are a good fallback on a slow news day. It's a simple enough set-up. Send a reporter down to the local mall and ask innocent passers by some history questions. Result guaranteed. Answers that range from the bizarre to the wildly inaccurate. Editorial fulmination. Collapse of civilisation as we know it."However, there is one genuine Australian history horror story. Not so much about the trivia of Australian history but about its teaching. Australian history in many schools has simply gone missing. And that is what Anna Clark and I found when we prepared a paper for the Australian Government's August 17 summit on the very topic, "What has happened to Australian history in schools?" ...
Full story in The Australian's Higher Education Supplement at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Op Ed
A lot to learn about education
by Tanya Plibersek
"When Brendan Nelson was minister for education, he would tell the story of a woman waiting at a bus stop outside a Queensland university who told him she didn't see why her tax dollars should be spent to subsidise the education of the students inside."Presumably the story was allegorical, but his message was clear: education should be user-pays.
"Yet education is one of the most important investments a country can make in the wellbeing of its citizens and long-term economic prosperity. The students benefit by preparing for better-paid, more interesting, more secure jobs..."
Tanya Plibersek is a Labor member of Federal Parliament.
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The London Times
- Students told to ditch 'soft option' A levels
by Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
"Leading universities are warning teenagers that they will not gain admission if they study “soft” A levels in the sixth form."The universities are insisting that pupils take traditional subjects if they want to be considered for degree courses. Those applying with A levels in subjects such as media studies or health and social care would rule themselves out..."
Full story in The London Times at link
- The Guardian
- Students happy with courses but raise complaints about marking
by Alexandra Smith
· 80% of students satisfied with courses overall
· 40% not satisfied with assessment and feedback
· Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick boycott survey
Eight out of 10 students are satisfied with their courses overall, but only 60% are happy with the assessment and feedback at their universities, the second annual National Student Survey reveals.
Full story in The Guardian at link
- Many parents lack skills to help with homework
by Rebecca Smithers, education editor
· Survey finds seven in 10 wary of helping children
· Adults urged to brush up basic maths and English
"Many parents admit they are baffled by their children's homework and lack the confidence to help out as much as they would like, according to a survey published today."Nearly one in five parents said they were regularly surprised by the difficulty of the work their children brought home to complete, the survey commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills found. And nearly seven out of 10 said they would spend more time helping with homework if they were more confident in their own abilities in maths and English..."
Full story in The Guardian at link
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph (and other papers)
- Phone porn 'a wake-up call'
"An incident in which a primary school student showed classmates nude photos on his mobile should act as a wake-up call for parents about children's vulnerability, NSW's peak parents' group said today."An 11-year-old boy has been suspended from Castle Hill Public School after downloading nude photos from the internet and taking them to school on his mobile phone..."
Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
