P80 Preschool and School Education

Labor to prefer progress over blunt school report cards

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rebecca Urban
The Australian – Page: 5 : 7-Sep-18

Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said on 6 September that Australia’s school system is in general a high-performing one, but that there was always room for improvement. Plibersek said that if Labor wins the next election that it will introduce an assessment system that focuses on progress rather than achievement, which was one of the main recommendations of the Gonski review into education excellence. Another recommendation that Labor plans to adopt is an increased focus in the curriculum on capabilities such as problem-solving and creativity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MELBOURNE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION, THE McKELL INSTITUTE, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY. MITCHELL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND EDUCATION POLICY

Teach primary school kids about IT: Atlassian boss

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Nov-17

Atlassian co-founder Michael Cannon-Brookes wants to see young Australian children exposed to computer science and coding at a young age, particularly girls. Cannon-Brookes says Australia has a lack of people with skills in computer science and coding at the present time, and teaching these skills at primary school level would make students more likely to study computer science and coding as they get older. Atlassian allows its staff to take five days off a year to undertake volunteer work, and its staff in Sydney have been teaching basic computer skills to 55 schools for the past two years.

CORPORATES
ATLASSIAN CORPORATION PLC, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Tide turns away from private schooling

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Dodd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 5-Feb-16

New data suggests a shift towards public schools among Australian parents. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that 65.09 per cent of children were in public schools in 2015, compared with 65.05 per cent in 2014. Trevor Cobbold, of Save Our Schools, says parents are becoming increasingly aware that private schools are not necessarily better than state schools.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, SAVE OUR SCHOOLS INCORPORATED

G8 Education backs rival deal for Affinity

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 16-Sep-15

Directors of Affinity Education Group have endorsed Anchorage Capital Partners’ takeover bid, which is pitched at $A0.92 per share. Rival childcare group G8 Education will no longer pursue its bid for Affinity and will instead accept the $A212m offer from Anchorage. G8 Education had offered $A0.80 per share for Affinity, and it has built a stake of 24.6 per cent when acceptances for its offer are taken into account.

CORPORATES
AFFINITY EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED – ASX AFJ, G8 EDUCATION LIMITED – ASX GEM, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, PETRA CAPITAL PTY LTD, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. TAKEOVERS PANEL

NAPLAN – high schools not improving

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Dodd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 5-Aug-15

New data shows that at a national level, the introduction of the NAPLAN test in 2008 has not resulted in any improvement in the literacy and numeracy skills of high school students. However, both Queensland and Western Australia have recorded a "statistically significant" improvement in the skills of high school students, who undertake the test in years 7 and 9. Meanwhile, there has been a nationwide improvement in the literacy and numeracy skills of primary school students.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT, LEARNING FIRST, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

NAPLAN – high schools not improving

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Dodd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 5-Aug-15

New data shows that at a national level, the introduction of the NAPLAN test in 2008 has not resulted in any improvement in the literacy and numeracy skills of high school students. However, both Queensland and Western Australia have recorded a "statistically significant" improvement in the skills of high school students, who undertake the test in years 7 and 9. Meanwhile, there has been a nationwide improvement in the literacy and numeracy skills of primary school students.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT, LEARNING FIRST, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Let the states control schools and childcare

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Jul-15

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has called for sweeping changes to federal-state relations at the upcoming leaders’ retreat. He says full responsibility for primary and secondary school education – as well as childcare, which is federally funded – should be transferred to state and territory governments. Weatherill also argues that vocational and tertiary education should be solely the responsibility of the federal government.

CORPORATES
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Labor states reject Pyne maths plan

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Dodd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 1-Jun-15

The Australian Government will press ahead with policies aimed at lifting the number of students who study maths and science until the end of high school. It is estimated that while around 80 per cent of students study maths in year 12, many study maths only at a basic level. There is widespread opposition to a proposal by Education Minister Christopher to require all students to study either maths or science in year 12, including within the Australian Labor Party, state Labor governments and the Business Council of Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE, VICTORIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Less demand for places in top private schools

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Bethany Hiatt
The West Australian – Page: 13 : 3-Feb-15

There has been a decline in the waiting lists for admission to many private schools in Perth, according to some principals. South Perth’s Wesley College is among the private schools that have reported lower demand for places, particularly in its junior school. College head David Gee suggests that factors such as the downturn in the mining sector and the uncertain economic outlook may have contributed to falling demand

CORPORATES
WESLEY COLLEGE, HALE SCHOOL, SCOTCH COLLEGE

Co-op school rises to the top

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Bethany Hiatt
The West Australian – Page: 3 : 9-Jan-15

All Saints’ College in Bull Creek has emerged as Western Australia’s best secondary school. It appeared as number one on the list released by the School Curriculum & Standards Authority on 8 January 2015. The school achieved a median Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 92

CORPORATES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING