What's newEnrol to Vote Week 2008The Australian Electoral Commission today announced that national Enrol to Vote Week will be taking place in secondary schools across Australia from 28 July to 3 August this year. Schools will receive invitations to participate in Enrol to Vote Week and are encouraged to register to be involved. ACEL International conference 2008The Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) International Conference is to be held in Melbourne 1–2 October 2008. The conference theme is 'New Metaphors for Leadership in Schools'. There will be an array of presentations and workshops addressing the four conference strands: Initiating Courageous Innovation, Inspiring Greatness, Unleashing Potential and Leading in Complex and Dynamic Environments. Early bird registrations close 30 June 2008. Frontline Leadership: Maximising Potential: 2008 PDN School Leaders’ ConferenceThe Professional Development Network (PDN) and Education Queensland, in partnership with the Centre for Leadership and Management in Education, Griffith University, are pleased to announce their 12th Annual Conference on Educational Leadership. The conference will be held 28–29 August 2008 at at the Sofitel Gold Coast. The PDN is a not-for-profit educational, Queensland schools’ network. It was established in 1994 in partnership with the Centre for Leadership and Management in Education, Griffith University. WA introduces new behaviour initiativeThe Western Australian Government is setting up after-school counselling sessions as an alternative to suspension for public school students who disobey rules. The measure will initially be introduced in the form of a 13-week trial. See media statement by State Education and Training Minister Mark McGowan 21 June 2008. Computer rollout in New South WalesThe Australian Government continues to implement its rollout of new computers to schools in collaboration with State and Territory governments. The introduction of the computers in New South Wales is discussed in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald 22 June 2008 and a report in The Australian 24 June 2008. Year 10 reforms in Tasmania aim to extend post-compulsory participationThe Tasmanian Government has allocated over $400,000 to assist schools in delivering learning programs during the extended school year period for Year 10 students. Announcing the funding, Premier and Minister for Education and Skills David Bartlett has said that currently 86 per cent of jobs in Australia require a post-school qualification, while in Tasmania only 47 per cent of the workforce has that level of qualification. See Premier's media release 23 June 2008. Tasmanian teachers are holding meetings this week to discuss their concerns about the planned reforms, relating to industrial issues and the curriculum. See article in the Mercury and report on ABC News, both 23 June 2008. Demographic change impacting Tasmanian schoolsTasmania's Premier and Minister for Education and Skills, David Bartlett, has called for a serious re-evaluation of the number of Tasmanian schools in the wake of a declining school-age population. Releasing the First Term (February) Census 2008, he said that the Tasmanian Government school headcount enrolment in February 2008 was 65,744, compared with 66,662 in 2007. A recent Demographic Change Advisory Council (DCAC)’s discussion paper found that based on current population trends, Tasmanian government and non-government schools could be filled close to only 50 per cent of their capacity by 2020. School associations and individuals are invited to respond to the DCAC’s discussion paper by 18 July 2008. The discussion paper and other reports and information relating to demographic change can be found on the Council’s website at www.dcac.tas.gov.au. See also Premier's media release 23 June 2008. Year 11 courses in WA affected by industrial actionWestern Australia’s State School Teachers Union (SSTUWA) has called for industrial action to delay preparations for a range of new Year 11 courses due to be introduced in 2009. The union has raised concerns about resources available for the new courses, and the time frame for their introduction. The courses include maths, geography, history, literature and physics. See article in the West Australian 24 June 2008. Reading online and in printAn article in Slate, 13 June 2008 compares the acts of reading from online and print-based sources. Children's needs 'inflated''Ours is a society increasingly dominated by the needs of children, or rather by the extraordinarily inflated needs we have come to attribute to them', according to an article by Michael Duffy in the Sydney Morning Herald 21 June 2008. |