What's new

New reports on school funding released

On 31 August 2011, the Australian Government Review of Funding for Schooling panel released a Paper on Commissioned Research and four research reports, seeking feedback from the general public. The four reports are:

• An Allen Consulting Group report which considered the feasibility of a schooling resource standard.
• An Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) report on the existing processes for targeting funding to disadvantaged students.
• A Deloitte Access Economics report into existing funding models for schooling in Australia.
• A Nous Group consortium report into schooling challenges and opportunities in Australia.

See statement by Australian Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, and transcript of the Minister's press conference with David Gonski, both 31 August 2011. 

The Australian Curriculum Mobile Edition

The new Australian Curriculum Mobile Edition is the published Australian Curriculum for Foundation–10 years for English, Mathematics, Science and History, developed for iPhones.

New paper released on Arts in the Australian Curriculum

ACARA has released a new paper, Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, that sets out how drama, dance, music, visual arts and media arts will be studied in all schools. See also statement from Australian Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, 26 August 2011.

Government proposes new approach on specialist maths and science teaching in Victoria

Victorian primary schools are to be invited to nominate teachers to specialise in maths and science, as a measure to encourage students to continue study of the subjects to year 12. See article in The Age and report on Nine News, both 30 August 2011.

Auditor-General reports on teacher recruitment in WA

The Western Australian Auditor General has released a report titled Right Teacher, Right Place, Right Time: Teacher Placement in Public Schools, which raises concerns regarding aspects of teacher recruitment and staffing. See media statement, summary and full report. See also article 1 September 2011 in the West Australian and report 31 August 2011 on ABC News.  

Industrial action in NSW and ACT

Members of the NSW Teachers Federation and the AEU's ACT Branch have endorsed industrial action next week, in support of wage claims. See article 2 September and related article 1 September 2011 in the Canberra Times, and article 31 August 2011 in The Australian.

South Australia gets set for a high-tech future

Jay Weatherill, South Australia's Minister for Education and Minister for Science and Information Economy, has unveiled a cross-government strategy to increase the supply of people taking up careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, to meet the future needs of local industry. See Minister's statement 31 August 2011.

Literacy funding achieves results in Tasmania

An evaluation of the Tasmanian Government-funded Raising the Bar Closing the Gap initiative has found that it has been successful in building the capacity of school leaders and teachers to improve literacy outcomes for primary students. See statement from state Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim, 1 September 2011.

More year 12 graduates are earning or learning in Queensland

More Queensland year 12 graduates are studying, undertaking further training or working in the six months after leaving high school, according to results from the state's Next Step survey. See statement 2 September 2011 by Queensland Education Minister, Cameron Dick.