No sooner than the Christmas tree is boxed away and the holiday suitcases are unpacked, it’s time to get the kids ready for the new school year. Making the most of the long break is the key to a smooth start, says primary school teacher,...
The ‘right’ school for your child is probably right around the corner, writes Rosemary O’Brien. I’m at the gym, in the change rooms, after my weekly circuit-training session. Sam is there too – she does the same Thursday-evening session. She has a question for me. It’s...
Australia’s preschool expansion ‘has not better prepared’ kids for school, report researchers Ragan Petrie and Marco Castillo Since 2008, Australia has spent more than A$11 billion dollars over ten years to expand government-funded preschool (or kinder in Victoria) for four-year-olds to better prepare children for school. But...
Elvira Kalenjuk reports that recent data from the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) shows that many Year 9 students are writing at standards well below expected levels. Several commentators have attributed low writing achievement to illness and high rates of absenteeism because of the pandemic,...
Randa Abdel-Fattah demystifies the values and practices of Australia’s Islamic schools, of which she was a pioneering student. I graduated from St Clement of Rome Primary School in Melbourne in 1990. I was one of a small number of Muslim students, but my parents didn’t feel...
A Senate inquiry is calling for a new ‘behaviour curriculum’ to try and tackle classroom disruptions reports researcher Erin Leif A Senate inquiry has found Australian students need specific lessons in how to behave. The inquiry, which has been looking at “increasing disruption in Australian school classrooms,”...
Rebecca Chaney faces the quandary of whether or not to send her daughter to school next year. I’m watching my child in the preschool playground. I have just kissed her goodbye for the day. She runs to her teacher and gives her a hug. The teacher...
How this Canadian program could help address Australia’s childcare staff shortage, write researchers Marg Rogers, Laura K. Doan and Navjot Bhullar. On Wednesday, federal parliament passed Labor’s bill to reduce childcare fees for many Australian families. More affordable childcare for families is great, but it will not...
Esperanza Vera-Toscano reports that an increasing number of Australian children are going to private high schools, as new research shows. The latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Annual Statistical Report has found an increasing number of students going to public schools over non-government...
Jayne Kearney finds a way to steer her daughter through the mysteries of multiplication. When I was training to become a teacher, our class was presented with two ways to motivate our future students: extrinsically and intrinsically. Extrinsic motivation is when a child will do something in...
