COVID-19 thrust our school communities into a rapid transition to remote learning which affected almost every facet of school-based education, write Associate Professor Wee Tiong Seah, Catherine Pearn, Dr Daniela Acquaro and Dr Natasha ZiebellUnderstanding the effect on our school students and teachers is crucial...
Victorians, and anyone else at risk, should now be wearing face masks. Here's how to make one. After early success in suppressing COVID-19, we are facing a resurgence in Victoria, which is threatening disease control for the whole country. Outbreaks in northwestern Melbourne, including in public housing...
2020 ‘Storyathon’ event shows an uptick in social awareness amongst children in lockdown during COVID-19. Data from Oxford University Press in partnership with Storyathon, the largest story-writing event in Australia, reveals the impact COVID-19 has had on children’s vocabulary, interests and social awareness.More than 20,000 stories...
When Gibb was ready to start school, his mum, Caitlin, took him on a school tour. She had picked this school because of its “small village feel”, thinking they would embrace her son, who has Down syndrome, and provide him with the right support to...
There is an awkward tension in how Australian schools and universities credential the learning of their graduates.On the one hand, Australian credentials issued by schools and tertiary institutions are easy to understand, widely used, based on high standards and carefully regulated. They are relied on for...
A play-based therapy designed to help parents manage children’s behaviour is showing promising long-lasting results. Parents of toddlers with challenging behaviours are finding support through an early-intervention program for children aged 12–24 months. Developed by researchers at UNSW Sydney and early parenting organisation Karitane, the program focuses...
The temporary closure of schools is evidence the system is working as it should, writes Allen Cheng, Professor in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Brunswick East Primary School and Keilor Views Primary School in Melbourne have temporarily shut down after children from both schools tested positive to COVID-19,...
People love creating words — in times of crisis, it’s a “sick” (in the good sense) way of pulling through, write Kate Burridge and Howard Manns. From childhood, our “linguistic life has been one willingly given over to language play” (in the words of David Crystal)....
...the way food tastes depends on more than your ability to follow a recipe, report Abby Mellick Lopes and Karen Weiss Home cooks have been trying out their skills during isolation. But the way food tastes depends on more than your ability to follow a recipe. Our...
Choosing care for your child when returning to paid work can be challenging, and to the uninitiated the terms can be confusing. One alternative to long day care in a larger child care centre is known as family day care, reports Wendy Boyd. Family day care...
