Education
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Stark city-country divide in NDIS participation shows scale of challenge for schools
Boys in regional and disadvantaged parts of the country are joining the National Disability Insurance Scheme at up to three times the rate of their inner-city counterparts.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Latest
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The eight skills that predict how a child will perform in primary school tests
An analysis of 2500 students shows children who have some specific skills as they start kindergarten achieve higher results in year 3 NAPLAN tests.
- by Lucy Carroll and Robyn Grace
‘Girls have to be welcomed as full citizens’: Sydney principal takes over elite UK all-boys school
Elizabeth Stone ditched law for teaching, and now she is running the 640-year-old Winchester College.
- by Lucy Carroll
Single-sex schools have the academic advantage, NAPLAN data reveals
A new report reveals single-sex schools across the country perform better academically despite their shrinking proportion of students.
- by Christopher Harris
Analysis
Six graphs that reveal Closing the Gap outcomes since Rudd apology
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd committed to closing the gap for Indigenous Australians. What progress has been made since?
- by Caitlin Fitzsimmons
‘Can’t have it both ways’: COVID-era buyout would have solved Qantas problems
Debating whether Alan Joyce is at fault for Qantas’ current predicament misses the point.
Editorial
Pay rises for teachers solve only part of NSW’s education problems
Pay uncertainty still surrounds NSW’s teachers despite the deal agreed between the state government and the union.
- The Herald's View
Minister flags education cuts to fund ‘historic’ pay deal for teachers
Education Minister Prue Car says savings will need to be made to fund a pay rise agreed to with teachers, ending months of talks between the government and unions.
- by Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris
The ‘secret recipe’ that helped transform results at this Sydney school
It’s an old-school approach, but it’s worked a treat at Yates Avenue.
- by Lucy Carroll
Australia’s ‘Goldilocks classrooms’ get an efficient German makeover
The Aussie demountable classroom is getting a German makeover to give them clean air with year-round constant temperatures.
- by Julie Power
Early university offers to year 12 students reignite debate
More than 12,000 early first-round offers to HSC students will be made this week after tertiary institutions were barred from handing out places before trial exams.
- by Lucy Carroll
Editorial
Solution to reducing violence against teachers is complex
Latest figures from the State Insurance Regulatory Authority showing a tripling in six years of the cost of teacher compensation payouts.
- The Herald's View
In NSW, 11 teachers are hit by moving objects every week. The injury bill has tripled
A rising number of teachers have psychological damage relating to work pressure, bullying and exposure to violence in schools, as the injury bill has tripled in six years.
- by Christopher Harris
Former principal Annabel Doust sacked for sexual relationship with student
The former school principal sacked by NSW Education for a sexual relationship with a year 12 student was Annabel Doust, whose leadership was once praised in parliament.
- by Jordan Baker and Toni Ambrogetti
‘Maths avoiders’: Students dumping important HSC subjects
Australia faces a shortfall of 100,000 engineers by 2030 and faces fewer students enrolling in subjects such as maths and physics in the HSC.
- by Christopher Harris
TikTokker's promo for study help website
A study help website linked to hundreds of contract cheating allegations is targeting Australian students through sponsored social media posts, including some filmed by influencers on university campuses.
Website linked to contract cheating enlists TikTok influencers
Some videos have been shot on university campuses and attracted two million views.
- by Daniella White
Experts wanted to declutter the curriculum. Art teachers say they ripped the guts out of it
A new draft high school visual arts curriculum has relegated painting to a single footnote and drawing is no longer mandatory – and teachers say it is “disappointingly reductive”.
- by Christopher Harris
Sydney Uni reveals more than 100 staff and students victims of sexual assault, harassment
It is the first time the university has publicly released an annual document detailing sexual violence.
- by Christopher Harris
The Sydney Morning Herald launches new essay prize for young writers
Calling all budding writers - here’s your chance to be published.
- by Melanie Kembrey
Where are the women? High school STEM curriculum pushes ‘lone male genius’ narrative
A study of curriculums for year 11 and 12 science subjects found only three states mention the work of a female scientist – and she was from Britain.
- by Robyn Grace
Three-year-olds should have access to 30 hours of preschool: Gillard report
No Australian jurisdiction offers 30 hours of preschool a week for three-year-olds. But a royal commission led by Julia Gillard has found all children benefit from two years of high-quality care before they start school.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Exclusive
Further crackdown coming for VET sector to target ‘ghost colleges’
A crackdown on dormant Vocational Education and Training organisations that haven’t provided training for extended periods is one measure being considered by Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor has signalled after the boom in the number of “ghost colleges” in the VET sector.
- by Lisa Visentin
Haircut and blow dry for $10? The secret to finding Sydney’s best bargains
From facials to fine dining, sirloin steaks and hairstyling, it is possible to save money on life’s luxuries and help students learn valuable work skills.
- by Andrew Taylor
Exclusive
Schools force Anglican backdown on statement opposing same-sex marriage
A revised policy by the Sydney diocese says its school principals must be “of Christian faith and character” and be “actively involved” in a Bible-based church.
- by Lucy Carroll
No easy answers to age-old school problem
The school playground can be one of the most confronting and judgmental environments where children face situations similar to the adult workplace.
‘Ghost colleges’ loophole closed in student work crackdown
A loophole in Australia’s visa system that allowed international students to abandon university courses for cheap ‘ghost colleges’ has been closed.
- by Sherryn Groch, Daniella White and Clay Lucas
‘No vision, no leadership’: Intergenerational Report lays bare our path to failure
There is so much we can do to become a just society if we just drop the idea that doing nothing means everything.
Has technology broken our education system? Here’s one school of thought
Have devices in the classroom and at home created a cohort unable to write, read or sustain focus?
Opinion
Our future report card shows the writing’s on the wall, but can we read it?
Younger Australians are being told to expect a tougher future than previous generations on housing, education, income and climate. That gloomy picture demands action.
- by David Crowe
Inside the Sydney school exceeding expectations in NAPLAN
A daily mathematics quiz, phonics and explicit instruction are the reasons for the success of St Raphael’s Catholic Primary School in South Hurstville.
- by Christopher Harris
Exclusive
Principals empowered to suspend students for longer under school discipline shake-up
Continued disobedience and disruptive behaviour also will be reinstated as grounds for suspension.
- by Lucy Carroll
Why are we pretending to be surprised at NAPLAN results?
It seems like we never learn from the annual testing of students’ capabilities.
Opinion
Parents, don’t panic about these NAPLAN results
New NAPLAN labels don’t change your children or how they are going at school, but they might provide a better way to identify students who need support.
- by Jenny Gore
One-third of New South Wales students failing to meet new NAPLAN standards
One-third of NSW students fail to meet NAPLAN standards in reading, writing and maths.
After radical NAPLAN overhaul, one-third of students fail to meet new standards
Experts say teachers must adopt explicit approaches to teaching numeracy and literacy in primary school to address the results.
- by Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris
Teacher made to apologise for giving child ‘improvement strategies’
A culture whereby students absolve themselves of responsibility, and teachers are made to apologise to parents is contributing to the growing disruption in Australia’s classrooms, experts say.
- by Christopher Harris
Exclusive
Education minister says teacher pay offer ‘up for negotiation’ in bid to ease hostilities
Education Minister Prue Car has sought to calm tensions between the NSW Teachers Federation and the Minns government by saying a 2.5 per cent pay offer after a big first-year wage increases could change.
- by Michael McGowan
Exclusive
Her son Dean drowned on a camping trip. What Cherina later found on his phone shook her to the core
After Dean Gray died on a camping trip, his mum discovered intimate messages on his phone from a school teacher.
- by Toni Ambrogetti
‘A very Sydney thing’: More parents delaying children from starting school
Age differences in kindergarten classes span up to 19 months in NSW because children can start as old as six or as young as four-and-a-half.
- by Christopher Harris
Spirited debate over religion in schools
Opposition to Special Religious Education must be based on administration challenges or anti-religious prejudice.
Editorial
Cheating students scam spells trouble for all universities
The surge in the number of Chinese nationals cheating to obtain places at the University of Sydney risks a further debasement of standards.
- The Herald's View
Exclusive
The students caught cheating their way into Sydney University
The university will consider tougher intake rules for Chinese students after a huge surge in fraudulent admissions was uncovered last year.
- by Daniella White
One student’s journey through Australia’s migration system
The journey of a student we’ll call Priyanka is based on a detailed account from a migration agent who described the typical process, based on real cases they had seen.
- by Clay Lucas
‘Chilling effect’: Top uni warns students about foreign harassment
UNSW is urging students and academics to report any “interference” witnessed in class, amid concerns comments or behaviour are being reported back to a foreign government.
- by Daniella White
‘Most schools would be quite scared’: Inside Sydney’s competitive debating scene
Sydney Girls High won the Premier’s Debating Challenge for the second year in a row. The team says confidence and technique are only part of the winning strategy.
- by Christopher Harris
Test teachers on skills before they enter classroom: report
The Centre for Independent Studies argues graduates should sit a standardised exit exam to ensure their knowledge of effective teaching practices.
- by Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris
Simplified Shakespeare: Helping hand or completely missing the point?
Plain English translations designed to make Shakespeare “accessible” are now common in English classrooms, but experts urge teachers to stay true to the original work.
- by Christopher Harris
From polio to COVID-19, the 100-year-old school for kids in hospital
“There can be a perception that these kids are too ill or too sick to do schoolwork, but we are showing … we can do work that helps.”
- by Mary Ward