The latest education news for you.

President's message - if not now, then when
Teacher awards open for nomination
ARACY Parent Engagement conference scholarships
Tots and Tech conference next month
Register for Queensland's Connect Engage Inspire conference
Australian Learning Lecture on The New Success

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Read our President's message

Our proud nation has to start again with the end in mind – education funding where it’s needed, at the level needed and going to schools that have real need. 

President's message

If not now, then when…

A month that starts with all fool’s day where innocent jokes are played on friends and strangers, together with the end of daylight saving at summer’s close for those of us that had it, also sees the next session of the Council of Australian Government’s Education Council as it grapples with the complexities of education funding. Another irony is that in its rotating tour of Australia it is to be held in Hobart. A town that’s also the proud home of MONA – the world famous Museum of Old and New Art – or more colloquially known as the museum of sex and death. Whether this is an accurate metaphor for the current state of play in the education funding debate remains to be seen. What we can hope for is that the unique perspective and talents of David Walsh, as the inspirational owner, creator and curator of MONA, and some say the saviour of Hobart, can imbue the Education Council’s vital deliberations in reaching a consensus on the post 2018 education funding agreements.

Enrolments on the up

I often rely on the maxim that without accurate information how can one hope to make a decision let alone formulate realistic policy perspectives? The funding agreements debate is one such example that relies on accurate data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) latest education update, available here, sees a fascinating set of numbers that compares 2016 with 2015. In the last recorded 12 month period we have seen total student enrolments grow by 47,253 across all schools. What makes this number particularly interesting is that 38,672 or 82% of them were to public schools. Seeing that over 70% of all schools in Australia are public schools it suggests a growing shift towards public education and recognition of its inherent strengths as an inclusive and high quality option for the vast majority of our nation’s children. The question then is how is this growing demand to be fairly and properly resourced?

Mateship and learning

Mateship and ‘education for all’ go hand in hand as two of our defining national values. Mateship is defined as helping and receiving help from others, especially in difficult times or in times of need, and can be combined with the natural sense of a fair-go. This spirit was extended to a Catholic school in need half a century ago, in a way that prised open the door to government funding of private sector schools. This initiative was intended as an interim measure to bring them up to the level of resourcing of public schools. The door was finally wrenched off its hinges in the mid 1990s in a way that saw direct government funding for the private sector enshrined as an absolute right - together with a matching sense of entitlement. We now have a school resource standard (SRS) defined in the 2013 Education Act that seeks to codify this sense of fair-go in government contributions to education funding across all systems, states and territories. To say that we have independent schools in Australia is something of a misnomer as they all rely on a significant government contribution – perhaps the term ‘subsidised private sector schools’ is nearer the mark.

The irony is that we now see 25% of private sector schools funded at 100% or more of their SRS entitlement and yet only just over 1% of government schools are at this level. This is also relative to public schools that are denied the legislated special deals and other forms of financial advantage available exclusively to the private school sector. I‘m not sure a sense of mateship prevails in this scenario when public schools that are open to all, and with 82% of the additional 2016 enrolments, are compared to private sector schools that operate on a selective and exclusive entry basis, and often with levels of overall funding, facilities and resourcing that public schools can only dream of. In the spirit of mateship and a fair-go for all I call upon the private sector schools to willingly give up this overfunding and unfair advantage they have enjoyed for far too long. There is also a point to consider in these schools repaying the historical surpluses that have already been paid out to them so that it can be redistributed to schools in real need. Perhaps the Centrelink debt recovery robot might like a new focus for its activities?

Growing opportunities for change

ACSSO’s perspective is that the current historical education funding arrangements may have occurred with the best of intentions as provision was made for various sector interests and lobbying interventions. What we have been left with is a range of partisan agreements, special deals and unfair advantages that are not fit for purpose. An attempt was made for reform with the Gonski review – now many years old – that was again subject to brinksmanship and sectorial shenanigans that has left schools in all sectors at a disadvantage, and most of all those in our burgeoning public sector that operate over 70% of our nation’s schools.

Education funding is an emotive issue that ACSSO seeks to address as the fire of funding reform is burning hot and we need to clear the smoke. Our call for Fair, Simple and Transparent and truly needs based funding is resolute and sustained and we have yet to see any feasible alternative. Our proud nation has to start again with the end in mind – education funding where it’s needed, at the level needed and going to schools that have real need. Each of our children has to have the opportunity to thrive and flourish in an appropriate learning environment. An environment with educators that can truly focus on the job they are passionate about – giving our children the very best of learning opportunities.

Our nation’s future demands nothing less.

Phillip Spratt

4 April 2017

Call for nominations

2017 ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards (NEiTA)

Principals and parent-teacher associations are being asked to identify inspirational teachers for this year's NEiTA awards.

ASG NEiTA is an independent national awards program where early childhood and school communities (individual parents, school councils, committees of management, parent associations, secondary student councils, and community organisations) can publicly recognise and encourage inspirational teachers, directors, and principals who are committed to excellence in education.

Benefits of participating in the ASG NEiTA program include:

Teachers, directors and principals will see that their work is valued, and their contribution to the school and wider community is recognised and appreciated.
All approved nominees receive a NEiTA Certi cate of Nomination.
Award recipients receive awards and professional development grants, recognising their contributions.
ASG NEiTA recipients have received scholarships to undertake post graduate study and career enhancements.
The awards provide an opportunity to say a special ‘thank you’ to inspirational teachers, directors and principals who demonstrate e ectiveness, innovation, and excellence in their profession.
Nominating a teacher, director or principal raises teacher, student and school/centre morale.
Nominations provide an opportunity to gain recognition and public awareness for the school/centre.
The awards enable the whole school/centre to celebrate its achievements and contribution to the community.

Closing date for nominations

Australia: 3 July 2017

New Zealand: 22 June 2017

This is your opportunity to nominate outstanding teachers and leaders in your community who are making a real difference to children’s education.

To nominate a teacher visit: www.asg.com.au/nominate

For further information please call:

Australia: 1800 624 487 or visit www.asg.com.au/neita

New Zealand: 09 308 0576 or visit www.asg.co.nz/neita

ARACY Parent Engagement Conference

ARACY has released its draft program for the conference, with Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training giving the Conference Opening Address and five international keynote speakers confirmed.

Visit the Conference website to view the program.

Applications are now open for the conference's GoodStart Delegate Scholarship.

Goodstart has partnered with ARACY to encourage others to make a difference in ways that really matter for children. The Scholarship includes:

Full conference registration
Travel
Accommodation

The GoodStart Delegate Scholarship suits candidates who would welcome the opportunity to reflect on ideas presented by a diverse range of speakers, and who is keen to adapt their learnings from the Conference to their local context to inspire their work with children or young people. Candidates who would otherwise find it difficult to attend the event, particularly due to financial constraints, are encouraged to apply. Applications close 21 April.

Tots and Tech: challenges for early childhood in a digital age

How do we promote the healthy use of screens in early childhood?

The Australian Council on Children and the Media will host a conference next month in Melbourne. The Tots and Tech conference program will explore the positive and negative effects of screen use on children's early development.

Researchers, health professionals and educators will present the latest information on the physical, social, emotional and cognitive domains.

Friday 5th May, 2017, 9am-4:30pm

242 Telstra Conference Centre, 242 Exhibition Street, Melbourne

Session one speakers on ‘Media use in early childhood: physical development’ include:

Dr Helen Dixon PhD, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria

What are advertisers feeding our children?: children’s exposure to and responses to food advertising.

Prof Leon Straker, John Curtin Distinguished Professor, School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University

The potential impact of increasing media use on young children’s physical health and development.

Professor Sarah Blunden, Clinical Psychologist, Head of Paediatric Sleep Research, Director Clinical Masters in Psychology Program, Central Queensland University

Screen time or sleeptime: Gotta make a choice.

Registrations are now open for the P&Cs Qld State Conference in Brisbane in September 2017.

Around 350 places are available for the conference at the Sofitel Hotel, to celebrate the organisation's 70th year with the theme Connect Engage Inspire.

Keynote speaker is Andrew Fuller, a clinical psychologist. Dr Fuller works with many schools and communities in Australia and internationally, specialising in the wellbeing of young people and their families.

The Hon. Kate Jones MP, Minister for Education will give the opening address on day one and Dr Jim Watterston, Director-General of Education, will address delegates on day two.

The conference program and registration details are on the P&Cs Qld website http://www.pandcsqld.com.au/state-conference/

The New Success: what skills do our children need to succeed in the 21st century?

The New Success is the subject of the second Australian Learning Lecture on 11 May 2017 at the Melbourne Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Charles Fadel, founder of the Center for Curriculum Redesign will deliver the lecture, which will consider what skills we need to succeed in the 21st Century.

what do our children need - in life and in work - to be successful in the 21st Century?
how does education have to change if everyone is to succeed and flourish?
what will the ‘New Success’ look like?

Charles Fadel is best known as a pioneer of the idea of 21st Century Skills. He is also a Visiting Practitioner at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and chairs the Education Committee advising the OECD.

Jennifer Westacott, Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, will introduce the Lecture and discuss why we need to adopt new measures of success for our young people to ensure the future economic and social wellbeing of Australia.

Book your lecture seat here.

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