Celebrating Public Education Day, adding free family resources, supporting school communities, and more No images? Click here Has the Covid-19 pandemic changed school and family interactions in unintended ways? Take our survey and help us understand. Enjoy your Australian Education News
Please use the Forward button at the end of this email to ensure other parents and educators receive this news. Teaching our children wellThe upsideThe recent Federal Budget education announcements were both pleasing and frustrating for the staff and families in this sector. At ACSSO, we were pleased to see a guarantee of at least four years' funding for Universal Access to Early Childhood Education. For years, early childhood services have struggled with uncertain 12-month funding commitments, making planning and staffing extremely difficult. This funding decision is a positive step towards a permanent undertaking to provide Australia's children with the high quality preschool education that evidence proves will change their lives for good. Elsewhere in the budget, investments in the Respectful Relationships programs in schools, and reforms for the Mental Health and Suicide Prevention system are very much welcomed, and both are expected to have positive flow-on effects to student wellbeing and achievement. The downsideHowever, the lack of much-needed additional resources for government schools in this budget is very frustrating and disappointing. ACSSO’s recent research has confirmed what we have long known – that the equity gap is widening. We expect the Australian Government to address this gap to ensure every child in an Australian government school has the resources needed to achieve their full potential. Read our media release on the education sector's mixed budget news here. Parents Australia updateThe ACSSO Board and CEO met on 15-16 May in Launceston, Tasmania, to discuss recent happenings in education and our advocacy priorities. One of our objectives is to increase the profile of our Parents Australia website. Parents Australia is designed to help families support their children's wellbeing, learning and education. If you haven’t visited the site before, or if it's been a while since your last visit, please check out the fabulous array of free resources, information, and referral links we've made available and keep extending. Head to http://www.parentsaustralia.com/. Tasmanian connectionsWhile in Tasmania, our Board had the opportunity to meet with Malcolm Elliott, President of the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA), and share our thoughts on initial teacher education. It was a fascinating exchange, and we all appreciated the opportunity to connect in person. A presentation on Trauma Informed Practice from Dr. Elspeth Stephenson showcased the successes being achieved through Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). Pilot schools in Tasmania have found the TBRI method of teaching extremely beneficial to students and staff. It is a model we would like to see replicated across the nation. Family webinar a sell-out successOur latest webinar, Building Resilience and Creating Happy Kids, featuring the engaging and enlightening clinical psychologist, Andrew Fuller, was a huge success, 'selling out' the free tickets within days of being advertised. Our next webinar will discuss the increasingly concerning issue of consent, and the teaching of consent principles within our classrooms. Make sure you keep an eye out on this newsletter, our website and the ACSSO social media channels for more information soon. Public Education Day 2021Public education is a public good. ACSSO is committed to advocating for the right of every child to access a high quality education. Public education brings together children and young people from a range of diverse backgrounds, and creates a cohesive community which works as one to create equity, hope, and opportunity. It provides lifelong benefits to students through access to education, improved health, wellbeing and employment. On 27 May we celebrate all that is Public Education – how is your school celebrating? Reminder: survey closing soon!National Family Survey – CLOSING DATE EXTENDED NOW MAY 28 - scroll down for shareable QR Code. We recently launched our follow-up Australian Family survey on Schooling during the Covid-19 Pandemic. This survey builds upon that which was conducted in 2020, and will pursue the major themes of that survey, being: family and child wellbeing; access to adequate equipment and appropriate learning formats; and questions of engagement with schools under pandemic conditions. We are eager to hear from all families about their experiences with education so far in 2021. You don’t have to have completed the first survey to complete this one. We are keen to use the learnings from these survey responses to inform our discussions with government and ensure the current schooling needs of students and their families are being met. You can access our latest survey via this link or the QR code at the top of this email. We have extended the closing date to 28 May as school communities had asked for more time to share the survey with families. The information we compile from this survey, and last year's, help us to advocate for your school community with governments. Please make sure it's been shared as widely as possible this week! Sharron HealyChairAustralian Council of State School OrganisationsMay 202127 May is Public Education DayThis year, 28 May marks Australia's Public Education Day. Initiated by the nation’s government-school teachers, this day is celebrated in government school communities across the country. The day allows us all to highlight the wonderful achievements of government education and its place as a cornerstone of Australian society. Schools across Australia take this opportunity to plan and celebrate. While those celebrations may still look a little different this year, compared to 2020 we hear that many schools are making a great effort to gather and focus on public education's many achievements. What is your school community doing to mark the day? We would love to see your photos and stories - send them to us on contact@acsso.org.au. You can share by tagging us with @ACSSOTweets on Twitter or @ACSSOonFB on Facebook or just using the hashtag #publiceducationday on any of your posts and we'll come looking! Last chance! Follow-up pandemic schooling survey for familiesOne year ago we released our first Australian family survey on schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic. We had more than 3000 responses and gained valuable insights which have since helped us advocate strongly with governments and schools over adequately supporting children and their families in these - as the saying goes - 'extraordinary times'. We released our follow-up survey last month and with the slightly less 'extraordinary' times now, we don't expect the same numbers of responses. However, we're really pleased that several hundred families have already taken the time to reply to our questions of wellbeing, online access, and financial impact are covered in the new survey. Visit the family survey online here, and use the QR code at the top of this message for mobile sharing or this link for email sharing: https://www.research.net/r/DPTHBB2 You can also share this special social media-friendly link (below) in your own school's Facebook or Twitter posts: https://www.research.net/r/DZZVPTC Questions? Get in touch with us on contact@acsso.org.au Australian Curriculum Review OpensWe also hope you will contribute to the Australian Curriculum Review. Proposed revisions to the Australian Curriculum for Foundation – Year 10 (F–10) have recently been released for public comment. The Review looks to improve the Australian Curriculum by refining, realigning and decluttering the content so it focuses on the essential knowledge and skills students should learn, and is clearer for teachers on what they need to teach. The consultation period ends on Thursday 8 July, so please visit the public consultation site to give your feedback. You can find out more about the review here and provide your feedback through this link. Book now for free MyFuture webinarStudent wellbeing and career resilience in a rapidly changing world | Friday 4 June at 12.00pm (AEST) Young people face a future working life which will be marked by constant change. This free webinar from MyFuture will help you to help the young people in your life. The economic impacts of COVID-19 have caused labour market disruption and job losses for many young people. Typically, they are over-represented in hard-hit industries such as tourism, hospitality, and arts and culture. Many students have missed important milestones and struggled with the isolation imposed by lockdowns. In this webinar, Dr Lyn O'Grady, a psychologist specialising in the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and their parents, will explore the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on student emotional and psychological wellbeing which may create obstacles for students facing complex career decisions and transitions. Lyn will offer practical advice, strategies and resources for parents and carers supporting students in extraordinary times of change. Understanding NAPLAN in 2021The annual NAPLAN assessments were held from 11–21 May for over a million students across Australia. The data from this year’s NAPLAN assessment is going to be particularly important as it is the first test to take place in two years – NAPLAN was not conducted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, 70 per cent of schools participated in NAPLAN Online, in preparation for a full transition to NAPLAN Online in 2022. Read ACARA’s media release about NAPLAN testing. For more information on NAPLAN, visit the NAP website. You can also find out more about NAPLAN Online on the video below: Understanding NAPLAN Online. Why we must thrive by five!By the age of five, 90% of our brain is already developed - it's almost all done before we ever set foot in a school classroom! Those first years are absolutely crucial to set foundations for successful learning and life. The recent Federal Budget committed at least four years' funding to Australia's Universal Access to Early Childhood Education program for every child in the year prior to school. This is a big improvement on the string of 12 month funding promises since 2006 - we hope to see even more improvements coming soon. This gorgeous video shared on the Thrive by Five Facebook page recently gives us all an insight into why those early years matter so much. Caught you being great, Vanessa!We love to share stories about wonderful achievements in Australia's government schools using our #caughtyoubeinggreat hashtag on Facebook. This month our top Caught You Being Great story featured Vanessa from the new ABC series #MikkiVsTheWorld. The television program targets 'tweens' and addresses issue of mental well being in a fun comedy that addresses real issues. Vanessa, who appeared on the program, is a proud young Ngarabal and Cannemegal woman from the Darug and Kamilaroi Nations, who attends St Mary's Senior High School, a government school in Western Sydney. You can watch the trailer for Mikki Vs The World below. We love to hear your stories of schools and communities doing great things. They don't have to have made it to mainstream media already. Send your #caughtyoubeinggreat stories to comms@acsso.org.au and use the hashtag on Facebook to find other wonderful stories. Upcoming eventsPublic Education Day - 27 May across Australia. P&Cs Qld conference: Strategy and Adaptation, Sofitel Brisbane, 10-11 September, 2021. Parents Victoria Conference: Pullman on the Park, Melbourne, 11-12 October, 2021. ACSSO National Conference: Gold Coast, venue TBA, 29-30 October, 2021
Help us to help you! Write to us at contact@acsso.org.au to share your opinion on current education policies so we can present the widest possible views to decision makers. |