NOVEMBER 2019

Did you know you can check the attendance rate at your child's school? We recently updated the My School website with Semester 1 (or Term 1 and 2) student attendance data for 2019 (and if you check back in mid-December, you'll be able to see Term 3 data for this year as well). Use the My School website to search for your child's school, then click on the 'Attendance' tab to have a look. 

LATEST NEWS

This week, we released a set of teaching resources to help primary and secondary school teachers bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures into the Science classroom. At ACARA, we believe it's important that students be able to see themselves, their identities and their cultures reflected in the curriculum, and that the curriculum provides an opportunity for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world's oldest continuous living cultures. 

As the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP recently said at the 2019 Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture: 

"It is important that all schools across the country work to develop the capacity to engage with their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to ensure local cultural context is understood in classrooms and that all students have the opportunity to learn about the rich and diverse histories and cultures of all Australians."  

You can read more about this work on our website or download the resources below.

How can NAPLAN be improved?  

You may recall that the last episode of our CEO David de Carvalho's vlog was about our work in the national assessment space. Well, there was so much to talk about, he did the video in two parts! In this episode, David explains the importance of focusing on literacy and numeracy for future success and looks at some of the ways that NAPLAN could be improved. 

New research into education and parenting

• "Ten years’ worth of NAPLAN data show improvements in Years 3, 5 and 9. But reading progress has slowed dramatically between years 5 and 7. And, somewhat surprisingly, the downward trend is strongest for the most advantaged students."
  Dr Peter Goss from the Grattan Institute explores these trends on The Conversation.
• What do parents want from schools? The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) recently commissioned a survey of over a thousand Australian parents with school-aged children. The research paper is available on the CIS website to download.  
• Raising children in the digital age is fraught with issues that previous generations never had to deal with. Research from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner suggests parents have a general lack of confidence about having to deal with their child’s negative online experiences.
• How can schools best work with parents, carers, grandparents and older siblings to support students and improve their learning? Dr Tanya Vaughan and Ms Susannah Schoeffel explore two evidence-based recommendations from a new guidance report for Australian practitioners in Teacher Magazine. 

Supporting blind and low vision children

Vision Australia recently broadcast a Facebook Live session which featured panelists answering common questions and sharing experiences of caring for a child who is blind or has low vision. The organisation can work with families to help children achieve greater levels of independence, participation and resilience - including helping them prepare for, and thrive in, the school environment. 

A chance to study in regional Australia

Is your child contemplating their next step after school? As part of the Destination Australia program, around 1,200 scholarships are now available for students to study in regional and remote Australian tertiary education providers.  

eSafety gift guide for parents

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner has put together a gift guide for parents to help you make smart and secure choices when purchasing tech gifts for children and young people.

Sharing is caring!

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We’d love you to contribute to our newsletter. Email us at parentupdate@acara.edu.au.