Monday, 27 February 2012

New teachers need support.

These web resources may be of help to any new teachers out there starting their adventure!!

During discussions on yammer some of the teachers were concerned about ways to help new teachers coming on to their staff. After some discussion and reflection I decided to compile the web resources that were suggested. I chose to created them in a livebinder: New Teachers Survival Guide

Livebinder tutorials are available if you are interested in learning how to use this great curating tool.

Recently I came across Discovery Education which has a great site for new teachers. The New Teacher Survival Central has lots of great resources for new teachers (and not so new teachers) on technology, parent communication, classroom management, lesson plan resources, and much more.

There are tutorials and training resources that will help new teachers adapt to their new career. The Survival Tool Kit has a best of the web section with links to great web sites for educators.

I have added these to the New Teachers Survival Guide livebinder.

To all new teachers out there: ENJOY and please ask for help if you need it!

Monday, 20 February 2012

Gonski Review is released.

Read the Review Panel's Final Report | Your School Our Future -The 285-page Gonski review, released today, proposes major changes in the way resources are distributed between private, government and Catholic schools.

In School funding needs big expansion Katrina Curtis stated: "It criticised current funding arrangements for being unnecessarily complex, lacking coherence and transparency and duplicating funding in some areas."

Noting that the performance of Australian students has slipped significantly based on international comparisons since 2000, the report calls for a "schooling resource standard" - the funding required to deliver a high quality education for every child. The final report of the federal Review of Funding for Schools suggests a new Schooling Resource Standard be established that would apply across the public and private sectors.

Public schools would be fully publicly funded under the standard, while there would be a minimum public contribution to non-government schools of up to 25 per cent of the standard per student.

Businessman David Gonski headed the independent review into school funding. Picture: James Croucher The Daily Telegraph

SCHOOL FUNDING NEEDS BIG EXPANSION: PANEL

The panel said "Private Schools that did not charge fees or took on students with very high needs could receive full government funding." Candidates for full funding may be special schools serving children with disabilities, schools where the overwhelming majority of the population was indigenous, and sole-provider schools in remote locations.

"The important issue from a national perspective is not who provides the resources for schooling for all Australian children but that they are actually provided," the report stated. I must agree!!! however, the proposals require an estimated $5 billion boost in funding. (The figure was based on 2009 estimates, meaning the cost in real terms would be significantly higher today.)

Where do we find that sort of money if all of the recommendations were to be considered and implemented?
School Education Minister Peter Garrett said this morning there would "absolutely not" be a multibillion-dollar cash injection to Australia's education sector as a result of the report. "For those reasons it is important that we take the next steps in this reform process thoroughly and with care . . . The Australian government is committed to returning the budget to surplus in 2012-13 and to ongoing fiscal responsibility," SADLY not to equity!!
See School Education Minister Peter Garrett's Funding Review Address (video)

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has warned any changes to school funding models must be sustainable and take into account the budget challenges of Australian governments.
The report also says all schools, especially government schools, should seek out philanthropic partners for money and expertise. I fear we will not find many who will rush forward with their hands in the air, waving bucket loads of money at us!

As many anticipated, not much will change to improve the equity in providing education to all Australian students in the immediate future. Bianca Hall,in Surplus before schools as Gonski report decries student disadvantage sums up: "Rather than commit to any of the recommendations or findings in the review, the government will instead embark on another round of consultation. This is in addition to the more than 7000 submissions received, 39 schools visited and 71 education groups visited as part of the 18-month review process to date."

SBS NEWS reports that :"The Australian Education Union has responded to the Gonski review by broadly supporting the recommendations."

PUBLIC VS PRIVATE ???

Will we ever get it right? Will the Government made the hard decisions necessary?

A once-in-a-generation chance to reform our education system is released.
Can you believe it? Australia is now the third worst country in the OECD for the proportion of our education budget we spend on public education. We must put more money into the teaching and learning that will help the kids who start out with less catch up." from Please, Prime Minister, More?In the article Private School Review Row Richmond MP Justine Elliot said the review would leave no private school worse off. “The aim of the Gonski Review of Funding of Schooling is to achieve a system that is transparent, fair, financially sustainable and effective in promoting the achievement and well-being of all students in all schools.”SAVE OUR SCHOOLS SOS - Fighting for Equity in EducationMedia Release School Funding Review stated: "It is absolutely absurd that the chairman of an elite private school has been appointed to decide the future funding of private and government schools. The conflict of interest is overwhelming." Gonski review: Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt on Australia’s problem with science educationThe Conversation spoke with Nobel Laureate, Brian Schmidt, about the state of science education in Australian schools and what impact the Gonski review can have on ensuring all students get the possible opportunity to learn. Schmidt states: "It is a big change and it is a hard change and we shouldn’t underestimate that. This is not an easy thing to fix and it is something that will take ten years to implement and get teachers through, but the benefits will last for 50 years." Schmidt also asks THE question, in my opinion: We are one of the richest countries in the world, why should we be mediocre in our education when the OECD says that is the best way to make a country rich?

Sunday, 19 February 2012

FREE classroom printables.

In this day and age there are so many kind and caring, sharing teachers..... Enjoy

Source: livebinders.com via Karen on Pinterest

#auedchat Australian Education Chat

#austl Australian Teacher Librarians

#nswtl NSW Teacher Librarians

#slansw School Libraries Australia NSW

#nswdec NSW DEC issues

#DERNSW Government issued DERvices to students

Mobile learning tags

#mlearning

#slide2learn

#ipaded

Thursday, 16 February 2012

NSW Draft K-10 Sylllabuses v2 out now!!

NSW Draft K–10 Syllabuses for the Australian curriculum in English, Mathematics, Science and History (version 2)

READ

The Draft K–10 Syllabuses are available in PDF (below) and interactive online format.

Draft Syllabuses (version 2)

Content Guides

Handy inclusion: Summary of changes to Draft Syllabuses (version 2)

RESPOND

Consultation round 2

The consultation period is 13 February to 31 March 2012.

Be involved!

Have your say!

Don't leave it until it's too late!

Check out the Table of consultation meetings: 4.00 – 6.00pm

Australian Curriculum site

Monday, 6 February 2012

2012 Safer Internet Day-February 7

The theme for Safer Internet Day for 2012 is
'Connecting generations and educating each other', encouraging users young and old to 'discover the digital world together...safely'!