As an election pledge, Labor announced in February and then re-announced last week that it would establish a ‘National Principals’ Academy’ in an effort to have ‘the best school system in the world’. While there are a whole range of issues here that need to be addressed, we always welcome greater focus on the important … More It takes a village, not an academy to teach a child
It is astounding to think that nearly every week there is an education conference happening somewhere covering all aspects of schooling. Many of these have become big business but regardless of size or popularity, most conferences aim to facilitate learning. We attend conferences to acquire new knowledge or skills with the intent of learning and improving our work. Learning is … More Learning to Unlearn
From 2018, every teacher working in NSW schools will have to understand and apply the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to their work. The Standards go towards helping to clarify and articulate what good learning and teaching looks like; what is consistently expected of all teachers and what it takes to become an exceptional teacher. … More An uber teaching profession
Last night the federal budget delivered across-the-board cuts and the education sector was certainly not immune. Schools need certainty in both funding and direction. Funding has been essentially cut in real terms by linking increases to CPI, while educational expenditure grows at almost double the rate. The Better Schools Plan (Gonski), which was agreed to … More Federal budget: certainty and consistency the key
In March the NSW Government announced its blueprint for improving schooling. The action plan includes raising entry requirements for teaching courses at universities and ensuring the quality of initial teacher education is regularly assessed. This is a positive move. Attracting the best and the brightest is something that all education systems desire. Yet attracting is … More Schools of inquiry
The old Chinese proverb, ‘be careful what you wish for’, comes to mind when thinking about the new autonomy agenda for schools. With autonomy comes great responsibility. This can be said of many sectors but is particularly true for the work of schools. For the school leaders in our Catholic system, local school autonomy has … More School Autonomy: Use Responsibly
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