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2018 22 October


ET News Digest
Your Weekly Education Newsletter
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Survey reveals parents and teachers want less ATAR and more emphasis on life skills
The ATAR isn’t everything but it counts for a lot and sometimes to the detriment of other skills. There’s momentum growing to rethink it and introduce other ways of assessing how students are faring which will perhaps create happier, more adaptable and resilient young people.
   Children should learn and develop ‘life skills’ like thinking outside the square, communication, adaptability and emotional intelligence rather than focus on exam scores. Read More

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Primary schools could be the key to reducing youth suicide
 The story is becoming frighteningly all too familiar. A seemingly well-adjusted teenager suddenly takes their own life — a life barely begun. Friends and parents are at a loss to explain why — was it bullying, the stresses of adolescence, the challenges of young adulthood, seeing themselves as ‘different’ to others? Read More

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New resource teaches kids about periods
Tasha Lawton, an Australian mother and film maker together with Share the Dignity, has created Period Talk, Australia’s first education module designed to get kids talking about periods, removing the taboo and embarrassment that has surrounded the subject.
   Period Talk has been made for kids in Years 5–8. The course covers the cycles, environmental impacts, PMS, nutrition and pain management, sanitary product options, changes to bodies and minds, Read More

Tax deductions for teachers
As the October 31st tax deadline is approaching, now is the time for teachers and those working in education who haven’t yet lodged to get their taxes up to date.
   Mark Chapman, Tax Communications Director, H&R Block, says the key tip to staying on top of your taxes is to get into the habit of recording all work-related expenses and keeping copies of all the documentation that will be needed come next tax time (like invoices, receipts, bank and credit card statements). Read More

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Wakakirri announces National Story Dance of the Year winners
Wakakirri continues to be Australia’s largest performing arts event for primary and secondary schools with this year's winners now announced.
   Mango Hill State School in Queensland claimed the Primary Story of the Year with their performance ‘What About the Children?’, in which a young boy discovers a way to make a difference when he learns about children who have been left homeless after a hurricane in Haiti. This was the school’s fifth year participating in Wakakirri and their first time winning Story of the Year. Read More

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60,000 regional school students to have best seat in the house 
The Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is launching ATYP On Demand, a theatre streaming platform to give remote and low SES students free access to theatre made by young people, for young people.
    ATYP is Australia’s national youth theatre and has been empowering children and teens to unleash their creative potential for over 50 years. ATYP On Demand will allow primary schools, secondary schools and children’s hospitals to access a range of productions, year-round.
Read More

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Exceptional teaching students helping disadvantaged kids
The National Exceptional Teaching for Disadvantaged Schools Program (NETDS) targets the highest performing pre-service teachers across seven participating universities nationwide equipping them to work in low socio-economic schools to change the lives of disadvantaged students.
   The ACU has implemented NETDS across its Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane campuses, targeting primary degree students who will go on to work in the Catholic or state systems.
   Since its inception, approximately 90% of the program’s 406 high-achieving graduates have been funnelled into high-poverty school communities. Read More

Plagiarism doesn't worry international male ESL tertiary students
A new study has examined uni students’ attitudes towards plagiarism. Its preliminary findings reveal that international male students  from non-English speaking backgrounds are substantially more likely to engage in academic dishonesty than their female, domestic, and native English-speaking counterparts.
   Remarkably, 40% of students whose first language isn’t English think universities make “too much of a fuss of people cheating,” compared to 11% of students whose first language is English. Read More

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Digital Ambassadors in $1 million anti-(cyber)bullying project
Facebook, Instagram and PROJECT ROCKIT have teamed up to announce a landmark $1 million anti-(cyber)bullying partnership for Australian high school students.
  The program will upscale PROJECT ROCKIT to build a network of Digital Ambassadors who will lead social change against bullying online and offline in schools. Over the course of 2019 and 2020, the partnership will grow 10,000 PROJECT ROCKIT Digital Ambassadors from 600 schools in 40 metropolitan, regional and rural communities. Read More