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2019 (3) 18 February


ET News Digest
Your Weekly Education Newsletter
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Bank of mum and dad foundation of big careers
It’s the great unspoken truth; the bank of mum and dad is instrumental in the fostering of careers. It works in a couple of ways, first the child from a wealthy background is assumed to be headed for a successful life and is given the private schooling to foster that.
   But when school and university are done and the first steps toward forging a career are made the ability to get a bit of money to support taking risky decisions and being freed of the necessity of dull, usually badly paid labour is crucial. Read more

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St.George Foundation’s $600,000 Inspire Grant invites applications
St.George Foundation’s Inspire Grant is a three-year grant designed to provide innovative interventions that will change the course of a child’s life.
   The 2018 Inspire Grant recipient, Whitelion, will use the $600,000 funding to help at-risk young women stay in education. As an alternative approach to school suspension, the program aims to prevent young women from disengaging with mainstream education when they’ve been excluded. Read more

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Malware is at record levels
One thing is certain; never let your guard down online, malware is an ever present and growing concern. Like viruses, malware tactics and forms are shifting in shape and authors of the bugs are targeting organisations more than individuals.
   Globally, education, government, manufacturing and healthcare were the top industries impacted by Trojans and Australia was the country most affected by cryptomining attacks across Asia Pacific. Business malware detections rose by 79% and in Australia and New Zealand, they increased by 78%, from 201,596 in 2017 to 358,321 in 2018. Read more

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Funding agreement no fun for public schools
The recent bilateral school funding agreements between the Commonwealth and the states look to be biased against public schools.
   Public schools will be under-funded indefinitely while private schools will be fully funded by 2023 and private schools will get more favourable phase-in arrangements than public schools.
   If private schools are over-funded they get special funding assistance to adjust to lower funding levels but public schools facing funding reductions get no assistance. Read more

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First State Super $10k scholarship for teachers
First State Super supports teachers in public schools through its annual professional development scholarship offered through the Public Education Foundation.
   The $10,000 scholarship provides educators teaching kindergarten, Years 1 and 2 with the chance to invest in their own professional development to improve learning outcomes for their students and share gained knowledge with their peers.
Read more

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Can we do better than banning mobile phones?
Phones are like relationships, can’t live with them can’t live without them. The mobile phone ban in NSW primary schools is now in effect and while that might protect the kids from online nasties like porn and bullying it also means they’re not contactable.
   The ban also does nothing to protect the children outside of school hours, but we live in an age of apps and there is a digital solution to the problem. Read more

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Yamaha’s 60K Great Start Grant – applications open
Yamaha Music Australia’s Great Start Grant is a nationwide initiative with a very generous $60,000 worth of musical instruments, 3 days of specialised music training for students and teachers and a launch concert with internationally acclaimed composer, musician and comedian, Tim Minchin given to the winning school.
   The Great Start Grant will be searching for a school which promotes quality music education but needs a hand. Read more

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Entertainment provides a win win way to fund raise
Entertainment Memberships offer value-for-money offers across dining, travel, leisure and experiences, that’s well known as the program has been running for years. Less well known is their support of charities and community organisations.
   The Entertainment program can help schools, charities and sports and community groups to raise funds; around $5 million is raised every year, each membership sold makes 20% for the fundraiser. Read more