Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

Regional Vic principals up-skill in Adelaide to take on unique challenges
A cohort of school leaders from rural Victoria attended a program at SA’s Flinders University which aims to help rural and regional principals to overcome the challenges of their location and harness novel opportunities to benefit students.
Developed with input from Emeritus Professor John Halsey – who conducted the 2017 Federal Government’s ‘Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education’ – the Master of Education (Rural Leadership and Management) provides a combination of tailored face-to-face and online learning with a clear rural focus. Read more

New teachers love induction support app
New teacher induction? There’s an app for that. Downloaded more than 17,000 times, the AITSL My Induction app offers expert advice, answers to frequently asked questions and allows new teachers to track their professional wellbeing and growth.
Beginning teacher Vicki Nguyen, from Airds High School in NSW, said the induction program developed and offered at her school, and support from the app, had helped her through her first weeks in the job.
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Reform of preschools front and centre in election period
Research shows that two years of quality preschool sets a child up for success, and happily the issue is gaining traction with politicians, Dr Jen Jackson from Victoria University’s Mitchell Institute for Education and Health Policy said.
At the heart of improving quality are the almost 200,000 educators who work in Australian early childhood services. Extending preschool to two years places increased pressure on the supply of highly-skilled early childhood educators. Read more

AITSL Stakeholder Survey now open
Teachers, school leaders and the entire education sector can have their say in the 2019 Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Survey which is open now.
AITSL Acting CEO Edmund Misson encouraged all those with a desire to positively impact student learning across Australia to get involved.
“Your views will help inform and guide the national effort to support excellence in teaching. Evidence, collaboration and consultation with the profession are at the heart of our work and through the AITSL Stakeholder Survey, we want to hear from as many people and organisations as possible," Misson said. Read more

Early career teachers get dramatic with NIDA
NIDA continues to invest in the creative practice of early career teachers in primary and secondary schools with the 2019 Creative Ambassador’s Initiative.
The program welcomes all teachers employed in a primary or secondary school in the first five years of their teaching career. There is no tuition fee for successful applicants, who take advantage of a week of masterclasses at NIDA to develop their skills to take back to the classroom – as drama specialists, cultural leaders and creative teachers. Read more

Domestic violence causes homelessness
The number of people seeking help from homelessness services due to domestic and family violence has risen in recent years but only 4% of those who approached a homelessness service for long-term housing actually received it.
Mission Australia’s latest report Out of the shadows: Domestic and family violence, a leading cause of homelessness in Australia says domestic and family violence is one of the main reasons women and children become homeless in Australia. Read more

Victorian schools kicking goals
Data released on the Myschools website show that Victorian schools are among the top in the country for improving student performance by up to 50%.
The 2018 NAPLAN National Report confirmed Victoria as one of the highest performing states in Australia, with Victorian students in Years 3 and 5 leading in four out of the 10 NAPLAN testing areas.
The new data includes school-by-school results from the 2018 NAPLAN exams sat in May 2018, which spans school profile and population data, and 2017 school financial information.
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