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For Education Leaders

Yasodai Selvakumaran on publicity, accolades and self-reflection

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Last year was a big one for Rooty Hill High’s Yasodai Selvakumaran, as a finalist in the Global Teacher Prize, the History and Humanities teacher was thrown into the spotlight and the opportunities and accolades that flowed from that made for a lot of changes in her professional life. Her path to the Global Teacher Prize, which carries a million dollar award for the winner, was the end result of involvement in the Commonwealth Bank and Schools Plus Teaching awards. While she didn’t win, the global interchange that followed gave Selvakumaran insight as to how high functioning school systems did things and access to an international community of educators. Read more

Far North Queensland students switched on to STEM

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Students from the Northern Peninsula Area State College in Far North Queensland were the first to take part in a new Indigenous Education Program that encourages practical skills and offers a taste of global citizenship.
   More than 300 students across three campuses took part in the program to assemble 600 SolarBuddy solar lights. Each student gave one light to a child living in extreme energy poverty and kept one light for themselves. Read more

STEM economy: Students need to get the basics right

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In this year's federal budget, the Australian Government has included $27.3 million to help students develop STEM skills; focusing on programs to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
   It will be debated whether this level of funding is sufficient, but it is a positive development for Australia to invest in skills that will have higher demand in the future. Read more

Harp comes back online

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2020 was looking good for Chris Maunders until it wasn’t, his harmonica tutoring program Harp's a Breeze was going along swimmingly with thousands of students coming around to his way of thinking, ie the harp is a great way to get involved in music, rewarding and inexpensive to get started with.
   But when the virus arrived things took a turn for the worse.
Read more

Program keeping teen mums in school

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Parents will tell you that having a kid is all consuming, but try being young and contending with a child and school as well. It’s often too much and young mums tend to drop out at an unacceptably high rate.
   So, Michelle Forsyth has been working on a program that’s designed to keep young mothers engaged and involved in school so having a child early doesn’t mean a truncated education.
Read more

A sport obsessed country except for girls

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When it comes to physical activity, Australia is ranked one of the worst performers for 11–17 year old girls globally.
  Over 90 per cent of girls have insufficient levels of physical activity, with a marked decrease in sport participation by girls during the 12–14 years of age and from 17+ years.
   As girls grow older, regarding physical activity they report lower levels of enjoyment, confidence, competence and understanding. Read more

Creativity in schools essential for high performance

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Creativity can be hard to quantify and its purpose is just as elusive, maybe, maybe not, it looks like a creative aspect to curriculum is key to equipping young people for a future characterised by uncertainty and rapid change.
   Applying creativity has the potential to holistically impact children – academically, socially and emotionally – and enhance learning across a range of academic subjects. Read more