Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

New generation of ‘Namby-Pamby’ kids about to drop
So millennial bashing has become a national sport, the avo munching, fedora wearing, non-driving or moving out of home snowflakes that they are, but if you thought that generation was a bit soft wait for the next.
Fifteen years of research has found even higher rates of anxiety about pretty much everything from the generation about to drop. Read more

Kids can win cash with the ATO’s Tax, Super + You Competition
It probably isn’t a great idea to be too creative with your taxes but that’s not the case with The Australian Taxation Office’s 2018 Tax, Super +You competition, where high school students are encouraged to think outside the box and develop creative ideas on how they think tax and/or super contributes to the community.
There are two categories – Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary with a prize pool of $6,200. Read more

STEM experts in every school? Maybe
The federal government plan to ensure every Australian school has at least one teacher specialised in mathematics or science is a good idea that might well remain so, given the already massive shortfall in specialist STEM teachers.
While the practicalities are iffy, the intentions are to be commended according to some experts in the area. Read more

Sydney Water opens 2018 Community Grants
Sydney Water has announced its 2018 community grants program with a total of $80,000 to be awarded.
Grassroots community organisations working on initiatives or projects across Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains are encouraged to apply to the community grants program.
Previous successful applicants presented water saving ideas, plastic waste elimination and gardening projects. Read more

Birmingham’s STEM solution shortcut a thought-bubble
Simon Birmingham’s solution to fix shrinking school student STEM enrolments fails to address the real issue of having a comprehensive plan to fix teacher shortages.
Australian Education Union Federal President Correna Haythorpe said that any fix for boosting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) enrolments needed to consider all aspects of the problem, including facilities and equipment as well as STEM teacher numbers. Read more

$15,000 Fellowship for Teachers of English and Literacy
Who says teaching doesn’t pay? The Copyright Agency has announced the first-ever Reading Australia Fellowship for Teachers of English and Literacy worth $15,000.
The Fellowship is an initiative of Reading Australia, the Copyright Agency’s online portal which provides more than 150 teaching resources to improve the teaching of literature using Australian stories in schools, from Foundation to Uni. Read more

School’s out on SES funding
There has been a lot of concern around the rethinking of SES scores but the government is keen to stress that the process is in its early stages.
Minister for Education, Simon Birmingham said that he will consult with the non-government school sectors and with state and territory governments before the government responds formally to the report of the National School Resourcing Board (NSRB) on SES score methodology.
Read more