Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

Flat salary structure forces teachers out of profession
Australia’s teacher remuneration is lagging others in the OECD forcing teachers to seek better pay outside of the profession.
Teacher salaries have a flat structure, starting salaries in Australia are competitive, however, teachers reach the salary ceiling in 6-7 years with an overall increase of 48% compared to the OECD average of 66%. Read more

Regional students’ tech solutions for real life problems
The regions obviously do tech well with four teams of high school students from rural Australia taking part in a three-day challenge to design and present tech solutions to real-world problems facing their communities and arriving at some very advanced conclusions.
At Telstra Vantage 2019 in Melbourne, ‘Tomorrow’s leaders embracing technology for change’ saw high school students complete a design thinking process, identify the real-world problem facing their community, create and ideate potential solutions, prototype and pitch their ideas during a showcase to a panel of judges. Read more

Wellbeing resource now available to parents
Parents of kids in a bad way mentally have a new resource that they can access. Not-for-profit organisation Sydney North Health Network (SNHN) has entered into a partnership with SchoolTV subsidising access to the digital well-being platform for 92 public, private and independent high schools in its catchment area.
The partnership, between SchoolTV and SNHN, is for high schools within the Northern Sydney local government areas of Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Ryde and Willoughby. Read more

Clever claymation and rappers score in ATO's 2019 Tax, Super + You comp
Winners of the 2019 Tax, Super + You competition have won a share in the total cash prize pool of over $6000 with claymation and rappers featuring in the winning entries.
In the Junior category, Melbourne-based Year 7 student Alma-Mia Marret landed both the top prize and People's Choice Award for her stop-motion clay video, Tax Man Max.
The Glen Eira College student channelled her creativity and videography skills into her entry, creating an entertaining video that makes tax easier to understand for her peers.
Read more

Schools Robotics program wins Canon prize
A program to promote STEM education for children took out the Canon Oceania 2019 Canon Grants Program this year.
   Elonera Montessori Robotics (NSW) is passionate about promoting STEM education and opportunities with a focus on among groups with a history of underrepresentation or marginalisation and won 5k.
   The Grant will provide equipment that facilitates a series of free, hands-on robotics sessions for children and young adults who are refugees and/or living with disability.
   Canon now awards over $30,000 worth of grants to seven projects in ANZ. Read more

Majority embarrassed by online posts
It comes under the heading of seemed a good idea at the time; a majority of Australians have been embarrassed by what they have posted online.
Two thirds (67%) of Aussies are embarrassed by content on their social media profiles, over a quarter (28%) of Aussies have either never, or can’t remember, the last time they checked if the content they’ve posted is appropriate, and two thirds (66%) have at least one inactive account. Read more

Students get a taste of early childhood education at TAFE NSW
Students from Camden High School received a grounding in early childhood education and career opportunities at TAFE NSW Campbelltown. There will be demand for 36,000 child care workers by 2022.
The nine-week program saw 16 students spend one day a week learning the hands-on skills required to pursue a career in early childhood education, an industry currently experiencing a skills shortage. Read more