Education Matters Secondary November-February 2022 by Prime Creative Media

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PROVIDING A HOLISTIC EDUCATION FOR LIFE

Principally Speaking: De La Salle College Support for principals Proudly supported by the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association

Improving a generational decline in writing skills

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EDITOR’S NOTE

It is hard to avoid the fact that writing skills are declining with the National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing indicating that writing skills are below the 2011 average. The report conducted by the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) revealed the main contributing factors that lead to this decrease, one being that it is time to update the NAPLAN test. Researcher Fiona Mueller found that the NAPLAN test is very narrow, with her calling for a test that asks students to resposed to a series of short answers, longer form questions that pick up other parts of the curriculum. Being part of a generation where technology is forever evolving, it is easy to forget about the basics. As Mueller touches on, sometimes it is about going back to basics and focusing on the foundations of the English language — writing, reading, and spelling - in order to improve results. Technology today is at the forefront of most schooling experiences, with a push for NAPLAN testing to be a thing of the past. The first NAPLAN tests took place in 2008 and was conducted by the then Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (now Education Council), and was the first time all students in Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were assessed in literacy and numeracy using the same year level tests. Mueller says following her research about declining writing skills, she believes an English proficiency test for every year group would help test multiple components and help reduce the decline in writing skills overall. With NAPLAN testing postponed last year because of COVID-19, former Minister for Education Dan Tehan reported in August 2020 that NAPLAN was the best tool Australia had to understand what impact COVID-19 would have on children’s education and to inform what actions were needed. However, in July this year Education Ministers agreed to make improvements to national standardised testing in Australian schools to better inform teacher practice. As part of the improvements, the ministers agreed that the writing test would continue to be conducted as a census test, and the testing of spelling, grammar and punctuation (Conventions of Language) will be separate from writing as part of the annual census-based standardised assessment program.

Publisher: Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au Chief Operating Officer: Zelda Tupicoff zelda.tupicoff@primecreative.com.au Managing Editor: Sarah Baker sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au Editor: Molly Hancock molly.hancock@primecreative.com.au Design Production Manager: Michelle Weston Art Director: Blake Storey Designers: Kerry Pert, Aisling McComiskey Advertising: Allanah Taranto allanah.taranto@primecreative.com.au 0478 667 488 Client Success Manager: Justine Nardone

Federal Minister for Education Alan Tudge says NAPLAN has been an important tool to inform teacher practice and give guidance to parents on how their child is progressing, with the reforms to enhance these objectives. As Mueller highlights in her research, “any test we do to measure student’s progress in written English should include what we are required to do in real life”.

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The CIS is also calling for tougher entry requirements for university teaching courses. Research has found that initial teacher education programs have largely dropped the ball on writing instruction, at least in terms of ensuring that all graduating teachers demonstrate sophisticated control of the rules and conventions of English. It will be through a combination of improved NAPLAN testing and better equipping teachers that Australia will be able to improve its writing skills.

Subscriptions Education Matters is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher. Ph: (+61 3) 9690 8766 E: subscriptions@primecreative.com.au

It’s a pleasure to join you for this edition of Education Matters — Secondary. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to email me at molly.hancock@primecreative.com.au.

Articles All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format. Cover Image De La Salle

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Copyright Education Matters is owned by Prime Creative Media Pty. Ltd. and published by John Murphy. All material in Education Matters is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical including information retrieval systems) without the written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequenses arising from information published. The opinions of the magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated. All photographs of schools (including students) depicted in feature articles and advertisements throughout this magazine have been supplied to the publisher (and approved) by the contributing school. All material supplied by schools is done so with the understanding that such images will be published in Education Matters and may also appear on the our website: www.edumatters.com.au.

contents SECONDARY NOVEMBER - FEBRUARY 2022

REGULARS Editor’s note

Buyer’s Guide

News

ASPA column

Principally Speaking

A snapshot of some of the latest news and developments in the education sector. In this edition’s Australian Secondary Principals’ Association column, President Andrew Pierpoint is joined by Monash University Lecturer, Dr Amanda Heffernan, to discuss the contemporary factors affecting principals and principals’ work.

Peter Houlihan, Principal of De La Salle College, speaks to Education Matters about the nature of its student – teacher relationships and how the personalised knowledge of the students is central.

Hot Topic: Improving a generational decline in writing skills

CEO of the Australian Curriculum David de Carvalho; Chief Executive Officer of Education Services Andrew Smith; eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant; and Senior Research Fellow with the University of South Australia Dr Dorothea Dumuid; offer opinion pieces on a variety of topical

Events

A calendar of upcoming events happening around Australia.

24 The evolving role of technology vendors in education

In a technology-forward world, collaboration is key. This is especially salient for the education sector, where fast-paced technological change has posed an ongoing challenge for schools as they develop their digital learning models.

Communicating with clarity

At a time when remote learning and working from home is the new normal across Australian classrooms, Jands is making sure teachers sound professional and are heard clearly when teaching with its easy-to-use technology.

28 BYOD programs for smarter schools

JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ Bring Your Own Device program has been designed to take the stress out of finding suitable and affordable learning tools for every student’s needs.

32 Teachers are human too: counter-stress 20

Australian students’ declining achievement in National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), as well as in international testing, has revealed that writing skills are below the 2011 average with one in five failing to meet the national minimum standard.

The Last Word

FEATURES

environments make a difference

Ben Sacco, National Lead – Program Development and Implementation, talks about stress and burnout and strategies for reducing the negative impacts to the mental health and wellbeing of teachers.

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The Seasons for Growth children and young people’s program aims to provide children with a safe space to come together to reflect on their experiences and to learn knowledge and identify support networks to help them now and in the future.

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elping students overcome change and H uncertainty

T he importance of bridging the digital divide for primary school children

Sarah Davies, CEO of national children’s charity, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, discusses why all children must have access to digital literacy frameworks in order to bridge the digital divide.

T he mental health and wellbeing of our kids is everyone’s priority: SchoolTV

School closures across the country due to pandemic restrictionsarecontinuingtoimpactteachers,studentsandfamilies creating a feeling of disconnect across many communities. The wellbeing of all students remains a key priority,SchoolTV continues to help schools with supporting parents to raise happy, resilient young people through these times of uncertainty.

education matters secondary

educationmattersmag.com.au

Education Matters Magazine and educationmattersmag.com.au are informative, valuable resources for decision makers of both primary and secondary schools Australia-wide. We provide a content-rich, comprehensive buyer’s guide of the most reliable, trustworthy school suppliers in the market. This is coupled with the latest in news and expert views about the topics and issues currently impacting the education sector. educationmattersmag.com.au is a one-stop shop for a wide variety of products or services for your school. You can browse our categories which include technology, professional development, curriculum, health and wellbeing, beyond the classroom and more; or use our search function to find exactly what you require.

For further information, contact: Danny Hernandez Mobile: 0431 330 232 Email: danny.hernandez@primecreative.com.au

NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS

Upskilling secondary teachers in maths and science Victorian Minister for Education James Merlino has announced $1.3 million to go towards an additional 80 Teach for Australia student teachers into schools serving lowsocioeconomic areas. The employment based pathway initiative sees intern teachers with subject area knowledge complete their Master of Teaching (Professional Practice) with Australian Catholic University while on two-year placements at government secondary schools in regional, rural and disadvantaged communities. These intern teachers, known as associates, receive coaching from teaching and leadership advisers and mentors as they attain their qualification. Teach for Australia was established in 2010 to help break the cycle of educational inequality through the provision of

high-quality teachers and leaders to schools in need, with the aim of giving all students the same opportunities to excel. Victoria was the first state to partner with the not-forprofit organisation. Merlino said every Victorian child deserves access to top-quality education, no matter where they live or their background. “We’re thrilled to be helping place an extra 80 enthusiastic student teachers into government secondary schools across regional and rural areas and disadvantaged communities, where they will not only help our kids thrive but in turn receive the support and mentorship they need to become great school leaders,” he said. Since 2010, over 600 associates have been placed in more than 100 government secondary schools across the state. EM

NAPLAN 2021 outcomes released

“The results also show a resilience among young Australians and they are testament to the hard work of teachers and parents who are supporting learning at home.” Alan Tudge, Minister for Education and Youth

The 2021 preliminary NAPLAN results have been released, providing the first data from the national tests since 2019. More than 1.2 million students across more than 9,000 schools participated in NAPLAN in May this year, following last year’s cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said the headline results were pleasing but further analysis of the detailed data was needed, as part of a broader look at the impacts of COVID-19 on Australian students. “It is certainly a relief that we have not yet seen the significant declines that we may have expected due to school closures, particularly in Victoria,” Minister Tudge said. “The results also show a resilience among young Australians and they are testament to the hard work of teachers and parents who are supporting learning at home. “I remain very concerned about the ongoing impact of school closures on young people and their families, particularly the mental health impacts.” The preliminary 2021 NAPLAN results show no significant decline in results between 2019 and 2021 and, over the longer term, there has been steady improvement in Year 3 and 5 reading, and in Year 5, 7 and 9 numeracy. Around 70 per cent of schools (more than 6,000) took

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NAPLAN online this year, with more than 2.9 million tests submitted by approximately 870,000 students through the online portal. ACARA CEO David de Carvalho said overall students’ literacy and numeracy standards have not significantly suffered, despite the major disruptions of COVID-19 and remote learning. “Generally, the average trend is positive, with improvements for Year 3 and 5 reading and Year 5, 7 and 9 numeracy, showing gains equivalent to a term’s worth of learning since the base year. The overall decline in writing has begun to flatten, and achievement in Year 5, 7 and 9 has begun to reverse and show signs of an upward trend,” he said. “The results suggest that persistent effort to improve outcomes pays off. It is testament to the resilience of students, teachers, parents and carers, and school and system leaders during these challenging times.” In May this year, NAPLAN was successfully undertaken in schools across the country. More than 1.2 million students took part across more than 9,000 schools. NAPLAN is in the final phase of transition to NAPLAN online, and this year around 70 per cent of schools across the country undertook the test online, submitting more than 2.9 million online tests from 870,000 students. EM

Young Australians impacted by COVID-19 COVID-19 causes psychological distress for young people.

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened some of the challenges face by young Australians with early evidence suggesting that young people experienced higher rates of psychological distress, job loss and educational disruptions. A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has shown that experiences of severe psychological distress among young people aged 18–24 increased from 14 per cent in February 2017 to 22 per cent in April 2020, and of the 592,000 Australians who lost employment in April 2020, more than 1 in 3 (38 per cent) were aged 15–24. The report, Australia’s youth, brings together data about young people (aged 12–24) and their experiences of school and higher education, mental health and wellbeing, employment, living circumstances, and personal relationships. AIHW spokesperson Sally Mills said while data suggest some outcomes for young people have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, this is not always the case. “For example, in April 2021 the average level of psychological distress among young people was below what it was in April 2020, but still higher than in February 2017. Ongoing monitoring is needed to fully understand the longer-term impact of the pandemic,” she said. “The proportion of young people aged 15–24 not in education, employment or training rose from 8.7 per cent in May 2019 to 12 per cent in May 2020 following the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions. Since then, the proportion has fallen to 11 per cent in February 2021, a similar rate to February 2020 before the pandemic.” Despite the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are faring well in a number of areas, with most 15–24 years-olds studying or working, and almost 3 in 5 (59 per cent) young people aged 15–19 years feeling happy/ very happy with their lives in 2020; similar to 2019 (61 per cent). According to the report, in the past two decades rates of young people engaged in drinking at risky levels, daily smoking, and recent use of illicit drugs have fallen dramatically. EM

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NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS

NSW Budget a big win for regional students NSW regional schools secure much-needed funds from budget.

“The Delta variant of coronavirus is causing uncertainty right around Australia – but we want to make sure every student knows that no matter how much they’re impacted by the pandemic, we’re supporting them to succeed in VCE and VCAL.” James Merlino, Minister for Education

Schools and students across regional New South Wales are benefitting from record investment in their education as part of the 2021-22 NSW Budget. More than $6 billion is set to be spent on supporting teachers, new and upgraded schools and technology to connect students. Deputy Premier John Barilaro said schools are better funded under the NSW Government than ever before, with this government ensuring regional students have access to the same level of world-class educational facilities as students who live in the city. “Our kids in the bush are benefitting from a government who cares about them because this year’s budget will see a further $6 billion invested in their future,” Barilaro said. “Regional communities are also receiving record investment in school infrastructure with more than $1 billion committed to new and upgraded regional school projects across the state.” Nine new and upgraded school projects in regional and rural NSW have been approved for funding as part of the 202122 Budget: • Yanco Agricultural High School • Wee Waa High School • Murrumbidgee Regional High School – Stage 2 • South Nowra/Worrigee – new primary school • Hunter River High School – Upgrade

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• • • •

Hastings Secondary College Joint Use PCYC Irrawang High School Newcastle Education Campus Bombaderry High School – upgrade Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said children from preschool, right through to primary and high school will benefit from this year’s $21.5 billion education budget. “Regional families have one less financial concern with our government investing $150 million to provide free preschool in NSW, including more than 350 regional and remote preschools, saving families up to $4,000 a year per child,” Mitchell said. “Inside the classroom, regional students are becoming more connected with roll out of high-speed internet and new devices being provided to students and teachers.” Mitchell added that regardless of where a student is located, the NSW Government is committed to providing quality education and modern spaces to learn in. “To ensure regional communities continue to have a constant supply of quality teachers we are improving incentives and the midcareer pathways to teaching for professionals. We are also investing $125 million in a Teacher Supply Strategy, due for release later this year,” she said. The NSW Government is investing $7.9 billion over the next four years, continuing its program to deliver 215 new and upgraded schools to support communities across NSW. EM

Supporting secondary students to succeed The Victorian Government will continue to provide extra support to students in their final years of school, with the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage (CED) process to continue in 2021 in light of continued disruptions to the school year. Once again, Victorian students have done a remarkable job adapting to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on schooling in 2021 – with coronavirus restrictions forcing students across the state back to remote learning and pushing back important school milestones. With so few Australians vaccinated, and the Delta variant causing unprecedented situations right around the country, the CED process will ensure that every student is assessed fairly, with any disruptions to learning throughout the year factored into their results. In a normal year, individual students are assessed for special consideration on a case by case basis – but the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will again use the CED process to finalise VCE results for each and every student completing one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3 –4 sequence in 2021.

Consistent with the approach in 2020, the process considers a range of data alongside exam results to calculate final VCE results – like the General Achievement Test (GAT), comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools and other learning data. Minister for Education James Merlino said Victorian students have done an amazing job adapting to another year of disruptions to their learning. “The Delta variant of coronavirus is causing uncertainty right around Australia – but we want to make sure every student knows that no matter how much they’re impacted by the pandemic, we’re supporting them to succeed in VCE and VCAL,” he said. The process will also include assessments of the individual impact of coronavirus on each student including school closures, direct impacts on student’ health, ongoing issues with remote learning and mental health challenges. All Year 12 VCAL students will also have access to individual consideration – with schools required to apply special consideration for all students who have been subject to significant disruptions. EM

NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS

Record education budget delivers for Queensland A record $15.3 billion State Budget investment in school and early childhood education will deliver for Queensland children, students and tradies from Far North Queensland to the Gold Coast. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said almost $1.9 billion in infrastructure spending would maintain, renew and build new facilities, including 10 new schools and other facilities supporting more than 4100 jobs across the state. “The 2021-22 education budget is a down payment on Queensland’s future,” she said. “This is creating jobs to drive our economic recovery postCOVID and longer term, this is an investment in Queensland’s future workforce and leaders in our schools and early childhood centres.” Education Minister Grace Grace said this education budget was the Palaszczuk Government’s seventh record investment in education. “This continues our proud record of giving children a great start and engaging young people in learning, no matter where they live.” The education budget includes $913.7 million over seven

years for 10 new south-east Queensland schools to open in 2023 and 2024 in growth corridors. They are six primary schools at: Ripley and Bellbird Park in Ipswich, and in the Augustine Heights area; Yarrabilba and Logan Reserve in Logan; and Redland Bay. Four high schools will also be built at Palmview on the Sunshine Coast, Springfield, and in the Logan Reserve/Park Ridge and Collingwood Park/Redbank Plains areas. “These new schools add to the 18 we have delivered since 2015, and four others under construction or planned,” Grace said. “The budget also includes $202.9 million invested over four years and $64 million in ongoing annual funding to support the continued provision of universal access to kindergarten for Queensland children.” The education budget also includes more than 240 new teachers and more than 80 new teacher aides; $14 million in 2021-22 towards a $100 million three-year student wellbeing package; and more than $23 million to deliver on the 2020 election commitment to build and upgrade training facilities at schools.EM

Student teachers make their mark on secondary schools “This is creating jobs to drive our economic recovery post-COVID and longer term, this is an investment in Queensland’s future workforce and leaders in our schools and early childhood centres.” Grace Grace, Education Minister

Victorian Minister for Education James Merlino has announced $1.3 million to go towards an additional 80 Teach for Australia student teachers into schools serving low-socioeconomic areas. The employment based pathway initiative sees intern teachers with subject area knowledge complete their Master of Teaching (Professional Practice) with Australian Catholic University while on two-year placements at government secondary schools in regional, rural and disadvantaged communities. These intern teachers, known as associates, receive coaching from teaching and leadership advisers and mentors as they attain their qualification. Teach for Australia was established in 2010 to help break the cycle of educational inequality through the provision of

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BUYER’S GUIDE CURRICULUM

30 MusicEDU: MusicEDU Suite With the current climate of Australian classrooms being primarily online due to COVID-19, maintaining engagement during remote learning poses a challenge for most teachers, particularly in subjects where face-toface learning is usually the key driver. However, MusicEDU is committed to maximising engagement through the MusicEDU Suite, which allows every student to enjoy music in the classroom.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

38 Deakin University Over the last year, concern has grown about the health and wellbeing of education professionals. The question of how to promote the development of safe, healthy work environments for educators their communities is of particular interest for Deakin University’s Educator Health and Wellbeing Team.

educationmattersmag.com.au Education Matters Magazine and educationmattersmag.com.au are informative, valuable resources for decision makers of both primary and secondary schools Australia-wide. We provide a content-rich, comprehensive buyer’s guide of the most reliable, trustworthy school suppliers in the market. This is coupled with the latest in news and expert views about the topics and issues currently impacting the education sector.

For further information, contact: Allanah Taranto Mobile: 0478 667 488

Email: allanah.taranto@primecreative.com.au

ASPA COLUMN //

Support for principals: An important piece of the attraction and retention puzzle DR AMANDA HEFFERNAN FROM MONASH UNIVERSITY AND PRESIDENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN SECONDARY PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION ANDREW PIERPOINT EXPLORE THEIR AUTONOMY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND PRINCIPALS’ WORK: AN AUSTRALIAN STUDY, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THE CONTEMPORARY FACTORS AFFECTING PRINCIPALS AND PRINCIPALS’ WORK.

Dr Amanda Heffernan is an expert in educational leadership in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. Her research focuses on the contemporary challenges of principals’ work, and what that means for how we can better attract, support, and keep school leaders within the profession. She has a particular interest in leadership in complex school settings, including those in rural and remote areas, and the skills and knowledges that are needed to successfully lead those schools. Amanda is a former public-school principal who now works with future and current leaders, policymakers, and international researchers to highlight the important and complex work of educational leadership today. She is an award-winning researcher and public speaker. Amanda tweets @chalkhands.

Andrew Pierpoint is President of the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association – the peak body for School Leaders across Australia. He previously was President of the Queensland Secondary Principals’ Association for four (4) years. Andrew has had extensive experience, over 37 years, in High Schools as a science teacher, Head of Department (Science), Deputy Principal and Principal as well as having several system positions in the support of Principals. Throughout his career, Andrew has worked in complex rural and remote communities through to large regional and metropolitan schools. He has led communities and reference groups at district, regional, state and national levels. Andrew’s special interests are the provision of high-quality professional learning for school leaders, school leader wellbeing and is personally highly active in school sport.

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One of the key factors that was consistently raised was that of principal attraction and retention. This – coupled with the metrics of principals approaching retirement age, a downturn in the number of school leader applicants, and a growing awareness of issues of health and wellbeing in school leaders – leaves the profession in an awkward position. School leaders have been hearing for some time now that there is a looming crisis in emerging new leaders. The ability to develop meaningful succession plans in schools is becoming more and more difficult. There is increasing concern in education systems around the world about how we can more successfully attract people to the principalship, especially in areas facing particular shortages of candidates for positions (often described as ‘hard-to-staff’ schools). Of particular interest to us, though, is how we can better support principals to thrive once they’re in the job. We are currently undertaking a study of Australian principals, focusing on issues of attraction and retention in the profession. Our study is in two phases, and we are reporting in this article on the findings of the first phase. We have conducted an anonymous survey, open to current, aspiring, and former principals. We wanted to understand why people were in the role, what motivated them to stay, and what pushed them to leave. We have so far heard from 127 principals around Australia. The following interim findings reveal trends about the particular challenges of the principalship in its current form. Importantly, they transcend context – similar themes were evident from primary and secondary principals, government and nongovernment schools, and people with a wide range of years of experience. Interim findings from current principals

Respondents emphasised the overwhelming nature of their workload and expectations on principals. Respondents raised concerns about the impact of the principalship on their health and wellbeing. The role was described as ‘lonely’ and ‘isolating’ at times. Respondents expressed frustration that policy and external pressures meant at times that they were unable to meet the local vision and needs of their school community. The majority of respondents saw themselves remaining in the principalship for approximately five more years. All respondents described their work as rewarding – while acknowledging that it was challenging. Almost half of respondents said they would recommend to others that they should become principals. INTERIM FINDINGS FROM ASPIRING PRINCIPALS • Respondents want to be principals so they can make a difference and have a lasting impact on education. • Respondents expressed hesitation about taking on the role given their awareness of the workload and potential impact on their health and wellbeing. • Many respondents expressed concern that they did not have a strong professional support network

•

and that they knew how important this would be for them as school leaders. A number of respondents spoke about selfdoubt as a barrier to their readiness for school leadership. Formalised mentoring and identification processes would potentially help to redress this particular challenge.

INTERIM FINDINGS FROM FORMER PRINCIPALS • The majority of respondents left the role before retirement age. • Respondents said they would have stayed in the role longer if they had felt better supported and trusted by the systems in which they worked. • Respondents emphasised the importance of mentoring and networks for longevity in the role. WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? So far, this reinforces to us the importance of a strong support network for principals. We know that school leadership teams, and local networks are strong sources of support for principals at all stages of their careers. Participants have expressed concerns about increased monitoring and restraints on their ability to make decisions that meet local needs and enable

them to enact their shared vision for a quality education. Strengthening networks and supportive development opportunities will help to ensure principals feel confident in their decisionmaking, while having clear pathways for seeking help when the need arises. We are still in the early stages of analysing and understanding these findings, but they already point to important areas for further investigation. If principals feel a lack of support, we want to better understand what that support might look like – for example, are there areas that are doing this particularly well? If so, what might we be able to learn from them and how could those practices be adopted and adapted for other contexts? We are grateful to all participants who have given up their time so far to participate in this study and we welcome any thoughts or feedback. We are currently conducting interviews to explore these findings more deeply, and we would welcome anyone who wanted to share their experiences with us. EM You can sign up for a 30-45 minute interview at this link: https://bit.ly/3tfmaSc or by contacting Amanda at amanda.heffernan@monash.edu or Andrew at president@aspa.asn.au

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING // DE LA SALLE COLLEGE De La Salle College was established by three Irish De La Salle Brothers in Malvern 110 years ago.

Providing a holistic education for life PETER HOULIHAN, PRINCIPAL OF DE LA SALLE COLLEGE, SPEAKS TO EDUCATION MATTERS ABOUT THE NATURE OF ITS STUDENT – TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS AND WHY THE PERSONALISED KNOWLEDGE OF THE STUDENTS IS ESSENTIAL.

WHAT IS THE SCHOOL’S PHILOSOPHY AND HOW DOES IT GUIDE YOU AND YOUR STAFF? The College philosophy stems from a tradition of almost 340 years with St John Baptist de La Salle having founded our model of education in 1680s France. This still informs our responsibility to each and every student in a Lasallian school. De La Salle College continues to develop its living heritage, ingrained in our history and we continuously adapt to be responsive to today’s realities. Our obligation to the young men entrusted to our care is to provide a holistic education for life in contemporary society, an education which is engaging, rigorous and inspiring. This Lasallian philosophy and our Five Core Principles - Respect, Quality Education, Faith, Inclusiveness and Justice – inform my leadership and the everyday operations of all in our community. The inherent dignity of each child is recognised; he feels valued, safe, encouraged

and there’s always someone who believes in him. Inspired by Christian maxims and Gospel values, De La Salle creates opportunities to live this practically for service, leadership and the betterment of others. Building on the founder’s insistence on the provision of a human and Christian education, De La Salle College’s mission extends well beyond the formal academic work. As a Catholic school in the 21st century we must ensure our students’ faith experience keeps up with the complexity of their lives - keep it contemporary, challenging, engaging and relevant. A key feature of our staff’s induction and ongoing professional learning is an understanding and appreciation of the guiding principles of a Lasallian education. This informs all our everyday operations and policies, our relationships among staff, students and parents, our decision-making and our forward planning.

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Staff work “together and in association”, that is, as a community. We value the importance of working together and being together and this flows over to a structured support of our students’ academic, wellbeing, spiritual and social needs. HOW DOES THE SCHOOL DIFFER FROM OTHER SCHOOLS? The nature of our student – teacher relationships in a Lasallian school is pivotal and provides a point of difference. St John Baptist de La Salle invariably viewed learning as a relational process. Personalised knowledge of the students is central to the Lasallian teacher’s pedagogy – there is no true educational impact which is not based on knowing the students well. Discernment of character requires our teachers to look below the surface when getting to know our students, demonstrate empathy and engage in genuine dialogue.

Our teachers are aware of and committed to their obligations as a role model and demonstrate commitment, competence and passion to the students before delivering content. The Lasallian student’s classroom is characterised by warmth, humour, interaction and rigour. Our three campuses provide a small-school feel within one big school. The Year 5 – 8 Tiverton Campus is an ideal introduction, allowing students to find their feet. The Year 9 Holy Eucharist Campus provides a unique and innovative experience before moving to preferred pathways and options on the Year 10- 12 Kinnoull Campus. Contemporary and relevant wellbeing structures, guidelines and processes create a society of solidarity and fraternity – brothers and sisters to one another. We continue to build on this rich tradition at Malvern. We educate for a life filled with promise – providing challenge, extension and support, where each pupil is encouraged to identify, develop and use his skills. Through this partnership we cultivate viable pathways for all.

WHAT YEAR WAS THE SCHOOL ESTABLISHED? De La Salle College was established in 1912. WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL, AND IN WHAT WAYS HAS THE SCHOOL EVOLVED SINCE IT WAS ESTABLISHED? The College was established by three Irish De La Salle Brothers in Malvern 110 years ago, initially operating out of the parish hall at St Joseph’s, with an enrolment of 54 boys. The size and public profile of De La Salle grew dramatically in 1929 with the move from the first school building in Stanhope Street West to the new Tower Building, erected on the site of our present Tiverton Campus and still used today as a refurbished base for our Year 8s. The Kinnoull property in Northbrook Avenue, essentially just across the road, was purchased in 1953 and became the junior campus. Each decade in the past seventy years has seen further expansion, development and growth with new buildings and refurbishments. Our move into the closed Holy Eucharist Primary

De La Selle College Principal Peter Houlihan.

School in Malvern East in 2019 consolidated the threecampus structure, providing space for the learning, wellbeing and recreation of well over 1000 students. We are very proud of the manner in which the College has evolved to become truly a school for all, regardless of ambition, preferred pathways or

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING // DE LA SALLE COLLEGE

Principal Houlihan with 2021 College Captain Thomas Seddon.

ability. Our open-entry, mixed ability enrolment policy demands we genuinely understand and appreciate young men and all that teaching boys involves. Whether you want to graduate in a position to study medicine, would prefer to be a tradesman or you have experienced some learning difficulties, De La Salle provides a contemporary, innovative and supportive learning environment where you can belong and flourish. HOW DO YOU PROVIDE SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP TO YOUR STAFF? I believe presence is central to effective support and leadership for staff. I make a point of ensuring

I am a regular fixture in the staffroom, in the yard, in professional learning and in classes. I work on building positive relationships and rapport with all members of staff, at all levels and in all roles. Communication is also critical, keeping staff well-informed around what is happening in the school and why, giving them a voice in strategic planning and opportunities for feedback and consultation. Staff want to know what our vision for the College is, short and long term. They need clear and fair expectations, so all know where they stand and what they can do to support the direction of the school. Empathy and understanding are also critical. It is important to maintain the connection between my leadership, management and administration roles and what’s happening in the everyday working life of the rest of the staff.

and mental health and above all, seek support when you feel the need.

HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE WELLBEING AMONG YOUR STAFF AND STUDENTS? It is critical to maintain a positive mindset. I try to adopt and present an optimistic outlook, which always helps, but there are reliable strategies to adopt to support our wellbeing. Connection is crucial; we must make time for relationships with friends, family and colleagues. Committing to regular exercise, a healthy diet and sensible sleep patterns are also staples. More complex but equally helpful is to take responsibility for your own wellbeing. Reflect on what’s going well or working well for you – then do more of it! Similarly, identify and avoid negative influences. I try to tell staff and students to be kind to themselves, talk openly about wellbeing

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES FACED BY TEACHERS IN THE SECONDARY SECTOR? Beyond the well documented demands of remote learning, the main issue is the gradual, but relentless increase in demands and workload for teachers. The education industry and community in general seem to add to the expectations around what teachers and schools should be responsible for each year. Youth mental health is the most critical challenge; supporting students through their difficulties, providing support and advice to maintain motivation and engagement can be a genuine trial. Teachers want to do the best job possible - adapt, innovate and improve and be learners themselves, but finding time for all these priorities requires extraordinary time management and organisation skills.

WHAT ROLE DO YOU PLAY IN THE DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES OF YOUR STUDENTS? I try to spend time with students in the yard each day, chat to them on the regular walks between each campus, visiting classes, catch up with the younger ones on their birthday, drop into the library / study hall most days, rehearsals, concerts and sporting events. I coach a football team each year, which is invaluable in getting to know a lot more students and connect with them away from that more formal principal-student relationship. Getting to know students via any avenue available assists in gaining their support and understanding for what we want the College to stand for.

De La Salle’s schooling highlighting was welcoming everyone back after 2020 COVID-19 disruptions.

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WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT EITHER AS A TEACHER OR SPECIFICALLY IN THE ROLE OF PRINCIPAL? One thing a Principal is never short of is memorable moments – very hard to isolate one. However, the morning we welcomed the Year 12s back onsite after last year’s very long period of lockdown and remote learning was certainly a highlight. The sheer delight in seeing each other – and the staff – was wonderful. Their infectious enthusiasm as they embraced all that was so familiar, yet had been missing for months was just a joy to behold. We all love happy students and I’ve rarely seen young men so glad to be at school!

De La Salle’s schooling highlighting was welcoming everyone back after 2020 COVID-19 disruptions.

identify students’ achievement and more importantly, progression.

WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT NAPLAN AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS? NAPLAN has its uses as another data-set and measurement / comparison against Australia-wide standards. We prefer to use NAPLAN as just one of the tools employed to measure internal growth and progression around literacy and numeracy. De La Salle uses a variety of other assessment tools to

WHAT TRAITS MAKE FOR AN EFFECTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL LEADER IN EDUCATION TODAY? Education is always evolving, always changing, with so much to keep up with. Today’s leaders in education need to be very much aware of the impact and potential of this ever-changing landscape and what opportunities

BECAUSE PARENTING

present for students and staff. The demands of effective educational leadership never diminish, so a willingness to delegate, build the capacity of those around you and establish mutually beneficial partnerships are all crucial. We need to keep things in perspective and never lose sight of the position of the students as central to all we do in schools. Trust, transparency, effective communication and the courage of your convictions remain central to the successful leader. EM

A wellbeing resource to support schools and empower parents

doesn’t come with instructions

Modern-day parenting can be challenging. Like never before, parents are seeking clear, fact-based information. Research shows the impact the pandemic is having on the mental health and wellbeing of our youth with reports that many families are experiencing high levels of stress and uncertainty. SchoolTV delivers a unique digital platform that streamlines information for schools and their parent communities with the common goal of better wellbeing for students. Now reaching over 1 million parents monthly, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource that not only supports schools and parents, but strengthens the partnership towards raising happy, confident and resilient young people. To discuss how this resource can be implemented at your school to support your parent community, contact us at enquiries@schooltv.me WATCH ME

C R E D I B L E I N F O R M AT I O N

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TRUSTED SOURCES

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Meanwhile, scan the QR code to view a recent Special Report from SchoolTV.

P R A C T I C A L S T R AT E G I E S

HOT TOPIC // IMPROVING A GENERATIONAL DECLINE IN WRITING SKILLS

Improving a generational decline in writing skills AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS’ DECLINING ACHIEVEMENT IN NATIONAL ASSESSMENT PROGRAM — LITERACY AND NUMERACY (NAPLAN), AS WELL AS IN INTERNATIONAL TESTING, HAS REVEALED THAT WRITING SKILLS ARE BELOW THE 2011 AVERAGE WITH ONE IN FIVE FAILING TO MEET THE NATIONAL MINIMUM STANDARD. CIS Researcher Fiona Muller says an English proficiency test is the way forward.

The NSW Centre for Statistics and Evaluations (CESE) has indicated that high school students struggle with writing more than with reading and numeracy. The CESE report, based on 10 years of NAPLAN literacy data, revealed that one in every six Year 9 students in New South Wales fails to achieve the minimum standard required to succeed in their final years of school. As a result, students who lack sound writing skills are disadvantaged in almost

every academic endeavour, unable to achieve maximum benefit from the wider school curriculum and likely to be disadvantaged in post-school life and work. Fiona Mueller and Deidre Clary from the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) have investigated what has led to this generational decline. In their report - Writing matters: reversing a legacy of policy failure in Australian education, the pair found that Australia has

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seen at least 60 years of the adoption, variable implementation and occasional jettisoning of a parade of methodologies including: learning styles, multiple intelligences, critical literacy, constructivism, whole language, process writing, genre theory and text types, balanced literacy and learning progressions. Fiona Muller says that a major consequence has been the near abandonment of consistent, explicit instruction about how the English language works as a system, juxtaposed with

an ideological preoccupation with the socio-cultural experience of students in the classroom. “Many of us have been concerned about what some might call the basics for a long time. At a number of conferences and forums, colleagues of mine and I have been approached by practicing teachers with those concerns of the decline as one aspect which is clearly evident in NAPLAN results,” she says. “My personal concern has been for a very long time that we have adopted a whole range of methodologies over 40 years. On the one hand the evidence of the decline in student’s capacity to write and more broadly literacy skills, and secondly a long-standing concern that we have adopted a wide range of methodologies over decades without being sure of their value in the Australian curriculum.” Outlined in Muller and Clary’s research, due to no NAPLAN testing in 2020 as a result of COVID-19, the validity of the 2019 NAPLAN results remains contested, largely because of questions about

The CIS have found that the weight of writing skills continues to rest with teachers.

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FOR EDUCATION

HOT TOPIC // IMPROVING A GENERATIONAL DECLINE IN WRITING SKILLS

comparability between the work of students taking the tests online and those using pen and paper. In 2018, less than 80 per cent of Year 9 students achieved at or above the national minimum standard in writing. Statistics further revealed that 2019 achievement by Year 7 and 9 students in writing had fallen below the 2011 national average, but there was a slight movement upwards in the percentage of Year 9 students achieving at or above the national minimum standard. The University of Tasmania’s Dr Damon Thomas says declining student performance affects the quality of democracy because it’s about the ability of people to question something, make interpretations, [and] argue for what they need or what they want.

The results “paint a dismal picture of student progress with writing,” Thomas says. He cautions that “a nearly 10-year pattern of decline in NAPLAN writing should be warning enough. We need to pay attention to this.” A further concern is the gap between male and female writing scores, which widens with every tested year level and is equivalent to two years of learning by Year 9. Muller says the design and utility of the NAPLAN tests the extent to which a limited number of test items can reflect the curriculum, and the national minimum standards approved by state and territory authorities, are all matters of ongoing debate. “With its fixation on text types, the NAPLAN writing task has become the curriculum by proxy

The CIS reported Australia has seen at least 60 years of the adoption, variable implementation and occasional jettisoning of a parade of methodologies into its curriculum.

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for many Australian schools,” she says. “The stand-alone test requires students to respond to a stimulus or prompt to produce, for example, a narrative or persuasive text. One criticism is that this restrictive approach demands one-shot-perfect productions with teachers focused on criteria and minimal opportunity for students to demonstrate their linguistic dexterity.” Muller reinforces that she is not a fan of the NAPLAN literacy test as they are currently produced because the test of English conventions - spelling and grammar - are separate to the test of writing. “Any test we do to measure student’s progress in written English should include what we are required to do in real life,” she says. “That is to express ourselves correctly and effectively, in an

increasing sophisticated way.” “In the case of English, this means achieving confidence and competence in grammar, spelling and punctuation to free the writer to concentrate on the ideas and information to be communicated in any writing task. Beyond the practical gains, an individual’s capacity to write is important because it is an enduring manifestation of thought processes and freedom of expression.” Muller says to help reduce the further decline in writing skills, an English proficiency test for every year group to allows students to show what they can do needs to be introduced. She suggests a test that asks students to reposed to a series of short answers, longer form questions that pick up other parts of the curriculum. “At the moment the NAPLAN test is very narrow. Being able to test multiple components that do check students’ capacity to express themselves in different formats, while being able to check sentence structure, grammar, subject agreement is a more effective way to test writing skills,” she says. In 2019, a University of Tasmania study emphasised the importance of all teachers having the capacity to support their students’ English literacy. The report submitted to the government — Literacy Teaching in Tasmania: Teaching Practice and Teacher Learning — concluded that emerging evidence strongly suggests that the key to improving literacy in high school is to prioritise disciplinary literacy over generic approaches to literacy. The Australian Catholic University’s Professor Claire Wyatt-Smith insists that writing instruction is the responsibility of all teachers across the curriculum. “Students need to learn grammar, structure, terminology and what good-quality writing looks like even in things like science and economics. This is not just about essays. It’s any written expression,” Wyatt-Smith says. Highlighted in Muller’s research, both WyattSmith and Christine Jackson, working at the Australian Catholic University’s Learning Sciences Institute, believe students’ progress in writing is at risk because Australian schools “drop the focus too early”. They believe Secondary teachers have generally resisted taking responsibility for teaching

NAPLAN results have revealed that writing skills are below the 2011 average.

writing in their subject areas, believing it to be the work of specialist English teachers and of primary teachers, and expecting students to have developed sound writing skills before they enter high school. Muller says her and her co-author found the weight of writing skills continues to rest with primary teachers. “The expectation is that they will ensure all students develop the written and literacy skills in English that will allow them to embark on into secondary school with confidence. Unfortunately, we have an awful amount of teachers who came through experimental programs who themselves aren’t confident in their written skills or knowledge,” Muller says. “It is this compounding process where year by year and generation by generation that knowledge and skills reserve is declining. As a result, primary school teachers aren’t able to do their best work and then of course a significant number of students entering in Year 7 have very poor skills.” Based on a study of over 200 teaching students in their graduating year at an Australian university, Edith Cowan University researcher Dr Brian Moon concluded that the capacity of secondary school teachers to support school-based literacy practices

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and teach disciplined-specific literacy skills is highly dependent on their personal literacy competence. “The number of graduates who fell short of expectations was quite significant and, in some cases, the prospect of successful remediation so late in their academic career appeared poor,” he said. Muller says The Centre for Independent Studies is now calling for tougher entry requirements for university teaching courses. Research has found that initial teacher education programs have largely dropped the ball on writing instruction, at least in terms of ensuring that all graduating teachers demonstrate sophisticated control of the rules and conventions of English. “There are fabulous teachers around Australia doing great things, but we need to be sure we are giving students the fundamental knowledge and skills to use their language and also showing them what great language expression looks like and that isn’t going to be taught in 280-character tweets,” says Muller. “You have to be able to walk before you can run, so once you understand how English works and what its elements are and how they fit together, you are then free to express your ideas in a very clear way.” EM

TECHNOLOGY // ACER

The evolving role of technology vendors in education IN A TECHNOLOGY-FORWARD WORLD, COLLABORATION IS KEY. THIS IS ESPECIALLY SALIENT FOR THE EDUCATION SECTOR, WHERE FAST-PACED TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE HAS POSED AN ONGOING CHALLENGE FOR SCHOOLS AS THEY DEVELOP THEIR DIGITAL LEARNING MODELS.

With the pandemic further fast-tracking the need for online and remote learning programmes, educators have relied on the support of technology providers to succeed. It has also highlighted the role that technology vendors can and arguably should play within the greater Australian school community. Acer Computer Australia has evolved from a traditional hardware supplier into a holistic technology collaborator that works directly with schools to improve student learning. There was a time when a vendor such as Acer Computer Australia simply made and supplied computer hardware to schools. However, just as the technology itself is in perpetual development, the role of Acer in the Australian education sector has changed and continues to progress. Oceanic Sales Director for Acer Computer Australia Rod Bassi says Acer’s function at schools has evolved from a basic supplier-model to one of a facilitator and partner. “We take this matter extremely seriously and delicately. The education sector of Australia has been kind to Acer in excess of 25 years and it’s Acer Computer Australia has evolved from a traditional hardware supplier into a holistic technology collaborator.

safe to say that we’ve learned along that journey together with the sector,” he says. “We have refined ourselves and lifted our offering by having an honest dialogue with schools. This collaboration approach we take with schools is essential in order to profile and tailor a solution that is suitable. While there is a lot of commonality and overlaps in the education sector, there are also subtleties and differences between each school and educator.” Bassi says a lot of the growth that has occurred with Acer in the education sector is organic and comes from having a direct communication line with schools around Australia. It also goes hand-in-hand with the evolution of the products themselves and advancing student expectations. “It is important that our products, from a technology point of view, are able to achieve and meet the needs of learning today. They need a certain level of power to drive a machine, which means they have to have adequate battery life so students and teachers can execute all day computing,” he says. “In recent years we have gravitated towards laptops and notebooks, and weight is an important factor, particularly with growing students. Remember the days when your backpack was filled with heavy textbooks? And a laptop 15-20 years ago was well in excess of 3kg. For an average weight of 1.2 kg, a contemporary Acer laptop can give you all-day computing. It has a significant amount of power to multitask and meet all the curriculum needs of today’s classroom.” Bassi further highlights that all of Acer’s education

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laptops come with the latest Microsoft Windows operating systems, which is currently Windows 10, and include built-in features that protect student privacy and data. “There are significant features in the latest operating system with virus threat protection, account protection, firewall and network protection as well as application browser control and device security,” he explained in a video panel discussion on E-Safety. “That’s stock standard and any customer that purchases an Acer product with Windows 10 will get those features straight out of the box.” Director of Technology at Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School Paul Murrin explained in the same Acer video panel discussion a technology vendor must have a mature understanding of what educators need to provide students in order to address their learning needs. “Our staff and our students are using their devices day in and day out – for every class, as well as homework or lesson planning. Working with our vendors, they need to understand how education works and Acer do that fantastically with us, they understand the product we need to put in the hands of our students,” he says. “So, technology for us is not the difficult part, it blends into the background and just works as a tool to provide quality education.” Head of IT at Loreto College Coorparoo John Salceda highlighted, in the Acer for Education panel discussion on Vendor Support, that the expectation from his side is that a technology vendor is both dependable and anticipatory. “We have a reliance on technology and as Acer are providing our laptops, we need them to be proactive and reliable. Acer provided 10 spare laptops to us before we requested or needed these, so the proactiveness is there,” he says.

A technology vendor must have a mature understanding of what educators need to provide students.

“A vendor also needs to be a supportive, local partner. We’ve been happy with the support we get from Acer. Having spare parts available is important – that they are located locally, not coming from overseas, which is the case with Acer. Ideally, we would have these delivered to us the next day after we log the request.” The importance of having computing devices and parts available in Australia has never been more apparent than during the coronavirus crisis. According to an IDC estimate, the Australian PC market grew by 35.2 per cent in quarter two of 2020 from demand as all sectors, education included, moved to working from home or online learning (5). Contrariwise, Gartner reported a worldwide

shipment decline for PCs in the first quarter – the worst seen since 2013 – due to the pandemic’s disruptions on supply and demand of PCs. Bassi says Acer Computer Australia’s local presence has been a key point of difference to the education sector during this time. He explained that the Australian education sector consumed four months’ worth of equipment in about four weeks during the early coronavirus onset. But besides being able to rapidly supply laptops – of which there was a particularly huge demand from the public sector – being in a position to offer local support was equally important. Salceda revealed that Loreto College relied on Acer’s ability to provide local technical support swiftly and skillfully. “Having highly skilled technical support available is essential. We won’t work without this. We’re in regular contact with the local Acer partner up here in Queensland and trust they will be available to us whenever we need them,” he says. Being invested in schools on an individual level, and all year round, is another key point of difference when it comes to what Acer provides. “If you look at the history of Acer, our function in the ecosystem was to make and deliver hardware and originally that’s where it stopped. As we’ve evolved organically and made products more robust and fit for

purpose in the education sector, it’s only natural in the world we live in today that we help and address the security aspect,” Bassi says. CEO and co-founder of Acurus, Marshall Thompson, explained that Acurus provides Acer with a free CIS (Computer Information System) benchmark tool to run security scans for schools on their operating environment. “Through our relationship with Acurus we’ve been able to take some of those key learnings and collaborate jointly with schools to bring them to the foreground,” Bassi says. As educators continue to navigate the digitalised learning pathway, collaboration with technology partners such as Acer is essential to their success. By collaborating together on common goals, such as student safety and improved online learning, educators and technology providers can bring about positive change and significant benefit to entire schooling communities. EM

This article was written from the Beyond Supply: The evolving role of technology vendors in education whitepaper: https://www.educationmattersmag.com. au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Acer-White-Paper_ VendorSupport-Final.pdf All references and weblinks can be found on the online whitepaper.

Acer has grown in the education sector by having a direct communication line with schools around Australia.

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TECHNOLOGY // JANDS

The MV5C is easy to set up by connecting directly to the users’ computer via the provided USB cables.

Communicating with clarity AT A TIME WHEN REMOTE LEARNING AND WORKING FROM HOME IS THE NEW NORMAL ACROSS AUSTRALIAN CLASSROOMS, JANDS IS MAKING SURE TEACHERS SOUND PROFESSIONAL AND ARE HEARD CLEARLY WHEN TEACHING WITH ITS EASY-TO-USE TECHNOLOGY.

Originally designed to record music, Jands’ MV5C Home Office Microphone has found a new purpose – assisting Australian teachers. Content Marketing Coordinator Joe Hopkins tells Education Matters that a lot of teachers in Australia are currently working from home and they have found that there has been an ongoing issue with students not being able to hear them clearly. “Our solution is the world-class engineered MV5C which is simple to set up and compatible with both Windows and Mac computers,” he says. “We want teachers to be able to join virtual

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meetings with the confidence that they sound just as good at home as they do in the classroom. The MV5C is compatible with all third-party software platforms, including Zoom and Microsoft Teams.” Coming in three different colours - red, black and grey - Hopkins says the MV5C is easy to set up by connecting directly to the users’ computer via the provided USB cables. You can also minimise your setup time with the preset DSP mode designed to automatically adjust your gain, equalisation and compression for speech applications. With the ability to significantly enhance

The microphone was originally designed to record music and now used in classroom setting due to its audio quality and media connectivity.

“Great learning environments start with seamless audio visual in the classroom and importantly, at a distance. With the right technology in place, students and staff can focus on achieving their goals.” the audio quality of someones’ voice, the microphone has a speech enhancement mode and an adjustable desktop mount to ensure that the user is heard clearly. “The speech enhancement mode provides

automatic equalisation which boosts vocal frequencies for clear, consistent speech. The MV5C’s directional microphone element enables better collaboration with high-quality audio by increasing voice isolation and helping to minimise room reverberation,” Hopkins says. The MV5C also allows the user to take a break from their headphones and listen through the computer’s built-in speaker or an external speaker. Hopkins adds that the microphones will be able to help teachers reach students more clearly and improve engagement and performance. Founded in 1970, Jands distributes some of the world’s leading audio, lighting and staging brands for the installation, production and retail industries throughout Australia and New Zealand. The company believes great learning environments start with seamless audio visual in the classroom with students and educators interacting

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with content both on site and remotely. Audio quality and media connectivity can be the difference between understanding and confusion for the learner. “Great learning environments start with seamless audio visual in the classroom and importantly, at a distance,” Hopkins says. “With the right technology in place, students and staff can focus on achieving their goals.” Hopkins says the Shure Motiv range of microphones are the perfect piece of equipment for teachers and facilitators to transform their kitchens, lounge rooms or home offices into classrooms that allow them to communicate and educate with ease. Hopkins adds, “I use the MV5C for all my online meetings and I understand why it was been awarded the Best Microphone of 2020 at the Ultimate Home Office Awards. I’ve found it to be the perfect addition to my work from home setup.” EM

TECHNOLOGY // JB HI-FI

JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions support is only a phone call away with its dedicated BYOD customer service team.

BYOD programs for smarter schools STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS ARE INCREASINGLY RELIANT ON TECHNOLOGY TO STAY CONNECTED AND LEARNING, ESPECIALLY WHEN TODAY’S CLASSROOM IS OFTEN OFF CAMPUS.

JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ Bring Your Own Device program has been designed to take the stress out of finding suitable and affordable learning tools for every student’s needs, for both the schools and parents. A Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program enables schools to plan and deliver education to students using consistent, educationspecific devices, tailored to their school’s learning environment. JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ BYOD program takes the stress out of choosing the right technology, giving students and families easy access to the right devices, at affordable pricing, to support students’ education.

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JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ National Education Manager, Graham Blackstock, tells Education Matters that its BYOD Online is a portal where devices and accessories that have been approved by schools can be bought. He says this allows students to be ready and able to connect, collaborate and learn from day one. “With JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions, you can confidently make your selection knowing that you’re choosing from a shortlist of devices and accessories pre-selected by your school to support the best learning outcomes for your child,” he says. “Our BYOD program also ensures you’re getting the best quality and prices available with

“With JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions, you can confidently make your selection knowing that you’re choosing from a shortlist of devices and accessories pre-selected by your school to support the best learning outcomes for your child.” hand-picked products from our best partners at special discounted pricing.” Blackstock says JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions support is only a phone call away with its dedicated BYOD customer service team available six days a week. He says if you are struggling to login to BYOD Online or have any questions or problems along the way, the BYOD customer service team is there to help. “Each time you contact us, we keep a record so if you need to contact us again at any time we’ll have the details at hand.” Blackstock says the company knows too well the robust nature of students and what their devices are put through on a day-to-day basis.

The JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ portal provides families access to a wide range of education specific products.

By purchasing a device through JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions compared to retail product, he says the products are more suited to the education environment, have better warranty and the downtime for repairs is quick. Blackstock says JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions has delivered technology solutions to the education sector for the past 16 years. “We have delivered thousands of BYOD programs to Australian schools providing a comprehensive and innovative range of education-specific products at education-specific pricing,” he says. “We have the largest range of educationspecific devices and services, a dedicated team of experts, an education portal for easy procurement and support, and a national network that

JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ BYOD program takes the stress out of choosing the right technology.

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provides timely fulfilment.” One of the biggest challenges teachers face in the classroom with BYOD programs is not all devices being the same, leading to disruptions to students’ learning experience. JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions partners with schools to address challenges and aspirations for introducing 21st century learning. “Creating a modern learning environment is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s about enabling classrooms with the right mix of solutions that help teachers reach and engage students. With professional advice, education-specific products and strategically tailored solutions, schools, universities and institutions can achieve outstanding outcomes from their ICT programs” Blackstock says. The JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ portal provides families access to a wide range of education specific laptops, tablets, accessories and insurance. Each product has been selected and approved to work within schools’ ICT infrastructure, which Blackstock says, is the company’s way to help families get the best deal on technology for learning. The portal is designed with busy parents in mind. Through its portal, a user can browse a selection of education-grade devices, suitable for the child’s learning needs. JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions’ goal is to ensure students are never without a working computer to facilitate their learning experience. “JB Hi-Fi Education Solutions utilises new and innovative technologies to reflect the curriculum and pedagogical objectives in a way that engages and inspires the education community,” he says. “It is our objective to provide schools with a superior service level that extends beyond simply supplying the device.” EM

CURRICULUM // MUSICEDU

Music curriculum solutions encouraging students’ creativity, boosting engagement

The MusicEDU promise: more fun, less work.

WITH THE CURRENT CLIMATE OF AUSTRALIAN CLASSROOMS BEING PRIMARILY ONLINE DUE TO COVID-19, MAINTAINING ENGAGEMENT DURING REMOTE LEARNING POSES A CHALLENGE FOR MOST TEACHERS, PARTICULARLY IN SUBJECTS WHERE FACE-TO-FACE LEARNING IS USUALLY THE KEY DRIVER.

However, MusicEDU is committed to maximising engagement through the MusicEDU Suite, which allows every student to enjoy music in the classroom. Founder and CEO Kate Hargreaves tells Education Matters that her mission is to understand each school’s strategic direction and goals and help schools adapt their music curriculum to accommodate online learning. “We pioneered blended learning since 2012 and now everyone has made peace with online learning - what we are now hearing from schools is that there is a lot of fatigue, and elective numbers have suffered, or the subject is not running because of the impact of COVID-19,” she says. “Since March, the new schools who have subscribed have turned around their online engagement with students during lockdown - many are reporting back that music has become students’ favourite subject because of the activities we have put in place.” The research MusicEDU has explored shows teenagers benefit from having

music in their school lives, whether learning to play an instrument, composing a piece of music or working with others. Hargreaves says practising music encourages teamwork, confidence and empathy, and helps students discover the satisfaction gained by creating rather than merely consuming. MusicEDU includes the programs GameComposer, Trackformers, Studio Sessions, Keyboard Evolution, and Augmented Reality Classroom. Each program combines traditional music concepts with the learning of industry-leading topics. Within Augmented Reality Classroom, students experience and play orchestra instruments, learn song structure via whales and their songs, and encryption through music cryptology. “Of course, students are only half of the equation. Implementation of a new music program shouldn’t come at the expense of teachers, who already spend long hours planning curriculum, running classes and

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Scan the QR code to experience the leitmotif created by a student.

“Since March, the new schools who have subscribed have turned around their online engagement with students during lockdown - many are reporting back that music has become students’ favourite subject because of the activities we have put in place.” extracurricular activities,” Hargreaves says. “That’s why we developed The MusicEDU Suite. By utilising easy-to-use technology, we’ve created classroom music programs that take the pain out of planning and, at the same time, aligned all the Curriculum to National and State standards. Plus, we’re there every step of the way, supporting teachers and adjusting the program to suit each school’s requirements while remaining affordable and effective.” Hargreaves says recent research (Gallop 2018) has found that students who can connect our world and their learning in the classroom increase their engagement. However, she says if students can’t make that connection, then student engagement drops significantly. “We have found that our GameComposer program has been a big hit,” she says. “We have had some schools getting students to draw out game characters alongside the task to write out a melody for each character. The feedback is that students love it, and engagement in this style of learning has been higher due to being able to make

this connection - plus, there’s the added bonus that the entire task does not have to be completed online or on a computer.” MusicEDU programs incorporate game composition, DJ’ing, remixing, recording and augmented reality (AR) to bring technology and real-world topics into the classroom, which leads to increased student engagement. Hargreaves says one of the biggest things during lockdowns and remote learning is not all students having instruments at home. Having the nuts and bolts of the curriculum ready to go and presented in a way that engages students, she says, is one of the company’s biggest drawcards. That’s the MusicEDU promise: more fun, less work.

MusicEDU includes the programs GameComposer, Trackformers, Studio Sessions, Keyboard Evolution, and Augmented Reality Classroom.

“Some schools have taken it to the next level and dressed up as their favourite band and made students do the same,” she says. “This brings a new lease of life to online learning and makes it fun, and the students are responding because the teachers are involved. Teachers can see why The MusicEDU Suite is so appealing to their students. With the sophistication of movies, games and videos available to students on their smartphones, if their classroom curriculum resources don’t match the same standard, student engagement drops.” By working with teachers to design a custom program alongside what the music department wants to do with their students, MusicEDU understands that every school has its differences and does not measure success in the same way. Hargreaves says MusicEDU aims to reduce the administrative workload of teachers and assists with classroom planning; the programs are mapped to the Australian Curriculum, have self-marking formative assessments and are accessible on every device. “Integrating the MusicEDU Suite at your school will help drive academic excellence, boost student engagement and revamp classroom music to reflect

Buyer’s Guide MusicEDU Ph: 9541 84440 Email: kate@musicedu.com.au Web: musicedu.com.au education matters secondary

HEALTH & WELLBEING // MACKILLOP INSTITUTE

The MacKillop Institute’s ReLATE model provides schools with an opportunity to tackle the stress that exists in schools.

Teachers are human too: counter-stress environments make a difference. BEN SACCO, NATIONAL LEAD – PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION, TALKS ABOUT STRESS, BURNOUT AND STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS TO THE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF TEACHERS.

We have understood for a long time that anyone who embarks on a career in teaching is doing so because it is such a meaningful profession to be a part of. Those who choose teaching as a career are motivated by a variety of factors. Individuals who seek to teach have a desire to undertake meaningful work that makes for a better, more equitable society. The work of our educators is critical to the development of our children and young people. The shared moral purpose and pathway for attaining that meaning is evident daily in our schools and classrooms.

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Whilst it is important to better understand the mental and physical health of children and young people in our schools, we must not overlook the health and wellbeing of our teachers. In today’s climate, teachers are working extremely hard to support their students in all kinds of ways. Specifically, the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions have meant that schools have had to pivot to remote teaching and learning. Teachers have had to be agile and respond to the mental health and wellbeing needs of their students which includes the emotions associated

with sudden change; change in structure, routine, expectations of academic programs and support. Two areas we explore below is stress in the lives of teachers and the risk of burnout. STRESS IN THE LIVES OF OUR TEACHERS Schools are often subject to chronic stress. They face significant stressors from a range of sources such as: changes to funding, increased workload, remote learning and staff turnover. These stressors and pressures can become magnified when they start to affect whole groups of people. As a result, many schools can find themselves living in a state of chronic stress; no sooner is one problem resolved than another one crops up.

Ben Sacco says approaching challenging days with a positive mindset and ReLATE strategies are practical and applicable in everyday situations.

Schools wanting to understand the ReLATE model are invited to attend a free online information session.

COUNTER-STRESS STRATEGIES MAY LOOK LIKE: • Carving out time to take a break from the situation you find yourself in. Not everything can be solved in the moment. • Talking with a trusted colleague, friend or family member about what is making you feel stressed and together finding a solution. • Staying positive and open minded. • Providing self-care opportunities such as: going for a walk, arts and crafts and listening to music. WHAT DOES BURNOUT ACTUALLY MEAN? Burnout is a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by the World Health Organisation by three dimensions: 1. Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion. 2. Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job. 3. Reduced professional efficacy. REDUCING THE RISK OF BURNOUT MAY LOOK LIKE: • Trying to recognise the signs of early onset and speaking to someone about how you are feeling. • Learning more about the concept of burnout. • Having ‘staff wellbeing’ as the top agenda item at meetings. • Creating a suggestion box where staff can identify anonymously the things that are causing feelings

of depletion or exhaustion for the school leadership to act upon. The MacKillop Institute’s Reframing Learning and Teaching Environments (ReLATE) model provides schools with an opportunity to tackle the stress that exists in schools, creating the pre-conditions for improved teaching, learning and wellbeing. “There has been a positive shift in our school culture and the way teachers view daily challenges. We are no longer saying how frustrating and difficult days can be. Instead, we are approaching challenging days with a positive mindset and ReLATE strategies

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are practical and applicable in everyday situations,” Teacher from a school implementing the ReLATE model. Try this: With a colleague or individually, look at the suggested strategies and consider focussing on one over the next school term. See if it helps and consider reaching out to Ben Sacco directly to share your story of impact. Schools wanting to understand the ReLATE model are invited to attend a free online information session or contact The MacKillop Institute directly. Dates for upcoming sessions can be found at The MacKillop Institute website. EM

HEALTH & WELLBEING // MACKILLOP INSTITUTE

The Seasons for Growth programs have expanded to meet the increasing needs of communities in Australia.

Helping students overcome change and uncertainty THE CUMULATIVE IMPACTS OF DROUGHT, FLOODS AND BUSHFIRES, COMPOUNDED BY RECURRENT COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED MANY COMMUNITIES. THESE SUCCESSIVE DISASTERS HAVE TAKEN A TOLL ON THE WHOLE SCHOOL COMMUNITY, INCLUDING SCHOOL TEACHERS AND LEADERS WHO ARE THE BACKBONE OF THE SCHOOL AND PROVIDING THE SAFE COMMUNITY HUB.

The MacKillop Institute is committed to supporting school professionals to support children and young people impacted by uncertainty and significant change and loss experiences with its Seasons for Growth evidence-based programs to help them understand and respond to adverse life experiences. The Seasons for Growth (SfG) children and young people’s program was developed in mid1990s in collaboration with Professor Anne Graham AO, Director of the Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University. SfG General Manager, Fiona McCallum tells Education Matters that SfG is an Australian evidencebased, early intervention program that is trauma informed, and delivered to small groups of children and young people over eight weeks. “SfG is based on the belief that change and loss are a part of life, and grief is the normal response to these losses. Often people think about grief as a response to the death of someone we care about – in our work, we describe grief as a response to the major life change and loss,” McCallum says.

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“The last 18 months has been challenging for many school communities with the devastating impacts of bushfires and floods and the additional uncertainty and complexity with the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent research suggests that 85 per cent of parents have reported changes in their children during the COVID-19 lockdown. “Victoria’s Commission for Children and Young People recently cited one third of young people surveyed reported psychological distress as a result of the e pandemic. The experiences can negatively impact young people as it affects their development and overall social and emotional wellbeing. We also know that young people are more likely to adapt well given the timely and appropriate information and support.” Other experiences that trigger feelings of loss can include family separation, death, parental unemployment or imprisonment, loss of a pet, illness, change of house or school. These losses can trigger additional impacts including losses of routines, safety, dreams and traditions.

“The core intentions of SfG are the development of resilience and emotional literacy in order to promote social and emotional wellbeing, with the overarching aim to improve the quality of life of young people.” The SfG program aims to provide children with a safe space to come together to reflect on their experiences and to learn knowledge and identify support networks to help them now and in the future. Over the past 25 years, McCallum says the SfG programs have expanded to meet the increasing needs of communities in Australia and internationally, having supported more than 350,000 children, young people and adults in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. With a commitment to supporting children and young people following experiences of disaster, suicide, forced migration, home-based care, Good Grief can also adapt to support adults, parents/carers, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. “The core intentions of SfG are the development of resilience and emotional literacy in order to promote social and emotional wellbeing, with the overarching aim to improve the quality of life of young people,” McCallum says. “The program activities align the metaphor of the

seasons with change loss experiences. We reflect on the changes that we see and feel with the seasons, like the changes in the leaves in Autumn and how we can feel we want to hibernate in the cold of Winter when times may be difficult. The “seasons” also help us to understand that difficult times will come and go. Importantly, the program takes a gentle approach to raising challenging issues.” The eight-week small group program, led by a trained facilitator from the school, invites young people to practice new ways of responding to change, and to understand the effects of change, loss and grief while developing skills in communication, decisionmaking, and problem-solving. “The program incorporates a wide range of age-appropriate creative learning activities developed for secondary school-aged children. We support the trained school facilitators with a comprehensive set of materials including manuals and participant journals, access to an online portal with additional resources and ongoing support and learning options,” McCallum says During a time where students have faced disruptions in the classroom and isolation from their peers because of COVID-19, McCallum says it is not unusual for young people to experience a feeling of isolation and additional emotional stress potentially creating challenges engaging in learning. “Students and educators are citing the uncertainty and disruptions as particularly challenging from COVID-19 and increasingly we are hearing young people have concerns for the wellbeing of their family and friends,” McCallum highlights. “In the past 12 months we have trained over 1,400 teachers and professionals across Australian schools. The teaching professionals trained in the

The Seasons for Growth programs have expanded to meet the increasing needs of communities in Australia.

program frequently report the value of the training and understanding the experience of significant change and loss for children and young people. “One trained facilitator recently descried SfG as so essential in being a preventative measure for young people.” McCallum describes the importance of working with the school systems and the Beyou wellbeing teams to support the integration of SfG with other school wellbeing initiatives. “A great example of this collaboration is the support provided in NSW through partnering with the Department of NSW Education to support schools in bushfire impacted areas. We have provided additional and targeted support for those in secondary schools because we know the importance of supporting of specifically delivering to the needs of young people,” she says. The SfG program not only provides support for young people. Resources are developed for parents and carers to support the wellbeing of their children. McCallum says research has indicated that the capacity of parents and carers is often impaired following major change and loss in families. “Our resources are available on the website and we invite schools to share these in their communities. We also provide online sessions for professionals, parents and carers.” Part of The MacKillop Institute, the SfG program also meets the Australian Professional Teaching Standards, with the third edition of the program released in 2015 to reflect developments in research evidence and practice wisdom, strengthening the program links with theoretical frameworks. McCallum says after speaking with school leaders, mental health and wellbeing teams, and community members about the impacts of the 2020 bushfires and concerns for mental health of children following COVID-19, it has partnered with Professor Graham to review the evidence and the views of children and their families to understand their experiences of natural disasters and the pandemic. “This research evidence is foundational to the SfG programs, and new evidence will continue to inform updates to the programs,” she says. “A trained facilitator from the NSW south coast captured the value of the program recently, stating that Seasons for Growth is really a program for the times we are living in.’’ EM

www.goodgrief.org.au Good Grief is on Facebook and LinkedIn

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HEALTH & WELLBEING // THE ALANNAH & MADELINE FOUNDATION

New statistics from the eSafety Commissioner saw online risks continue to rise through the first half of 2021.

The importance of bridging the digital divide for secondary school students SARAH DAVIES, CEO OF NATIONAL CHILDREN’S CHARITY, THE ALANNAH & MADELINE FOUNDATION, DISCUSSES WHY ALL CHILDREN MUST HAVE ACCESS TO DIGITAL LITERACY FRAMEWORKS IN ORDER TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.

CEO of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation Sarah Davies.

So much of life nowadays happens online. Digital technologies bring many positive opportunities to teenagers and reforms to NAPLAN assessments will see Year 10 students being tested on digital literacy, if the school opts in. But those students who can’t access high quality digital resources or information about how to use them safely may be excluded from basic educational and career opportunities and are also at risk of exploitation. What is digital literacy and why is it important? Digital literacy and digital intelligence describe the set of skills and knowledge that students need to appropriately identify, select and use digital devices or systems. Knowing and understanding how to make the most of the technologies available to them, adapting to new ways of doing things as technologies evolve and protecting themselves and others safely in digital environments are essential skills for all our children. Poor digital literacy levels can lead to significant disadvantage over a lifetime, with digital inclusion being critical for people to engage in education, employment and public life, as well as to access health, financial and community services. WHO IS MOST AT RISK OF DIGITAL EXCLUSION? Many of Australia’s most vulnerable children and

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their families also have the lowest levels of digital literacy and digital inclusion. According to the Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII): • Households with the most precarious access to technology and the lowest digital skills tend to be those which are already struggling with other barriers, such as low incomes, unemployment, disability, internet access through mobile phone data only, and education levels below Year 12. Indigenous Australians are particularly affected. • Major inequalities exist between capital cities and rural areas. The Australian regions with the lowest digital inclusion are all rural, including North-East New South Wales, North-West Victoria, North-West Queensland and Burnie and West Tasmania. In particular, the ADII notes that 800,000 school students are growing up in families in the lowest income bracket, where digital inclusion scores are well below the national average. A survey of nearly 2,000 Australian teachers found that four out of five teachers believed students’ access to educational technology was affected by their socio-economic circumstances. CHILDREN NEED SUPPORT IN THEIR ‘MIDDLE YEARS’ The years between the ages of 10 and 14 are hugely

Dex is one of a range of characters who guide students through the gamified learning experience.

significant for children, inlcuding the onset of puberty and the move from primary to secondary school. The middle years are also a critical time for young people’s digital literacy and wellbeing. An ACMA report found that more than threequarters of Australian children aged 12 to 13 owned the mobile phone they used, while, according to a Royal Children’s Hospital poll, three in four teens have their own social media account. Recent research from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner into the digital lives of teenagers found they spend an average of 14.4 hours a week online – 93 per cent to chat to friends and 77 per cent playing online games. In fact, six out of 10 children and young people are online gamers. Young people are very

The onset of COVID-19 saw a rapid transformation in the way children learn with remote learning.

much using digital technology to form social networks. COVID-19 The onset of COVID-19 saw a rapid transformation in the way students learn. Lockdowns and remote learning are especially hard on families in the lowest income bracket, many of whom lack access to suitable devices and tech options, have fewer digital skills, and who pay more of their household income for digital services, compared to the rest of Australia. New statistics from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner saw online risks continue to rise through the first half of 2021. Complaints of serious cyber bullying against Australian children, for example, have been up by

Davies says building digital intelligence across all Australian society is an absolute must to keep children safe from online harm.

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almost 30 per cent on the same period in 2020. Research from Monash University revealed that cyber bullying represents the top social issue negatively affecting school communities – 60 per cent of principals and assistant principals ranked this issue within their top three. REDUCING DIGITAL DISADVANTAGE Building digital intelligence across all Australian society is an absolute must to keep our children safe from online harm. Teaming up with international digital intelligence think tank, the DQ Institute, and Accenture Australia, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation has recently launched its eSmart Digital Licence+, an education and training program aligned to the Australian curriculum which builds digital intelligence among 10 to14-year-olds. A completely updated and reworked version of the eSmart Digital Licence, Digital Licence+ offers an exciting learning experience with gamified elements for students to explore an interactive story world to build digital intelligence. Focusing on building the knowledge and skills of students across areas including technology use, cyber risk management, cyber security and online cultures, Digital Licence+ supports the development of important social and emotional skills in the middle years and assists educators to cater for different learning levels. A targeted rollout offering access to the Digital Licence+ is now available at no cost to for eligible schools and aims to address the digital divide in regions with low levels of digital inclusion and below average ADII ranking. All other schools across Australia will have access in 2022. Visit digitallicenceplus.org to see if your school is eligible. EM

HEALTH & WELLBEING // DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Insights on the wellbeing of school leaders throughout COVID-19 RESEARCH FROM DEAKIN’S EDUCATOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING TEAM HAS UNCOVERED THAT WHILE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS BEEN A MIXED BAG FOR EDUCATORS, SCHOOL LEADERS’ FAITH IN THEIR ROLES REMAINS LARGELY POSITIVE. DEAKIN UNIVERSITY POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWS BEN ARNOLD, MARK RAHIMI AND MARCUS HORWOOD (OF THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING TEAM) RECOUNT.

Over the last year, concern has grown about the health and wellbeing of education professionals. Preventative measures aimed at addressing the coronavirus pandemic, such as the partial or complete closure of schools, colleges and universities, have had a significant impact on those working in the education sector. In many contexts, educators have been required to adapt to a ‘new normal’ where they work on the frontline of the pandemic alternating between face-to-face and online teaching and caring for the health and wellbeing of

their school community. The question of how to promote the development of safe, healthy work environments for educators their communities is of particular interest for us in Deakin’s Educator Health and Wellbeing Team. Formed by Professor Phil Riley in 2018, we track education professionals working environments and health and wellbeing over time. We currently undertake research with educators at all levels of the education system, from early childhood through to tertiary education,

Figure 1: Australian School Leaders’ interpersonal relations at workplace in 2019 and 2020 (%)

to investigate how their workplace and work tasks impact on their mental and physical health. Our aim is to provide researchers, policymakers and educational leaders with evidence that can be used to establish healthy, safe working environments. We also embed our discoveries and knowledge into Deakin’s postgraduate education courses, to better prepare the leaders of the future, and into educational policy and practice. This year, we drew on Professor Phil Riley’s research into school leaders to map school leaders’ experiences of work during 2020 – the first year of the pandemic – and identify the issues and opportunities facing this group of educators in this current context. While working conditions have been unfavourable, we were pleased to discover that school leaders reported some positive changes to their work environment. SEVERAL DISRUPTIONS AND DECLINING FAIRNESS AT WORK School leaders reported that while their workloads declined slightly, they continued to be a major burden and source of stress. Our analysis also found that school leaders’ work environments changed during the 2020 and became more fluid and unstable. School leaders reported that their work was less predictable in 2020 and they were less clear about the exact nature of their job role, expressing more doubt about their workplace tasks, duties and responsibilities.

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School leaders also reported considerably lower levels of justice at their place of work in 2020, meaning that workplace procedures, interactions and the distribution of work were perceived to be less fair than in previous years.

Figure 2: Australian School Leaders Social Support and Work Life Balance in 2019 and 2020 (%).

STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS AND BETTER WORK-LIFE BALANCE But despite these challenges, school leaders also appeared to experience a number of positive changes at work during 2020. School leaders reported receiving greater levels of support from their supervisors and colleagues, and reported a stronger sense of commitment to work during the first year of the pandemic. Contradictory to some reports, school leaders also reported having a significantly better balance between work and their home lives, with work less frequently affecting the time they spent with family members and the energy they had available at home in 2020. AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL LEADERS SOCIAL SUPPORT AND WORK LIFE BALANCE IN 2019 AND 2020 (%) Overall, the changes forced by the pandemic to the work environment appear to have affected school leaders’ mental health and wellbeing. Compared to 2019, school leaders reported an increase in levels of stress and burnout in 2020. Although less is known about the impact of the pandemic on the work and wellbeing of school teachers and early childhood educators, anecdotal evidence suggests that these education professionals have been significantly impacted. At Deakin, we’re committed to undertaking robust research involving these groups of educators to better investigate their current working conditions and the status of their mental and physical health and wellbeing. To learn more about Deakin’s School of Education and research priorities in education and teaching, visit deakin.edu.au/education EM

Buyer’s Guide Deakin University Ph: 1800 963 888 Email: myfuture@deakin.edu.au Web: www.deakin.edu.au/education

Deakin’s Educator Health and Wellbeing Team are investigating how educators’ workplace and work tasks impact their mental and physical health.

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HEALTH & WELLBEING // SCHOOLTV

Schools and families seek strategies to manage stress during uncertain times: SchoolTV DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, THE WORLD WE NOW LIVE IN IS A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE. OUR CONNECTIVITY TO THE DIGITAL WORLD MEANS THAT WE ARE CONSTANTLY BEING REMINDED OF THE CHALLENGES WE FACE VIA NUMEROUS MEDIA CHANNELS, EXPOSING US TO A BARRAGE OF MESSAGES THAT CAN LEAVE US FEELING OVERWHELMED. AS A RESULT, MANY CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS ARE REPORTING HIGHER LEVELS OF STRESS AND ANXIETY. THE WELLBEING OF ALL STUDENTS REMAINS A KEY PRIORITY, WITH SCHOOLTV CONTINUING TO HELP SCHOOLS WITH SUPPORTING PARENTS TO RAISE HAPPY, RESILIENT YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH THESE CHALLENGING TIMES.

It is up to mental health and wellbeing providers, parents and schools to keep the health and wellbeing of young people in focus.

The blueprint for parenting and supporting young people is no longer fit for purpose in raising kids as citizens of tomorrow. Unfortunately, our brains have not evolved fast enough to adapt to this digital landscape. The combination of constant access to information and having little control over the situations presented, can be stressful and overwhelming not only for educators, parents and carers, but children alike. If left untreated or unmanaged, constant stress and anxiety can lead to a number of behavioural issues or health consequences. Founder and Director of SchoolTV, James Wilson tells Education Matters that the SchoolTV online resource was developed in partnership with child and adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, to address key issues relating to youth wellbeing. “Caring for the mental health and wellbeing of our children, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic is critical. We know that proper support can improve long-term outcomes and can help children achieve their full potential” says Wilson The recent launch of the National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy shines a light on key focus areas such as family-community

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and educational settings which form part of the important protective factors that support mental health and wellbeing for young people. SchoolTV shares the view that greater levels of support must be deployed urgently to manage the rapidly escalating youth mental health and wellbeing issues being experienced across all communities. “Our young people are paying a heavy emotional and developmental price as COVID perseveres. Emergency interventions to protect them have skyrocketed over the past 12 months. Specialists and youth psychologists are in high demand. Wait times are already up to one year, or longer, for parents in regional areas seeking help,” Wilson says Over 600 schools across the country now have access to this comprehensive digital wellbeing resource, created to support parents and distributed through their trusted school communities. This online platform provides parents with relevant, fact-based information and practical strategies that stimulate discussion, understanding and action across all dimensions of wellbeing. SchoolTV provides critical support for parents at a time where many students and families feel

“Parents are the ‘first educators’. When schools and families effectively partner across the main contexts of wellbeing, there tends to be outstanding impacts on a child’s health, happiness and resilience.” disconnected from the routine and security that going to school provides. “Whilst there is an abundance of information available, it’s often fragmented and confusing for busy parents and school staff looking for easy-to-understand guidance and practical strategies,” Wilson says. “SchoolTV removes the confusion to present single source content to school communities. The platform brings together the best information on mental health and wellbeing that is easily accessible for parents and empowering for school staff.” As a parent, Wilson found that the sheer volume of information available was overwhelming. “We noticed an alarming gap in the market. Being a parent today is a real challenge and if you are not informed around how to have these important conversations with your children, it creates a real disconnect” he says. Wilson says SchoolTV, via the reporting analytics functionality delivered with the platform, can provide a snapshot of a school community’s state of wellbeing as

Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg.

well as engagement statistics relating to the content. Since its inception over five years ago, Wilson says the SchoolTV platform has evolved based on feedback from schools and their communities, with the organisation producing ten editions or special reports every year to ensure the platform is as relevant as possible through the various cycles of the school year. “Today, SchoolTV is now reaching over 1 million parents every month and we know many more could benefit from access to the SchoolTV platform”. SchoolTV National Partnerships Manager Liz Lang says, “The importance and influence of ‘good parenting’ is greater than ever. The modern-day parent needs support, and schools play a major role in providing them with the accessible and empowering information they need.” SchoolTV gives schools an opportunity for regular communication with families and unites their community with the common goal of better wellbeing for all students.

SchoolTV provides over 600 schools across the country with access to a single, consistent digital platform providing fact-based content.

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“Parents are the ‘first educators’. When schools and families effectively partner across the main contexts of wellbeing, there tends to be outstanding impacts on a child’s health, happiness and resilience.” Lang says SchoolTV does two things - provides resources through new editions and its ever growing archive and the dynamic ability to respond to immediate areas of concern with special reports. Special reports are ‘here and now’ releases for schools, developed to respond to current day events such as bushfires, terrorism or COVID. A special report is designed to support parents by outlining practical strategies they can use to open a constructive, calm conversation about the event and reassure their child. “These reports aim to take the heat out of what can be sensationalised topics in the media and are designed to ensure children are receiving consistent messages from parents and school staff – for example, making sure children aren’t receiving a message of racism at home and one of inclusion at school,” Lang says. “Considering the current environment and the digital world we now live in, our most recent Special Report is about managing overwhelm in the age of information overload. We are constantly receiving a barrage of messages from various media platforms which can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. This report offers a number of strategies for educators and parents to help children manage these overwhelming feelings.” With the mental health and wellbeing of all students proving to be extremely important during these times of stress and uncertainty, a wider rollout of a supportive resource such as SchoolTV would help to improve wellbeing, and in turn positively impact academic performance, making it an integral part of every educational experience. With an aim to become a foundation in the near future, Wilson says SchoolTV has its sights set on the international market following success in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. “At SchoolTV we know that the bottom line is that every school is different in how they treat wellbeing,” he says. “By having access to this content, the school is able to customise the resources, identify which issues resonate within their community and help strengthen the partnership between parents, students and schools.” EM

THE LAST WORD // Australian Curriculum

Significance of First Nations curriculum

ACARA’S CEO, DAVID DE CARVALHO (DDC), SAT DOWN WITH PROFESSOR MARK ROSE (MR) TO TALK ABOUT THE ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ADVISORY GROUP AND THE IMPORTANT PLACE OF FIRST NATIONS AUSTRALIAN CONTENT IN OUR CURRICULUM. DDC: You were one of the original members of the Advisory Group; why did you join? MR: I was interested in the idea of a national curriculum and making sure the Aboriginal voice was there, obviously for Aboriginal people but also for non-Aboriginal people. I do a lot of speeches and I often ask – what did you learn at school about Aboriginal people? And the chorus is “nothing or very little worthwhile”. DDC: You’ve said when you were at school you were taught that “Aboriginals couldn’t live in houses as they would burn the floorboards to light fires”. Did this play a role in your wanting to have a voice in the curriculum? MR: I grew up in a convent as a result of my dad being a stolen child, which brought about significant family disruption, and so I found my way into teaching and a principalship. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, of which I co-chaired the Victorian Review in 2003, drew a link between inadequacies in the curriculum tarnishing professional decisions in all the social indicators. Each of the “closing the gap” measures are important, but education for First Nations and the broader communities is the tipping point. DDC: How much has the curriculum changed when it comes to that First Nations voice in the curriculum? MR: We used to rely on accidental heroes, creative educators who saw a hole and tried to fill it; sometimes they got it right, sometimes not. But the movement started to become everyone’s business. If you live, work and raise a family on this land,

then you have a right to know about your cultural heritage. In the vacuum of the broader community not being educated around Indigenous issues, that void was filled at times with stereotypes and warped paradigms. Authenticity is what we as educators do; it is not about compliance or conversion; it is about letting people know differing viewpoints. DDC: The proposed changes to the First Nations Australian content in the Australian Curriculum received a lot of media coverage, both positive and negative. What was your perspective of that? MR: Not far from me, there are schools where I can walk in and be welcomed in Woiwurrung, the language of the Wurundjeri people. When I sit and listen to the stories of Elders a generation above me and they talk about how they weren’t allowed to go beyond Year 8, and I think about the number of Aboriginal PhDs that are flooding the higher education sector and the work I do with Aboriginal students, it is just sensational how far we have come. It’s not just an Aboriginal issue, it’s making sure the curriculum reflects the true picture of Australia. I have read with interest some of the concepts in the press … thank God we live in a country where people can express an opinion … but a lot of that opinion is not well informed, and provides the best argument for why we need to get this curriculum balanced. DDC: Some advisory group members have been criticised in the media for comments made previously; how has that been?

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MR: Everyone has said things that if you had your time again you might or might not have said differently. If you trawl through comments people have made out of context and suggest someone feels a certain way because they retweeted a comment … and then say the whole group is flawed, that is not a rational argument. People were being tagged as un-Australian. We have members who have served on Australia Day Councils and received Australia Dayawards, there are PhDs and a couple of centuries of cumulative education experience. We were targeted individually and collectively and that is very disappointing – they are as fine group of educators I would ever want to have instant coffee in any school staffroom. DDC: What would you like people to know about the advisory group? MR: The group puts the kid first regardless of whether the kid is black or white. We want a balanced curriculum that tells the truth and shows how people can have different perspectives on the same events. If you keep focus on the past you can’t go forward – you have to put the past in context. We need to recognise, as Charlie Perkins said, that “We cannot live in the past. The past lives in us.” We all have a shared commitment to Australia being the best country we can be. EM

Education Services // THE LAST WORD

Lifelong learning starts at school THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) RECENTLY PUBLISHED LEARNING FOR LIFE: THE LATEST EDITION OF THEIR SKILLS OUTLOOK REPORT, EDUCATION SERVICES AUSTRALIA CEO ANDREW SMITH DISCUSSES. The report finds that lifelong learning is an important factor in a person’s ability to succeed in labour markets and societies that are being shaped by mega trends such as increasing life expectancy, environmental change, globalisation and rapid technological change. A key feature in this year’s report was the impact of COVID-19 on students who experienced lengthy periods of remote learning: a very important topic, which Education Services Australia (ESA) also examined in an Australian context last year. The OECD finds that the skills needed to continue learning during the COVID crisis are also key to developing a lifelong learning mindset. Teachers, schools and education systems have an important role to play in promoting positive attitudes toward lifelong learning. An estimated 1.6 billion students globally were forced to make the transition from a traditional learning environment to a more challenging alternative: remote schooling. While some students were able to keep up with the transition to remote learning, many others, particularly young and socio-economically disadvantaged learners, experienced large learning losses. It is commonly accepted that unless these learning losses are tackled, these children’s long-term social and economic prosperity will suffer. Factors that contributed to learning loss include lack of digital infrastructure in homes, lack of previous experience with digital tools, differences in parental support, and variations in teacher capability and confidence. These were all factors that ESA found similarly prevalent in Australia.

While teachers have always played a particularly important role in the educational development of students, the pandemic has highlighted the creativity and resourcefulness demanded of teachers in a digital society. The increased need for teachers to provide socialemotional support to students and to collaborate with parents in supporting students’ learning goals during distance learning are trends that will likely continue into the future. The OECD report found that in the short term, the pandemic could lead to an increase in early school leavers. In the medium and long term, lower engagement could result in the current generation of students failing to develop positive learning attitudes at a time of profound structural changes that will require people to upgrade their skills throughout their life. Beyond the impact of the pandemic, today’s students will need to be successful learners in the digital world. Research shows that there are two key roles for education here. First, to drive student uptake of digital technologies for learning, and second, to develop students into discerning and critical users of technology. As technology advances, it is increasingly important that young people are prepared to take part in a workforce that is increasingly shaped by technology. Given the rapid rate of technological change, students today must develop a set of broad skills and perspectives that support lifelong learning in novel and unfamiliar digital environments. Teachers, schools, and systems have been creative in adopting digital and technologybased strategies as alternatives to the traditional

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classroom. Following the experience of COVID-19 and the resulting digital transformation across education and schools, we can expect systems to accelerate their efforts to address challenges and harness opportunities in digital innovation more widely. To combat these risks, teachers in classrooms across the country are working hard to identify the learning and wellbeing needs of their students, because when teachers know what students need, they can plan and teach in a targeted way. Teachers themselves are lifelong learners. Providing access to high quality professional learning that is made freely available through trusted online platforms is vital to supporting classroom teachers. Teachers looking to enhance their understanding and skills in supporting student wellbeing can find self-paced online professional learning available on the Student Wellbeing Hub. For those with an interest in developing engaging programs that embed digital technologies into classroom practice, the Digital Technologies Hub has an array of resources to expand teacher’s repertoire. Working together to meet the needs of teachers, we can help ensure that young Australians establish the habits that will make them lifelong learners from the early days of their schooling. EM

THE LAST WORD // eSafety

A framework for getting students to safely navigate the online world

LAST MONTH, OUR TEAM LAUNCHED THE BEST PRACTICE FRAMEWORK FOR ONLINE SAFETY EDUCATION. THIS IS AUSTRALIA’S FIRST-EVER NATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS DESIGNED TO HELP EDUCATORS EQUIP YOUNG PEOPLE WITH THE NECESSARY SKILLS TO SAFELY NAVIGATE THE ONLINE WORLD, WRITES ESAFETY COMMISSIONER JULIE INMAN GRANT. It establishes a consistent national approach that supports education systems across Australia to deliver high quality programs, with clearly defined elements and effective practices. Schools across the country now have access to this Framework that can be used to develop, assess or refine whole-school online safety education programs using evidence-based practices. The Framework is designed to address the needs of every student from F-12 in ageappropriate ways, providing guidance in five key elements, outlined below Within the Framework each element has associated ‘effective practices’ designed to guide educators when developing online safety education programs and policies. The foundation of these elements and effective practices were developed out of a two-part process to research and identify ‘what works’ in online safety education, led by Professor Kerryann Walsh from the Queensland University of Technology. Online safety education has often been inconsistent, both in content and delivery, this is why we designed and developed the Framework in consultation with child online safety education experts and educators across the country, to ensure that schools are equipped with practices that are evidence-based and can be tailored to meet the needs of their own communities. What can these evidence-based approaches look like when designing online safety programs? 1) An approach needs to recognise the rights and

responsibilities of students to participate safely online, and to empower them to have a voice when it comes to their online safety education. The framework encourages educators to work together with their students, understanding how they use technology to engage online and the challenges they face, and building this into a co-designed online safety program that is relevant and age appropriate. 2) Online safety programs should be framed around the pillars of building resilience and managing risk. Programs should be strengths based and grounded in recognising the positive impact technology has in the everyday lives of students - for example, helping students understand the positive role social media can play to amplify messages about social issues in a community. Fear based messaging should be avoided. To help them cope if things do go wrong, education should provide students with an opportunity to understand the different types of risk they can be exposed to online, and strategies that can help build resilience and prevent risks turning into harms. This means teaching children when and how to seek help - and how to help others if they can see they are struggling. Teaching students about risk of harm and resilience needs to vary depending on the age and particular needs of students – it is not a one size fits all approach. 3) For online safety education to work, it needs to be an effective school wide approach. It should

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aim to build the capacity of students, as well as every member of the school community. That’s why the framework recommends that online safety lessons are structured so that each lesson builds on the previous ones, with clear goals and learning objectives. Educators can also bring parents and carers on the journey by sending relevant information home – the eSafety website has a wealth of information for this. Teachers should also be trained in teaching online safety, using training such as eSafety’s Teacher Professional Learning program. 4) Online safety education should be integrated across the curriculum, teaching a range of skills from critical thinking, to help seeking and social and emotional learning. There should be specific lessons focused on online safety, as well as opportunities to build skills into lesson plans across learning areas– for example, teaching critical thinking should include examples of how this applies in an online context. 5) Online safety can never be ‘set and forget’, but continuously improved through review and evaluation. This allows schools to ensure that approaches are working for the school, and programs keep up with emerging issues and evidence about what is working. To download and implement these landmark resources visit esafety.gov.au/educators/bestpractice-framework. EM

University of South Australia // THE LAST WORD

Goldilocks Day: How should children be spending their time?

DOT DUMUID, SENIOR RESEARCHER FELLOW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, DISCUSSES THE GOLDI-LOCKS PRINCIPLE AND HOW GIVE CHILDREN EQUAL PRIORITY TO PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND COGNITIVE HEALTH DOMAINS. As parents and caregivers, many of us spend a lot of time shaping our children’s time. From when we wake them in the morning, to when we put them to bed at night, we’re prompting them to do their homework, take out the rubbish, turn off their screens, practice their instru-ment, eat their lunch, and play their sports. The list is endless! Yet, with all these activities on the go, how do we – and they – achieve the best balance? As competing demands have become more complex and varied with increased digitalisation and ever-present social media, not to mention being turbo charged by the pandemic, finding a way to bring healthy balance to our daily activities seems more important than ever. Government guidelines recommend that school-aged children achieve at least one hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in their day, but that they also get between nine and 11 hours of sleep, all the while restricting recreational screen time to less than two hours. Alt-hough this recommended daily balance of activities has been approved by panels of experts and adopted by many countries and health bodies (including the World Health Organisation), it’s very difficult for children to achieve. In Australia, it’s estimated that only about 15 per cent of children meet all three guidelines – sleep, screen time, and physical activity – which, while being relatively low, still trumps those in other countries where compliance is as low as 6 per cent. Such a low compliance for all three guidelines is striking, especially considering compliance for individual guidelines can be quite high (up to 70%) essentially, it’s easier to achieve one guideline, but reaching all is much harder.

Of course, as we only have 24 hours in any given day, increasing one activity means decreasing another, we must make trade-offs. From our research, it seems that children who are increasing their physical activity to one hour a day are taking this time from sleep, so while they may achieve guidelines for physical activity, they now fall short of sleep. Or, if they increase their sleep to meet the sleep guidelines, they no longer have enough time to meet required hours for physical activity! Exactly what the best balance of daily activities looks like, may depend on what families value, and in terms of how these activities are expected to impact their child’s health and wellbeing. For example, if physical fitness is prioritised over mental health, we might sacrifice sleep for an early morning gym session. Or, if reducing adiposity is preferred over academic performance, we might skip studying to take a run. But can we have the best of all worlds – a ‘Goldilocks Day’ – where the balance of daily activities is, as in the children’s fairy tale, “not too little, not too much, but just right”? We all know that families are busy places, where parents, carers and children alike try to fit in all number of activities into the 24-hour window. But in doing so, we’re making decisions about which activities we value over others. How we balance our time can impact our health and wellbeing. As our research shows, the op-timal durations of sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity will vary depending on our motivations. For example, if we want to boost children’s physical health, their optimal sleep should be about 10 hours a night, but with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity about two

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and a half hours a day – more than doubling the recommended Australian guidelines. If focusing on improving mental health, children need to sleep even longer – for at least 11 hours – with the extra sleep being subtracted from all other remaining activities. In contrast, the optimal time-distribution for cognitive or academic health needed very little moderate-to-vigorous physical activity – only about 40 minutes – which is nearly half of what is recommended by Australian guidelines. Instead, optimised cognitive health required additional sedentary time (about 11.7 hours), while maintaining sleep within recommended levels. So, physical, mental, and cognitive domains of health are optimised by different allocations of time across daily activities. As parents and caregivers, we care about all aspects of our children’s health and want to find the best middle ground. That’s where the Goldilocks Principle comes in: what is the best bal-ance of all activities to achieve the best health outcomes overall? Well, if we give equal priori-ty to physical, mental, and cognitive health domains, a Goldilocks Day comprises 10.4 hours of sleep, 9.7 hours of sedentary behaviours (which could be reading or screen time), 2.4 hours of light physical activity, and 1.5 hours of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Apply-ing an individual and tailored approach to what works best will, well, work best. Making the most out of your day, and helping your children make the most out of theirs, is a juggling act. EM

EVENTS

THE CAPABILITIES IN MATHEMATICS TEACHING & LEARNING 2-3 December 2021 Virtual Conference Web: https://www.mav.vic.edu.au/Home The theme for MAV21 Virtual Conference, ‘The capabilities in mathematics teaching & learning’, sets the stage to share new, forward-thinking concepts, and leading best practices amongst mathematic educators. The future workforce and societies’ development and sustainability require a strong focus on the capabilities in education. MAV21 Conference will be a virtual conference with five keynote presentations and 50 sessions on each day. DESIGNING A FLIPPED CLASSROOM 6-12 December 2021 Asynchronous Workshop Web: https://my.onlinelearningconsortium.org/s/ community-event?id=a1Y1U000002qZPgUAM Flipped learning is a model of teaching in which the more passive learning activities such as watching lectures, happen outside of the classroom, saving more in-person class time for interactive activities. Flipping the classroom is currently one of the most popular trends in education at all levels! In this workshop, you will explore different flipped design models and the educational benefits of the flipped design. You will gain a deeper understanding of how to implement this strategy into your own teaching. THE YEAR 7 TEACHERS ESSENTIALS DECEMBER SESSION 7 December 2021 Live Streamed Webinar

Web: https://www.criticalagendas.com.au/events/ the-year-7-teachers-essentials-december-session/ As the first year in High School, Year 7 can have an incredible impact how students view your school and develop a positive attitude to learning. It is in this year that the school values and rules can be clearly established, work standards can be taught and perfected, and social patterns developed for continuing growth and achievement.This dynamic and highly practical workshop shows teachers how prepare for next year with. 2021 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGIES IN STEM 14-15 December 2021 Virtual Conference Web: https://sldt.ear.com.sg/ As the first year in High School, Year 7 can have an incredible impact how students view your school and develop a positive attitude to learning. It is in this year that the school values and rules can be clearly established, work standards can be taught and perfected, and social patterns developed for continuing growth and achievement.This dynamic and highly practical workshop shows teachers how prepare for next year with. STUDENT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2022 10-12 January 2022 Sydney Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane & Auckland Web: https://www.agsa.org.au/event/studentleadership-conference-2022/ Student Leadership Conference 2022 will bring together student leaders from girls’ schools over a 3-day programme designed specifically to

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support girls to become confident and effective leaders. Students can join easily from anywhere in the world. DANCE AND DANCE EDUCATION IN AN AGE OF INTERCONNECTIVITY 21-23 January 2022 Online Web: https://au.royalacademyofdance.org/ conference-2022/ The Royal Academy of Dance Australia is delighted to announce its fourth international conference, Dance and Dance Education in an Age of Interconnectivity. The conference aims to bring together and connect teachers, practitioners, scholars and innovators from the fields of dance, education, research, science and technology for an engaging and stimulating program. GENDER IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE 2022 23 February 2022 To be confirmed Web: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/programmesevents/conferences/gender-higher-educationconference-2022 This one-day conference will bring together higher education experts in gender equality to consider how further progression can be made to address the continuing presence of those factors contributing to the inequality of women. Factors such as the underrepresentation of women in strategic leadership or governance roles, the gender pay gap, fewer women accepted for the REF, sexual harassment, parental responsibility, maternity leave and taboo issues such as the menopause.

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Education Matters Secondary November-February 2022

Articles inside

BYOD programs for smarter schools

Communicating with clarity

Teachers are human too: counter-stress environments make a difference

The mental health and wellbeing of our kids is everyone’s priority: SchoolTV

The evolving role of technology vendors in education

The importance of bridging the digital divide for primary school children

Helping students overcome change and uncertainty