Thursday 31 July 2014

Gingerbread Men

News stories
Today the grade 6 kids recorded news stories about the strange goings on around number 4 Privet Drive. They wrote short news stories and prepared a graphic background to go behind them while someone recorded them using their iPads. 


Gingerbread men
The grade 1 and 2 kids made gingerbread men today with one of our parents. She came in this morning and read stories and made and decorated their gingerbread men. They did a great job. They looked terrific. I'm told they tasted great....sadly I didn't get one. Thanks Emily!


HECS changes unfair- FACT
Poor graduates would pay about 30 per cent more than their richer counterparts for their degree under the federal government's plan to charge real interest on student debts for the first time, according to the architect of the HECS system.

Leading education economist Bruce Chapman, who has conducted the most detailed modelling of the government's proposal, says the ''unfair'' policy undermines a fundamental tenet of Australia's internationally-lauded HECS repayment system.The government announced in the May budget that it would peg student debts to the government bond rate, capped at six per cent, rather than inflation.He is urging the government to consider alternatives outlined in a new research paper, which would reduce inequity and save low-income graduates tens of thousands of dollars.


Professor Chapman's paper, which he wrote with Australian National University colleague Timothy Higgins, has been presented to the government for consideration.

The modelling shows that a low-income graduate on a salary of $33,000 to $40,000 would pay $105,000 in total repayments over a lifetime on a starting debt of $60,000. By contrast, a high income earner (with a salary of $60,000 to $87,000) would pay only $75,000 in total repayments on the same starting debt – that is $30,000 less than low income earners.

Graduates on a median salary would pay about $82,000 in repayments on the same starting debt.

Low-income earners would be hardest hit by the interest rate changes because they spend more time out of the workforce and have lower salaries. This means a real interest rate, applied from the time they begin accumulating debt, would see their debts compound dramatically, Professor Chapman said.

Students who do not complete a degree, but accumulate a university debt, would be among the worst affected, he said.

"Using the long-term bond rate will be regressive – and it is very hard to argue this is fair," Professor Chapman.

"HECS was designed to protect people who go to university but, because of bad luck or bad circumstances, don't get to enjoy the benefits.

"HECS should act as an insurance mechanism and that aspect of the scheme is being undermined."

Read more about Chapman's alternative scheme which hopefully Pyne will accept in today's Age.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/unfair-poor-graduates-to-pay-about-30-per-cent-more-than-rich-under-abbott-governments-university-interest-rate-fee-changes-20140731-3cvi6.html#ixzz392BZsX9F

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Updating Harry

I spent a bit of time today ( between teaching ) updating my Harry Potter unit. I've been ploughing through the book. I'm about a third of the way through.I should finish the unit tonight.
Moomin Valley story maps.

Increasing Workload (News from the AEU)

the state government has 'delegated' of a further 30 school management powers to principals, as part of the government's ongoing school autonomy agenda.

principals don't have the resources or the time to take on additional workload. They promised a reduction in 'red-tape' at the last election!

The State Government has already cut over $600 million from public education, which has had a significant impact on school communities across the state.

the AEU says: "Given there are fewer resources, increased responsibility through autonomy and lack of support from DEECD, it is no wonder that principal stress has increased across the state, and particularly in our regional areas." hear hear to that!

"The AEU's latest State of our Schools survey revealed that principals consistently place workload and stress at the top of their concerns about their role.

"Another major factor in the additional pressures our schools face is the decision to restructure and downsize the regional education offices from nine regions to four. My local Regional Office is like a Wild West ghost town. They don't even have someone front of house or someone able to answer the phones.

Over 90% of principals have told the Union that support from their regional office had deteriorated in the past 12 months.Regional offices are critical for principals. At the very least, restoring staffing levels is vital to ensuring that principals get the support they need.

Laptop saga concludes.....now for the decision

The hearing for the AEU's laptop case in the Federal Court concluded yesterday with closing submissions from the union and department. The court has heard evidence from numerous AEU members who clearly articulated that access to a laptop was essential for undertaking their duties and that any personal benefit was incidental.
 
The department argued that teachers and principals receive significant personal benefit from being allowed to access a device including the flexibility to work from home! You have got to be kidding!

The AEU argued that when members work at home it is for the benefit of the employer.  

The Department also argued that the licence agreement was part of a salary packaging arrangement, a point denied by AEU member witnesses and the union's legal team.

Oh I'll be finishing that Harry Potter unit tonight....on my leased laptop!


Tuesday 29 July 2014

Finishing off work on MacBeth

Grade 6 children have finished their MacBeth witches picture ( see below) and the grade 4s are finishing off their Moomin work ( I'll post the unit on TPT on the weekend) 

The grade 1-2s are currently doing work on The Gingerbread Man ( I'll post my folk tale unit when it's finished) 
Tonight I've been sketching pictures to go with my Harry Potter unit- yes I'm going to have a go at digitising that work so I can share it. ( picture below)

Big thanks to the people at Radmac who repaired our very expensive industrial strength laminator for me today, I was afraid it was 'stuffed'. 
I'm up to about chapter 5 in Harry Potter today. it is fun to read out loud. Last time I did this unit I think we listened to an audio tape ( year a cassette tape!) version of it read by Stephen Fry. He is terrific but nothing beats reading it out yourself.

Monday 28 July 2014

The 3 Witches

We had a sunny ( not warm) day today. Even the cows seemed happy.

The grade 6 kids finished off their Witches around their cauldrons today ( photos tomorrow) 

We also finished information reports about the Tudors. (Photo below)

Saturday 26 July 2014

“a full belly is of little worth where the mind is starved.”

The Prince and the Pauper

Find a link here to my newly completed Blooms Taxonomy unit for The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain.

This story on teachers being expected to toilet train children at school was in today's Canberra Times:

Parents are making Canberra schools responsible for toilet training their children in some cases, putting an extra burden on educators, teachers have reported.

An increasing number of children were starting preschool and kindergarten with toileting difficulties and some parents were expecting the schools to sort it out, the ACT branch of the Australian Education Union said. 

It mirrored a trend that Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek raised during a budget estimates hearing this month about parents wanting schools to ''do it all''. He said parents should be more enagaged with schools.

"Many people have the expectation that children are going to come to school and they are going to be taught all of the things, including something as basic as speech, manners and toilet training,'' he said.

"That is not the school’s responsibility now. That is why at the early childhood stages it is very important to have parental involvement and, if there is ever a time when you are going to get parental involvement, it is in those early childhood programs.''

Queensland teaching associations supported the minister and some blamed smart phones for children being behind on their language skills because parents did not make as much eye contact with them or speak to them as often as in previous generations.


Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/teachers-being-asked-to-toilet-train-school-starters-20140726-zwv6w.html#ixzz38cZYYWdu

Also check out today's Sunday Age which has a story about some Victorian schools that are ,'crowd-funding to pay for important program's to run in their schools. The story is titled 'Crowd- Funding to make Ends Meet'

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble...

 MacBeth

Find here a link to the short unit I completed this week for MacBeth. I taught this unit years ago and it was a mixture of cut and paste and hand written (yes, handwritten worksheets!) so I scanned what I could and typed up and added my sketches to new work.
This unit was taught at the end of a longer unit on the Prince and the Pauper and the Tudors.The kids seemed to like it so I might prepare a short unit for Hamlet if I can find some good kid friendly novel versions of it.

Thursday 24 July 2014

Busy week

We had a busy day today finishing off 2 literature units and getting ready to start a new one.
Today we finished off our mini-unit for MacBeth. The grade 6s made a pop up re-tell card about the visit of Banquo's ghost while I read the last chapter of Tales from Moominvalley. On Monday we'll just finish off some last little bits of work and then begin our Harry Potter unit. 
My grade 4 boy finished off his ghost wagon and it turned out well. ( I made if part of the Moomin book display)

I put up a display of our completed tasks for MacBeth today.



One of my grade 4 girls is making a 'goblet' for a Treasure Trackers book she has just completed.


Grade 1 and 2 are still studying Folk tales and next week we'll start The Gingerbread Man. one of my parents has volunteered to come in a cook some gingerbread men with us on Thursday.
We also completed information reports about angles ( a maths theme we've just completed) and on Monday we'll create information reports about Tudor Monarchs.


Small School Editorial in the Ballarat Courier

Below is an editorial put together by Karolina from Little Bendigo PS on behalf of the Moorabool Network to put with our advertisement in their education special coming out soon:

The Moorabool Network is a group of schools from theMoorabool area, working together to improve educational outcomes for their students. Eighteen schools belong to the network, creating a vast learning community. The schools in the network are quite varied, some being close to town, others quite rural and some large and some small. The variety and number of schools in the network creates in depth and very broad perspectives, knowledge, skills and understandingswhich is used to create continual school improvement.

The Principals of the Moorabool Network meet twice a term sharing their expertise and hold lengthy discussions on educational issues. This enables Principals to identify the most effective and efficient ways forward for their schools. As a result many management areas can be streamlined so more time can be spent on teaching and learning programs greatly benefiting the students.

Resources, ideas and knowledge are also shared to provide unique and exciting experiences for students, to improve teaching skills and enhance curriculum programs. The approach to this is multi-layered, first on a student level, for example, through special activities such as the event when all the students from the collegiate group came together toconduct workshops for each other about how they were using information technology – a ‘Conference for students’ run by the students at Federation UniversityAs well as a range of combined activities - athletic sports, excursions, cross country events, swimming events, Sovereign Hill excursions, camps and the traditional end of year picnics. On a teacher level, professional development activities and resources are shared across the network and workshops of innovative programs have been conducted. As well as the regular meetings,Principals of the Moorabool Network hold annual conferences, provide representation at the Regional level andcontinually support and assist each other.

In 2014 the entire Moorabool Network met at Bungaree Recreation Centre, for a whole day of collegiate professional development. All teachers; all support staff; all admin staff; and all principals together for the first time! It was an outstanding opportunity for small schools to demonstrate the extensive range of skills and training already available from current staff.

The Moorabool Network started in the 1980’s as the original Bungaree Cluster sharing specialist teachers. In the 1990’s the ‘Shared Specialist’ program stopped but the Cluster continued on, it was renamed in 1997 as the Moorabool Collegiate Group. The purpose of the group then became to provide collegiate support to Principals and to promote the positive benefits of small school education. In 2010 the Mooraboolcollegiate group was renamed the Moorabool Network and expanded their role to include an increased level of professional learning and mentoring for all staff.

The members of the Moorabool network have always been a great team, supporting each other to ensure modern thinking and constantly re-evaluating what they doThis ensure they create school communities that are as vibrant, dynamic and inspiring as possible to build student capabilities, responsibility, independence, pride, self-esteem and confidence. However, the best thing about the Mooraboolnetwork, is the relationships between all the people in it! The students enjoy catching up with each other at special events, teachers enjoy sharing what is happening in their classrooms and principals, meeting regularly have not only developedeffective professional connections but great friendships.

Six of the rural schools in the Moorabool Network close to Ballarat, (only five to twenty minutes away) Bungaree, Glen Park, Gordon, Little Bendigo, Magpie, Mount Egerton andWarrenheip can be found in this feature. Please phone to make an appointment to see their wonderful learning communities and engaging environments at work.


From the AEU- Gonski

It is important to remember exactly what is at stake here: only one third of the Gonski funding will be delivered in the first four years. The Abbott Government plans to stop funding public schools according to the Gonski model after 2017 and Commonwealth funding will only be indexed at 2.5% (currently 4.7%). 


The Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said:

 

"We'll also continue to argue for ongoing federal funding for the full six years because we believe that's in the best interests of Victorian schools and Victorian students." 
(doorstop interview, 21/5/14)

 

While Premier Napthine has indicated support for the full six years, his government also needs to provide transparency around the quantum of funding received by Victoria and whether this is in fact additional funding to that Victorian schools would have been entitled to or had received in the past.


The fact is that teachers, principals and parents must work together to change the Federal Coalition's position on this vital issue and seek greater transparency from the Napthine government. That effort has to start with greater parental engagement. 


Sadly I think the union is on a 'hiding to nothing'over Gonski funding. 

Tuesday 22 July 2014

The Scottish Play

Lovely crisp and frosty morning this morning. ( Photos on the way to work this morning)


MacBeth 
I read an abridged version of MacBeth today and I have another one to read tomorrow. We completed a story map and character trait matching task today ( photo below) Tomorrow we'll look into the history of the play and look at the life of Shakespeare ( what we know about him anyway. I'm in the Earl of Oxford camp on this one. Never trust someone who only leaves his wife his second best bed in his will. Nobody like that could ever have written The Taming of the Shrew!) I also found an excellent app for our iPads on MacBeth and one on Medieval warfare. ( below)

Thumbnail Theater: Macbeth by Michael Mills Productions
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/thumbnail-theater-macbeth/id480176870?mt=8

( I'll start adding more useful apps I find onto the blog)
There are lots of great apps for Shakespeare's work for secondary students.

We have nearly finished Tales From Moominvalley. They are a bit more esoteric when read aloud and I'm not sure if the grade 4 s really like them? I really enjoy them! ( Maybe I should have chosen a different story, but it is hard to get them here in Asustralia. The comics might have helped. I'll have a look tonight and see if the cartoons are on YouTube.) Today we were responding to the stories in a variety of ways. One of the students is constructing a ghost wagon and another one was writing on bark parchment. ( Refer below) 
Ghost wagon model from chapter 1- not finished yet.
Writing and drawing Hattifatteners with old style ink pens on bark.


Laptops
The AEU laptop case began on July 21 in the Federal Court. The AEU outlined its case on Monday and several witnesses will be heard this week. The court has set aside two weeks to hear the case and, as expected, there has been significant interest from members and the media in this important case looking at the provision of laptops as a "tool of the trade".

Thank-You
A big thank you to Karolina at Little Bendigo, she has not only put together an advertisement promoting small schools for us this week ( under pressure from a ridiculous timeline) but is also putting together a news story to go with it.
I'll add the final draft of it on the blog once she has finished it. It should give you a good idea of what my small school network is all about.

Glorious day


We had a beautiful sunny day today. It was like an early spring. The girls went outside today and built their cubbys and had a great time. They were having so much fun I gave them extra play time. I stay in the distance because the older ones feel a bit self-conscious play acting if an adult watches them. It is good for them to engage in this play. When they get to high school they'll just end up sitting around or walking around because they are 'too big to play anymore'.


Our tulips are taking off- I told you its like an early spring!


We have finished off our learning tasks for The Prince and the Pauper today with our danger scales and letters from the prince. Below are some of the seals they printed yesterday and their danger scales.


Tomorrow I start on MacBeth. ( I'll have to practice up on my Scottish accent) I hope they like all the bloodshed and mayhem. There is a good app for the story which I will download for them.
I'll download my Prince and the Pauper unit onto TPT on the weekend and a few freebie activities for MacBeth.
We had a Network meeting this afternoon at Gordon Hotel. We discussed a wide range of issues and decided on our principal conference date: October 17th ( That will be a curriculum day for our school.)


Monday 21 July 2014

Printing

Today the grade 6s worked on their story maps ( tomorrow we'll complete danger scales) for The Prince and the Pauper.
We also tried our hand at printing our own personal seal. ( In the story the young prince mislaid the Great Seal of Henry VIII.)
story map sample
Etching a design.
rolling on the paint and pressing down the paper.

Revealing the print. ( I'll post some of them tomorrow)

Thirty-seven Australians were lost on Flight MH17 ( 18 were from Victoria and many of them were teachers) Our flag will be flying at half-fast this week.

We had fine weather today and the girls went outside to play. they built a cubby and had lots of fun.

Our beans are really taking off.
Twenty-four thousand views!

Friday 18 July 2014

High cost of promoting small schools


I popped up to school this morning to get organised for next week. There was a letter from Minister Pyne I hadn't opened. It made 'interesting' reading. To read it you'd think there hadn't been any controversy about funding or unnecessary curriculum reviews or comments from him such as 'The Commonwealth shouldn't be involved in education' and 'our government has an emotional commitment to private schools' I might add a few comments of my own to it and fax it back.

The Ballarat Courier rang yesterday. They are publishing a supplement 'profiling' local schools. Someone from a New Zealand call centre rang up trying to sell advertising for it.( over $1000 for half a page) I complained that only private schools and big schools could afford this and that small schools with no PR budget were at a disadvantage. ( The girl on the phone who probably doesn't know where Ballarat is was polite but not interested.) My colleague at Little Bendigo PS had a similar discussion to no affect. She suggested small schools in our Network get together and create a joint advertisement. I'm tempted not to get involved. I think the Courier just uses schools and parents to increase their sales and their profits. If they really wanted to profile ALL local schools they could approach small schools with a special offer. I'll see what my colleagues think. If we compose an advertisement promoting small schools rather than individual little adverts all saying similar things, I'll support it.

I attended the launch of Sharon Knight's election campaign for Wendouree today at the Ballarat Trades Hall. It was packed. Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews attended and gave a great speech. it was a real old fashioned political rally ( I think they call them 'town hall meetings' in the US) and it was fun to be part of it.The ALP has said that education is its number 1 priority for the November election.
Photo below.



More criticism of Kevin Donnelly in the Sydney Morning Herald:

Donnelly has long been a critic of political correctness in schools, and he advocates the restoration of more traditional ways of learning and curricular subject matter; he is big fan of Shakespeare, the classic novels and phonics. He is a strong critic of the post-modern, theory-based lens through which literature and history is sometimes taught in modern schools.

It may be that he and Wiltshire will come up with some excellent suggestions in their review, which is due imminently.

What a shame, then, that any good recommendations inevitably will be tainted by this week’s comments, which have confirmed the prejudices of Donnelly’s critics, who already think his ideas are Draconian. 

It would be wrong to idealise children as cherubic treasures who know not what they do and who are never intentionally bad. The contemporary culture that places children at the centre of their parents’ worlds leads to some egregious behaviour from them after being reared as Little Lord Fauntleroys, with adults catering to their every whim.

But they are still children, innocent and impressionable. Surely that is something we want our curriculum writers to have foremost in their minds when they decide what Australian children will be taught, and the manner in which they will be taught it?


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/kevin-donnelly-on-a-hiding-to-nothing-20140717-zu81z.html#ixzz37tJ3vKVD

We got an email yesterday instructing us to lower our flags to half mast for all of next week following the mass-murder in Ukraine on Friday morning. Over 25 Australians died on that plane that was shot down. It is yet another reason why powerful nations should not arm terrorists, rogue nations or fanatics. ( whether that is arming Ukranian cowboys as Russia is doing or the Taliban in Afghanistan as the US did in the 80s) 

This story appeared on the ABC News online website:

The Victorian Government says it will release a plan to improve rural and regional education within the next few months.

South-west Victoria has among the worst year 12 or equivalent attainment rates in the state.

Today, Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon will discuss the expansion of the Ballarat Specialist School and talk to young mums taking part in an education program at Sovereign Hill.

Mr Dixon says videoconferencing is one way particular education services can be delivered in rural and regional areas.

"A couple of years ago at Ballarat High, German was being taught through videoconferencing to the students not only in Ballarat High but the three other small secondary schools, government secondary schools around the state and the kids were actually taking part in a lesson seeing each other, so it's a model that can be adapted," he said.

Where do I start? The 'plan' was supposed to be released in May, then July and now it's 'in a few months'. Still nobody from the Education Department bothers to talk to small rural schools about their plans. Video conferencing is fine.....if you've actually got video conferencing equipment! you would think a one teacher rural school would be the first to get it but apparently not!

Our data in this region has been poor or at best 'patchy' for years. Nothing has been done and as the Auditor General wrote in a recent report (refer a previous post) the gap between metropolitan and rural schools is widening.

Interesting story in the SMH:
'The state's teachers spent almost $2000 each out of their own pockets to pay for school expenses last year.' Having just prepared my receipts for a visit to the accountant, I can easily believe that.

Long week

It's been a long week.( The first week back always is) We finished The Prince and the Pauper this morning. A nice happy ending. We talked a bit about Mark Twain and I was surprised they hadn't heard of Tom Sawyer! When I do my Last of the Mohican unit I might read Tom Sawyer as well.
We still have a few activities to do for The Prince and the Pauper before we read MacBeth to finish this unit. I have several novel versions of the play and I hope a few fun tasks to complete. I might put a few of them up as freebies on TPT. 
I'm going to do a 4-5 week unit on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone next.(Due to popular demand and I set up the display table and display board after school.) Photos below.



Thursday 17 July 2014

Wanted Posters

We have nearly finished The Prince and the Pauper. We completed Missing persons and Wanted posters today for John and Tom Canny and Miles Hendon. I'll finish the book tomorrow and we'll finish work on the book next week.I want to read a version of MacBeth later in the week.
I've ordered a DVD version online so I hope it arrives next week.

One of my students showed his endangered birds PowerPoint today to the kids and his mum.

Kevin Donnelly was busy trying to dig themselves out of the hole he dug in the Murdoch papers. sadly for his the Scott's PE teacher who 'sorted out' recalcitrant boys behind the shed was STILL ALIVE and kicking and didn't have a clue what Donnelly was on about.
We had a very chilly day today. We had sleet at one point but sadly it disappeared while the kids were putting on their boots. Hopefully there may be some more to come.

Fairfax Media tracked down Dr Donnelly's  former teacher who is now 75. Mr Murney said he had used the strap as a teacher but abandoned it in 1968. He no longer supports corporal punishment.

''I don't think in modern days that this would be a good idea," he said. "Everything has completely changed. I think children are cheekier these days, but giving them the strap is not the answer.''

In a letter to The Age, Donnelly's co-chair on the Abbott curriculum review, Ken Wiltshire distanced himself from Donnelly's controversial comments.

"In response to reports in The Sydney Morning Herald and a number of enquires, I wish to make it clear that I dissociate myself from comments attributed to Dr Kevin Donnelly regarding corporal punishment in schools," Mr Wiltshire wrote.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/cochair-of-curriculum-review-kenneth-wiltshire-distances-himself-from-colleague-kevin-donnellys-support-for-corporal-punishment-20140717-3c2sb.html#ixzz37iOa67SJ


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/cochair-of-curriculum-review-kenneth-wiltshire-distances-himself-from-colleague-kevin-donnellys-support-for-corporal-punishment-20140717-3c2sb.html#ixzz37iNsvDBQ



Wednesday 16 July 2014

Long Live the King


The kids finished their obits for King Henry VIII today. They did a great job. They wrote it up on the proforma I have in the unit ( to be posted on TPT next week) and then I printed it off on brown paper.    ( See photo below) We also made stained glass windows. The girls ( and one of the boys) have brought their knitting to school and have been clicking away making scarves I think.



There has been a lot of heated reaction to Kevin Donnelly showing his true colors yesterday. 
Below is from today's Age.


Education Minister Christopher Pyne has backed away from his hand-picked education expert Kevin Donnelly after he yesterday aired controversial views on the return of corporal punishment. 

And school leaders across all systems have described the attitudes as “anachronistic”, “deplorable” and “totally unacceptable”.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christopher-pyne-educators-slam-kevin-donnellys-corporal-punishment-views-20140716-zth0x.html#ixzz37cZYILqS

Sign the GetUp petition to get rid of Donnelly
https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/education/national-curriculum-review/is-this-who-you-want-writing-your-kids-curriculum?t=dXNlcmlkPTU0MDAsZW1haWxpZD01MTIx

Tuesday 15 July 2014

Donnelly Leaves the Planet

We worked hard on our Prince and the Pauper reading work today. ( Below is a Venn diagram one of my grade 6 kids completed) Tomorrow we'll work on an obituary for Henry VIII. ( He just died in the story.)

I couldn't have been less surprised in my life to read this story in the Age today:
A friendly Sydney commercial radio shock-jock asked Kevin Donnelly was asked this today:

"What would you, as you've been involved with this for so long, describe as the best punishment you can come across even if it is one that has gone away?" asked 2UE host Justin Smith. "I'm not alluding to the strap here. I don't think you would ever resort to that. You would never advocate bringing that back surely?"

Dr Donnelly responded by saying, "Well" followed by a pause – an answer that surprised Mr Smith.

Dr Donnelly continued: "I grew up in Broadmeadows, a housing commission estate in Melbourne, and we had a Scottish phys-ed teacher.

"Whenever there were any discipline problems he would actually take the boy behind the shed and say, 'We can either talk about this or you can throw the first punch'.

"That teacher would probably lose his job now but it was very effective. He only had to do it once and the kids were pretty well behaved for the rest of the year."

Dr Donnelly went on to say "those days are gone". But questioned further on the merits of corporal punishment, he said: "If the school community is in favour of it then I have got no problem if it's done properly.


DONE PROPERLY???

Done by some Scott's PE teacher behind a school shed! Are you kidding? I remember having a music teacher at my tech school nearly 40 years ago who used to bash kids over the head with a wooden desk lid. He ended up being charged for molesting mentally disabled children under his care and he topped himself. There is NO PROPER way to assault children!

This comes from the clown that the Federal Government has employed to review our National Curriculum. Which is supposed to be released this month!


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/head-of-curriculum-review-kevin-donnelly-says-corporal-punishment-in-schools-was-very-effective-20140715-3bz7p.html#ixzz37WjV73HA

Monday 14 July 2014

First day back

First day back and all went well. I started both my new serials ( Prince and the Puaper and Tales From Moominvalley)  It was an early start for me and a busy day finishing off tasks from last term and starting new work.

The Age had an interesting story on voter backlash toward changes to the university sector.


Extensive automated phone polling across 23 federal electorates taking in all states has found cuts in federal funding and changes to allow increased fees, higher loan charges, and access to limited federal funding by non-university course providers, have not gone over well with households.

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Sixty-nine per cent of those polled said they opposed “significant increases in fees” and 65 per cent said they opposed a 20 per cent funding cut.

And just 28 per cent of voters said they approved of the idea of deregulating the higher education sector to allow privately owned higher education institutions to have access to Commonwealth subsidies.

The strong negative reaction has fuelled a fierce voter backlash sending Coalition stocks plummeting in a more than 10 per cent swing away from the government averaged across the 23 seats.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne appears to have taken much of the blame and would currently lose his electorate of Sturt in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs in a 15 per cent swing away from him, propelled by a disastrous approval rating of minus 14 per cent.

He retained the seat easily at the 2013 election securing 54 per cent of the primary vote for a two-party-preferred result of 60 per cent.

Wait until the electorate grasps the true significance of these changes ( if they get them through the Senate) 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/university-funding-cuts-cause-severe-indigestion-for-government-20140713-zt63m.html#ixzz37R8AOb4c

Sunday 13 July 2014

Super Moon

We have a super moon visible in our night sky this weekend.

At its closest the moon is about 353,000 kilometres from the Earth.

Other supermoons will be in August and September. The one on August 10 will be the biggest of the year, as the moon will be closest to Earth on that day.