Latest school news

ANOTHER BLOODY TEST
Testing Year 1 students for basic literacy and numeracy skills may help to discover children who need extra help and improve long-term educational results, Federal Government Education Minister Simon Birmingham has said.

This means that all Year 1 students may soon be tested on their reading and maths two years before sitting the NAPLAN test.

On Monday, a report was released from the government’s commissioned expert panel, recommending a national test for Year 1 students.

In an interview with Channel Nine, Minister Birmingham said one in 20 children are not meeting the minimum literacy standards or skill sets when they get to Year 1.

“This is not a test, this is a in-school, in-classroom skills check that won’t be publicly reported or anything like that that relates to NAPLAN, but will give teachers, principals and parents a consistent platform to say: is my child, is my student actually meeting the type of standards we would expect after around 18 months or so at school?,” Minister Birmingham said.

But Queensland Government Education Minister Kate Jones slammed the proposal, arguing the Minister had failed to garner support from the states and territories at a meeting in Adelaide last week, which discussed the Federal Government’s proposed test. 

“No parent wants more exams for their children,” she said.

“Queensland schools already assess students’ readiness for school and their progress through Prep and Year One.

“We know from Queensland NAPLAN results that children in the early years are better prepared for school than ever.”

Ms Jones said the Gonski panel had given state, independent and Catholic education sectors only one month to give feedback on their terms of reference.

UNIFORMS

Victoria’s public schools will be forced to allow their female students to wear shorts or pants instead of dresses and skirts, following changes from the state government.

At present, in Victoria, it is up to each school to decide on its uniform policy.

Education Minister told ABC News he would introduce rules requiring public schools to give options for female students by the start of next year.

“There’s been a campaign — many parents’ organisations, students contacting me, contacting the Government — and I just thought this was a common sense decision to make,” Mr Merlino told ABC Radio Melbourne.

“The vast majority of schools provide the option of wearing pants or shorts for female students, but some don’t.”

According to the federal Department of Health, girls believe the fear of being judged or ridiculed is a barrier to participating in physical activity.

The move comes after the Western Australian Government announced similar changes to its uniform policy earlier last week.