NewsBite

Primary school

June

Doing well in cram kindergarten will help children get into an elite cram school in first grade.

These students are cramming for exams. They’re in kindergarten

South Korean parents prepare their five-year-olds for eventual college entrance exams as competition for prosperity grows ever fiercer.

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey in his office at the NSW Parliament ahead of the 2025 State Budget.

What we know so far about the NSW budget

Innovation funds, fee-free TAFE for construction trades and tax changes for build-to-rent housing: here’s what’s been announced ahead of Tuesday’s budget.

Teachers stick to teaching, a new report has found, and those who leave often return.

High teacher dropout rates a myth: study

Contrary to popular belief, teachers are less likely to leave than almost any other profession, and many who do, return.

Active network sharing is fast developing as the future of how mobile networks are being built.

Sacked teacher uses right to disconnect to sue for $800k

The case is the first public legal action to cite the Albanese government’s new right to disconnect laws.

April

By year 3, girls are already four months behind boys on their NAPLAN scores, and by year 5 that has blown out to about six months.

One in three kids struggles with maths. This school fixed it in a year

Too many Australian students are leaving school with substandard numeracy skills. But that can change if a few simple changes are made.

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March

Parents and former Newington College students protest outside the Stanmore campus last year.

Sayers Group the latest beneficiary in Newington co-ed tussle

The Sydney boys school may be winning its battle to admit girls by 2026, but it’s clocked up some expenses doing so.

February

Roughly a third of students across all subjects and year levels are failing to meet NAPLAN proficiency.

How not to waste Gonski school funding

Additional federal money may unfortunately extend and expand inefficient and ineffective practices rather than lift the quality of teaching.

May 2024

Hampton Primary council president Mark Alexander says any funding delays will limit what upgrades the school can achieve as it waits on an election promise made by Labor in October 2022.

Schools sweat on election funding promises as Victorian debt rises

Melbourne’s Hampton Primary School fears the Victorian government won’t follow through on a promise made on eve of the 2022 election.

March 2024

Well-heeled schools have much better access to resources, but ChatGPT could help level the playing field for poorer schools if used properly, experts say.

Private school parents save the education system $4.6b a year: study

A new analysis calculates that governments spend $4.6 billion less each year than they would if all students were enrolled in public schools.

February 2024

Sarah Lowe, principal at St Matthew’s Primary in Canberra, with year 4 student Camilla Larobina.
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Science supports rote learning in schools: report

A push to return classrooms to explicit instruction, phonics and rote learning is based on the science of learning.

Australia needs a massive systemwide approach to boosting reading ability for all students.

One in three Aussie kids can’t read this headline: Grattan

Schools need to transform the way they teach reading so that fewer children get left behind, think tank report says.

Half of all kids attend school regularly. Parents are to blame

Lax school attendance is “a national issue” that should be taken with greater seriousness by families, the head of an independent education evidence body warns.

January 2024

Fees make up only half of the cost of education costs in independent schools.

School fees paid? Then double your budget

Rising school fees are heaping stress on household budgets. And then there’s the extra cost of uniforms, sports gear, music lessons and camps.

December 2023

In NSW, the latest science syllabus matches some of the higher-performing countries.

Australia’s science curriculum is not broken

The performance of science students has stopped declining as resources from private publishers became available to teachers. Investing more in what is working will be far more productive than starting from scratch.

Workplace rules about alcohol consumption apply whether you are working remotely or not.

No, drinking while WFH is not OK

An ACT primary teacher spotted drinking directly from a wine cask during a Zoom call with a supervisor disputed having his pay docked. He lost.

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Craig Butler, Principal Eagle Vale High School with students Sofia Faumuina, William Willis, Mia Al-Ali, Amelia Sparks.

How to fix Aussie kids’ dire classroom behaviour

Australian children are among the worst-behaved at school. A senate report has come up with some solutions.

September 2023

Poor behaviour in Australian schools is detrimental to a positive learning environment.

How to turn around Australian kids’ appalling classroom behaviour

Australia’s education system has consistently been marked down when it comes to the behaviour of students and the capacity of teachers to manage classrooms.

August 2023

Principal Michael Portaro with students Mara Naidoo, Rose Bull and Charlie Thomas at Elsternwick Public School

How a love of books turned this school’s NAPLAN results around

Victoria topped the states in 16 of 20 categories of the latest literacy and numeracy measures. Elsternwick Primary School had a simple plan to turn its scores around.

This year’s NAPLAN has revealed some mixed results.

NAPLAN benchmarks have changed, but bad results stay the same

The national school test results show one in three children failed to reach expectations in basic numeracy, reading and writing skills.

Poor academic performance can lead to wellbeing and mental health issues.

One-third of Australian children behind on their learning: NAPLAN

This year’s simplified NAPLAN results reveal one in 10 children are in dire need of help and one in three are below the national benchmark.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/primary-school-hno