NewsBite

Schools

March

Here’s a sector breakdown of Jim Chalmers’ budget.

Foreign investors banned: What else is in it for you

From a ban on foreign investors buying existing houses to pork-barrelling road projects in marginal electorates, here’s a sector breakdown of the budget.

St Ives North Public School year 3 students during class.

Labor’s education report card is one step forward, two steps back

Efforts to put strict conditions on additional school funding to the states to improve outcomes have already been undercut by creating an alibi for failure.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese say the additional $4.8 billion in funding will improve student performance.

After months of resistance, Qld signs on to $2.8b schools package

Australia’s schools will benefit from a $30 billion boost to funding over the next decade after Queensland was the final state to sign up to a national plan.

Bentleigh West was ahead of the curve when it introduced explicit instruction a decade ago, says principal Sarah Asome.

This school may have the answer to improving kids’ maths

Teachers can now sign up for a new program from La Trobe University to teach them how to teach the subject – and not before time.

NSW has signed on to the federal government’s national schools funding agreement, leaving only Queensland.

Albanese gets NSW over the line on school funding deal

It’s been over a year of negotiations but the federal government now has all states and territories signed on for a new school funding deal – except one.

Advertisement

February

Families are flocking to non-government schools with an additional 40,000 enrolments in just one year.

Parents continue shift to private schools

The rising tide of families electing to send their children to private schools has accelerated since COVID-19.

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.

Sanjeev Gupta.

Bigger story behind Sanjeev Gupta’s faltering empire

Readers’ letters on the need for a new model of capitalism; improving students’ literacy; culture wars hurting innovation; CBA’s share price; and robot dogs.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said there was a serious reading gap between children from wealthy and poor families.

No, minister – the reading wars are not over

Jason Clare has embraced evidence-based reading instruction, but the Australian school curriculum is holding our education system back.

Year 12 retention rates and attendance are spiralling down.

School retention, attendance rates continue to trend downwards

Fewer students are staying at school until the end and too many don’t turn up for class. Mental health is part of the problem.

December 2024

The King’s School has taken the mantle of Australia’s most expensive school.

Private school fees to rise at almost triple the rate of inflation

Prestigious schools have been gradually contacting parents over the past few weeks announcing new fee schedules for 2025. 

November 2024

How this music tech start-up attracted Sony as anchor investor

An online portal of ready-made music lessons that any primary school teacher can use has won a major investor.

September 2024

The cost of sending your child to a private school – in seven charts

Just one year of tuition at a top-range private school will set you back at least $40,000, but demand keeps growing.

Students sit an exam at Sydney’s Northern Beaches Secondary College.

The suburbs where nearly every child goes to a private school

In some suburbs, parents don’t ask whether to go public or private; it’s more a question of which private school to send their kids to.

August 2024

University of Newcastle’s Drew Miller: Improving teaching standards and student outcomes.

Winning strategy: Remarkable results lifting HSC scores by 50pc

Comment provided by the winner of the Community Engagement category, the University of Newcastle.

Advertisement

A 50pc improvement: Unis turn the tide on disadvantage

The winner of the community engagement category is reversing the fortunes of disadvantaged children in a partnership that has lifted HSC results.

Winning strategy: Giving students the best chance of success

Comment provided by the winner of the equity and access award, University of Newcastle.

‘They do it tough’: Universities welcome disadvantaged Australians

Bridging courses pave the way to university for students without high-school qualifications, and the Equity winner has been doing it for decades.

This school has joined the education revolution. What about your kids?

Australian schools are finally catching up with teaching that works after a multibillion-dollar boost to student funding failed to lift learning outcomes.

In the results for 2024 this week, one in three students failed to meet the basic benchmarks for literacy and numeracy.

NAPLAN puts schools in remedial class

The hopes that the $319b Gonski funding revolution would turn around the worst-performing students are turning into one of the great public policy debacles.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/schools-1lzt