Rotary club boosts school literacy programs
Aurora Gungahlin Rotary’s Vocation Services director Denis Waters presents a cheque to Harrison School Year 2 students. Aurora Gungahlin Rotary is continuing its focus on improving student literacy, with new funding supporting reading intervention programs across...
Building a place for everyone in construction
From left, Anisha Sachdeva, Nicole Leishman, Anna Neelagama, Carly Dewey, Ruby Mitchell, Hannah Pearce and Kiara Shah. “Building and construction is an industry where women are not only welcome but essential,” says Master Builders ACT CEO ANNA NEELAGAMA. “There...
Think STEM is what you see in College or High School? The AFP Fotensics lab shows you need to think again
Year 12 student Isobella examines what a future career in STEM could look like at the AFP Forensics Lab. Photo: Claire Fenwicke. Is that blood or chocolate on a victim’s shirt? What can be revealed under the microscope? And could a suspect’s fingerprints be on a...
The HSC subjects students are most likely to drop in year 12
Cost of living, climate change and cybersecurity might be major challenges of our time, but the HSC courses addressing them are the ones mostly likely to be dropped when students start year 12. Software design, earth and environmental science and economics are among...
We’ve failed girls in STEM, and we’re all paying the price
Australia is facing a talent crisis we cannot afford to ignore, and the under-representation of women in high-demand roles is a key part of the problem. Nowhere is this more evident than in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) – not because women...
Sydney unis consider more cuts, including religion and theatre
The University of Sydney is considering closing its departments of studies in religion – one of the last devoted to the secular study of faith in Australia – and theatre and performance as it looks to cut costs. The University of Technology is also flagging at least...
Calls for NAPLAN to be replaced with national bank of class tests
The Gonski Institute for Education wants governments to dump NAPLAN and replace it with a national online library of tests and questions, which teachers could use whenever they wanted and the results could be turned around quickly so students had useful feedback....
Why the Algebra Club is the most popular activity at Fairvale High School
At Fairvale High School, the most popular after-school activity for year 10 students is the Algebra Club. It is entirely voluntary and involves an age group that can be difficult to get out of bed, let alone to an extra maths class. Yet around 50 students attend each...
New school maths course to teach students how to budget and read their payslip
NSW will introduce a new year 11 and 12 HSC maths course to help students master the everyday numeracy skills they will need in their adult lives, such as understanding taxes, making a budget and keeping accounts. An evaluation of the numeracy course found it...
Students starting without the basics leading to poor results in world maths tests
The high number of children beginning school without basic literacy and numeracy skills, such as recognising letters and numbers, is contributing to Australia’s poor results in international primary school maths tests. An analysis of the results also found almost a...