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Education

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A rowing boat passes spectators on the river bank on the opening day of the 2019 Henley Royal Regatta alongside the river Thames, and inset, Tony George, headmaster at King’s School. 
Exclusive

Anger at King’s School over plans to fly headmaster to prestigious British regatta

An old boys’ representative on The King’s School board quit over plans to fly the headmaster, his deputy and their wives first class to the Henley Royal Regatta.

  • by Lucy Carroll and Jordan Baker

Latest

Mila makes a leap with preschool friends Eddy and Olena, and teacher Angela Aldridge, at Goodstart’s Crescent Early Learning Centre.

Teacher shortages could undermine plan for extra year of education

The NSW government’s universal pre-kindergarten reforms were met with praise from the early childhood sector, but experts warned more educators were needed.

  • by Daniella White
Playing around: A mural on the school wall.
Exclusive

Bondi school parents slam decision to ban outdoor play before class

A decision to restrict students from using the playground before school started has sparked an angry response.

  • by Lucy Carroll
The NSW and Victorian governments are introducing universal pre-kindergarten.

‘A game-changer’: NSW to introduce an extra year of education

In the biggest reform of schooling in a generation, the NSW government will offer five days per week of pre-kindergarten to every four-year-old by 2030.

  • by Jordan Baker
Australian women are among the most highly-educated in the world
Analysis

How Australia is failing its highly educated women

Australian women are among the most educated in the world. Why are they still so far behind when it comes to pay and opportunity?

  • by Jordan Baker
My daughter has grown up with a second language that wasn’t available to me as a teenager.
Opinion

My all-girls education failed to give me the skills I now value most

An underlying assumption about all-girls schooling is that boys are an impediment to a girl achieving her potential. This shows an offensive distrust in both the strength of our girls and the humanity of our boys.

  • by Anita Punton
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Visual Arts students in class at Tara Anglican School for Girls, North Parramatta

Why do private girls’ schools outrank boys when it comes to the HSC?

The answers are complex and contested, but some say it’s because boys’ schools are more focused on all-round achievement.

  • by Jordan Baker
Premier Dominic Perrottet at the Goodstart Early Education centre in West Ryde. The NSW government will offer fee relief for preschoolers as part its push to make childcare more affordable and accessible.

Fee support for NSW preschoolers in $1.4 billion program

Parents who send their preschoolers to long day care will for the first time receive subsidies from the NSW government.

  • by Alexandra Smith
Mary White and daughter Scarlett, who is doing Year 10.

‘My sacrifice until she’s an adult’: Parents reduce work to support year 12s

To help their children through the difficult final years of high school, a number of parents - mainly mothers - are scaling back their work and making themselves more available at home.

  • by Wendy Tuohy
Andrew Horsley with Dapto High School students, is a mentor to the boys.
Exclusive

Boys falling far behind girls in HSC and at university

An analysis of academic results found being male was “greater than any of the other recognised disadvantages we looked at”.

  • by Jordan Baker
Annie White, Chevalier College, Nicholas Laba, Maronite College of the Holy Family, Lara Ergun, The McDonald College, Oliver Sved, Knox Grammar and Gemma Rodham, Ravenswood School, were among the conference attendees.

Sydney students take lead to boost mental health, address online challenges

About 300 student leaders from 40 schools across Sydney last week gathered to learn how they could boost young people’s wellbeing during a student-led and designed conference.

  • by Daniella White
Voters in waiting, with plenty of reasons to become engaged in our democracy.
Opinion

Why girls’ schools succeed at producing women who lead

More than half of the female independents in the new federal parliament attended a single-sex school. The result highlights the benefits of girls attending all-girl schools.

  • by Loren Bridge
Ever-rising levels of educational attainment - particularly among women – are remodelling the party-political landscape
Opinion

‘Education’ is why federal voting patterns are changing

Education levels, particularly among women, and not income, are a key reason why voters have shifted away from the federal Liberal Party towards independents and Labor.

  • by Ross Gittins
Gabriella Agosta, principal of Mooroolbark Grammar.
Exclusive

Parent says she was deceived by Scientology-linked ‘grammar’ school

A Melbourne primary school that was hiding its links to Scientology has now disclosed to prospective parents that it is teaching the educational methods of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

  • by Ben Schneiders and Simone Fox Koob
SPECIAL 10342 Bethlehem College;Ashfield;Sun Herald Supplements;Pic Dallas Kilponen;24th October 2001.

Pic shows Bethlehem College in Ashfield.

Two inner west single-sex schools to merge into new co-ed college

Sydney Catholic Schools says the merger of two schools will cater to high demand for co-education options in Sydney’s inner west

  • by Jordan Baker
Principals are trusted, and have significant influence over the success of a school
Analysis

NSW has a principal problem that is difficult to fix

Many across senior ranks in and around the state’s education sector quietly admit there is a leadership quality issue.

  • by Jordan Baker
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Graphic content

Sufferer – or snowflake? What’s up with all the bullying claims?

Bullying is a loaded term that’s being levelled a lot these days. The righting of long-tolerated wrongs, or politically correct overreach?

  • by Tim Elliott
Put a what on? I can’t hear you.
Opinion

Why don’t you just chill, Mum? (Apparently this is not jumper weather)

Yes, it’s winter, but my son is dressed for the tropics.

  • by Meena Evers
The University of Sydney has shed academic jobs but boosted enrolments.

Sydney’s universities have record enrolments but falling teacher numbers

The University of Sydney has recorded the biggest increase in student-to-staff ratios after shedding hundreds of jobs but gaining almost 15,000 students.

  • by Daniella White
NSW’s top uni have slipped down global rankings.

Border closures blamed for Sydney’s top universities slip in global rankings

The latest rankings show there are still five Australian universities in the world’s top 50, despite all but one dropping position from last year.

  • by Daniella White
The University of Melbourne has risen to 33rd in the world in the QS global rankings.

WA universities rise in world rankings, with UWA at 90 on list

The Australian National University in Canberra retained top spot among Australian tertiary institutions but slipped from 27th to 30th and is now just three places ahead of Melbourne.

  • by Adam Carey
The University of Melbourne has risen to 33rd in the world in the QS global rankings.

Victorian universities buck national trend to rise in world rankings

All but one of Australia’s top universities slid down the international rankings this year, as their recognition among global academics and employers declined.

  • by Adam Carey
Arts Student Brynn Daly at Sydney University

Students flock to humanities degrees despite huge fee increases

The federal government tried to reduce the demand for humanities degrees at universities by hiking fees. It hasn’t worked.

  • by Daniella White
Parents had an insight into the complexities of teaching during lockdown.
Opinion

Wominjeka Melbourne! Why we need to teach kids First Nations languages

Australia should follow the lead of New Zealand and get serious about saving our Indigenous languages, with renaming places and teaching in schools to play a big part.

  • by Nicholas Reece
Problem child? Prince Louis puts on a performance for mother Kate Middleton at the Queen’s Platinum   Jubilee.
Opinion

I stand with Kate Middleton (pre-schoolers are not meant to be tamed) and with Prince Louis (pageants are boring)

The backlash against the Duchess of Cambridge over her four-year-old son’s behaviour at the Queen’s Platinum Pageant is absurd.

  • by Kerri Sackville
Waverley College is losing around $27 million in government funding
Exclusive

Private school fee rises may exclude middle-class families, principals fear

As the federal government cuts funding for private schools under a new model, principals are grappling with how to cope.

  • by Jordan Baker
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Joko Widodo and Anthony Albanese will meet in Jakarta this week.
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Albanese, Joko urged to fix visa system as Bali welcomes back Aussie tourists

Australia and Indonesia are being urged to simplify visa rules to make it easier to travel between the two countries, as Anthony Albanese leads a delegation to the country.

  • by James Massola and Chris Barrett
L Platers: How to support your teen daughter on the road to adulthood, by Madonna King, is out now through Hachette Australia.
Extract

‘We want to be ourselves’: Students are teaching us a gender lesson

For gender-questioning teens, it can be a complex, tortuous, lonely and liberating time: a time for parents, schools, politicians and the wider community to help, not hurt.

  • by Madonna King
Vapes are flavoured and designed to appeal to young people
Exclusive

Student collapses while vaping in school toilets due to massive nicotine dose

Vapes have high levels of nicotine, and medical evidence suggests a huge dose caused an extended seizure for the Blue Mountains student.

  • by Jordan Baker
Jason Clare.

‘Not interested in picking fights’: New education minister says curriculum wars have been settled

Jason Clare said he was a “proud product” of Australia’s public education system as he returned to his old primary school and had an emotional reunion with his former teacher.

  • by Lisa Visentin
Private, public and Catholic schools say they are struggling to find teachers
Exclusive

School teacher shortages hit PE, English and primary education

Even wealthy schools with myriad resources are struggling to find enough teachers.

  • by Jordan Baker
Adam Karras, the 2013 head prefect, was one of the signatories of the letter to Cranbrook.
Exclusive

Cranbrook old boys tell school to embrace co-ed plans

Parents were sent a survey asking them to rate their level of concern about objections raised in community forums, such as “boys may be distracted in class”.

  • by Jordan Baker
Oberon High School principal Craig Luccarda.

The schools where students finish half their HSC in year 11

Principal Craig Luccarda’s school was too small to offer the breadth of subjects students needed. He decided to do things differently.

  • by Jordan Baker
Nathan Mudyi Sentance lead the development of the new protocols.

Australia’s oldest uni library overhauls how people use Indigenous resources

New protocols at the University of Sydney library will change how students, academics, and researchers access and use materials about Indigenous communities.

  • by Cameron Gooley
The NSW Department of Education failed to reach targets for student achievement in NAPLAN
Exclusive

More than 20 per cent of NSW students fall below acceptable standards

Only 79.1 per cent of public school students reached minimum standards for reading and numeracy in NAPLAN, well below the target.

  • by Jordan Baker
Jasmine Seymour leads a direct language class at Riverstone Public Preschool

‘Naady’unya Budyari’ as preschools reclaim Aboriginal languages

“Good to see you” is how preschool students are greeted in Dharug at Riverstone Public School, one of 16 public preschools in NSW teaching First Nations languages to its students.

  • by Daniella White
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Castle Hill MP (inset) says he became aware of the asbestos result at the school last Thursday.
Updated

MP slams Education Department over asbestos found at Sydney school

Ray Williams says the department compromised the health of 2000 people linked to Castle Hill High School after it falsely declared in 2016 the school did not have asbestos.

  • by Amelia McGuire
Overcoming disadvantage: Amina Rezaie.
Exclusive

From Afghanistan to Australia: scholarships helping students to excel

Aspiring medical science student Amina Rezaie, a refugee from Afghanistan, is among the recipients.

  • by Millie Muroi
Senior educators say the early offers schemes should be more transparent

Surge in early uni offers comes under fire from education experts

Pre-HSC spots for students have surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking claims of unfairness and undermining the HSC.

  • by Jordan Baker
The childcare sector is struggling to find workers.
Editorial

Government must tackle skills shortage to deliver childcare promise

Families already struggle to find childcare for their children, but it’s about to get worse, with the sector at crisis point.

  • The Herald's View
The boy showed up to school with tens of thousands of dollars on Tuesday.

‘Sprinkling it around like confetti’: Sydney schoolboy takes tens of thousands of dollars to school

A year 7 student at Epping Boys High brought tens of thousands of dollars in cash to school and bought lavish gifts for his friends, taking them on shopping sprees and buying gaming vouchers and computers.

  • by Jordan Baker and Jenny Noyes
Brindabella Christian College in Lyneham in the ACT.

Private school enrolment contracts could be challenged after tribunal ruling

A father represented himself in a tribunal after his children’s school sent a bill for $3785 when he gave them less than a term’s notice that he was removing them.

  • by Jordan Baker
Year 10 Queenwood students Penny Jin and Lucy Colquhoun-Thomson with their books at the school’s library.

How one Sydney school got students reading in the social media age

Queenwood School for Girls in Mosman introduced 20 minutes of mandatory reading for all students and teachers every day at the same time. The results have been spectacular.

  • by Daniella White
Peter Noonan, the Emeritus Professor at the Mitchell Institute and the Centre for Research on International Education Systems at Victoria University in Melbourne, died on April 23, 2022.

Educator who saw into our future

Peter Noonan was a passionate advocate for the role of tertiary education in transforming people’s lives. Thousands of young Australians owe their chance at getting a life-changing education to Noonan and the work he did.

  • by Mark Burford, Peter Dawkins and Robert Pascoe
Staff and students at Sydney University are striking over pay and working conditions

‘No idea how rich’: Why Sydney University thrived despite the pandemic

While Sydney University got richer during the pandemic, NSW’s top vice chancellors became poorer.

  • by Jordan Baker
Allegra Spender, the new MP for Wentworth, eating a ‘democracy sausage’ at Double Bay on Saturday.
Opinion

Democracy sausages point to snags in the system

We all love the democracy sausage. But these election day fundraising events point to a crisis at the heart of our public schools.

  • by Vivienne Pearson
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NAPLAN results have increased at Warwick Farm Public School

Literacy and numeracy strategy boosts teacher confidence but not results

The new approach, however, left staff feeling better equipped to teach and increased schools’ ambition to ensure the growth of each student.

  • by Jordan Baker
ANU vice-chancellor and Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt does not believe the current funding system is fit for purpose.

‘Be prepared to overhaul the system’: University leaders urge Labor to prioritise funding issues

University vice-chancellors have urged the incoming Labor government to prioritise a review of the Coalition’s controversial fee changes and increase investment in research.

  • by Lisa Visentin
Sydney University fared much better than expected during the pandemic

Sydney University records $1 billion surplus as staff demand a share

Sydney University’s revenue grew last year despite the pandemic, driven by increases in enrolments and property sales, while the University of NSW’s financial position also improved.

  • by Jordan Baker
Residents are concerned a fence will create an “us and them” mentality.

‘A bad vibe around Lane Cove’: Riverview to build fence to keep out locals

Riverview residents are objecting to St Ignatius’ decision to fence its junior campus, saying the school has always been generous with access to its grounds.

  • by Jordan Baker and Angus Dalton