The federal government has committed $10.8m to a free voluntary ‘phonics health check’, with this year’s recent NAPLAN results revealing a third of year three students aren’t meeting minimum expectations for reading. The phonics health check is a seven-minute assessment ...
More »Regional principal named among 2023 education powerhouses
The Australian Financial Review (AFR) has named the principal of a small public primary school in country Victoria among the most powerful people in education in 2023. Jacquie Burrows was a teacher at Churchill Primary School (Churchill) prior to taking ...
More »Back to basics: new curriculum to begin in term two
After an almost year-long debate, state and federal education ministers have signed off on the revised national curriculum, set to come into force at the start of Term 2. Acting federal education minister Stuart Robert announced the states' endorsement on ...
More »Reading expert’s concerns over curriculum changes
Australia's education ministers have met to discuss their revision of the national curriculum, which will include emphasising the importance of phonics in teaching reading to students in Kindergarten to Year 2. Deputy Dean of Education at Western Sydney University, Dr ...
More »Unpacking the importance of phonics for early readers – podcast
EducationReview · Unpacking the importance of phonics for early readers The teaching of phonics in the early years of reading has been a contested issue for decades now. While all teachers believe an understanding of the area provides a critical ...
More »Phonics can pull Australia out of its reading rut, but parents need to play their part: Opinion
It’s hard not to be alarmed by the state of reading in Australia. Since 2000, our students have dropped from 4th to 17th place in the PISA survey of global reading results, and foreboding reports on the national state of ...
More »Education Council commits to goals and actions for ‘the coming decade’
After the release of December’s disappointing PISA results, student achievement, teacher quality, curriculum content and quality-assurance measures were destined to be on the table at the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, which concluded on December 12. Here are some of ...
More »Are digikids less literate? Four Corners wrap-up
Is Australian children’s literacy in crisis? Among teachers, academics and politicians, the consensus is largely ‘yes’ – or we’re wobbling precariously on the edge. While primary years performance tends to be strong, something happens in the transition to high school; ...
More »The importance of early reading instruction
Professor Pamela Snow is head of the La Trobe Rural Health School and will soon become Professor of Cognitive Psychology in the School of Education at La Trobe. In this podcast, Snow talks about how blended reading approaches, which are ...
More »Tehan’s taskforce to embed phonics in initial teacher education
The long-running “Reading Wars” have a new battlefront, with Education Minister Dan Tehan today announcing a taskforce to recommend an invigorated approach to teaching phonics to student teachers. "Our Government will fund the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership ...
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