Book Week is not just for big kids. How to engage babies and toddlers at storytime
Satoshi-K/Getty Images Book Week is a great opportunity for parents and carers to inspire a love of reading in babies and toddlers. But sometimes very young children aren’t very engaged when adults read to them. They may become distracted and restless. They can wriggle away, scrunch up the pages or seem more interested in putting […]
Why your child’s Year 9 teacher matters for completing Year 12: new research
ThisisEngineering/Pexels As young people progress through high school, they start making plans for what they will do when they leave. What factors influence their plans? And importantly, what helps them stay until the end of school? In our new study, we looked at Year 10 students’ plans and their rates of school completion. Our results […]
Does your kid hate costumes? Here’s how to handle Book Week and special events
Bethany Petrik/Getty Images Book Week, costume parties and other dress-up days can be great fun for children. Parents and carers may picture their child wearing their favourite superhero or princess costume, enthusiastically joining in celebrations. But some kids may not like the idea of dressing up. Many adults and children may face this situation as […]
Some parents want to see primary schools go ‘device free’. There could be unintended consequences
RDNE Stock Project/ Pexels Some Australian parents are pushing for a return to “pen-and-paper learning” amid concerns about children’s attention spans and academic achievement. An online petition calling for primary schools to be “device free” has collected more than 24,000 signatures. Political leaders are also starting to express concerns about the amount of screen use […]
Does ‘AI-watermarking’ mean the party is over for cheating students?
Concerns about students cheating with AI are rife within schools and universities. Some lecturers have even expressed fears students have been “lobotomised by AI” amid reports AI-detection tools are patchy and far from fool-proof. Last week, New South Wales moved to ban take-home assignments for Year 12 to try to stop AI use in assessments. […]
Oral exams are making a comeback to stop AI cheating. But they have their own problems
izusek/Getty Images Universities are increasingly turning to oral exams to stop students using artificial intelligence (AI) to cheat. Some unis say it allows teachers to more accurately test students’ knowledge. Meanwhile, some NSW schools are also using oral exams to prevent cheating. Oral exams – or “viva voces” – are one of the oldest assessment […]
Of course parents want to keep tweens and teens safe. Here’s why you should also encourage them to take risks
Parents may have heard of the dangers of being a “helicopter parent”. Of hovering so close to their kids that they never get a chance to develop independence and resilience. But avoiding this is easier said than done, especially when most parents would agree their first job is to keep their kids safe. As children […]
The Coalition wants to see more Indigenous students go to private schools. Is this a smart idea?
Attila Csaszar/Getty Images The Coalition is signalling it wants to see more disadvantaged Aboriginal students go to private schools. In a recent speech outlining his approach to education, opposition spokesperson for Indigenous Australians, Julian Leeser, said he wants to see “transformation through school education”. As part of this, he pointed out how the retention rate […]
‘No, I want Mum!’ Does it feel like your child has a favourite parent?
Elva Etienne/Getty Images Many parents have experienced the sting of hearing “no, I want Mum!” Or “only Dad can put me to bed tonight”. It can feel personal. Parents may worry their child loves one parent more, or that they have done something wrong. The good news is these preferences are often temporary and a […]
NZ wants a high-tech future. Its proposed physics curriculum may make that harder
Getty Images New Zealand is placing big bets on science and technology, with plans to boost high-tech research funding by $120 million annually by 2030. This investment – targeting ambitious fields such as artificial intelligence, advanced materials, health, energy and space – will help the country’s brightest minds make new discoveries and turn smart ideas […]