News

Universities have been put on notice to ensure that teacher training courses focus on the science of learning, teaching children literacy and numeracy, and keeping classrooms under control. Those that fail to meet the new standards risk losing funding or full accreditation for their courses.

With the passing of the referendum bill through the Senate, it is now official: a referendum will be held this year to ask Australians whether they want to change the Constitution to insert a new body into our governing structure, an Indigenous-only Voice to Parliament and the Executive.

Recently, I found myself glued to the television watching history in the making: the coronation of King Charles III. No one does pomp and pageantry better than the British, but it was the solemn parts of the ceremony that filled me with curious pride and gratitude for Australia’s British heritage.

This year, on 29 April, it was 253 years since Captain James Cook landed at Botany Bay. Despite the obvious significance of that day, it barely, if ever, rates a mention.Thanks to the collapse of our education system, many Australians think Cook was part of the First Fleet that arrived eighteen years later, on January 26.

I am also delighted to share that the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria (HTAV) has now endorsed all of Class Action’s curriculum units, and will be promoting them to history teachers across the state.

Teachers are overwhelmed by unsustainable demands around quite unnecessary administration and documentation. These include anecdotal notes every week on every child for every subject. And individual conferences with every child in every subject every two weeks.