Raising the Bar
18 August 2016
The Australian community supported 60 people to go to India, (including 24 dancers from the annual e.Motion events), to participate in the World Down Syndrome Congress.
Confronting and insightful, acclaimed Indian director Onir has created a documentary film "Raising the Bar" underlining the realities of life for 6 young people with Down syndrome from across two continents who meet in Chennai, India. Opens in Melbourne today, other states to follow. Details here
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Slight dehydration can affect memory
18 August 2016
Interesting recent study published in the The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed memory and attention were affected by even slight dehydration. Essentially, if you're feeling thirsty, you've probably already lost some function.
Consider the impact on children, who often wait to be offered a drink. An earlier study found children who had a drink in the afternoon had better memory and attention. Read the article here, while you're having a glass of water.
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Try not to be a woman over 55 in Australia
13 August 2016
Australian women over 55 are healthy but for income security, the position of older Australians is 67th out of 96 countries and worst of all for single women.
Given teaching is a female dominated profession, and not particularly well paid, you might be interested in some research.
See article here
The reasons why women in this age group are worse off are as you'd expect but solutions suggested might surprise you. The fastest growing age group generating entrepreneurs in Australia is 54-64. Research suggests instead of government funding focusing on young entrepreneurs only, that the benefits of this age group becoming self sufficient, rather than reskilled for another job, could be key. Read further here
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Teachers have booked over 60,000 students into SFS events this year
12 August 2016
Thanks! For enriching your students' learning and for supporting the arts and SFS.
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Everyone's planning
9 August 2016
While we're only just over half way through this year, most arts organisations are putting the finishing touches to their programs for next year...Some 2017 shows are already announced and on sale. Lots more to come and lots available for 2016.
Whether you're planning for Term 3, Term 4 or 2017, Shows For Schools is where you'll find just the right event for your students.
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Emotional Resilience in the Workplace
8 August 2016
Resilience is an area well understood in schools. Everyone performs better if they feel empowered and safe. Researchers have found understanding and improving emotional resilience in other workplaces, results in happier, more productive employees.
Of course! No news to teachers who understand the child's emotional resilience affects every other aspect of their school life. Read the research here
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Why are Naplan results not improving?
4 August 2016
Academics have started to assess the detail in the Naplan results. Although overall there doesn't appear to be much difference in scores now compared to students in 2008, there has been some significant increases, particularly in Queensland. Scores for children in Yr 3 this year showed a huge improvement compared to 2008. Interestingly, Queensland received the biggest increase in federal funding betwen 2008 and 2016 (34%).
Overall, though, why aren't we seeing progress? Hinz and O'Connell from Victoria University suggest:
- Schools in the poorest socio economic areas have the worst results - so they need funding increases.
- Often children from the poorest backgrounds miss out on early education, so they miss important foundations.
- Naplan of course is limited, in that it tests only a few areas, and emphasis on these could inhibit overall learning.
Read the full article here
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Early Naplan Report Card
3 August 2016
Quick summary of the summary: All areas have improved since 2008, with the exception of writing, but there is not much difference from 2015. ACARA want to see improvement each year. Students in NSW, Vic and ACT have the best results. See more of the summary here.
Detailed analysis available in December.
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SFS Subscriber E News out today
2 August 2016
Subscribe here to receive your copy
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First day of August - Last month of winter!
1 August 2016
Yay
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Rewards and Addiction
31 July 2016
Reward the behaviour you want - but how you reward affects how long the behaviour persists. Random rewards are the most effective, the person keeps up the behaviour in the hope a reward will be forthcoming.
Rewards have long been the hook in Marketing. Now, the introduction of gaming into many apps has made them increasingly addictive.
How do you use rewards? Check out the whole article here
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Have a great weekend!
29 July 2016
It's interesting that many bookings come from teachers out of hours and on weekends. So much for teachers having easy hours!
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