Student voice key to school success
More than 600 staff, leaders, parents and others involved in Catholic education joined in the 2023 Australian Catholic Education Symposium hosted by the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC).
In her keynote address, Prof Anne Graham AO detailed her research which emphasised the critical importance of hearing children’s views and ensuring our students are truly recognised and known to their teachers.
Anne outlined the four key elements of student participation: Voice, Influence, Choice and Working Together. Her research shows that students who experience more opportunities for meaningful participation also receive more recognition from others, and gave more recognition to others, providing the optimum environment for both recognition and student wellbeing to improve.
Good, but room for improvement
Young Australians’ digital and information and communications technology (ICT) literacy skills remain broadly stable when comparing pre- and post-pandemic student results.
The first National Assessment Program (NAP) ICT Literacy results since the pandemic have been released by the Australia Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
ACARA CEO David de Carvalho said, however, it was concerning to see a drop in ICT literacy among Year 10 students, especially in some states. ‘The report provides helpful information for schools to focus on this issue,’ he said.
The 2022 report shows at the national level:
• Just over half of Year 6 students attained the proficient standard. This result is not significantly different from previous NAP–ICT literacy cycles.
• The average scale score of students in Year 6 was significantly lower than in 2011, but not significantly different from the average in any other cycle.
• Just under half of Year 10 students attained the proficient standard. This is significantly lower than the percentage achieved in all previous cycles of NAP–ICT Literacy.
• The average scale score of students in Year 10 was significantly lower than in 2017.
Read more.
Emphasising the positive
There needs to be a better understanding of digital play and its role in very young children’s learning, according to a leading researcher.
Deakin University’s Strategic Research Centre in Education deputy director Louise Paatsch said early childhood frameworks and curriculum guidelines mandate that teachers support young children to explore, use, design and produce digital technologies for personal and social needs that encourage confidence, problem solving, creativity, and new ways of thinking.
‘Many early years educators tend to have an anxious and negative attitude towards digital play. There is a need to support early years educators, parents, and community to develop a more confident and dynamic understanding of digital play,’ Prof Paatsch said.
The ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child has launched the Australian Children of the Digital Age (ACODA) study. The initiative will investigate children’s digital engagement in a four-year study involving more than 3000 Australian families.
The longitudinal study of young children’s engagement with digital technologies will seek to understand and explore the profound impact of digital technologies on young children, beginning from just six months of age.
Mathematics education vital for engaged and informed citizenry
Societal disruptions such as climate change, Covid-19, and global warming demonstrate the importance of mathematics in enabling active and informed citizens, according to new Australian Catholic University research.
Professor Vince Geiger, who led a study examining the connections between citizenship education and mathematics education, and the implications of strengthening the link between the two, said mathematics was equally as important when it came to preparing the citizens of the future.
Professor Geiger said mathematical concepts and skills including statistics, probability, risk, area, volume, and location were vital to help students evaluate claims about disruptions such as global warming.
In brief
Help for schools after distressing online content emerges from Mid-East conflict: The eSafety Commissioner has developed guidance for schools and the education sector on how to manage this evolving situation.
Find out more here.
The Australian government’s investment of $10.9 million in the Commonwealth Regional Scholarship Program is important in helping improve educational outcomes for students living outside the larger cities and towns, according to National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins.
What’s on
A second round of teacher recruitment for the National Catholic Education Commission and Ochre Education Mastery in Mathematics project will be launched in early November. Read more.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority wants feedback from principals, teachers, parents and carers about their NAPLAN experience this year, following a number of changes made in 2023. Please share your thoughts in a quick survey.
Registrations are open for Sydney Catholic Schools’ upcoming Architects of Change Defining Educational Excellence forum to be held at the City Recital Hall on 8 November. Find out more.
Children’s Week: the theme is based on UNCRC Article 31- All Children have the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.