APC has produced a number of videos as part of our ongoing project with the National Careers Institute - nci.dese.gov.au

We are very proud to have two of our case study videos included on the Storylines website.

All the videos are a free resource for parents, teachers, schools, careers advisors and community groups. They aim to make parents more aware of all the options open to young people and especially highlight the unexpected opportunities offered by vocational education and training (VET), as well as give general advice about talking careers with teens and helping them find work and training options. They have already been shared at a number of parent information evenings and have been very popular on our social media channels.

Contact media@austparents.edu.au if you would like the videos in a different format, or share them direct from the YouTube links below or via our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/watch/AustParentsCouncil/

Case studies

Kade is combining a School-based apprenticeship Year 11 with his HSC studies, working on a cattle property at Nowra Hill in NSW, and hopes to go on to study Veterinary Sciences at uni.

Luke is taking an Australian School-based Apprenticeship as part of his Year 11 and 12 program, working on an oyster farm at Pambula in NSW and gaining a Cert II in Aquaculture. He loves the freedom of working on the water and says it simply ‘feels right’. He hopes to go into business with his brother in the future.

Darby’s combining a School-based Apprenticeship in Year 11 and 12 with her HSC. She will also gain a Certificate II in Agriculture. One of her rotations is at a dairy Farm at Candelo on the Far NSW South Coast. She hopes to manage her own farm in the future.

Cebita is an IT apprentice with the Australian Government working four days and studying one day a week at Canberra Institute of Technology where she is completing a Cert IV in Cyber Security. Cebita was offered her apprenticeship after taking a school based apprenticeship in Years 11 and 12 at school. She decided not to go straight to uni in favour of the option to earn while she learns.

Career planning

Parent tips on career planning with teens

We asked lots of different parents for their advice for other parents on career planning. This is what they told us.

Why parents recommend vocational education and training in school

We asked parents who know kids who have taken part in vocational education and training (VET) in school why they'd recommend it to other parents. This is what they said.

Top 10 tips for parents from a careers advisor

Chontel Green, an experienced careers officer from Hawker College in the ACT, shares her top ten tips for parents when talking careers with their kids. Chontel spends her whole time helping kids and parents chart their path from school to work, training and further study. This is what she'd like every parent to know.

The Australian Parents Council has firmly backed the focus on 'truth telling' and accurate accounts of historical events of the colonisation of Australia in a submission to the current Australian Curriculum Review to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

“The changes proposed by the review are simply a move towards open and honest discussion of our history, and this is what education should be about,” explains Jenni Rickard, APC President.

"Australia’s history is as rich as it is problematic. Nevertheless, to achieve reconciliation we need to acknowledge the dark parts of our Nation’s past. Ignoring it is not going to make it go away. But when we know better, we do better. That is why it is imperative that accurate and truthful accounts of Australian history are learnt by all children at school. It takes nothing away from children and means everything to First Nations children.”

APC's submission also made the following main points: 

• APC supports the 20% reduction in content across the curriculum as requested by teachers.
• APC supports the changes in the General Capabilities by refining of language throughout and embedding the capabilities, allowing for authentic engagement throughout the curriculum.
• APC understands that the refresh of the website for teachers to access the curriculum framework allows for teachers to better access and use the interface for the curriculum and is warmly welcomed.

Consultation on the current review of the Australian Curriculum closed on July 8. To find out more about the proposed changes go to www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/consultation.

Feedback from the consultation will be used by Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to develop final revisions, which will be provided to federal, state and territory education ministers to consider.

The Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum is our national
curriculum, which outlines the core content that all young people should
be taught regardless of where they live in Australia.

ACARA reviews the curriculum every six years and has consulted with
360 practising teachers and curriculum specialists to develop the
proposed changes across the whole of the curriculum. The aim is to make the content clearer and better organised, as well as more concise, more specific and less cluttered.

ACARA produced this video on what parents and parent groups, including APC, said they wanted from the Australian Curriculum - www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/parent-information/

How the curriculum incorporates student wellbeing was the focus of several questions in our recent Parent Q&A on NAPLAN 2021 and the Australian Curriculum Review.

There were two specific questions that we'd like to highlight in this newsletter as we thought lots of parents might be interested in the responses, and because we didn't get time to respond to them in detail during the webinar.

We'd like to thank the team at the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority for providing these responses.

1. From Lisa on well-being considerations in the early curriculum

Q: What will be done to adjust the balance and pace of the curriculum to ensure children’s well-being and mental health are the foremost concern? My observation of the P-2 curriculum in particular is that it progresses at a pace that doesn’t give kids (even bright, affluent kids) a chance to feel like they have mastered any concept before they are plunged headlong into the next concept. Every 7yo I know talks with negative self-perception and is at risk of anxiety.

A: The Review has provided an opportunity to refine the curriculum, particularly in the Foundation to Year 2 year levels, to focus on the learning that matters most in each Learning Area. The essential content in each learning area has been identified and any non-essential content has been removed in order to give teachers the time needed to teach the essential content well.  

2.

Q: At what point will we realize that we’re generating a mass chronic mental health issue and learn to design the curriculum in a way that complements and nurtures natural child development in a way that enables all kids to feel a sense of achievement and success, and in doing so encourage them to define themselves as successful learners? How is the Review incorporating evidence from child health experts, child development experts and child psychologists?

A: The review has been informed by evidence from early years learning experts and experts in child and adolescent health and wellbeing to design the curriculum in a way that complements and nurtures child development. In the early years of learning the focus on the importance of allowing students to investigate and explore new concepts has been strengthened in line with the evidence of how children learn and develop. In the high school years, a focus in the Health and Physical Education curriculum and the Personal and Social Capability has been strengthened to support the development of self-awareness, self-management and the skills and understandings needed to become resilient individuals. 

If you missed our Parent Q&A on NAPLAN 2021 and the Australian Curriculum Review in April or would like to share the webinar, it is available on our Facebook page.

Education Ministers agreed a revamp of NAPLAN, including looking at delivering results within two weeks, in an update announced by Education Minister Alan Tudge on July 2.

The media statement described the agreed changes as 'improvements to national standardised testing in Australian schools to better inform teacher practice'.

It said Education Ministers agreed:

• that the writing test would continue to be conducted as a census test
• that the testing of spelling, grammar and punctuation (Conventions of Language) will be separate from writing as part of the annual census-based standardised assessment program
• that ACARA would work with jurisdictions to explore the feasibility of shifting of the test as early as possible in the school year and turn around test results in two weeks
• that the assessments remain in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9
• in-principle to enabling schools to “opt-in” to assessments in the domains of Science Literacy (including critical and creative thinking), Digital Literacy and Civics and Citizenship annually in Year 6 and Year 10 and request ACARA further develop the proposal for the next meeting
• that ACARA investigate the feasibility of incorporating critical and creative thinking in English and Mathematics into the existing NAPLAN domains, with advice to be provided to the next Education Ministers’ Meeting.

Ministers also discussed progress on key national reform initiatives including the Unique Student Identifier and the Online Formative Assessment Initiative.

Discussions were also had in relation to teacher workforce issues and the Commonwealth Preschool funding proposals.

Chair of the Education Ministers Meeting (EMM), Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said that it was a constructive meeting with good progress on key national initiatives.

“NAPLAN has been an important tool to inform teacher practice and give guidance to parents on how their child is progressing. These incremental reforms will enhance these objectives,” Minister Tudge said.

“It will also provide more opportunities for schools to “opt in” to additional assessments in the key subject areas of Science, Civics and Digital Literacy.”

We now have detailed responses to parent questions about adjustments for students with dyslexia and typing skills submitted during our April Q&A with ACARA that we didn't get time to answer on the night. 

We'd like to thank the team at the ACARA for providing these responses.

From Katie on Dyslexia NAPLAN Adjustments

Q: Why are there not adequately organised adjustments for moderate to severe dyslexia students?   - eg: exam scanning pens allowed assisted technology and or a reader in NAPLAN. In this day and age of inclusive education this is truly complete ignorance. Government something has to be done about Dyslexia reforms in the education arena. Other countries have amazing educational dyslexia support yet Australia has only South Australia leading the charge. With government job seekers rising, depression and suicide on the increase especially in the male population (where dyslexia is more dominant), we owe it to our young people to give them every chance possible to succeed. It’s the foundation building blocks where self-esteem is built. It’s every child right to read and write and be given an education, yet our education system is letting so many children down.

A: ACARA regularly reviews the adjustments available during NAPLAN, in consultation with the state/territory test administration authorities (TAAs) responsible for administering NAPLAN in schools. In the move to NAPLAN Online, we undertook research on how to enhance the accessibility of NAPLAN for students with disability or additional learning needs, and we will be continuing research in this area over the next 12 months. ACARA has developed a range of adjustments to support students with disability and those with diverse learning needs. Information about adjustments, including example disability adjustment scenarios, is available on the ‘Adjustments for students with disability’ page of the NAP website. As students’ functional abilities vary, the use of some adjustments involves consultation between the family, school and the state/territory test administration authority.

From Nicola

Q: I think that my daughter in year 5 will be completing the narrative/persuasive task by typing her response on an iPad.  Do you think this will allow the children to be assessed on their reading and writing skills, or just their one-fingered typing skills?  Also, how are responses provided on an iPad or keyboard compared to children who write with a pen or pencil or with a keyboard?  These three ways of responding are extremely different methods and don't seem comparable.

A: The writing test is not about handwriting skills and NAPLAN Online is not about keyboarding skills. There are variations in how fast and well a student can type, just as there are variations in how fast and well a student can write by hand. Ensuring students are familiar with using devices, typing on them and navigating through programs is a part of students’ everyday learning and a requirement of the Australian Curriculum. Students do not have to be able to touch type to successfully complete the test. Students can use wired or wireless keyboards with devices with a touchscreen keyboard, such as iPads. The Online National Assessment Platform website (https://www.assessform.edu.au/layouts/Technology/Devicerequirements.aspx) has up-to-date information about technical requirements and devices for NAPLAN Online. ACARA recommends an external keyboard for students completing the writing test on an iPad, provided the student is familiar with using an external keyboard in their day-to-day lessons. Schools are advised to ensure that students are familiar with the device they plan to use for the NAPLAN Online tests. Between 2012 and 2015, ACARA conducted a number of research trials into student engagement with aspects of online assessments and found that no students reported feeling penalised for typing their responses. Overall, students described typing as being easier for changing and correcting answers. ACARA research shows that online writing is similar to handwriting in terms of the quality of writing produced by students at each year level. It also shows that students generally appreciate the use of online features such as editing tools (noting that online features such as grammar and spell-check are disabled during NAPLAN testing). 

If you missed our Q&A on NAPLAN and the Australian Curriculum Review or would like to share the webinar, it is available on our Facebook page.

For more information for parents on NAPLAN try the following:

• www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support/ - includes information about adjustments for students who need them - which was a topic we received lots of questions about in the Q&

We also welcome your feedback, so please drop us an email if you have further questions - media@austparents.edu.au.

The APC Review, our in-depth biannual look at education issues with a parent perspective, is now digital only and we are keen to make sure that our subscriber list is up to date.

If you would like to update your details or subscribe to the APC Review, please either do so via the email you received with links to the current edition or alternatively email media@austparents.edu.au.

The latest edition, which was shared recently, along with previous editions are available on our website.

Healthy Lunchbox Week is an initiative of Nutrition Australia.

It aims to inspire Australian families to create healthy and enjoyable lunchboxes.

​Did you know children consume around 30% of their daily food intake at school?

Most of this comes from the contents of their lunchbox. What children eat during their day at school plays a crucial role in their learning and development.

Occurring at the start of Term 1, it provides timely information for families as they return to the routine of daily lunchbox packing and it supports schools and teachers to share healthy lunchbox messages within their school community by:

• inspiring healthy lunchbox ideas and recipes

• informing a healthy lunchbox balance across core food groups

• awareness of lunchbox food hygiene and safety.
  
  

Do you have Australia's healthiest lunchbox?
Win one of six $250 Woolworths e-Gift cards by sharing a picture and explanation of your healthy lunchbox creation with Life Education.

Entries close 12 February 2022.

Come and join out special interest Facebook groups - designed to connect and inform parents and carers, who give their time and energy at their children's school and help build their school community.

COVID has underlined for all of us that connectivity matters, and there has been a whole lot of innovation going on in schools when it comes to parent events, fund raising and community building lately. So we decided to provide some dedicated independent platforms, where members from different schools can share ideas and problem solve.

To ensure these are 'safe spaces' they are 'members only', but we encourage you to send us a request to join if you are interested in connecting with other parents, carers and/or board members.

You can find our more and request to join by following these links:

We're very happy to invite you to become a friend of the Australian Parents Council. You can join us as an individual, a school or an organisation. You don't have to be part of a particular school sector and can come from anywhere in Australia. The single most important qualification for becoming a friend of the APC is that you are passionate about education.

As an organisation, we believe that active and empowered parents and carers can, and do, make a significant difference to children’s achievement.

We have a proud tradition of supporting and advocating for parents going back to 1962. We are not-for-profit, non-denominational and non-party political, funded by parents and supported by government. We are not controlled or appointed by a school sector, although we do work closely with government and education providers. We are fiercely independent, as we believe this enables us to provide an authentic parent voice. 

We provide a genuine parent perspective on education issues, and we are widely consulted.

We advocate at a national level for:

• school choice
• parent voice
• equity in access and funding
• quality education for all students.

Friends will go onto our mailing list to receive all our newsletters, and other publications like media releases and reports. We will also invite our friends to share their insights and feedback on a wide range of issues affecting school parents.