On 26 November 2008, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, Minister for Education, announced that the Australian Government, through the new National Partnership agreement with states and territories, will be undertaking an initiative to recruit high-achieving graduates into teaching. The new pathway initiative includes a vital role for businesses, which have a growing stake in the performance of the education system, and can make an important contribution to improving education standards. The Minister invited the Australian business community to become involved in the new pathway initiative, to help secure our nation's future. Read more about the initiative, and request further information, at http://www.deewr.gov.au/new_teaching_pathway.
The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Minister for Education announced the winners of the Australian Student Prize for 2007 on 6 August 2008. The outstanding academic achievements of the 500 young Australians have earned them Australian government recognition through this prize. The Australian Government congratulates the winners. For a list of winners and schools by state and territory please see
2007 winners.
This
report looks at how to encourage and engage preschool children’s interest in science, engineering and technology with a particular focus on how to use an existing program for older children called Primary Connections.
The
Trade Training Centres in Schools Program is an important element of the Australian Government’s Education Revolution. It will provide $2.5 billion over 10 years to enable all secondary schools to apply for funding of between $500,000 and $1.5 million for Trade Training Centres.
It is National Bilby Day on 14 September 2008. To help promote this day, the Save the Bilby Fund is running the
Face the Challenge crossword competition as a fun way for school students to learn more about bilbies and other endangered species. For more information go to
http://www.savethebilbyfund.com/ 
National Bilby Day was launched in 2005 to promote awareness of bilbies and other endangered species and their fight for survival.
Nominations are now open for the 2008 awards. Up to 13 awards, with a value of $5,000 each, will be awarded for excellence and leadership in school music education to teachers and school leaders. The awards will recognise the recipients' exceptional contribution to enhancing the status and quality of music education in their schools. Further information is available at
www.musicawards.asme.edu.au/.
Nominations close 8 April 2008.
The Australian Government has invited Australian primary and secondary schools to participate in a series of School Summits in the lead-up to the Australia 2020 summit on 19 and 20 April.
The aim of the Australia 2020 summit is to look at Australia's future challenges and find innovative solutions by harnessing the best ideas across the nation from Australians with experience, accepted standing, credibility and authority.
The Australian Government wishes to involve the whole Australian community in addressing these challenges. So, as the future adults of 2020, the Government is very interested to hear the ideas of all Australian school children. The outcomes from these discussions will be fed into Australia 2020 and the Youth Summit.
Schools Summits will be held by individual schools over a three week period, starting on the 17th of March 2008.
More information on the Schools Summits is available at www.australia2020.gov.au
The 2008 Administrative Guidelines set out the objectives, administrative requirements and funding allocations for Australian Government programmes for schools for 2008.
The Parents’ Attitudes to Schooling survey report discusses the results of a national telephone survey on parents’ attitudes to schooling conducted by DEST during January and February 2007. The survey was conducted to ascertain parents’ views on a range of issues including schooling choices, content that should be compulsory, school reports, bullying and manners, improvements that could be made to schools, traditional apprenticeships, core skills, and post-school priorities.
The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) Student Mobility Working Group introduced a national system for the timely transmission of student information for students transferring to interstate schools in early 2006. This is known as the interstate Student Data Transfer Note (ISDTN). The ISDTN and protocols for its use by government and non-government schools may be downloaded from the MCEETYA website .
DEST has produced information booklets and a brochure for schools and parents to assist in supporting the needs of students who move schools. The information booklets and brochures are available from the Changing Schools webpage.
The Australian Government is investing $62.5 million over three years in the
Local Schools Working Together (LSWT) pilot program (the Program). The aim of the program is to fund approximately 25 projects displaying innovative collaborations between schools and other partners to address shared infrastructure needs that are not met by existing facilities.