New publicationsInsider's Guide to School Leadership: Getting Things Done Without Losing Your Mind
Jossey Bass,
January 2006
This book is designed to help principals and administrators deal with common challenges in school leadership. It outlines techniques, supported by checklists of advice and practical examples from established school leaders. Chapter One focuses on recruitment and staff retention, and outlines how to set up a recruitment committee, research a candidate's background and provide mentoring for new staff. Chapter Two discusses safety and emotional wellbeing, and details the use of inspections, systems for monitoring students and crisis management. Chapters Three and Four outline personal management and meeting management strategies. Staff professional development, learning communities and staff goal-setting are discussed in Chapter Five, while staff supervision is considered in Chapter Eight. Chapter Six examines leadership responsibilities and ethics, while Chapter Seven focuses on charisma and creativity in leadership. Chapter Nine guides readers on how to seek appropriate statistical data, understand test results and standards, and present statistical findings. Parental and community involvement are discussed in Chapter Ten, with guidance on how to create effective parent workshops, committees and newsletters. Adapted from publisher's description. KLA Subject HeadingsLeadershipSchool leadership School principals Essential Learnings for ALLThis resource package has been designed by the Tasmanian Department of Education to support inclusive teaching practices in the State's schools. The package is divided into three parts. In part one, a book outlines key concepts and terms associated with the issue of difference, to prompt staff professional learning and discussion with parents. Ideas from the book are linked to personal stories and examples in an accompanying DVD. In the second section, a book outlines inclusive teaching practices. A pamphlet for parents and poster depicting the Essential Learnings values are also included. The third section includes a workshop guide and DVD, in which practising teachers discuss examples of personalising learning for individual students. Adapted from publisher's description.
KLA Subject HeadingsEducation policyEquality Disabled Learning problems Tasmania What Makes Vocational Training Programs in Schools? A Study of New South Wales and Queensland Schools
National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER),
26 January 2006
Vocational education and training (VET) programs for young people in schools have significantly expanded over the past decade. This report investigates stakeholders' views on school-based vocational programs in New South Wales and Queensland schools from 2000 to 2002. It examines the objectives and expected outcomes for students, school VET coordinators, trainers and employers. The research finds considerable diversity in implementation at the local level, while at the broad level the two main objectives of facilitating transition between school and work and providing a highly skilled workforce are common for all stakeholders. Challenges facing the implementation of a school-based VET program are summarised and solutions offered. (From publisher's description).
KLA Subject HeadingsEducational evaluationVET (Vocational Education and Training) Queensland New South Wales (NSW) Turn-Around Pedagogies: Literacy Interventions for At-risk StudentsThis book details a study which used a 'reciprocal mentoring' arrangement between experienced and early career teachers, to share 'old' and 'new' literacy pedagogies. The teachers outline their experiences, which focused on understanding literacy difficulties and improving literacy outcomes for at-risk students. The book encourages teachers to recognise the rich cultural and linguistic resources which reluctant literacy learners possess, rather than taking a deficit view of them. Teachers' stories outline how they have personalised literacy tasks around the needs and interests of reluctant students, and explain what they have learnt from each other in the process. Recognising the advanced digital skills of today's students, most teachers used digital learning technologies to engage reluctant learners, for example through digital story book construction, PowerPoint story boards, video reviews and movie making. Other reading and writing strategies discussed include book clubs, writers corners, post-it notes, acting stories and literature circles. (Adapted from review by Alison Elliot in Teacher, August 2005).
Key Learning AreasEnglishSubject HeadingsHandwritingEnglish language teaching Reading Learning problems Literacy Surviving Year 12: a Sanity Kit for Students and Parents
Finch Publishing,
February 2004
This publication is written by one of Australia’s leading adolescent psychologists and co-author of Adolescence: a Guide for Parents. This book is written to assist students with the pressures of their final year of high school, along with their parents. Various aspects of exams are explored, including: putting exams into perspective; studying smarter; ways to overcome anxiety and stress; positive sleep, exercise and diet regimes; setting goals; avoiding procrastination; and coping with the exams themselves. Parents are offered guidance on how they can support children, such as ways to avoid nagging (Available from Curriculum Corporation).
KLA Subject HeadingsExaminationsMental Health Parent and child Secondary education A Picture of Australia’s Children: Third ReportThe Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released its third national statistical report on the health and wellbeing of Australian children. A Picture of Australia’s Children details a broad spectrum of child health issues, including: mortality and injury; the incidence and impact of chronic conditions; immunisation; oral health; and substance abuse and smoking. It finds that ‘most children are faring well but there are still significant areas of concern’. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds are identified as especially at risk. Obesity and mental health problems, once primarily associated with adult health, are appearing more frequently in children. The report also explores the role of education in children’s wellbeing, and its effect on their intellectual development and future success. It explains the wide-ranging, lasting benefits of quality early childhood education. The report acknowledges the many factors from within and beyond school that contribute to student achievement, and the wide network of systems which support student wellbeing, in which schools play an integral part.
Key Learning AreasHealth and Physical EducationSubject HeadingsMental HealthObesity Physical Fitness Physical education Health education Health Child development |