Education
Children in schools and childcare ‘didn’t drive’ Delta spread
Analysis by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute has found the Delta variant has mostly spread from adult to adult, less frequently from adult to child and is only rarely transmitted between children.
- by Adam Carey and Madeleine Heffernan
Latest
Opinion
We need more immigration – Perrottet is right to seek a big Australia
Some argue the pandemic has applied the brakes to unsustainable population growth. But in a country as massive as Australia, the argument that we are “too full” is ludicrous.
- by Shane Geha
Parents offer to spend thousands on air purifiers, but some knocked back
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the NSW Department of Education will provide air purifiers if they are needed in public schools
- by Jordan Baker and Natassia Chrysanthos
Opinion
Students could have a field day with more outdoor learning
The pandemic is our opportunity to rethink school spaces and make better use of outdoor areas. Evidence suggests al fresco learning has many benefits for students.
- by Gweneth Leigh
‘I’m just busting to come back to school’: Sydney’s youngest students back in classrooms
At MLC School in Burwood, the heads of school were dressed in unicorn onesies to welcome kindergarten and year 1 back after more than three months of remote learning.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Kids keen for Indigenous culture classes, as schools open their gates
As kids head back to the classroom for face-to-face learning, teachers in Broken Hill say their students are keen to get back to language and culture lessons.
- by Cameron Gooley
After months at home, six-year-old Archie is ready to play with his friends again
Kindergarten and year 1 are the first Sydney students to return to school on Monday after four months of lockdown. Even though school won’t be back to its usual settings, many experts and parents believe it’s the right compromise.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos and Jordan Baker
At 4, Griff was doing long division. At 13, he’s ready for the HSC
Griff Brondum heads back to school on Monday with his year 12 peers - who once thought he was in detention rather than a member of their class. He is the youngest student sitting this year’s HSC.
- by Jordan Baker
Opinion
A crucial step to fighting anti-Semitism
Scott Morrison’s pledge to embrace the definition of anti-Semitism as set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance will be welcomed by Jewish university students.
- by Josh Feldman
Opinion
Even the most eager students have fears about going back to school
As schools resume face-to-face teaching, children may experience back-to-school anxieties. But there are parental strategies that can help.
- by Rachael Murrihy
Editorial
Patience and empathy needed as we re-emerge into changed world
It’s a great day for the people of NSW after the state hit its long-awaited 80 per cent vaccination target.
- The Herald's View
‘Summer is looking good’: NSW hits 80% target, pushes for students and tourists to return
Premier Dominic Perrottet confirmed NSW would ease restrictions to allow 20 visitors in homes and the return of community sport, as well as indoor dancing and drinking.
- by Matt O'Sullivan and James Massola
To mask or not to mask? The question facing parents as school resumes
Some primary school parents don’t think the benefits of masks outweigh the downsides. Others think it’s a small price to pay for safety.
- by Jordan Baker
Exclusive
JobKeeper payments made to school linked to ‘extremist cult’
OneSchool Global, which is associated with the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, a group that refers to outsiders as “worldlies”, has received an estimated $9 million in JobKeeper payments.
- by Anne Hyland and Michael Bachelard
Exclusive
Shorter isolation period for vaccinated students exposed to COVID-19
The NSW Department of Education will provide “limited” home-schooling resources to parents who refuse to send their children to school for the rest of the term, according to the new back-to-school guidelines.
- by Jordan Baker
Schools brace for big emotions, separation anxiety as students return
International experience has shown children often struggle to readjust to school after extended lockdowns.
- by Jordan Baker
Opinion
Beware the promise of easy answers when it comes to COVID
For epidemiologists advising politicians and debating control measures in the public arena: excess haste, over-simplification and exaggeration will lead us into dangerous waters.
- by Ewan Cameron
Exclusive
‘The joy of teaching’: Plan to find 3700 new teachers to plug school shortage
The NSW Department of Education’s plans to avert a teacher shortage include convincing people it’s a fulfilling job, as well as scholarships and incentives.
- by Jordan Baker
When a third of Camilla Portela’s class caught COVID, she became their source of support
Across the education sector, teachers and schools have gone way beyond their immediate duties to help families or students in need during lockdown.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Exclusive
Children as young as six mimicking Squid Game in playground, school warns
The principal of an inner Sydney school has asked parents to not let their children watch the violent MA show.
- by Jordan Baker
Updated
Tudge flags further free speech measures as sacked climate sceptic loses High Court case
The Education Minister Alan Tudge says he’s “concerned that, in some places, there is a culture of closing down perceived ‘unwelcome thoughts’ rather than debating them”.
- by Lisa Visentin and Nick Bonyhady
Mandatory jabs for students and staff to return to universities
The University of Technology Sydney and University of Melbourne are among city institutions that have decided to make COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory for staff and students to return to campus.
- by Anna Patty
Exclusive
The ‘impossible’ juggle: Parents spent 14 hours a week on home learning
For Dee Mills, schooling has only been one of the stresses of having children home 24/7; there’s also the noise, the big emotions, and the constant feeding.
- by Jordan Baker
Exclusive
Classroom windows to be open so schools meet COVID-safe air standards
A new report warns there may be some level of student and teacher discomfort when temperatures rise, but that will be necessary to help mitigate COVID-19 transmission.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
The areas in which school enrolments are expected to double
More than 10,000 extra teachers will be required to meet demand.
- by Jordan Baker
Strict ‘cohorting’, mask rules for students’ early return to school
The new buzzword will be ‘cohorting’, which involves sorting students into groups and not letting them mix to minimise the spread of COVID-19.
- by Jordan Baker and Natassia Chrysanthos
Opinion
Teachers continue to inspire, against all odds
During the pandemic and remote learning, teachers continue to work hard and inspire a new generation.
- by Melissa Coburn
Exclusive
One in six teachers working outside their area of expertise, documents reveal
An analysis of HSC results found students taught by specially qualified teachers did better than those who were not, particularly in science and technology subjects.
- by Jordan Baker
Exclusive
Public school teacher shortage raises fears they will ‘run out of teachers’
Confidential departmental documents show NSW government schools face an unprecedented lack of teachers and are likely to “run out in the next five years”.
- by Jordan Baker
Opinion
We must stop growth of corporate childcare that puts profits above children
The big for-profit childcare centres put children most at risk. Yet, with government support, they now run half of all our childcare services.
- by Lisa Bryant
Exclusive
Moriah College asks parents, relatives for vaccination certificates
Private schools are asking for student vaccination status, but some are also asking for proof of vaccination from parents and relatives.
- by Jordan Baker
‘Not some fringe religion’: Gonski, Piccoli defend Catholic Perrottet
David Gonski, the businessman and university chancellor who designed Australia’s school funding equity framework, has defended incoming Premier Dominic Perrottet against accusations he is too religiously conservative for the top job.
- by Jordan Baker
Disadvantaged students do better than advantaged ones at uni: study
Female and Indigenous students also outperform their male and non-Indigenous counterparts in their first year of uni, a study by the University Admissions Centre has found.
- by Jordan Baker
What is the PARED Catholic school where the Premier was educated?
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet once credited his school, Redfield College, with shaping his future path. The school has links to Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic prelature, but some say those ties are overstated.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos and Mary Ward
Opinion
When this pandemic is over, schools need a louder voice at table
Over the past 18 months, schools have followed multiple messages from numerous stakeholders, often conflicting and sometimes downright absurd.
- by Briony Scott
Teacher vaccination rates on track, but school-level data yet to come
The NSW Education Department is also looking to buy about 10,000 air purifiers to help mitigate COVID-19 transmission in classrooms when students return.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
In lockdown, teenager Jorja has been inventing a needle-free injection
The year 9 student and budding inventor has used the past three months to design a needle-free alternative to the EpiPen for people who suffer from anaphylaxis.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Exclusive
NSW Education Department scopes 10,000 air filters ahead of return to school
The department is specifying it wants the supply of units that have high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) certified medical-grade filters.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Analysis
Schooners before school: Has the government got its priorities wrong?
First pubs, then schools. For many parents, lifting restrictions in that order shows the NSW government has its priorities wrong. But, as ever in this pandemic, the reality is more complicated.
- by Jordan Baker
Sydney schools to reopen a week earlier, classes to start October 18
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell also wants all schools in Sydney to open at the same time instead of keeping those in areas with high virus transmission closed
- by Jordan Baker, Tom Rabe and Lucy Carroll
Schools expect students to begin returning before official start date
As shops, bars and gyms are allowed to reopen, some parents will have to send their children back to school before the official return date on October 25.
- by Jordan Baker
Mandatory jabs for students considered under return-to-campus plan
More than 150,000 students at Sydney’s largest universities would face mandatory vaccination under reviews being considered by the state’s higher education sector.
- by Lucy Carroll and Anna Patty
‘Lives completely shattered’: Graduates plead for work visa extension
Thousands of international graduates of Australia’s education system have watched with despair as the clock has run down on their visas to work in Australia while they are trapped offshore.
- by Lisa Visentin
Unis call for Australia to accept students vaccinated in China
Australian universities have welcomed a plan to bring 500 students into Australia, but want the government to recognise Chinese-based coronavirus vaccines to attract Chinese students.
- by Anna Patty
Three children and a mother caught COVID through school. Here’s what happened
Sydney pathologist Andrea Thomson* didn’t see the school holidays going this way: locked inside with her three children, all COVID-19 positive, while her husband isolates separately in the house.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
The Australian universities with the most employable graduates
Close to 40 per cent of recent university graduates say they are not making full use of their qualifications, but those who attend institutions with business partnerships are getting an edge when it comes to finding jobs.
- by Anna Patty
NSW classroom audit began two weeks after back-to-school plan announced
The NSW Education Department has not placed an order for any air purification devices despite conceding they may be necessary for some indoor spaces when students return next month.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Exclusive
International students to return to NSW by the end of the year
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet confirmed the plan to restart the state’s critical international higher education sector had been finalised and would form part of the state’s road map to reopening after the Delta outbreak, but students from key markets in China and Nepal are not likely to be among them.
- by Anna Patty and Alexandra Smith
Exclusive
The Sydney university scholarship student defying mongooses and mozzies in Indian slum
Tushar Joshi has next to nothing. But a scholarship from Sydney University with help from the non-profit Asha Society is helping lift him out of poverty and one of India’s slums.
- by Julie Power
In the Herald: September 22, 1968
Australian actor George Lazenby still has a strong chance of becoming the next James Bond.
- by Harry Hollinsworth