The Australian Education Times - November 2015

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Issue 23 • November 2015 • www.educationtimes.com.au

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ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

ITC For Education : Time for a change

Literacy Corner : Be a thinking speller

Science Lab : Earth and Space

SHARPEN UP YOUR TEST TAKING SKILLS

NAPLAN TEST, OPPORTUNITY TRIAL TEST, SELECTIVE TRIAL TEST

www.onlinepreunicollege.com.au

Success Story

THE NEWS CREW

also experience our great student services including libraries, cafes, student associations, gyms, careers advisory service, book shops and many more.

• Online: TAFE NSW offers a wide range of courses delivered entirely online. This means you can study at your own pace wherever suits you best, at home, at work or on-the-go. You will access learning and support materials and submit assessments all online.

• In the workplace: Our teachers will train you in your workplace, using your tools and knowledge.

Assignments will be based on your real life workplace and your previous work experience could give you credit towards completing your qualification faster.

“THERE ARE MANY

PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS YOU JUST HAVE TOyour FIND Check out localA WAY campus THAT SUITES YOU.” If you choose to study on campus, you will do at one TAFE NSW’s 12 so Tips To of Success ten institutes across the state.

Individual institutes and campuses have open days that allow you to check out the learning spaces, ask questions of teachers to get more details about specific courses and find out what support services are available. Spending some time in what FOLLOWcould US be your future learning environment, checking out the facebook.com/theaustralianeducationtimes facilities available for your chosen course, will help you feel more confident when you apply. @TheAusEduTimes

JOIN US DIGITALLY VIA OUR SOCIAL NETWORKS….

CheckUSyour entry CONTACT email : editor@educationtimes.com.au requirements Phone: +61 2 8883 0750 Carefully ADVERTISE review your selected course to seeadvertise@educationtimes.com.au if there are any specific entry email: requirements. If you do not meet the When you see this symbol, check out our website for real life interviews and more info!

Contents

required academic requirements, we can advise you on a suitable alternative course or study pathway will allow The Australian Educationthat Times’ youSecond to do your chosen course after you Anniversary have obtained the necessary basics first.

News and Views:

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Outstanding School for Check if you’re eligible government subsidies of the Month:

TAFE NSW Park courses be governmentBossley Highcan School subsidised or provided on a ‘feefor-service’ basis. Find out about government subsidies, exemptions, concessions, additional costs, and temporary visa holder fees so it is worth clarifying first.

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Success Story:

12 Tips to success

ICT for Education:

Accelerate your learning Time for a change?

8 Tafe Focus

Tafe Focus:

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Special Pull out:

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Career of the Month:

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Literacy Corner:

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Everyone who undertakes nationallyZoologist training at TAFE NSW must recognised have a Unique Student Identifier which gives you ongoing access to your records and results, so they are always available if you toSpeller enrol in further training Be achoose Thinking or need to show a future employer. You will need to have a USI before you apply to a TAFE NSW course. Visit http://www.usi.gov.au/create-your-USI Got a degree…so what?

Focus on university:

Science Lab: Apply Earth and Space

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Whatever your needs we’ll have a way for you to study that fits your schedule, your career goals and your bank balance.

We have a range Some Fun Activities and Games of great payment options which mean you can pay flexibly and in some cases study now and pay later. Eligible students can also access concessions or scholarships to help with fees. Some courses have specific enrolment dates, so be mindful of when your application is due. Other courses enrol all year round. The application process will vary from course

Puzzle Pop:

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You may be able to use your previous study and other evidence of your knowledge, skills, and experience to gain Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for Going higher-The Tafe advantage credit towards one of our courses. Under RPL your formal and informal learning are assessed to see whether you can meet competency standards. Check this Workyou Experience before apply.

Get a USI

Everything you need to know to apply to TAFE NSW

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to course so be careful to read the details carefully so you know how best to proceed with your enrolment.

You may be invited to: • Register your interest first and then attend an information/ pre-enrolment session • Complete an application or selectionof process, which could Career include submission of a portfolio theor month an audition Zoologist • Enrol online. Course offering information for the campus you are interested is available at www.tafensw.edu.au

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Embarking on a new career is exciting and choosing TAFE NSW will give you the skills you need to get the job you want. Taking the time to understand your personal interests and preferred study modes, checking off any academic requirements and investigating your eligibility for subsidies will make your application process a Science Lab we are here to breeze. As always, Earth and Space assist you every step of the way, so for more information visit: www.tafensw.edu.au

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www.educationtimes.com.au

The Australian

Education Times

W

e made it to our second anniversary! On behalf of The Australian Education Times we would like to thank you, the readers, for your continued support for our magazine and the development of education.

This month’s news and views looks back at the stories that The Australian Education Times have covered and give credit to everyone that has contributed to the success of our publication.

In this issue’s pull out section, we focused on the importance of work experience. With an increasingly competitive job market, students are finding it more difficult to enter their targeted industry since they lack the necessary practical skills that employers are searching for. Getting work experience early will benefit you professionally but, for some, working for the first time is an extremely daunting task. Where should you work? What do you do on the first day? The Australian Education Times provides early job hunters with advice for pursuing a potential career path.

Read about what are the trends and issues in education through our ICT section, Literacy Corner and the Focus on University section. Learn about how schools are adapting to changes to new software platforms or hardware in this month’s ICT section. Finding it hard to spell? Breaking down bigger and more difficult to spell words into syllables is immensely helpful and is probably more effective than simply memorising the word. Find out more about it in our Literacy Corner. Lastly, our Focus on University section discusses how life-long learning has become a necessity and how work based experience for university students can help accomplish that.

If you would like to see anything featured in the following months or have any feedback regarding articles, we would love to hear from you. Write to us at editor@educationtimes.com.au, your opinion is important to us.

Bye for now,

The Editorial Team

Letters to the editor

Dear editor,

This has probably been the most stressful month for my kid who is just wrapping up her HSCs. Thanks to your article I tried to ease up on added pressure on her to do well.

Maria, Randwick

Dear editor,

Technology definitely needs to be implemented more into the classroom, it’s practically everywhere!

Tony, Bondi Junction

Dear editor,

I like your article on encouraging talented children. It tells parents that with enough encouragement and practice their children can be incredibly talented.

Michael, Parramatta

Acknowledgment

MEET OUR EXPERTS Brian Kissman, Educator, Author, Consultant and Teacher Trainer Anne works with educators around the world in designing education for the 21st century. Anne is an international consultant and presenter, as well as an author. Her work with educators worldwide is focused on designing education that is truly 21st century, from policy planning to lesson planning, from curriculum design to professional development programs. www.21stCenturySchools.com Director@21stCenturySchools.com http://issuu.com/anneshaw21/docs/brochure

Nita Temmerman, Higher Education Consultant PHD, M ED Hons, B ED, DIPMUST, ATCL, MACE After an academic career that spanned 4 Australian states and positions as Pro Vice Chancellor Academic Quality, pro Vice Chancellor Community Engagement, Pro Vice Chancellor Partnerships, Executive Dean Faculty of Education and Head of School, Nita currently works as an independent higher education consultant and advisor.

Darryl Watson, Director of EDU-IT

Director of EDU-IT, which provide consulting services to schools for ICT leadership and direction. He worked with technology for nearly 40 years and the last 12 have been in the education sector. Daryl was the manager of ICT operations at All Saint’s in Perth from 2002 until 2014.

The Australian Education Times would like to acknowledge the Darug people who are the traditional custodians of this land. I would also like to pay respect to the elders past and present of the Darug nation and extend that respect to other Aboriginal people present.

The Australian Education Times is dedicated to providing relevant and up-to-date news and resources that can be used in the classroom or at home. If you would like to contribute to our magazine, please write to Noelene at editor@educationtimes.com.au All contributions are to be 300 words long and to include a photo that is saved as a jpeg.

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The Australian Education Times

secure your future

ICICI Education Loan

The Australian

Education Times NEWS AND VIEWS

The Australian Educatio

Second Anniver T

his month’s issue marks the second anniversary of the Australian Education Times.

There has been a lot of exciting changes with education that we have had the opportunity to report to you, our readers, about. We are continually amazed by how this magazine has grown and it is all thanks to you guys.

The Australian Education Times was launched in October 2013 at the NSW Parliament House and it has continued to pursue innovative approaches on education Australia.

The channels which provide information about the latest trends and issues in Australia’s education system are limited. Mainstream media, on the other hand, has always focused on the hot topics concerning the schooling system. However, The Australian Education Times has always aimed to cover every facet of education. We believe that this publication has been so vital in satisfying the curiosity of students, teachers and parents when it comes to reporting the evolution of the classroom environment. Not only do we look at the recent developments of the Australian education system but we also acknowledge people, institutions and smaller educational based companies that need recognition for their hard work in creating an environment where our children can thrive in today’s society.

At The Australian Education Times, we believe that the importance of education cannot be underestimated.

The only way we can improve our child’s abilities and ensure bright futures for them is through a good education system. Unfortunately, there is a lot of room for improvement required for Australian schools and policies that need to be tackled and discussed. The magazine, therefore, plans initiate critical conversations

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The Australian Education Times

or discussions about the state of the Australia’s education system in the hopes of strengthening it. We believe that a well-informed community vastly improve the quality of education in Australia.

This past year, the publication has maintained a strong focus on development of informal learning practices in the classroom. From blended learning and flipping the classroom through the use of technology and the ‘gamification’ of curriculum to using social media as a tool to enhance a child’s learning. The ‘ICT for education’ also highlighted the different ways various technologies can be incorporated in the classroom. The Australian Education Times has also focused on the best ways to stimulate the student’s learning and helping them achieve their potential.

Throughout the year we have always addressed the issues concerning students from primary to tertiary education. These included providing a potential career path for students through our ‘Career of the Month’ column and comprehensively discussing the state of tertiary education in our ‘Focus on Universities’ column. Our ‘Literacy Corner’ section has also redefined what it means to be ‘literate’ in the 21st century.

Furthermore, the magazine has also addressed the changes in NAPLAN and

informed teachers and parents about the increasingly high levels of stress and anxiety with the High School Certificate (HSC) in our news and views column. In every issue we also recognise and celebrate the achievements of schools and their

on Times’

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students in our ‘Outstanding School of the Month’.

The Australian Education Times is also proud of giving a platform for young writers and budding journalists to voice their opinions and gain experience in the field of print media. We are immensely grateful for supporting a talented young news crew and we would like to develop this by extending our invitation to write interesting feature articles for the magazine to people of all ages and professions.

This year we have been able to provide our talented news crew with the opportunity to speak to prominent people who have contributed a lot to their communities and their respective fields for our ‘Success Story’ section.

We have kept this section strong over the year with more personalities and more successful people in varied professions. We believe that while this section supports the magazine, it is really more helpful for the young journalists who have begun to develop their confidence in public speaking as well as improved their ability to interview, which is a vital skill that can be translated into other disciplines.

From CEOs of companies, doctors and politicians, this column of the magazine has opened the minds of our young journalists and has helped them

appreciate the differences in opinions and ideas.

It is our second anniversary and we are still going strong! This is largely due to our contributors who we would like to thank for their amazing work in helping the magazine grow. Because of your contributions to the ‘ICT for Education’, ‘Outstanding School of the Month’, ‘Focus on University’ and ‘Literacy Corner’ the publication is both insightful and fresh.

We would also like to express our gratitude to our sponsors for their valued contributions and continued support for our publication and the advancement of education. In addition, we would also like to thank the large number of dedicated readers that have continuously provided us with feedback about the publication.

We would like to thank our wide reader base. Without you the magazine would not have been as successful as it is today and without you a conversation about education would not be had and we believe that is a missed opportunity.

We ask that you continue to support the Australian Education Times and you have our appreciation for the rapid growth of our publication.

If you have missed any issue of the magazine in this past year, it can be found online at www.educationtimes. com.au

ANNIVERSARY ISSUE The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times

Bossley Park

High School

Focussing on Excellence and Success

About our School

B

ossley Park High School is an innovative 7-12 comprehensive coeducational school of approximately 1500 students, including around 80% LBOTE, refugee and international students and a Special Education Unit. The school provides a rich education“Focusing on Excellence and Success” for all its students.

Established in 1988, Bossley Park High School is situated in the South Western Sydney region, surrounded by many significant cultural landmarks, which represent the rich cultural diversity of the student population. The school uniform colours of black and white, symbolise the explicitness of the school’s aims.

Bossley Park High School is committed to developing global and active citizenship; building strong partnerships and preparing our students for the challenges of our changing world.

Principal’s Message

Academic excellence

“Our school has a very strong community and values based perspective. For 27 years the school has enjoyed a strong reputation for welfare, discipline, respect, pride in wearing the school uniform and prudent financial management which provides students with fantastic resources.

Bossley Park High School provides an excellent education for all its students. This is highlighted by a large number of students receiving Bands 5 and 6 in the HSC, with 2014 seeing 18 students gaining an ATAR of 90 or above. Our school continues to receive sound NAPLAN results which guide the implementation of our teaching strategies and enable differentiated Teaching and Learning Programs which cater for individual learning needs.

We continue to celebrate academic and sporting successes when compared to similar schools in both government and private sectors. Bossley Park High School leads government schools when comparing “value added data” from Year 7 to 12 based upon NAPLAN and HSC analysis. We consistently perform well in all sports and are the envy of some specialist sporting schools with our Talented Football Program.

The popularity of the school continues with demand for enrolment outstripping that of supply. Our Gifted and Talented Programs offer students placement in academic courses, Technology, Mathematics, Football, Netball, Creative and Performing Arts.” Rel. Principal Mr.Chris Hollis.

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The Australian Education Times

Our Curriculum: Bossley Park High School offers a wide range of subject choices as well as welfare, literacy/numeracy, library and digital citizenship studies. Gifted and Talented streams are available across all grades. Students choose elective subjects in Year 8 and in Year 9.

The range of subjects in our senior school covers over 35 subjects, including school and TAFE-based VET courses. Students are able to access courses through The Open High School or Saturday School of Community Languages.

The school is well resourced with computer technology. Wi-Fi, computer rooms, interactive whiteboards and

video-conferencing facilities are integral for the quality teaching and learning standards of the school.

Our teachers are highly trained, qualified and committed. They actively participate in Professional Learning emphasising 21st century learning strategies and utilise the latest technology for differentiated learning to enhance student learning outcomes.

The school has a strong and effective Learning Support Faculty which supports student literacy and numeracy development through a range of teaching methods. Individualised Learning Plans are prepared for many students who have additional learning requirements.

Gifted & Talented Program:

Bossley Park High School provides an enriched learning environment for gifted and academically talented students, with staff trained in gifted education.

The school prides itself on enriching the learning of all students, not only those who have been identified as being gifted and talented, as we challenge students to think critically and creatively, making them successful 21st century learners.

Our teaching staff are able to assist in identifying students who would benefit from an innovative and challenging experience. The Gifted and Talented Academic Program offers both enrichment and acceleration, and addresses the skills required for leadership and success for the future. All programs have a Bloom’s focus involving the higher order thinking skills.

We also offer Gifted and Talented Programs in Dance, Drama, Music, Technology, Visual Arts, Netball and Football. Extension and enrichment programs are offered; some of which provide students with the opportunity to work with prominent local artists, sports coaches and musicians.

The Gifted and Talented Visual Art students, together with artists from TAFE have designed sculptures which represent the school and which beautify our school gardens.“Spice”, a local artist, has worked with our students to design and paint a mural for the local pre-school. This year’s major project has been dedicated to the ANZAC centenary.

Sculptures commemorating the spirit and sacrifice of our ANZAC heroes will feature in our ANZAC memorial garden. This garden will include six Lone Pine trees which have been produced from an acorn brought back to Australia from Gallipoli at the conclusion of World War I. Year 12

Visual Art students have consistently made artworks worthy of the Art Express Exhibition, and in recent years have had their art works exhibited in the Sydney and National Exhibition tour.

Our talented footballers are a force to be reckoned with, and have dazzled the competitors on the field. Under the leadership of our international coach, Mr Neil Mann, the program has developed a reputation for success; gaining world-wide interest. Our students have succeeded in gaining placements in both national and international Football leagues.

Gifted and talented technology students have the opportunity to work in partnership with the company INTEL and are involved with the launch of the Intel Galileo II initiative in schools.

Our students have participated in the National Computer Science School Competition and will also be involved in the National “Robo” Cup Junior Competition. Our great success has been the Yr 11 class of 2015, having been awarded the “Great Engineering Challenge” Winners, from the University of NSW.

Special Features of the School:

Leadership & Extra Curricular Opportunities:

Student Wellbeing:

The students at Bossley Park High School have many opportunities to be involved in student leadership or participate in a wide range of extracurricular programs. The school offers: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Youth Leadership group Interact Club Student Representative Council Peer Support Program Peer Tutoring and Mentoring Newspaper Club with the Fairfield Champion Homework Centre Interest Clubs (such as robotics and chess) Debating and Public Speaking teams After school sporting groups Musical and Dance ensembles School Band Drama Club Jewellery Club

The school has many special features and state of the art. The school farm is a self-sustaining farm. Students are able to enjoy the whole farming experience from raising and looking after a wide range of animals, to understanding the process of growing and marketing produce. Our agriculture students have entered into many Agricultural events, such as the Penrith and Royal Easter Shows and have come away with many ribbons for their entries.

Bossley Park High School has, for many years, had an affiliation with major companies and this has allowed our Industrial Technology Centre to become world renowned. Students have the opportunity to use equipment that is not seen in many other schools.

The school also offers a state of the art dance centre, gymnasium and hospitality kitchen. These facilities are open for student use and have allowed our students to achieve success in their creative performances, sporting endeavours and commercial cookery.

At Bossley Park High School, we provide a safe, secure and disciplined learning environment. Our staff recognise the importance of the social and emotional wellbeing of students and the impact this has on their learning.

The school is a Positive Behaviours for Learning school, which encourages students to be safe, respectful learners.

The staff has implemented the Mind Matters strategies alongside our, already strong, welfare and discipline policy. The welfare team is active and strong, and provides programs tailored to each year group on issues such as study skills, cyber-safety, transition activities and student mentoring.

Bossley Park High School’s vision is encapsulated in the school’s motto: Focusing on Excellence and Success.

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times SUCCESS STORY

12 TIPS TO W hat qualities do you need to be successful? This has been a question that The Australian Education Times has been trying to answer for two years now and we have found that there are many answers. There are several people who have achieved success and it is always a privilege to hear their side of the story and inspire our younger readers to be ambitious, set goals towards their dreams and work hard towards it. Success

does not just entail being a president of a company, it is the qualities that they exhibit when faced with hardships and how they work to achieve their goals.

We are thankful to all the people we have interviewed and we are looking forward to interviewing many more about their own roads to success because there are plenty of paths to be a success story.

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With Experience that level of uncertainty you had can be overcome.”

Professor Bruce Robinson Dean of Medicine at the University of Sydney.

Sometimes, achievement is a long road and you have to see what you already have and can achieve that gives you confidence in your next step.”

Greg Medcraft Chairman of Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASC).

You decide who you are, you like who you are and you get on with your life.” Julie Owens Labor Member of Parliament for Parramatta.

In order to achieve your goals, you need to strive hard for it and be really ambitious.”

Rose Hiscock Director of Powerhouse Museum.

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Education is fundamental to achieve you goals.

It’s not just at school or university level, education lasts your whole life.”

Steve James CEO of Teachers Mutual Bank.

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The Australian Education Times

Last but not least, we are proud of our young and talented Australian Education Times news crew. They have developed key interview skills that will be useful not just in journalism but in many other fields as well. Also if it was not for them and their insightful questions, stories of successful individuals in their respective fields would go untold. So thank you to everyone that has worked on these success stories.

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A leader needs to be patient with people, work with their strengths, find out what their interests are and develop them.” Lynda Kelly Head of learning, Australian National Maritime Museum.

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Education is fundamental to achieve you goals. It’s not just at school or university level, education lasts your whole life.” Steve James CEO of Teachers Mutual Bank.

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The key is not to give up and believe in yourself.” Adam McArthur, CEO of Literacy Planet.

O SUCCESS 9 10

Education is fundamental to achieve you goals.

It’s not just at school or university level, education lasts your whole life.”

Steve James CEO of Teachers Mutual Bank.

Education is fundamental to achieve you goals.

It’s not just at school or university level, education lasts your whole life.”

Steve James CEO of Teachers Mutual Bank.

Education is fundamental to achieve you goals.

It’s not just at school or university level, education lasts your whole life.”

Education Steve James CEO of is fundamental Teachers Mutual to achieve you goals.

Bank.

It’s not just at school or university level, education lasts your whole life.”

Steve James CEO of Teachers Mutual Bank.

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To watch the full interview visit www.educationtimes.com.au The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times ICT FOR EDUCATION

Time for a Change?

O ver the last few months many schools have discussed with me the opportunity to change the ICT pathway being taken by their school. This has included changing the preferred device, platform (Operating System) or one of their main software platforms. Some examples were moving from iPads to PC or Macs, moving to iPads, changing from Mac to PC, changing from Microsoft Office 365 to Google Applications for Education (GAFE).

These moves were generally based on a feeling they were using ICT that no longer met the needs of the school. Quite often, someone in senior management has experienced a system that seemed to work better either at another school or from a demonstration.

Schools should always use a change management process when a significant change to ICT systems is proposed. I suggest that any change with campus wide implications should have a process applied which ensures you are not

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The Australian Education Times

moving to a ‘Grass is Greener’ type of change that carries the risk of negative implications which significantly outweigh the potential benefits.

The first step in the process should be to assess the current strategic vision/ plan for the use of ICT within the school.

I always suggest this step be completed before major changes with a potential to impact on the strategic plan for the school is contemplated. When ICT thinking is at the forefront of change it is the best time to ensure the strategic vision still fits and the plan supports that vision.

After the strategic plan has been validated then I suggest that you should create a check list of the points the change being contemplated intersects with the strategic plan, then confirm both old and new systems comply with the strategic plan. These check points need to be objective with definitive links to the strategic plan. Quite often we get caught up with subjective statements about ICT which are very dependent

upon personal preference. If those preconceived, normally unsubstantiated biases are included in this stage of the process they will corrupt the outcome.

Following the first two steps it may be the only possible way ahead is for a change to happen. In that case, with a strategic vision which only supports a certain path, the following steps are irrelevant.

If both the original system and the one which has been proposed both meet the strategic needs of the school you should now assess these systems against each other to map the benefits of each. You now need to build a feature table for all systems in contention for deployment. I would suggest interviewing or surveying as many of the interested parties as possible.

Empowering parents, students and staff in these decisions is time consuming and complex but provides great visibility about the change. Determine what is important to all involved in this decision.

At this stage you will almost certainly

be experiencing some of those subjective, preconceived ideas about technology. It is now time for them be incorporated into the decision making process as they will have an effect on your deployment either in raising expectations or creating criticism.

There are some very good tools available for collecting input from interested parties. These will allow for either anonymous or validated data collection and can be very powerful tools to aid the process. I often use a surveying tool to help with determining the popularity of options I propose.

The data analysis tools within these on line packages are very strong.

Once you have the community needs defined by the information gathering process, they should to be cross-checked against the strategic plan to ensure they’re not at odds. It is possible the community has a feature in mind for the technology which is against the strategic vision of the school. An example could be that when consulted the students wanted integration of the latest social media site and the strategic plan already specifically outlaws implementing those services.

When a full list of features is complete then the alternative technologies should be compared based on those feature sets. This comparison should be objective to ensure a fact based decision.

If this process is followed you will have change that is well researched and well communicated to all parties with the final decision based on solid evidence based outcomes.

Other conside

rations

The procedure above gives no weight to some other sig nificant consid erations in a change proce ss.

Previous personal effort

Teachers and other staff may have spent many years developing their resources to work on, or with, a particular technology platform and you are planning how to move on.

You should acknowledge the effort and be prepared to add the cost for replicating that effort for them. If you do not acknowledge the effort of those staff, you risk staff being unwilling to adopt the next system as their previous effort is not appreciated.

Although ICT is constantly changing there is no reason to constantly change technology. Sometimes it is worth taking a deep breath and thinking everything through. I think it’s important to always value the progress that has already been made.

Previous Co rporate Effort

The effort pu t into Profess ional Developmen t (PD) of Tea ch ers on IT has been significant.

Sometimes we forget ho w much effo rt has been put into that PD over man y years. If the new syst em doesn’t u tilise the PD you need to understand the cost of replicating

system.

that level of

Current Corporate Knowledge

PD on the new

If technology being replaced has been incorporated into curriculum and/or administrative functions, there will already be a knowledge base on the use of that system. If this has already been a lengthy deployment, the understanding of how integrated existing technology is can be very difficult to obtain. My experience has shown me that a lot of people can be using technology without understanding the intricacies of that use. When we changed our student administrative processes it took about six months to sort out those processes to work on the new system because there was very little documentation and the staff ’just did it’ without understanding how much double handling was going on.

If there is no way you can carry out this sort of process within the current resources resources of the school, look outside, the school, there are many companies and resources available to assist with making sure change is well handled.

About the Author:

Darryl Watson

Director, Edu- IT PTY Ltd

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times ICT FOR EDUCATION

App Review

DID YOU KNOW? 90%

of primary schools in New South Wales have an internet connection and interactive whiteboards.

The Internet and the World Wide Web

This app shares stories with children that promote the themes and importance of family, loyalty, friendship and positive behaviours. It teaches vital topics and helps with children’s reading skills.

are not the same thing. The Internet is a huge network of networks that links computers together all over the world.

The World Wide Web is the collection of linked pages.

24%

of students use a mobile device to take photos of assignments and what is written on the board.

In 2009,

ABC vegie guide This app is all about health.

What vegies should be planted when, what climates, and all the information you need to produce healthy vegetables.

It is perfect for anyone, old or young, who is looking to begin a vegetable garden or is just curious about gardening.

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The Australian Education Times

360 panorama

360 panorama This app is perfect for geography students or just anyone passionate about geography.

The app helps students appreciate what is around them.

the ratio of technology to students was 5.3 to 1.

40%

of students collaborate with their peers via technology,for educational purposes.

33%

of students use mobile devices for reminders and alerts related to school. E.g. when an assignment is done.

The Australian

Education Times PROMOTION

Kindle for

A

new app that gives you access to the world’s largest selection of eBooks on your compatible Samsung device is here*. Kindle for Samsung is great for Australian primary, secondary and tertiary students who want to read on the go. In partnership with Amazon, Kindle for Samsung has everything students can expect from the standard Kindle app, plus they can download a free book every month from the Samsung Book Deals selection. **

Samsung So why use Kindle for Samsung?

Kindle for Samsung can provide students with the opportunity to read from virtually anywhere, with downloaded books available offline.

Kindle for Samsung can be downloaded from the Samsung Galaxy Apps store on compatible Samsung smartphones and tablets^. Existing Amazon users simply use their Amazon account details to login and begin exploring. For new users it’s easy and quick to create a new account.

With the Kindle for Samsung app, you can choose a free book every month from the Samsung Book Deals selection!** Access the world’s largest selection of eBooks Time to Read estimates how much time it will take to finish a chapter or a book based on your personal reading speed.

Whispersync synchronises your reading across your compatible devices^.

Worry-Free Archive automatically backs up your Kindle books in the cloud,# including all your previously purchased Kindle eBooks.

There are several benefits to using Kindle for Samsung in classrooms and in education: -Students are able to download books at virtually any time on their compatible device* -Students are able to focus on the vocabulary within the book or article they have selected, as they are a click away from finding out the definition of the selected word -Learning new vocabulary can help support improvement in reading comprehension skills, as well as understanding more difficult texts.

* Internet connection required. Data charges may apply. Content within Kindle for Samsung must be purchased and is subject to availability. ** Internet connection required. Data charges may apply. Kindle for Samsung app only available on compatible Samsung devices. Samsung Book Deals only available to customers who sign in with a Samsung Account. ^ Internet connection required. Data and subscription charges may apply. # Internet connection required. Data and subscription charges may apply. Usage is subject to cloud provider agreement.

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The Australian

education times

Everything you need to know to apply to TAFE NSW As the year starts to draw to a close, you may be thinking about what your next move for 2016 could be. Why not apply and study at TAFE NSW? TAFE NSW is Australia’s leading provider of vocational education and training with over 500,000 enrolments each year…maybe you are our next one! Embarking on any program of study requires some reflection and sound decision making; it is a big choice and, like with all things, learning something new is an activity where you get out what you put in. Follow these steps to ensure you are making the right decision for you.

What are your Interests?

Before you apply to a course or training program, spend some time and really consider what your talents, passion, and strengths are.

Do you enjoy working in teams or by yourself? Are you good with your hands or better thinking conceptually?

In addition to doing your own soul searching, consider asking friends, teachers, or parents to tell you what they think your strengths are. An outsider’s perspective is always useful in identifying aspects about your capabilities that you might not be able to see. People who are satisfied in their careers are those who have found a way to use their talent, passion and strengths.

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The Australian Education Times

Map your interests to a course Once you’ve figured out what your talents, passions, and strengths are, start doing some research about what course would suit you. TAFE NSW has a wide variety of courses. Visit the TAFE NSW website to see which job areas and courses might suit you https://www. tafensw.edu.au/make-me. Read about your course online or talk to teachers at a TAFE NSW open day to ensure you know what to expect. Here’s a brief overview of what we offer: • TVET courses: If you’re still in school, you can undertake a TAFE delivered vocational education and training (TVET) course to give you workforce skills that also count towards your HSC (you can also gain credit towards a TAFE NSW qualification) or perhaps consider a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship. These combine paid work, training, and school.

• Apprenticeships/ traineeships: If you have completed school, you can undertake pre-apprenticeship courses that give you skills to help you into the workforce, apprenticeships and traineeships, which combine formal studies with work and on-the-job training and diploma and advanced diploma courses that provide credit towards a university course.

• Certificates and diplomas: Certificates I to IV teach you a range of introductory to advanced level skills to help you get job-ready or

promoted. Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas offer you complex and technical skills to help progress your career.

• Degrees: TAFE NSW offers nine nationally accredited higher education programs across NSW. Our degrees have strong industry links, are student-focused, and develop both practical skills and theoretical knowledge. Choose from musical theatre to IT, accounting and 3d animation.

Choose a study mode There is a variety of ways you can study, so learning fits into your schedule and suits your preferences.

It is important to consider how much time you have to dedicate to your learning and training, as managing a work/ life balance will be crucial to feeling happy day-to-day and staying on top of what needs to get done to complete your qualification.

• Full-time: You will take at least two units and be in the classroom for at least 18 hours a week.

• Part-time: You will take at least one unit and be in the classroom for 2-3 hours per week for each unit.

• Flexible: You can study both in the classroom and through online or distance learning.

• On campus: If you choose to study at one of our 130 campuses across NSW you’ll get access to top industry training facilities and state-of-the-art classrooms.You’ll

also experience our great student services including libraries, cafes, student associations, gyms, careers advisory service, book shops and many more.

• Online: TAFE NSW offers a wide range of courses delivered entirely online. This means you can study at your own pace wherever suits you best, at home, at work or on-the-go. You will access learning and support materials and submit assessments all online.

• In the workplace: Our teachers will train you in your workplace, using your tools and knowledge.

Assignments will be based on your real life workplace and your previous work experience could give you credit towards completing your qualification faster.

Check out your local campus If you choose to study on campus, you will do so at one of TAFE NSW’s ten institutes across the state.

Individual institutes and campuses have open days that allow you to check out the learning spaces, ask questions of teachers to get more details about specific courses and find out what support services are available. Spending some time in what could be your future learning environment, checking out the facilities available for your chosen course, will help you feel more confident when you apply.

Check your entry requirements Carefully review your selected course to see if there are any specific entry requirements. If you do not meet the

required academic requirements, we can advise you on a suitable alternative course or study pathway that will allow you to do your chosen course after you have obtained the necessary basics first.

Check if you’re eligible for government subsidies TAFE NSW courses can be governmentsubsidised or provided on a ‘feefor-service’ basis. Find out about government subsidies, exemptions, concessions, additional costs, and temporary visa holder fees so it is worth clarifying first.

Accelerate your learning You may be able to use your previous study and other evidence of your knowledge, skills, and experience to gain Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for credit towards one of our courses. Under RPL your formal and informal learning are assessed to see whether you can meet competency standards. Check this before you apply.

Get a USI Everyone who undertakes nationallyrecognised training at TAFE NSW must have a Unique Student Identifier which gives you ongoing access to your records and results, so they are always available if you choose to enrol in further training or need to show a future employer. You will need to have a USI before you apply to a TAFE NSW course. Visit http://www.usi.gov.au/create-your-USI

Apply Whatever your needs we’ll have a way for you to study that fits your schedule, your career goals and your bank balance. We have a range of great payment options which mean you can pay flexibly and in some cases study now and pay later. Eligible students can also access concessions or scholarships to help with fees. Some courses have specific enrolment dates, so be mindful of when your application is due. Other courses enrol all year round. The application process will vary from course

to course so be careful to read the details carefully so you know how best to proceed with your enrolment.

You may be invited to: • Register your interest first and then attend an information/ pre-enrolment session • Complete an application or selection process, which could include submission of a portfolio or an audition • Enrol online. Course offering information for the campus you are interested is available at www.tafensw.edu.au Embarking on a new career is exciting and choosing TAFE NSW will give you the skills you need to get the job you want. Taking the time to understand your personal interests and preferred study modes, checking off any academic requirements and investigating your eligibility for subsidies will make your application process a breeze. As always, we are here to assist you every step of the way, so for more information visit: www.tafensw.edu.au

The Australian Education Times

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November

My Reminders:

The Australian

Education Times

Why wioernkce exper

works

WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER GETTING WORK EXPERIENCE

YOUR FIRST DAY

CHOOSING

A CAREER PATH

The Australian

Education Times PULL OUT

Why you should consider getting work experience F

ormal education is immensely helpful in giving people the skills required to accomplish a particular job. However, it is just the stepping stone to access various career opportunities. Work experience is the key to furthering ones education about a field of

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The Australian Education Times

interest while gaining useful practical skills and unlocking a student’s potential.

What is work experience? Work experience works in conjunction with a student’s curriculum (a work placement programme) or as an extracurricular activity outside of

school hours and even during school holidays. The student spends part of their time getting hands on experience by working for a business or industry they are interested in and want to explore further.

How should students start?

Looking for work as a student can be a daunting task, especially when they feel they have very little qualifications and contacts to offer to their future employer. However, when applying to different jobs, they should just focus on their strengths and ask themselves: “What am I good at?” or “What do I feel ambitious about?” Once they have figured it out, students should start talking to their teachers or school advisors about careers that could be a good fit for them.

As a student, they should look for jobs in the local paper, online or just contact the company they are willing to work for and ask if the company has a position for a student seeking work experience in an industry sector.

Even doing part time jobs can still give them valuable skills and experiences that can be transferred into different disciplines.

Equally, there are also other places students can get experience from.

Working on school clubs or volunteering in local charities are just some activities that can still provide soft skills that differentiate them from other job seekers.

Before looking for work students should schedule their time so that they are not too busy for work, they should research the company they are willing to work for and it is best not to forget the parent’s permission (this mostly concerns high school students looking for work experience).

Benefits of Work Experience So why should more schools push for more work experience programmes?

When it comes to work experience, it is a commonly held belief that it can provide many benefits. One of which includes giving the individual an early an advantage to add to their CVs. Working over the holidays or doing part-time jobs looks impressive on a person’s CV especially if they are industry specific.

For example, working as a personal assistant in a media company can show future employers in the media industry that the applicant has already attained valuable experience and skills making them a better candidate for their future career.

Getting early work experience gives the student a competitive edge over other people who are interested for a position in the same industry. The fact that individuals sought out early work experience shows to their future employers that they are diligent, eager to learn and take initiative.

In addition, based on the student’s performance, they have a higher chance of getting a full-time paid position to the company that they were doing their work placements for because companies tend to hire people they know and it cuts on the cost of recruiting and training

another employee. It is always important to keep track of networking. An important tip everyone needs to learn early is that it is difficult to traverse through the professional world alone.

A research paper published by the American Education Research Association even mentioned that many students who have participated in work experience have also felt that it helped bridge the gap between school and industry. This is because getting experience in the field that people are passionate about provides them with the opportunity to train under actual working conditions and to use equipment not available in formal education. Furthermore, early exposure to working conditions and overcoming many challenging tasks helps develop a student’s level of confidence with the field and industry they are willing to work for in the future.

While working in a company does develop technical skills and contextualises the student’s ambition, they also gain skills that can supplement their learning. These include skills such as team work, communication skills, time management and developing a constructive work ethic.

Perhaps the most important benefit of early work experience is that it accelerates the child’s personal growth.

When they encounter real life situations and pressures they begin to reflect on themselves and then present themselves in a more professional manner. Some of the questions they begin to ask themselves are: “What are my skills and limitations? How can I improve as a worker? What is best way to efficiently tackle the assigned work? Do I enjoy working for this company?”

Students also gain an appreciation for basic subjects that relate to the career they want to pursue. Because of this, students also become more attentive to those subjects as their ambitions could be fuelled by their work experience.

Ultimately, the skills and personal growth that students have attained make work experience a vital learning transition from formal education to professional work.

Working programmes definitely build character and skills that hold immense benefits for young adults. While there are work placement systems in Australia, there definitely needs to be a focus on teaching students about the usefulness of work experience and pursue their ambitions as early as possible.

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times PULL OUT Work Experience Placements: People over 14 and have the written consent of your parent or guardian can apply to get work experience. Students up to the age of 21 are able to do work experience. Work experience placements are available usually available to students in years 10, 11, or 12 (or equivalent) in any Australian educational institution. Jobs are also increasingly integrating technology meaning that digital literacy and work experience could be a good idea to fit the future job environment.

For information on work placements ask your school, parents and teachers for guidance.

Wo Exper

Industries that students under 15 can work in include: Agriculture Automotive Forestry Hairdressing and beauty Hospitality Retail Security

Training:

Veterinary, parks and wildlife

There are over 400,000 apprentices and trainees in-training in Australia 3.4% of Australian workers were employed as an apprentice or trainee 1 out of 7 teenage workers (15-19 years) were employed as an apprentice or trainee 70.7% of teenage workers (15-19 years) in trade occupations were employed as an apprentice or trainee

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The Australian Education Times

ork rience

Some facts and figures: Almost half of university graduates feel that they are not qualified for a job in their industry sector A majority of potential workers use LinkedIn to look for new jobs followed by searching for it in the job seeking websites 77% of people in Australia believe that young people with work experience have more employable qualities 56% believe that work experience has become one of their biggest criteria for recruitment 67% of employers would be more likely to hire young candidates with work experience over those with none 90% of university graduates believe that a lack of relevant work experience is the biggest challenge facing graduates

Jobs of the future: While in the past many used to do manual labour and blue collar type of work like farming, mining and construction nowadays white collar work is in demand such as skilled word, retail or telecommunications.

Increase in casual work and alternative working arrangements such as self-employment and contracts.

Australia’s exports have shifted to education, international tourism, financial services, agriculture products and fuels/mining.

51% or 5.6 million of employed Australians are digital workers Digital workers stay connected with personal laptops (40%), smartphones (33%), PCs (30%) or tablets (21%) 60% of students are being trained in jobs that will radically be changed by automation Entry level roles for young people are disappearing More than half of Australian workers will need to be able to use, configure or build digital systems in the next 2-3 years

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times PULL OUT

Your First Day J

obs and professions look incredibly intimidating for someone who is just about to enter the workforce. “What is the best way to organise files? How do you use a certain program? Will I make a good first impression?�

These are just some of the questions that will run through your mind before your first day at work. No matter how much experience you have or whatever your first job is,

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The Australian Education Times

the first day and even the first First week of work can be a very impressions are intimidating experience. important, especially when When you have an you are the new kid. You should opportunity for work wear appropriate attire for the experience you should workplace since you probably do not want remember a few people staring at you because you wore a simple tips to make t-shirt and jeans to work when everyone your first day not seem else usually wears formal clothing. Find as daunting as it was out what other people are wearing being interviewed for it. when you come in for the interview and gauge whether or not the workplace is more casual or business formal.

Do not show up late on your first day.

It gives the impression to your fellow co-workers and your boss that you are disorganised and, because of this, they are less likely to give you more valuable tasks. You can solve this problem by getting some good night’s sleep before the big day but it is also best to start sleeping early a few days before your job. It is a good idea to get used to your new sleeping schedule and allow your body to adapt to working regular working hours.

Be prepared. So not only is it essential for you to show up to work on time, you can impress your new workplace by doing some research on the company you are working for. If it is a media company you are looking for, look at intricacies of how they deliver content. For other industries, find out your company’s aims to get a grasp of what your job is going to be like.

Ask questions to things that are confusing.

You are a student trying to obtain some work experience, so don’t worry if something about the tasks you are given confuses you. Think of your work colleagues as teachers, ask questions to satisfy your curiosity or if you need help with tasks it is important to remember that work experience is an informal education to help you develop industry related skills.

Take initiative and learn to manage your time. In the beginning, you will probably be given small tasks to accomplish in order to get a feel of the work environment. When you start to finish these assignments a lot quicker, your manager will likely give you harder and more exciting jobs to complete. So make it a common practice that whenever you finish your assigned work, you take the initiative to ask for more. Making copies all day will not be the best use of your time. Take the opportunity to challenge yourself and get the most out of your work experience.

However you should know that when you start being more proactive with asking for new assignments, more of your time and effort is needed. It is best to pace yourself with the work and accomplish the more difficult tasks first. Learning time management skills is not only significant in the workplace but getting into good work habits now can greatly assist you with completing school work.

Listen to what your coworkers are telling you. There are plenty of things to learn on the first week of the job and the only way you can acclimate yourself with the working environment is to listen to your manager and learn as much as you can. In addition, you should be observant of senior workers and try to emulate how they go about their daily tasks so that you can efficiently accomplish the jobs you are assigned.

Listening also means learning people’s names quickly. This allows you to rapidly build a rapport with your colleagues and it enables them to be more comfortable around you. This also provides you with an advantage to build up a network around the career you are interested in early.

Balance your activities. Sitting on a desk for too long has proven to be detrimental to your health so take a break and walk around every now and then.

Furthermore, just because you have job does not mean you sacrifice everything else with it.

This relates back to managing your time well. It is important to have leisurely activities after your work hours, either by playing games or watching the television. Alternatively, the better option would be to commit to some sort of physical activity or sport to remove yourself of the stress of your first day of work.

Last but not least, keep a positive attitude throughout your work experience. Remember that you are here to learn as much as you can for your potential career and to supplement your formal education. So appreciate the value of working and don’t forget to have fun!

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times PULL OUT

Choosing a career path E veryone has ambitions and while learning through work experience is an incredibly helpful tool to learn about the industry the student is interested in, choosing a career path can add a lot pressure for a young student.

To relieve the pressure of choosing a path for the future, students should take time to think about what they like to do and what their ideal career might be.

It is important to let children know that they can change career interests.

Nothing is set in stone and losing interest in a certain career plan is normal.

Teachers and counsellors should help children know that high school is the time for exploration and they should just find something that they love to do.

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The Australian Education Times

Choosing a profession based on the student’s favourite subject can very practical. Achieving good grades from the subject that is closely related to their target career will mean that they can access technical skills in line with that profession with ease. For example, a student who excels and enjoys math would be more suited for accounting, research or engineering related jobs.

The Australian

Education Times

Zoologist

Is this the career path for you?

Zoology is the study of animals and other living organisms making it a perfect career for those who care about animals and love biology! Zoologists research and study the functions of single animals and their behaviour within the ecosystem. Some of the responsibilities included with becoming an animal researcher involve dissecting animal specimens, observing diseased tissue and chemical reactions in cells and studying animal behaviours.

While this is a biology centred profession, zoologists have several career paths. Many conduct research in zoos, collect and analyse data in labs or outdoors, teach as a university professor, or work with federal agencies concerning the conservation or treatment of animals.

Staying up to date: Zoology is a very broad area of study and so finding an aspect of it you want to focus on will be very helpful. The best way to keep up to date is to simply speak with zoologists and biologists about what they do and why they are interested in what they do. You can ask your local veterinarian or zoo keeper what was required of them when they were studying in university.

Reading research journals or subscribing to magazines related to zoology will not only increase your scientific vocabulary but it will improve your understanding of analytical methods for research.

Equally, informing yourself with animal rights issues will help you contextualize the content you are learning in university and it can set you apart from your classmates.

In your spare time you can watch animal documentaries about animal behaviour to supplement your education and interest with some entertainment.

Educational Qualification: In order to begin a career in zoology, people generally complete their HSC. Many universities offer a Bachelor of Science degree, where the student can major in zoology, which requires a minimum ATAR of 83%. While a bachelor’s degree is the minimum education required for a job in the field, a postgraduate degree offers more opportunities and a doctorate allows you to pursue your own research.

When studying in university, it is also best to consider what specialisation you would like to pursue in the area of zoology. This could

“

Career Paths

opens up an A degree in Zoology and occupational array of professions pertains to the opportunities which e include: study of animals. Thes

Ecologist ultant Environmental cons Marine scientist officer Nature conservation Research scientist Toxicologist urer Higher education lect Biomedical scientist

include marine biology, ecology, animal behaviour, or zoo and aquarium science.

Furthermore, focusing on math, biology, physics and chemistry in high school will help give you a head start for studying zoology in university.

The average zoologist earns $68,380 a year.

”

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times

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The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times LITERACY CORNER

Be A Thinking S

Apply the Six Ba Syllable Patterns R

esearch-evidence best practice no longer supports learning to spell through memorisation. Rather we learn that there are six basic syllable patterns in the English language made up of consonants and vowels. And, we learn that each and every syllable has ‘one and only one vowel’ sound (except for the ‘cle’ syllable).

When a student learns to become a thinking speller by knowing, understanding, and applying the spelling patterns and rules of the English language, academic achievement in reading goes up!

What are the six basic syllable patterns?

What are the 18 vowel sounds of the English language?

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The Australian Education Times

Syllables and Syllabication

Without a strategy for chunking longer words into smaller parts, students may look at a multi-syllable word and simply resort to guessing what it is — or altogether skipping it. Syllables are the building blocks of words. Each syllable in a word has a vowel sound, and only one vowel sound (except for the consonant + le syllable, which has no vowel sound). Knowing the basic six syllable patterns and hearing the vowel sound within a syllable helps readers to sound out and spell words. Being able to automatically sound out longer words enables us to develop reading fluency. And it is reading fluency that frees-up the reader’s brainpower to read for comprehension and make meaning.

When sounding out or spelling a multisyllable word we apply the basic six syllable spelling patterns and the 18 vowel sounds of the English language.

Six Basic Syllable Patterns

CVC (Closed Syllable) This syllable spelling pattern ends in a consonant.

The vowel sound is generally short.

This is called a closed syllable. rain seed bean goat fruit Mon/day snow/ball mag/pie car/load sun/beam

Rule breakers said

been

great

Speller:

sic s

trem/ble ri/fle

thim/ble ti/tle

bot/tle bri/dle

mus/cle bu/gle

Try this simple 5 step process to syllabicate words: Dot vowels that make a sound, but not vowels that are silent.

This syllable, spelling pattern has a vowel followed by an r, and the r affects the sound of the vowel.

The vowel and the r appear in the same syllable.

This is called an r-controlled vowel syllable. per/fect pur/pose

This syllable spelling pattern appears at the end of a word.

It is the only syllable without a vowel sound.

This is called a consonant + le syllable. sam/ple ta/ble

Vr (R-Controlled Vowel Syllable)

art/ist or/gan

Cle (Consonant + le Syllable)

thirst/y

Sound out the syllables and divide them with a slash.

Mark each syllable with one of the six basic syllable spelling patterns, or show the actual spelling of the sounds if it is a rule breaker (e.i., -sion = ‘shun’).

Box a suffix if there is one.

Add other notes that show your ability to take a word and break it apart.

Be a lifelong learner.

Be a thinking speller.

Remember, just as there are “rule breaker” words (said), there are “rule breaker” syllables (-sion).

Brian Kissman Educator, Author, Consultant and Teacher Trainer The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times FOCUS ON UNIVERSITY

Got a degree… so what ?

W

e are hearing more and more about the evernecessary requirement in today’s competitive, fast paced, technology driven society to either reskill or up skill. Life-long learning is no longer a slogan or an option, but a reality and necessity. There are lots of reports that point to today’s graduates changing jobs up to 10 or even more times during their lifetime. It seems reasonable to assume that there will be some skill (re)training required if these job changes are to successfully occur, especially given the rapidity of new knowledge development.

Additionally, employers call for freshly graduated job hunters to have practical, vocational related skills. Employers want employees who have both theoretical knowledge and understanding as well as hands-on practical know-how and who can ‘hit the ground running’.

A large number of university courses now include some work based learning, but those experiences can be limited in time and breadth of experience. So where might university graduates turn, to gain up to date employment skills not obtained in their

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The Australian Education Times

university degree? …The Vocational Education Training (VET) Sector.

Reverse articulation does occur, where university graduates enroll in a VET course, mostly in order to gain vocationally specific training. However, it is typically something that students who are self-motivated do on an individual basis, rather than something that is actively encouraged by their university.

In my opinion, there appears to be scope for much better promotion by the VET sector of its capacity to value-add to a university graduate’s theoretical knowledge base in this way and for universities to genuinely endorse this.

It may not be and doesn’t have to be pertinent to all graduates. However, those who complete a ‘generalist’ Arts or Science degree may gain quite a bit by completing a VET course that focuses on specific technical, practical skills and provides hands-on industry experiences.

The job selection process no longer entails submitting a written application and if ‘lucky’, a single interview. The process now often includes psychometric testing, multiple interviews and completing ‘on-the-spot’ activities to evaluate prospective employees’ creativity and critical thinking.

Employers can pick and choose and so a degree is no longer an automatic ticket to securing a position. It certainly advantages a graduate to be well rounded and have technical, practical career skills to compliment the academic, along with life experiences including travel and volunteer work.

There have been articulation arrangements between the higher education and VET sectors for many years. However, much of the student traffic between the two sectors has been VET students articulating from VET to university to upgrade a qualification. This is reflected in marketing blurbs that promote: Pathways to university How to gain credit for a VET course for university study Articulating from Technical and Further Education (TAFE) to university Get into university through TAFE

The higher education and VET sectors offer complementary services. One is not better than the other - they are different, despite the lesser status some associate with the VET sector. Let’s dispel that for a start! The dissimilarity extends to, for example teaching styles, student support and services, program design and staff qualifications. The differences do present challenges, but in dual provider institutions that offer the full gamut of qualification from Certificate through to Doctorate, functioning arrangements have been put in place for two-way movement to occur between the sectors.

There is still considerable scope for improved genuine cooperation to occur across separate institutions representative of both sectors. This of course is the challenge: how to overcome the labyrinth of political, institutional and ever growing bureaucratic issues faced by both sectors. It’s good to remind ourselves every now and then what the foremost role is/should be of both sectors…isn’t it to support successful student learning?

About the Author

Nita Temmerman

PHD, M ED HONS, B ED, DIPMUST, ATCL, MACE

The Australian

Education Times SCIENCE LAB

EARTH AN P

eople have come a long way in terms of space exploration in such a short amount of time.

Space exploration refers to the discovery of celestial structures such as asteroids and planets in outer space.

These explorations are carried out by improving and building space technology to increase the efficiency of space travel

and investigations. While astronomers study and theoretically analyse space, the physical exploration of space is conducted by both unmanned machines and astronauts. Exploring space was made possible due to the development of powerful and efficient rockets that could get past the Earth’s atmosphere.

3rd September 1957 – Sputnik 2 Laika becomes the first animal in orbit

12th April 1961 – Vostok 1 Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space

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21 July 1969 – Apollo 11 Neil Armstrong steps on the moon

The Australian Education Times

16th June 1963 – Vostok 6 Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space

November 1970 – Lunokhod 1 First rover landed on the moon

2nd March 1972 – Pioneer 10 First spacecraft to cross asteroid belt launched

1973-1974 – Skylab First space station to hold more than one crew member

5th September 1977 – Voyager 1 To study outer solar system; contained golden record

28 January 1986 - Challenger Space shuttle Challenger disaster kills 7 crew members

ND SPACE Why travel to space?

The reasons as to why exploring space is so important for many people is because it can advance the way we see our universe and scientific research, we can find valuable materials to ensure the prosperity of our planet, finding habitable planets can allow us to colonise space and space exploration can unite different nations.

1989-1999 – Mir First human settlement in space starts

24th April 1990 – HST Hubble space telescope launched

4th December1996 – Mars pathfinder launched; its rover lands on 4 July 1997

15th October 2003 – Shenzhou 5 China’s first manned Earth orbiter

1st February 2003 – Space shuttle Columbia disaster kills 7 crew members

Did u know ?

The rapid development of space technologies was spurred on by the Cold War as the Soviet Union and the United States competed with each other by proving the superiority of their technology, military and political-economic system. Space became an unexplored and dramatic arena for the competition between the two super powers and because of this competition we have a better understanding of our solar system.

22nd October 2008 – Chandrayaan 1 India’s first unmanned probe, discovers water on moon

21st June 2004 – Spaceship one first privately funded vehicle to reach space

25th May 2012 – Spacex dragon first privately held company to carry a cargo payload

6th August 2012 – NASA’s Curiosity rover lands on Mars to explore the surface, search for water and planetary habitability

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times PUZZLE POP

Word Ladder

Read the Clues, then write the word start at the Bottom and climb to the Top. You wear this to keep your hands warm

Add a letter to the beginning

To care for someone very much. “I _____ love by baby brother.”

Change the third letter

Shorter word for alone

Change the first vowel

Another word for road

Change the last letter

A plane does this when it flies toward the ground.

“We watched the plane ____ at the airport.”

Change the first letter

Hand

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The Australian Education Times

The Australian

Education Times PUZZLE POP

Guess who?

Identify the incomplete pictures & match their correct names.

A

B

C

D

E

F

Julia Gillard

Emma Watson

Walt Disney

Barack Obama

Harr y St yles

Hippocrates

Crazy But True !!!!!

Record of the month

Melbourne was originally called Batmania after John Batman explored the city and purchased 2400 sq km of land. It was renamed Melbourne during 1837.

City Montessori School in Lucknow India has 39,437 students and holds the record for the most populated school.

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Please contact Gagan Partol for attractive Home Loan Rate* Community Lending Manager Sydney – Mortgage Lending Network Phone: 02 8883 1457 Mobile: 0412 673 416 Promotion Code - AAS

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The Australian

Education Times

Breast cancer is an issue affecting many women today. The month raises awareness and funds to various breast cancer charities for the research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure for the disease.

Lewis Hamilton defends his title in Austin, Texas in the Formula 1 World Championships held in October.

Set in England, Australia and New Zealand face off in the finals of the Rugby World Cup finals. New Zealand emerges as the victor while Australia is first runner up followed by South Africa.

Children’s Day. This month four countries celebrate and honour children around the world. In some countries children’s day is a holiday off school and some recognise it as a commercial holiday to buy toys for children.

OCTOBER in pictures

Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve remembers the dead, saints and martyrs. On this day, many people dress up in scary costumes, put up decorations or go trick or treating to commemorate this holiday.

The Australian Education Times

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The Australian

Education Times

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