What are your thoughts on paying full school fees for your children and then being shamed into taking time off work to help out with normal school activities (reading, maths, etc)?

2012 ACT TERRITORY CONFERENCE: UN Youth ACT invites local students to participate in the 2012 ACT Territory Conference. The conference is a 3-day residential event. It is open to students in years 9 to 12 from the ACT and surrounding NSW schools. The conference provides a fantastic introduction to global diplomacy and the inner workings [...]

Hop! Skip! Jump!!Clap!!!
Simple movement & rhythm classes for kids & parents this school holidays.
When: Thursday afternoons January 2012- 5 Jan;12 Jan; 19 Jan; 26 Jan 2012
4.30-5.25pm (6-8 years) + parents
5.30-6.25pm (9-12 years)+ parents
Where: Palmerston Community Centre,Tiptree Cres & Kosciuszko Avenue, Palmerston.

Cost: $10 per child/$15 child & parent together
Contact:   Nora Stewart 6230 [...]

Andrew Barr and Chris Bourke have released a statement about the government’s dealing with the Australian Education Union.
The deal will see teachers promoted based on performance not after their placement time has finished.
That’s why in this agreement we are putting an end to the long slow march of career advancement within the teaching profession with [...]

The Australian Education Union (AEU) has released a flyer as part of their community campaign for better investment in ACT public education. It reads in part:
All teachers and school leaders deserve salary parity with NSW to ensure ACT public school teacher salaries remain competitive. The Government offer of 9 September will still leave school leader [...]

[ 7 October, 2011 to 9 October, 2011. ] We’re letting you in on Canberra’s best kept secret: Canberra is the location for Australia’s biggest annual Irish set dancing event on 7-9th October at the Cook Neighbourhood Hall.

SET dancing is Irish social dancing with reel rhythm – it’s not Riverdance! Set dancing is couples dancing in a group of eight to great Irish [...]

According to the Bimberi Review, Bimberi offers education up to year 10, but there is no year 12 certificate offered.
While the rest of the ACT youth up to 17 have to attend school (or be out earning) why aren’t the ‘residents’ of Bimberi expected to be gaining their year 12 certificate?
Shouldn’t people in detention [...]

The following letter was sent to Canberra MPs, Andrew Leigh and Gai Brodtmann (and forwarded to Kate Lundy and Gary Humphries) on Sunday 14th of August. ______________________________________________________________
Dear Dr Leigh and Ms Brodtman,
I write to draw your attention to two issues recently raised by the ACT Minister for Education, Andrew Barr, in the [...]

Bit of a random question but does anyone here know how to get an excavator operator’s ticket in Canberra?
Thanks…

The Liberals’ Steve Dozspot has gone in to bat for teachers who are too lazy and stupid to correctly record absences.
He’s very upset that Education Minister Andrew Barr isn’t giving kisses and cuddles to all concerned.
Being a Dozspot release though it’s rather hard to figure out what he’s actually talking about.
ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr [...]

The Australian National University is having a good old gloat at its 12th place in the 2011 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject.
In the latest set of international rankings by QS, the University is sixth in modern languages, philosophy and geography and area studies, 10th in linguistics and 12th in history.
The modern languages [...]

Simon Corbell has announced the long awaited opening of Gungahlin Library:
“This is a great facility for all Gungahlin resident to enjoy, and today’s open day is a perfect opportunity for people of all ages to learn about what services this new library will provide for them,” Mr Corbell said.
“The Government has invested approximately $12 million [...]

During a weekend social outing with friends I was swept up in a discussion about teaching in the ‘digital age’ that was punctuated with some choice quotes from a Twitter stream of a UC lecturer.
http://twitter.com/#!/elpcg1
From what I have seen, after the submission of blog entries, all students of the course go through a hazing via [...]

Andrew Barr has announced that he’s handed over the names of two schools to the University of Canberra:
Today I launched the University of Canberra (UC) partnership with the ACT Department of Education and Training, which sees Lake Ginninderra College and Kaleen High School officially become the University of Canberra Senior Secondary College, Lake Ginninderra and [...]

Where to go for training?

[ 19 March, 2011; ] For the 4th year BarCamp Canberra is on!

BarCamp Canberra is a free one-day volunteer-run ‘unconference’ where the participants are in charge.

As ever, depending the attendees, we’ll have speakers on topics such as: Social Innovation, Gov 2.0, Web, Design, Makers/Hackers, Science Communication, Skeptic/Critical Thinking, Sustainability/Environmental, interdisciplinary topics and more.

Lunch is provided, and we even have a [...]

ANU has posted posted the speech given by their Chancellor Gareth Evans to the farewell dinner of long serving Vice-Chancellor Ian Chubb.
Here were the highlights of achievement:
Let me count the ways in which Ian Chubb’s leadership has been so special. He has consolidated our position as Australia’s No 1 university, and unequivocally our top research [...]

Andrew Barr has celebrated the start of the school year with a visit to schools in Tuggeranong and Gungahlin.
More interestingly he’s outlined what he wants to achieve this year in education:
That’s why 2011 will be a year that sees the ACT Labor Government:
• provide principals with more say over who teaches in their school and [...]

Andrew Barr is pleased to announce that the ACT’s year six students are more science literate than other states.
The 2009 National Assessment Program Science Literacy report, produced by the Ministerial Council
for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs is the result of tests conducted in 635
primary schools across Australia, including 56 in the ACT.
Minister for [...]

ANU has proudly announced that they’ve graduated their 80,000th student.
ANU marked an important milestone earlier this month with the conferring of awards at the December graduation ceremonies bringing the total number of University graduates to over 80,000.
Around 1800 students received their awards during six ceremonies held at Llewellyn Hall last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. [...]

[ 29 October, 2010; 6:30 pm; ]

Hello Rioters,

Tonight the annual Henry Parkes Oration is on at the National Library, 6.30pm, and it’s free: http://www.parkesfoundation.org.au/

The importance of public education as a fundamental building block of a sustainable democracy is the theme of the Oration, to be delivered by Associate Professor Lyndsay Connors. She will argue that Henry Parkes’ vision for public education [...]

I would have thought, with an Honours degree under my belt, and having started a PhD, that there would be nothing for me to learn from kindergarten.
My eldest daughter started school this year, you see. Surely, with all that education, kindergarten in Canberra could offer me nothing more.
Well, it turns out not to be strictly [...]

The ABC has education union research showing the ACT’s public schools are the most reliant in the country for fundraising to conduct their basic operations.
So are we happy for parents to keep making up the difference (entrenching postcode disadvantate)? Shall we hope the Federales throw some money at it? Or should the ACT Government live [...]

[ 17 October, 2010; 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. ]

Geoscience Australia celebrates Earth Science Week 2010

Geoscience Australia will celebrate Earth Science Week 2010 with a range of activities.

 The main event, Geoscience Australia’s annual Open Day, will be held on Sunday 17 October from 10am-4pm. Open Day offers a diverse program of activities, science displays, tours and talks that will showcase our agency’s latest research [...]

Hi
I am in the processes of considering a move to Canberra from Melbourne with my husband that is from Canberra, but out of touch with schools (as of course they change over the years). I have a daughter and a son that are to enter high school (one in high school when we plan to [...]

While down at the Cook shops this morning, getting milk for my early morning cuppa, I noticed a posted advertising courses  for “Professional Organisation” and offering to train one up to a certificate in such things. As some one who is as organised as a one legged man on a pogo stick in a ball [...]

Andrew Barr is letting us know he’s off to China to sell education:
“The ACT education system has a world reputation for excellence. That’s why there are around 6,000 international students studying in Canberra, including more than 450 in ACT public schools,” Mr Barr said. “Overseas students contribute around $200 million a year to our economy. [...]

The Liberals’ Steve Doszpot is stamping his tiny feet that the Greens and Labor won’t agree with him about guaranteeing rivers of gold to private schools.
“I presented this motion today to give the Greens and the Labor Party an opportunity to step up an support the non-government education sector, which provides quality educational outcomes for [...]

Labor’s Kate Lundy doesn’t have to sully herself with the undignified matter of wooing voters.
But the Liberals’ Gary Humphries and the Greens’ Lin Hatfield Dodds want to have an education debate. They’ve got, as far as I can be bothered to tell, the same decades old boring argument on just how much public money we [...]

We currently live in Queanbeyan East and are looking to move to Greenleigh Estate.
We have a 16 month old son and are starting to consider his schooling, and are aware that St Gregorys’ is the only private school in Queanbeyan.
Are folks in our region using this school (present or past), and are there other alternatives [...]

[First filed: Aug 2, 2010 @ 13:51]

The ACT Department of Education and Training has issued a discussion paper on “Improving ACT Public High Schools and Colleges”.
The discussion component seems to be driven by two pages asking “What if?”:
… high schools and colleges worked together as connected learning communities to offer greater choice to students?
… [...]

I am sure most Rioters would be aware that, here in the ACT, we have the highest proportion of people with tertiary qualifications in Australia.  We also have the highest proportion of people with a post-graduate qualification in Australia.  One might reasonably assume, then, that there exists a collectively higher IQ in our fair land. 
This [...]