Professor Geoff Masters, CEO at Australian Council for Educational Research, wrote an article a few years ago citing one of the biggest challenges we face in school education is to identify and develop the knowledge, skills and attributes required for life and work in the 21st Century. There are several reasons for questioning how well the current school curriculum is equipping students for life beyond school.

First, there has been a long-term decline in the ability of Australian 15-year-olds to apply what they are learning to everyday problems. This decline is evident in performances in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Over the first twelve years, Australian students completed their compulsory study of mathematics and science with declining levels of ‘literacy' – that is, declining abilities to apply fundamental concepts and principles ...

In this extract from her new book, From Boys to Men, well-known parenting educator Maggie Dent gives parents ideas and strategies to get the conversation going with their teenage sons. One of the reasons we recommend Maggie as a value resource is her advice is always practical and easy to implement. Good communication leads to warm relationships, cooperation, and feelings of worth. So here are some tips from Maggie for effective communication. 

The less threatening the physical approach and placement of the grown-up and the safer the place where the conversation takes place, the more likely the boy will feel open enough to at least hear the words being spoken. 

Eye contact 

It is interesting that women often prefer direct eye contact to men and boys, and many boys can find eye contact threatening. Demanding that a boy maintains eye contact with you is more than likely putting him into a ...

Last Thursday we came together as a community to celebrate the High Achievers from the Class of 2020. This was a wonderful occasion to recognise the students who achieved a an ATAR over 90, the Dux of each subject and the overall Dux of VCE and VCAL.

The University of Melbourne have designed a new extension program for students with a passion and interest for Mathematics. The program is designed for students who are working above their age level standard in Mathematics and explores mathematical problems at a deep level, following the inquiry process.

Micro Mathematicians is a free after school extension program that will run using a virtual environment (Zoom and Google Classroom) and students will have 1 hour each week with the University of Melbourne, School of Mathematics and Statistics Outreach Team. Students will be given additional activities to complete in their own time.

The University of Melbourne manage the registrations for this event which will include an admission test to ensure suitability of the program. Please note, completing the admission test does not guarantee a place in the program. For more ...