February

A new campaign has begun in conjunction with Sony Music, MySpace, Austereo, News Ltd, Channel 7 and Kids Helpline, which involves a national competition based around the launch of a new single by Kate Miller-Heidke, “Caught in the Crowd”, which focuses on her experience of watching her friend get bullied.

Bankstown Girls High School welcomed a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as a part of a brief tour of Australia.  The High Commissioner, Mr Antonio Guterres met with six refugee students from Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. More.

Bullying is behaviour that is not tolerated in NSW Public Schools.

The Education Tax Refund (ETR) is a new government initiative to help with the cost of educating primary and secondary school children. It means eligible parents, carers, legal guardians and independent students could get 50% back on some education expenses. This includes items like computers, educational software, textbooks and stationery.

The Victorian bushfires have claimed a mounting toll of life and property. Schools will establish how they can best respond to the Victorian bush fire disaster including the option of participating in School Aid. More information.

There will be an industrial meeting at 8.45 am on Friday, 6 February for union members at schools to endorse the settlement. All schools will have sufficient supervision to enable all students to attend school as usual on Friday morning.  Normal school class arrangements will resume by 10.30 am. More information.

On 1 February 2009, the Premier of New South Wales, Nathan Rees, announced that all 25,000 NSW public high school teachers would receive a wireless laptop as part of a new $44 million investment in computers in schools. The roll-out will begin this year (2009) with all public high school teachers having a laptop by 2012. More.