July

A distance education program set up to encourage teenage students to complete their school certificate is also drawing adult learners back to the classroom in Baryulgil. Find out more 

The Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) is extending its reach into public schools across NSW with a series of videoconferences featuring some of Australia’s best-loved writers for children and teenagers. Read more here

Students from St Ives and Sydney Technical high schools questioned Ms Forrest, a former schoolgirl Olympic swimmer, about her life and her just-published book Boycott, which details the drama and politics around the Moscow Games. Find out more

Gilgandra High is the only NSW school involved in a snailbreeding program with Snails Bon Appetite in the Hunter Valley, who market the specially grown Helix aspersa escargot for restaurant tables around Australia. Learn more here.

A boys’ education program at Greenwell Point Public School, on the south coast, has evolved into a whole-school project that is building confidence and environmental awareness.Read more here.

The biggest educational transformation in NSW public schools has started with the installation of interactive classrooms in the first 200 schools to be finished by the end of the month. Find out more.

When the sun rose this Anzac Day and shone on the graves of the 779 Australian soldiers buried at Villers-Bretonneux, seven Year 12 students and four teachers from Tumut High School were there to pay their respects. Read more here.

They’re hard to miss. Eight Year 5 students clad in fluorescent yellow vests patrol the grounds and classrooms of a suburban primary school, seeking out environmental infractions – burning lights, unused equipment left running, air conditioners whirring in vacated classrooms. Read more here.

The Federal Government came to Jamison High School last month when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and 18 of his ministers held the first NSW Community Cabinet meeting in the school’s auditorium. Find out more.

Virtual excursions, videoconferencing field trips, visual collaborations – no single phrase has yet been coined to adequately convey the innovative and exciting interactive experiences which are being created, piloted and supported by the Connections program. Learn more here.

Students in Sydney public schools will soon be interacting with and learning from their counterparts in China under an agreement between the department’s Sydney region and an education authority in China’s Yangzhou city. Find out more.

Children as young as seven will be taught about the dangers of alcohol as part of an education department campaign to reduce underage drinking.  Read more here.

NSW public schools are moving towards computer-adaptive tests that will automatically personalise test questions to pinpoint students’ individual capabilities and provide teachers with instant diagnostic feedback. Find out more.

When Amelia A’s English class at Coonabarabran High School was asked to write an opinion piece on the subject “What Matters?” she never imagined she would end up in Sydney, meeting former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Learn more here.