October

Corey W had one hell of a holiday story to share with his mates at South Grafton High School. On the last day of the July school holidays, the 14-year-old heroically jumped 20 metres from a bridge into the Clarence River to save the life of an elderly woman just moments after finding what was believed to have been her suicide note. Read more here. 

As Manildra Public School principal Steve Wilkinson now knows it’s one thing to dream of a paperless classroom, quite another to achieve it. Find out more.

Students from four Sydney public schools presented their views on the needs of young people at a recent inquiry held at NSW Parliament House last term. Read more here.

NSW has continued its dominance of the national WorldSkills awards by claiming a third consecutive Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) Shield. Learn more here.

Otford Public School cyclists rode the 1,500 kilometre “Gunbarrel Highway” – a corrugated track that stretches from Western Australia to Uluru in the Northern Territory – to raise funds for the school’s one-to-one laptop program. Find out more.

More than 400 government schools are on track to receive Premier’s Sporting Challenge awards with the challenge activity period drawing to a close later this month. Learn more here.

Ulong Public School students are world-beaters. The entire student population at the small Coffs Harbour school, teachers and members of the wider school community participated in the Heart Foundation’s world skipping record event, held last term to mark the 25th anniversary of Jump Rope for Heart. Find out more.

The first practical examinations for the 2008 HSC have begun with dance students performing their major works for examiners last month. Read more here.

Plans to expand the capacity of Mandarin language teaching and learning in NSW public schools took a great leap forward this term when a group of volunteer Chinese university graduates began work in Western Sydney region schools. Learn more here.

A guide aimed at informing parents and carers about technologies their children are using is now available. Find out more.

When students from Mitchells Island Public School near Taree were asked to compile a one-hour radio program they decided to go beyond reading out the usual school news. What they’d really like to do, they told teaching principal Kim Wallis, was interview local author and illustrator Stephen Michael King on-air. Read more here.

The students and staff of Sydney Secondary College (SSC) have gone “Environmental as Anything” and embraced creative ways to minimise their individual and collective carbon footprints. Learn more here.

Seven Year 11 geography students from west Sydney’s Greystanes High School happily gave up a weekend last term to participate in a tree-planting project in the Capertee Valley. Find out more.

Schools on Sydney’s northern beaches put words into action last term when they took part in a walk and artistic demonstration to show their commitment to reducing the effects of global warming. Read more here.

Students from 15 Sydney region primary schools got their hands dirty last term by taking part in the second Grime Scene Investigation (GSI) as part of World Environment Day. Learn more here.

Gravesend Public School, east of Moree, hosted the Farm Safety Field Day for 82 students, from Gravesend, Pallamallawa and Croppa Creek public schools. Find out more.

Something good is brewing at the Penrith Adolescent Centre – and it’s not just the coffee made by the centre’s Year 9 and 10 students. Find out more.