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"Australia's first Australian Professional Standard for Principals was endorsed by Ministers at the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) on 8 July 2011. The content Standard is a public statement which sets out what principals are expected to know, understand and do to achieve in their work. It is represented as interdependent and integrated model that recognises three leadership requirements that a principal draws upon within five areas of professional practice."

I am wanting to take a slightly different approach to this weeks post. The past week has seen the latest round of PISA results and the media has had a field day. Headlines have routinely attacked students, educators and education systems in equal measure. The Canberra Times reported that "Australian school scores plummet on world stage", the Sydney Morning Herald led with "Alarm bells': Australian students record worst result in global tests" and The Weekend Australian went with "PISA global educational rankings: Schools fail on maths, science". 

"The CSER Digital Technologies MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) are free online courses, designed to support Australian teachers with implementing the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. These are free online courses that provide teachers with background knowledge about concepts and topics in the curriculum, as well as practical examples that can be tried in the classroom. We bring together existing resources, our own developed resources as well as existing teacher ideas."

"Coding has replaced history and geography in Australia's new digital technologies curriculum which was endorsed by education ministers on Friday. As The Australian reports, it ensures that 21st century computer coding will be taught in primary schools from Year 5, and programming will be taught from Year 7."

Tony Stead is an Australian educator who has taught in elementary schools and lectured at the University of Melbourne. He is the past president of the Melbourne Chapter of the Australian Reading Association and the author of many publications. His latest include Is That a Fact?: Teaching Nonfiction Writing and the video series Time For Nonfiction. which highlights his recent work with several teachers at the Manhattan New School.

"The Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies (F-10) comprises two related strands: Digital Technologies knowledge and understanding - the information system components of data, and digital systems (hardware, software and networks) Digital Technologies processes and production skills - using digital systems to create ideas and information, and to define, design and implement digital solutions, and evaluate these solutions and existing information systems against specified criteria."

The role that education plays in issues of social equity and justice cannot be undervalued. It is acknowledged by the United Nations as a human right, 'Everyone has the right to education' (United Nations, 1948) and as outlined in the Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians 'As a nation Australia values the central role of education in building a democratic, equitable and just society- a society that is prosperous, cohesive and culturally diverse, and that values Australia's Indigenous cultures as a key part of the nation's history, present and future.' (Barr et al, 2008). Such lofty assertions of the importance of education as a right and national value should be sufficient to ensure that all Australians have access to an education of the highest standard with equitable outcomes for all, the reality is that this is not the case.

Learning resources from the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"Some people have asked me "how do I integrate the iPad into my English classes?" I respond by providing some iPad related tasks that link and work well with the text types taught in Australian primary schools."

"Do you roll your eyes when your friend orders the gluten-free option? While celiac disease is the real deal, an Australian doctor is casting doubt on self-reported gluten intolerance. Some supporters of the gluten-free diet may say that they feel healthier with better digestion since adopting the diet, but the latest findings suggest that if you aren't suffering from celiac disease, your intolerance is likely in your head."

"What motivates people to work? Most people would say money, and those people would only be partially correct. In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel Pink writes about radical practices implemented by Australian software company Atlassian and search engine giant Google that have taught us a lot about what really motivates human beings to work. Hint: it is not the proverbial carrot on a stick."

"How does the Maker Movement Power STEM Skills and student curiosity? Take a look at this Australian infographic for the why and how to implement a maker space and adopt maker education at your school! "

In Australia we have the Australian Government Quality Teacher Program (AGQTP), which includes teacher quality

"easurement, spatial, graphical, statistical and algebraic concepts and skills to real-world situations and problems"

Amazing list of resources compiled on every educational topic ever for primary schools. (Compiled by a South australian librarian) Includes animations to help explain topics, websites for kids to research, webquests- everything!