Hands Up

The Covid19 Pandemic saw the greatest disruption to traditional schooling since world war two? How has this affected childrens’ learning? What about their social development and well being? And are teachers ok? Despite our worst fears, the good news is that literacy and numeracy has largely stayed on track. Research also shows that students from disadvantaged backgrounds didn’t fall further behind academically due to extra funding ...

Every child should have access to a high quality education but in Australia, many of our most vulnerable kids are missing out. Children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are up to three years behind the most advantaged students. So how do we close this education gap? Schools and principals are already working hard to cover up these disparities, providing extra  support: uniforms, breakfast programs and extra tutoring. How cou...

The Australian curriculum is continuously contested and countless interest groups want to add new things in. So it’s a big win for the ‘Teach Us Consent’ campaign to have consent education added to the curriculum from 2023. In this episode, we speak to the founder of the campaign, Chanel Contos, who collected thousands of signatures and testimonials from school students who had experienced sexual harrassment or assault while at sch...

Did you know some teachers are too busy to eat lunch during a typical work day? You might think that teaching is a cruisy job with early knock-offs and long holidays, but the reality is far from it. Teachers’ administrative workload has grown to the point where they often need to work overtime, and on weekends. But their wages haven't increased in line with extensive new requirements placed on them. So what does this mean for the f...

Welcome to ‘Hands Up’ , a new podcast by the Public Education Foundation that answers all your burning questions about our public schools. It’s like a school parent’s Whatsapp chat, but without any ranting and with a lot more facts. What is the solution to the teaching crisis? How has all the disruption from Covid-19 affected kids’ learning? Why are students calling for consent education in the curriculum? How should families best ...