A school by any other name...is still a rock band?

How is your academic institution structured? If you work within a university, then no doubt you are familiar with the use of faculties or perhaps colleges. What about departments or schools? Whatever names or structures are employed, how would you describe the working relationship between academics and professional staff members? As a research scientist and academic over the last twenty years, my appointments have almost always been made through academic departments or schools. In each case, the academic unit has been led by a senior academic manager, such as a chair or head, supported by a dedicated team of professional staff. More recently, however, I have had the opportunity of leading an academic discipline and the experience has led me to reflect more broadly about leadership styles and academic structures within the Australian higher education sector. The written record of this reflection was published last year in the Australian Universities Review (Harkin and Healy, 2013), but I’m pleased to be able to provide a brief synopsis here for the readership of Insights.

Anglican boarding school a hotbed of sexual punishment

THE little Anglican boarding school of St Barnabas, in the misty mountain town of Ravenshoe, north Queensland, was allegedly a hotbed of physical and sexual abuse in the 1960s. North Queensland Bishop Bill Ray has confirmed the diocese has few files about the school -- which was closed mid-term in 1990 -- with suspicions they were dumped "down a well or an old mine shaft" in the district A history of brutal physical punishment and sexual abuse at the school dating from the 1960s is now emerging. Headmaster Robert Waddington, who arrived at the school from England to be headmaster in 1961, dished out daily canings to many of his young students and then allegedly raped some behind closed doors in his room or the sick bay, which were next to each other. Former St Barnabas student Bim Atkinson, now 58, and two other former students have levelled allegations against the man they called "the Wadd".

The tertiary debate : a case study analysis of factors considered when applying for university entry by traditional age school leavers in Brisbane

Many interacting factors contribute to a student's choice of a university. This study takes a systems perspective of the choice and develops a Bayesian Network to represent and quantify these factors and their interactions. The systems model is illustrated through a small study of traditional school leavers in Australia, and highlights similarities and differences between universities' perceptions of student choices, students' perceptions of factors that they should consider and how students really make choices. The study shows the range of information that can be gained from this approach, including identification of important factors and scenario assessment.

Choosing science : understanding the declines in senior high school science enrolments

'Choosing Science' reports on the most thorough study yet undertaken in Australia to investigate Year 10 students' decisions about whether to take science subjects. The study was well supported by ASTA members, with around 590 teachers and 3800 students participating. It examined teachers' views on the persistent declines in science enrolments, and students' perceptions of school science and aspirations towards further study and careers. The report discusses students' attitudes to science, their enrolment deliberations, sources of advice and recommendations for change. The report identifies the most likely and unlikely contributors to enrolment declines, and makes 10 recommendations.

School-based youth health nurses and adolescent decision-making concerning reproductive and sexual health advice : how can the law guide healthcare practitioners in this context?

This paper outlines some of the issues faced by School-Based Youth Health Nurses working in Queensland, in relation to the legal principles surrounding the provision of reproductive and sexual health advice. The paper outlines a number of specific issues faced by nurses working within this setting and considers the legal principles underpinning the issues concerning consent and confidentiality. The discussion in this paper demonstrates how the legal principles – which are often viewed as complex and uncertain by nurses working within this field – may be used as a guide to underpin good practice and compliance with the law. Although this paper is considered in the context of nurses working within Queensland, the principles and factors outlined are relevant to healthcare practitioners working within all Australian jurisdictions.

Accused cleric built reputation at small school in Australia

The little Anglican boarding school of St Barnabas, in the mountain town of Ravenshoe, north Queensland, was where Robert Waddington built his reputation as an educationalist. He was headmaster there from 1961-70, but a growing number of former pupils are now coming forward to say they were subjected to sexual and physical abuse by him. Bim Atkinson, 58, said that his ordeal began after he was sent to the school and joined the choir. “I was absolutely petrified of the man,” Mr Atkinson recalls. “After I joined the choir, the abuse started. He would tell me to go to the sickbay, which had a connecting door to his bedroom and then I would end up in his room.”

Accused cleric link to top music school probe

THE senior Anglican clergyman at the centre of an international child sex scandal was also a governor of a prestigious English music college that is under investigation for the alleged abuse of scores of its students across decades. Robert Waddington, who is alleged to have sexually assaulted students and choirboys in Britain and Australia, was a governor of the scandal-hit Chetham's School of Music for nine years. Waddington recruited students from the school for his choir at Manchester Cathedral, and allegedly abused at least three of the boys until he retired in 1993. The police investigation into the school, which began after the conviction in February of Michael Brewer, a former Chetham's music director, for the sexual abuse of female students, has not previously looked at Waddington. A victim has told The Weekend Australian that he was aware Waddington abused several boys from Chetham's who, like him, had been in the choir. The Cambridge University-educated business analyst, who has offered to give evidence under oath to police and the Church of England's inquiry into Waddington, said the clergyman had kept a collection of pictures in his house of boys he had abused.

Global characteristics of school transformation in China

In many ways, China’s education system is quite different from systems of education in the West. Rich descriptions of school transformation, however, have revealed that the factors that fuelled transformation in schools in China are also evident in schools in Australia, England, Finland, Wales and the United States. This paper draws on an international project that examined how secondary schools from six countries achieved success by developing and drawing on their resources, referred to as four forms of capital: financial, intellectual, social and spiritual. It describes how five secondary schools in Chongqing, Western China, viewed each form of capital and how the four forms of capital were strengthened and aligned through outstanding governance to support the success of all students. The case is made that, although some aspects of the forms of capital found in schools in China may be viewed differently, the approaches adopted by these schools share a number of common elements with approaches to school transformation identified in Western schools. It is argued that these common elements from a range of international settings constitute a rich evidence base for understanding school transformation and for new insights in governance and leadership.

Bridging the gap in school achievement through the arts : summary report

Educational Transformations Pty Ltd was commissioned by The Song Room (TSR) to conduct a study of the impact of TSR programs in government schools in relatively disadvantaged communities in New South Wales (NSW) on indicators of student performance that have been identified in previous research as related to potential engagement in juvenile crime. Students in Grades 5 and 6 were the subjects of study. TSR is a not-for-profit organisation in receipt of grants from public and private sources that conducts free programs in the performing arts in schools where these are not currently offered. These programs are conducted by mutual agreement between TSR and participating schools. Across Australia, approximately 200 schools and 40,000 students are engaged for a minimum of six months each year. Students typically participate for approximately one hour per week in each class. Instruction is provided by a Teaching Artist (TA), contracted to TSR and working in partnership with the classroom teacher at the school of placement. TSR received a three-year grant from the Macquarie Group Foundation to investigate the efficacy of its interventions in improving social and education outcomes for children in a range of high need target group areas participating in its program...

A question of agency : applying Sen’s theory of human capability to the concept of secondary school student career ‘choice’

In this paper, we seek to operationalize Amartya Sen's concept of human capability to guide a scholarly investigation of student career choice capability. We begin by outlining factors affecting youth labour markets in Australia; a prosperous country that is affected by a ‘two-speed’ national economy. We then examine recent government initiatives that have been designed to combat youth unemployment and cyclical disadvantage by enhancing the aspirations and career knowledge of secondary school students. We argue that these policy measures are based on four assumptions: first, that career choice capability is a problem of individual agency; second, that the dissemination of career information can empower students to act as ‘consumers’ in an unequal job market; third, that agency is simply a question of will; and finally, that school education and career advice – as a means to freedom in the space of career development – is of equal quality, distribution and value to an increasingly diverse range of upper secondary school students. The paper concludes by outlining a conceptual framework capable of informing an empirical research project that aims to test these assumptions by measuring and comparing differences between groups in the range of freedom to achieve and, therefore, to choose.

School nurses and partnerships for health education : team teaching in the secondary school curricula

The purpose of this research is to examine School Based Youth Health Nurses experience of partnerships for health education and team teaching. The School Based Youth Health Nurse Program is a contemporary model of school nursing in Queensland, Australia. The role of the School Based Youth Health Nurse consists of individual health consultations and health promotion. This research analyses a subset of qualitative data collected for a larger project about the experience of school based youth health nursing. The Health Promoting Schools model is used as a deductive framework. The findings reveal five subthemes across the three areas of the Health Promoting Schools approach. There are two subthemes within the curriculum, teaching and learning area; We were on the same page so to speak and I can go and do my reports or whatever. There are two sub-themes within the partnerships and services area; I had a beautiful science teacher who was just delightful and really just wanted to do things in partnerships and It’s all airy fairy arty farty stuff that’s not important. There is one theme in the school organisation, ethos and environment area; I just don’t know how well the top of these organisations communicate with the bottom of those organisations. Successful partnerships for health education and team teaching between school nurses and teachers are based on personal relationships based on rapport which lead to trust and reciprocity. Partnerships are limited by teachers understanding of the role of the school nurse and engagement with school nurses in the classroom. Administrative support from the top down is fundamental.