How can schools work with parents effectively to support student attendance? New research suggests families can be unaware of the extent of their child’s absences and aren’t concerned about them missing school. We speak with Dr Anna Saavedra about the study findings and practical strategies for highlighting the importance of attendance with parents.

How do you continue to innovate and adapt your teaching to best equip students for a fast-changing, digitally driven world? In Singapore, the Ministry of Education has implemented regular home-based learning days, where students are tasked with taking charge of their own learning.

A new study has investigated the classroom emotional experiences of boys and girls undertaking integrated STEM projects to understand the role this has on girls’ interest in STEM. To do this, researchers needed to develop and validate a research tool. We unpack the study in this episode of The Research Files.

School absence has an impact on student outcomes, so being aware of attendance rates for your class, year group, or whole school, and understanding the reasons behind the absence is important. With this information to hand, what will make a difference? That’s the topic of Dr Kirsten Hancock’s research.

Welcome back to a new year of Teacher content. As usual, we are kicking things off with a look at some of the significant events, celebrations and themes for 2024 that you can use in your lesson planning. As well as the key dates in each term, we’ve also included links to more information and resources.

Our first podcast episode of 2024 focuses on effective leadership communication. We catch up with Jacinda Euler Welsh, Principal of Brisbane Girls Grammar School, to talk about different tools to engage with different members of the school community, the importance of consistency and honesty, and nurturing a 2-way communication process.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect public perceptions of teachers and the teaching profession, and how were their views and beliefs influenced by media coverage? Researchers in the UK have been exploring these questions, and their findings offer some interesting insights into how society values the profession, and the impact this has on teacher mental health and wellbeing.

How can we support the teaching and learning of mathematics in ways that can enhance student engagement, participation and thus learning? In this reader submission, David Chinofunga shares findings from a 3-year study he’s been leading at James Cook University focused on supporting the teaching and learning of maths in Queensland secondary schools.

Teacher dips into the pages of Leading Professional Conversations: Adaptive expertise for schools, the new book from Emeritus Professor Helen Timperley. This exclusive extract discusses the importance of firstly establishing the purpose and focus of the conversation, and some things to think about before diving in.

The PISA 2022 international results have just been announced. In this special episode we’re joined by Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of the Australian Council for Educational Research, to talk about Australia’s performance, what we could learn from top performer Singapore, and some of the education reforms taking place in other parts of the world.