Involving leaders, teachers, students, families and the wider community in the design and build of schools is relatively commonplace nowadays. However, a new study from the UK highlights that ‘collaboration in itself does not necessarily lead to effective innovation,’ sharing lessons learnt from three schools.

Taking turns and sharing in early childhood develops children’s pro-social skills in the early years, helping them to thrive in school and later life. In the second part of a Q&A with Teacher, Lauren Armstrong – Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of Tasmania – discusses how early years and primary teachers can support the development of these important skills.

‘Our vision for PLTs? To build a healthy, collaborative professional learning culture of inquiry that positively impacts student learning through teacher learning,’ Sarah Gunn, Head of Teaching and Learning of Middle School at St Laurence’s College in Brisbane shares in today’s reader submission.

‘Underpinning PAT is recognition that every student is at some point in their long-term progress and is capable of further progress given learning opportunities at an appropriate level of stretch challenge.’ In his latest Teacher column, Professor Geoff Masters AO explores what makes ACER’s progressive achievement (PAT) resources special.

As a teacher, how can you best manage when a student in your classroom makes an inappropriate comment in the middle of a lesson, catching you off-guard and disrupting other students? What about when this happens in the playground? What if the comment is offensive? We unpack these questions in-depth with researchers Dr Erin Leif and Russell Fox.

Phillippa Adgemis is Principal at Coldstream Primary School – one of the six schools highlighted in a recent Australian study exploring the common features of exemplary school playgroups. In this article, she shares more about how the playgroup is run, and the effect it has had on the school.

‘Long gone is the traditional view of a museum as being static and dusty. Contemporary museums promote interactive exhibits, experiential learning experiences and technological “open” accessibility.’ Dr Deb Cohen explains how teachers can use museum education programs to support classroom learning.

Poor bone health and the chronic disease it can lead to, osteoporosis, can greatly reduce our overall mobility, and therefore have a significant impact on our overall health and wellbeing. Here, academics from La Trobe University share the research they are conducting which looks at the impact of probiotics on our bone health.

‘Considerable momentum is building around the belief that education will increasingly benefit from teachers becoming more ‘research-engaged”…’ Our latest reader submission discusses the phenomenon of Research-Invested Schools and shares examples of what’s happening in Australia.

'As we approach the third year of the pandemic, it’s crucial that teachers and students have the opportunity to reset for the school year ahead.' In our latest reader submission, Dr Tom Brunzell shares tools and strategies from trauma-informed and strengths-based practice that can be used to support teacher wellbeing and ensure students are ready to learn.