When you consider your curriculum planning for the term, or the year, linking learning goals and lesson activities to key events can be a great hook, and a chance to bring students and teachers from different year levels together. Today’s article looks at free curriculum-aligned resources for National Science Week, and a school example of planning in action for this annual celebration.

STTOP’s free, fast-paced sustainability program has landed in Aussie classrooms. What started as a series of fun, fast-paced YouTube videos has evolved into a national education program helping Aussie students take action and become advocates for a more sustainable future, right from the classroom.

Today’s students are entering school with more digital literacy than ever before and there is an advantage to leaning into this skill. Educators can meet students where they are and introduce screen time with a purpose.  Sora, used in thousands of schools across the world, including Australian schools, provides access to ebooks, audiobooks, comics and more – all in one platform.

‘We need to make sure through that data that we’re finetuning our programs so we’re actually meeting the demands and the needs of the students.’ In today’s article, Careers Advisor at Arthur Phillip High School Stephanie Malnar joins Teacher to share how she supports students with their career development. 

Schools play a critical role in supporting student mental health and promoting wellbeing initiatives. The Australian Council for Educational Research has produced the Wellbeing Program Guide – a comprehensive catalogue of 233 wellbeing programs designed to help teachers and schools find suitable programs that are evidence-based, locally relevant, and practical for educators to implement.

‘Teachers and parents can help to foster social-emotional functioning among students, which is important for their healthy development more broadly.’ In this reader submission, Rebecca J. Collie and Richard M. Ryan share findings from their recent study that examined the role teachers and parents play in relation to students’ social-emotional competence. 

In learning about science at school, students frequently apply their knowledge and skills to tasks that require multiple steps – such as solving a problem, forming an argument, or undertaking an analysis. Michael Rosenbrock explains that scaffolding can be a valuable way to support students to develop and extend their knowledge and skills. One way to do this is by using worked examples. 

Research shows that when children thrive in their early years, they have a strong foundation for lifelong learning, health, development and wellbeing. New data from the 2024 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) show there has been an overall increase in the percentage of children developmentally on track on 5 AEDC domains since the baseline was established in 2009. 

‘We just want to make sure that the students are gaining their confidence … and really opening their eyes to what opportunities are out there at our doorstep’. We speak with Dripstone Middle School Principal Nektaria Pikoulos and Angela Sheedy from Charles Darwin University about a partnership that’s not only supporting student career pathways, but their health and wellbeing too.

Australia’s year 4s achieved the country’s best-ever result in the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Alongside the year 4 and 8 assessments, students, teachers and principals at participating schools completed a questionnaire – those findings have been released today.