Welcome to the very first episode of our new podcast series, School Assembly. In this series, we dive into what it’s like to build a school community from scratch, following Principal Ray Boyd and Associate Principal Rachael Lehr as they prepare for the 2023 opening of their new primary school in Western Australia.

ACER’s Research Conference 2022 has kicked off today. This afternoon, ACER Research Fellow Dr Fabienne van der Kleij delivered her presentation ‘Reimagining classroom assessment and feedback to meet learner needs’. In this Q&A, she expands on what was covered in her presentation.

Research shows that pragmatic and evidence-based consent education in schools can have both immediate and lasting effects in reducing gender-based violence. In this article, we outline 5 further readings which explore consent education in Australia.

In this episode in our School Improvement series, we hear from Dr Jason Zagami from Griffith University, who shares some of the current challenges and opportunities of computer education in Australian schools, and how teachers can better prepare for future technological advances.

In this episode in our Behaviour Management series, Dr Erin Leif and Russell Fox from Monash University join us to answer questions submitted by Teacher readers on trauma-informed practice, strategies for casual relief teachers, and the links between positive behaviour support and academic outcomes.

Brisbane’s Brigidine College, Indooroopilly has changed the way it supports pre-service and early career teachers. In the second part of our Q&A with Allison Johansen (Assistant to the Principal, Professional Teaching and Learning) we find out more about the Pre-Service Teacher Fellowship Program and its positive impact.

Students miss school for a whole range of different reasons, such as illness, suspension, or family holidays. Today, we’ll be speaking with Kirsten Hancock, Honorary Research Associate from Telethon Kids Institute in Western Australia about how different types of absences affect student outcomes, and what families and schools can do to tailor their support to students who are missing school.

‘One way of making full use of reclaimed classroom spaces, whilst building collaborative and pro-social skills and behaviours, is Socratic Circles.’ English and History teacher Steven Kolber explains how to use this technique in your own classroom, the benefits and outcomes for students, and the role of the educator.

How can we support reading aloud in the early years, at school and at home? And how does reading aloud affect our lives in the long term? Today, we’ll be speaking with Professor Emerita Rosemary Johnston AM, who shares some of the research on the benefits and joys of reading aloud and how we can continue to support reading aloud at school and at home.

‘Clearly, the decline in Australia’s PISA scores is a complex problem, necessitating complex and varied solutions. What is evident from these data, however, is that the decline in scores cannot be attributed to one particular school sector, but it is shared across the whole system.’ In her latest Teacher column, Sue Thomson examines achievement, school climate and student wellbeing in Australia’s three school sectors.