Category: Schools

Independent school students two years ahead: report

Students from Year 6 enjoying their class work at Hills Grammar

That’s the silver lining on the grey cloud of data contained in the 2016 PISA report.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a global education benchmark conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Every three years, 15-year-olds throughout the OECD and partner countries are tested on their skills and knowledge in Mathematics, Science and Reading. PISA collates the results to evaluate education standards around the world with a view to guiding education policy.

This year’s report was released on December 6 and reflects the educational attainment of students in 72 countries and economic regions (Hong Kong and Macau are assessed separately to mainland China) who sat the tests last year.

While Australia’s students overall achieved results that were just slightly above the OECD average, a breakdown of the data by sector, shows that students attending the nation’s independent schools did spectacularly well on the exams, with results placing them in the top five in every category.

Continue reading “Independent school students two years ahead: report”

School Cadets: Extreme fun leads to future excellence

Trinity Grammar Cadets
Learning to lead … Trinity Grammar School Cadets.

For pure adventure, it’s hard to beat Cadets. What other extracurricular activity combines sport, camping, bivouacking, tracking, patrolling, navigating, abseiling, bushcraft and tactical camouflage with practical military skills such as casualty evacuation, radio communications, first aid, field engineering and ceremonial drill and parade routines? As after-school activities go, cadet training is “extreme”.

But more than fun and excitement, cadets acquire a fundamental skill set that helps them to mature into self-confident, responsible and resourceful young adults. This is why cadet units are a central aspect of student life at many independent schools.

Trinity Grammar School, in Sydney’s Inner West, places a very high value on its cadet program making it compulsory for all students in years 8 and 9. While no longer mandatory from year 10 onward, students are encouraged to stick with the program to bolster their leadership skills. “Trinity has found that those boys who continue beyond the compulsory two-year cadet window are amongst the best leaders that the school produces,” it says. Continue reading “School Cadets: Extreme fun leads to future excellence”

Independent schooling helps bridge gender pay gap

IGS schools

For all the gains feminism has brought women, true equality, particularly in the workplace, remains elusive.

Women make up almost half of university graduates and enter the workforce in equal numbers to men yet they earn less and climb the corporate ladder much more slowly, if at all.

On the bright side, things are changing — albeit very slowly. The release of the Gender Equality Scorecard this week revealed that women earn 23 per cent less than men but that figure represents a gain of 1.6 percentage points in the three years since the first Scorecard was released. Continue reading “Independent schooling helps bridge gender pay gap”