Education

Managed by the Department of Finance, the DFAs aim to support Nauru in terms of health and education amongst other priorities in departments such as the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and Women’s and Social Development Affairs (WASDA).

Hodges said he is pleased that Australia is able to assist Nauru to address some key issues through a long-term strategy.

The New Zealand Work Research Institute began a 5-year-long study in October 2019 and this month have started to focus in on Pacific people.

AUT University lecturer Dr Betty Ofe-Grant is leading the Pasifika component of the project and she said Pacific people in Aotearoa are over-represented when it comes to low literacy and numeracy skills.

According to Literacy NZ, one in four adults have literacy difficulties in their everyday life.

Using NAPLAN test results of 5,000 year 3 students, researchers from the University of Melbourne found the delays were equivalent to a child missing about 35 days of a school year.

Melbourne University's Cain Polidano described the findings are relatively small but significant.

"There is already a bit of evidence that shows that caesarean birth is related to a number of negative childhood health outcomes, including risks of ADHD, autism and also asthma", Dr Polidano said.

The amateur detective program was designed by teachers at Penrith Valley School, a facility for children with behavioural problems or complex emotional needs who have struggled with mainstream learning.

"A lot of them have had a lot of poor experiences in the classroom so they've got an expectation of failure that they're bringing in," principal Nic Danta said.

"And so the first stage is just to re-build that trust and connect them with education."

But fast-forward to 2017 and you're now responsible for raising a child whose life will revolve around digital technology, and who will have to be tech-smart, tech-savvy, and tech-safe to survive out there in the wild.

So what are some tips to help you along the way?

We asked for your experiences, and expert Joanne Orlando — an analyst and researcher in technology and learning who has worked as an advisor for the Government, for Apple, and for the children's television show Play School — for her best pieces of advice.

Telling a child they can’t sing has life-long implications. But there are ways to reverse it.

Singing is a natural human interaction that transcends cultures, socio-economic groups, ability, gender and education level, but many people are so scarred from their childhood experiences of singing that they won’t sing as adults.

Northwestern University choral music expert Steven Demorest says this comes from a focus on talent rather than skill. “It creates a huge stigma for kids and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he says.

Twenty-year-old Obasi Shaw called the 10-track album Liminal Minds and says it combines "elements of Middle English poetry with issues of racial identity in America".

He says it was inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and his own hobby of writing rap music and spoken word poetry.

It took him a year to write.

Last year Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly and Nas' Illmatic were both added to the Harvard Library to signify their cultural significance.

But youth in the criminal justice and foster care systems often don't have access to it. That's why some lawmakers in California want to make it their right.

Earlier this year, Democrat Assemblymember Mike Gipson introduced legislation that would mandate "reasonable access to computer technology and the internet" for kids in juvenile detention programs and foster care.

For young children, emoji can aid inclusion in aspects of society previously closed to them, such as active participation in increasing knowledge of childhood well-being, and being heard in educational and care settings.

Emoji can also support children's learning in areas of health, well-being, safety and diversity.

These are key aspects of supporting children in becoming knowledgeable, confident and informed citizens, essential aspects of high-quality education.

Ivanhoe Grammar School has partnered with e-NABLE, a community of online 3D designers, so students can learn how to make and produce prosthetics.

Steve Brophy, the school's director of information and communication technology and eLearning, said the school had used 3D printers for years but was looking for more meaningful projects.

"We wanted to move past the kids just printing knick-knacks and thinking that things like bobble heads and little toy cars were good enough.