Teachers, students and parents used to have only a one week break between term three and four. Next week used to be ‘back to school’. Thanks to the holiday reconsideration by former Education Minister Peter Chandler ( who thoroughly researched the question length of this break), a change in structure allowed an extra week at this time. Mr Chandler deserves credit for orchestrating this much appreciated change.

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One of the fallacies practised by contemporary leaders of government departments and key support organisations, is to studiously avoid appreciating departmental and organisational history. Management and leadership practice is to trash established processes, the preference being to ‘start over’ with ‘renewal’ practices ( rather than building on what has gone before). Little wonder so much mediocrity abounds within key institutions.

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Education needs a return to good, old fashioned, effective teaching and learning, especially in secondary schools both public and private. For far too many students, concepts and new learning are hampered by ‘vague’ teaching. Modern teaching methodology is about landing students with huge, (often irrelevant) assignments with a focus on self styled learning without meaningful, focussed teaching.