Victorian Deputy Premier JamesMerlinoMP has countered claims remote learning impacts all children negatively, saying some have flourished while others have struggled under the altered education conditions.
Victorian Deputy Premier James Merlino has countered claims remote learning impacts all children negatively, saying some have flourished while others have struggled under the altered education conditions.
“There have been kids that have thrived under remote learning and others that have suffered under remote learning, whether that is academic or mental health," he said. “What we made sure is that every school has a dedicated well-being team. “There has been real deep engagement supporting kids that are struggling. Mr Merlino warned there a cohort of highly vulnerable children that were “struggling” and mental health support had attempted to “engage kids were disengaging.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Victorian chief health officer fronts hotel quarantine inquiry | Sky News AustraliaVictorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has admitted to the inquiry into Melbourne’s hotel quarantine system that he did not know the program was going ahead prior to its announcement. \n\nPrime Minister Scott Morrison announced the program at a press conference on March 27, which Mr Sutton said he was not aware of until the announcement was made. \n\nThe chief health officer was also questioned on whether the quarantine system would have been more effective it the government had taken a recommendation made in 2011 following the 2009 swine flu pandemic. \n\nA prominent feature of the inquiry so far from those who assist set up the program was that it was done in a hasty and confusing manner. \n\nOne of the recommendations from the 2011 report was to implement a more unified approach to the quarantine process across the states and the Commonwealth.\n\nIn response to the report, Mr Sutton said he “absolutely took [the] point that consideration of this recommendation and a pre-existing ready to stand up program would have been of greater existence compared to setting up a program de novo”. \n\nHe also revealed to the inquiry he, at the time, had no view on using private security guards to secure the hotel quarantine and was not actually aware they were being employed until the outbreaks at the Stanford and Rydges hotels were reported. \n\nMr Sutton said in hindsight he could appreciate the difficulties of using a casual work force. \n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »
Victorian health minister concedes hospital restrictions are 'very challenging' | Sky News AustraliaVictorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has admitted restrictions surrounding hospital visits are “very challenging” after reports emerged of a mother being denied seeing her child who is on life support in a Melbourne hospital. \n\n“My thoughts are with that family. I can't imagine the heartbreak that they're going through at the moment and if there's anything that I can do to assist that family, I'm very happy to look into this case,' she told the media. \n\nMs Mikakos said she was not familiar with the case but was willing to investigate it further.\n\nThe Health Minister affirmed the strict rules around visitations were formulated following the chief health officer’s directions earlier in the year amid fears of virus outbreaks among health workers. \n\n“They have been developed in close consultation with health services and with peak bodies... who had a lot of concerns earlier in the year about the risks to staff, to health care workers, of large numbers of visitors coming through our hospitals,” she said. \n\n'The hospitals have the ability to, I guess, go beyond that and impose even stricter rules if they think that's appropriate to their particular circumstances. \n\n“There are exemptions there for palliative care situations. I think, you know, there is a need to have some flexibility on a case-by-case basis here where you've got such a tragic case.”\n\nImage: News Corp Australia \n\n
Read more »
New report says young Australians suffering adverse mental health due to COVID-19 | Sky News AustraliaA new report targeting Australians between the age of five and 25 has found nearly a third of young people are experiencing adverse mental health effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. \n\nYourtown CEO Tracy Adams told Sky News she was seeing a “heightened level of anxiety” and an increase in the number of young people who presented for imminent harm of suicide, as well as a 39 per cent increase in duty of care interventions. \n\nThe report indicated about 17 per cent of people who said COVID-19 had specifically impacted their pre-existing conditions brought up suicide, while 9 per cent mentioned self-harm. \n\n“Many young people are talking about the impact of COVID and the way that they sort of adjusted their existing conditions, so it may have been aggravated, they may have lost connectivity with those that were supporting them before,” she said. \n\n“We don’t know what the outcome is going to be, we live in constantly changing times and young people are seeking support for that.\n\n“We are seeing young people in crisis, they’re in distress.” \n\nMs Adams said Kids Helpline recorded a weekly average of more than 9,000 contacts since the beginning of coronavirus, while the average sat between about 6,000 to 6,500 pre-pandemic. \n\nAnyone who may be feeling distressed can contact the following organisations for support:\n\nSANE Helpline 1800 18 72 63 \n\nLifeline 131 114 \n\nBeyond Blue 1300 22 4636 \n\nImage: Getty
Read more »
Victorian lockdown impact to be 'laid bare' in August unemployment figures | Sky News AustraliaInvestSMART’s Evan Lucas says Australia’s August unemployment numbers set to be released on Thursday will take into account the entire Victorian lockdown scenario.\n\nMr Lucas said the numbers would be negative and were difficult to gauge correctly due to the JobKeeper program. \n\n“The Victorian effect will finally be laid bare today with how much unemployment in Victoria has now happened because of stage four lockdowns,” he said.\n\nHe said the United States Federal Reserve had come to the point where “monetary policy is running out of its ability to actually react to the market and to react to the economy and needs to get fiscal policy to support it”.\n\n'That is exactly what our RBA is saying at the moment,' he said.\n\nImage: Getty\n\n
Read more »
Victorians make legal challenges over Andrews government lockdown measures | Sky News AustraliaThe Andrews government has faced three court challenges over lost work as a result of the state's second wave measures.\n\nSmall business owner Michelle Loielo launched a Supreme Court writ claiming the controversial curfew was disproportionate, unreasonable and a violation of human rights.\n\nMs Loielo said lockdowns were responsible for a 99 per cent loss in her revenue.\n\nA separate class action was launched on behalf of retrenched workers who claimed their job losses were a direct result of Victoria's lockdown measures.\n\nThe lead plaintiff - a 21-year-old warehouse worker - claimed stage four restrictions were imposed as a direct result of hotel quarantine failures made by the Andrews government.\n\nThe court challenges join another class action launched last month.\n\nImage: News Corp Australia
Read more »
Union support ebbing away from the Democrats: Annelise Nielsen in Duluth, Minnesota | Sky News AustraliaWhat’s surprising about Minnesota’s bold claim that it’s home to 10,000 lakes is the fact it’s actually true. Indeed, once you introduce the measure that a lake must cover at least 10 acres, the number jumps up to 11,842.\n\nAccording to official data, 84 per cent of North America's surface fresh water is right here in the Great Lakes. Duluth, Minnesota sits on the edge of Lake Superior, that spans so far and wide it feels like it might be on the edge of the world.\n\nThis port opened a tiny corner of North-east Minnesota, home to fur traders and loggers, to be a global starting point for the enormous iron reserves here.\n\nThe main streets bear the hallmarks of the industrial powerhouses that forged the American empire from their mineral reserves here. But it’s not just the rusted out rail cars and shuttered windows which signal that everything here might not be what it once was.\n\nBloody tissues and broken needles swept into the long grass hint at some of the deeper social divides that are sowing a re-emergence on social values in rural parts of America.\n\nThe traditional party line of unions voting democrat isn’t holding up here. And despite the pandemic, and a major hospital in the centre of the city, masks are still few and far between.\n\nNestled among the weather board homes built to withstand winters that dip below -20C, is the birth place of Bob Dylan. Plenty of the same building still stand in place from when the iconic singer lived here, but he would surely agree the times they are a changin’.
Read more »