Former School Infrastructure NSW CEO Anthony Manning.

ICAC to probe former School Infrastructure NSW boss

The state’s powerful anti-corruption body is investigating allegations bureaucrats from School Infrastructure awarded lucrative contracts to friends and business associates.

  • byLucy Carroll

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Opinion

Achieving a happy medium in the national capital

While others tackle a hot tertiary topic.

School funding.
Exclusive

We learnt how much funding NSW schools receive:What does yours get?

Top selective schools James Ruse and North Sydney Boys benefited from parent contributions upwards of $2000 per student. Search our table to see how your school fares.

  • byChristopher Harris
Opinion

Detaining school parents is a bit much,but banning them makes sense

Teachers are fleeing the classroom,and monstrous parents are often to blame.

  • byJenna Price
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Opinion

Snakes and skinks and spiders,oh my!

While the passport troubles continue.

Students at six schools this year have been told they must resit the tests.

Number of schools caught by NAPLAN writing scandal grows

Academic integrity experts say the advent of artificial intelligence has made high-stakes tests such as NAPLAN more susceptible to cheating.

  • byChristopher Harris
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Thanh Whittam with her three children at her home in Matraville.

Employers want workers back in the office. How do parents of young children cope?

As more families have both parents working full-time and employers impose return-to-office policies,a new report recommends an overhaul of outside school hours care.

  • byLucy Carroll
Shore has introduced a new laptop policy which is partly driven by concerns that boys are being distracted.

The battle between Shore school and its former headmaster

Tim Petterson is alleging a breach of employment contract,but the institution says concerns were raised about his “performance and conduct” before he was dismissed in 2022.

  • byLucy Carroll
Schools HSC
Exclusive

Revealed:The state’s most improved schools in the HSC

The NSW Education Department has identified 24 schools as the most improved in lifting band 4,5 and 6 results over the past eight years.

  • byLucy Carroll
The demographic of pupils attending Ascham School in Edgecliff has changed.
Exclusive

Staffer at top Sydney private girls’ school charged over alleged tech theft

The head of Ascham School’s IT department allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars worth of computers and sold the equipment on an online marketplace.

  • byLucy Carroll andPerry Duffin
Armidale Secondary College

Schoolgirls,11 and 13,arrested after allegedly assaulting staff and police

The two girls plunged a NSW school into lockdown when they allegedly attempted to assault a fellow student before turning on staff.

  • byJessica McSweeney
Elly and Imogen Wagener enjoy the ride to school on the metro,thanks to their parents’ foresight.

Elly and Imogen’s parents made a clever decision 15 years ago. Now it’s paying off

The Sydney Metro is having a huge impact on schools in North Sydney – and the Wageners were ahead of the curve.

  • byChristopher Harris
Queenwood Senior Girls School year 9 students Evie Davis,Sonia Punter and Chloe Abbott attended a pelvic pain workshop yesterday at the school in Mosman. MARCH 21,2025. Photo:Max Mason-Hubers
Exclusive

This program is helping girls stay in school,but NSW students are missing out

NSW is the only state that doesn’t fund endometriosis and pain workshops for public school students despite research revealing one in four girls miss classes due to period pain.

  • byEmily Kaine andAngus Thomson
UNSW has received its largest donation to date.

Universities must do more to improve campus experience

In one of the world’s most expensive cities,and after a pandemic changed the way we work and learn,the campus lifestyle is increasingly a thing of the past.

  • byThe Herald's View
University of NSW vice-chancellor Attila Brungs has unveiled a 10 year plan for the university.

The NSW university that wants to halve students’ rent

The head of the University of NSW says he will double the amount of student housing it offers at half the cost of private providers.

  • byChristopher Harris
Australian National University said it has received a letter from the US government indicating an intent to terminate funding related to one research project.

How the Trump White House is causing headaches for our universities

The Australian Academy of Science will call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to hold an emergency meeting as more institutions are hit by questions from the US.

  • byChristopher Harris
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Students in year 5 at Waverley College will resit their NAPLAN writing test.

The Sydney students forced to take the NAPLAN test again

Some schools were hit by a technical issue which meant they could access predictive text and spellcheck.

  • byChristopher Harris
Sebastian Rigley,12,says Turramurra Public has a school swimming carnival but his family has noticed a difference in attitude to swimming.

In NSW,swimming lessons started in 1880. Now some schools struggle to put a relay team together

After nationwide research showed participation in school swimming carnivals had plunged,experts say a lot of students are missing out on key skills.

  • byJulie Power andFrances Howe
Jackson Teede 11y

School swimming carnivals are dying. It’s putting a generation at risk

One in four schools around Australia have abandoned the annual swimming carnival,research shows,as Royal Life Saving Australia sounds the alarm over safety.

  • byJulie Power
Matt Dopierala stepped into the role of principal of James Ruse Agricultural High School in Carlingford late last year.
Exclusive

‘I’m sure it will happen’:James Ruse High’s plan to return to No.1 revealed

For 27 years,the selective school reigned at the top of HSC league tables until 2023,when it was dethroned by North Sydney Boys.

  • byChristopher Harris
Year 8 Ravenswood student Willow Holm with her mother Rachel.

More parents want a private school scholarship. Marks are not always enough

The number of applicants for some private school scholarship tests has increased by about 30 per cent in the past few years.

  • byChristopher Harris
Greens leader Adam Bandt has warned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese there needs to be further cost of living relief to keep Peter Dutton in opposition.

‘Pass this now’:Greens offer to help Labor ‘Dutton-proof’ key measures

In a letter penned to Anthony Albanese this week,Greens leader Adam Bandt had three key requests.

  • byMillie Muroi
The Scots College in Bellevue Hill under construction.

Scots College’s multimillion-dollar ‘vanity’ castle to finally open

For years,CBD has dined out on the trials and tribulations of Scots College’s garish new student centre modelled on a Scottish baronial castle.

  • byKishor Napier-Raman,Stephen Brook andCara Waters
A picture of a rubber duck included in emeritus professor William Maley’s submission to the inquiry on university governance.

Professors hit back at universities that are ‘no longer about education’

As top institutions are accused of putting money before academic integrity,one university has cut back on graduation ceremonies and said it would give students a “coveted” rubber duck.

  • byChristopher Harris
Anxious students in mathematics can be three years and four months behind in the subject compared to their least anxious peers.

The subject students are failing – can you pass the quiz?

An analysis of Australian international test results shows some pupils are almost four years behind in learning due to maths anxiety.

  • byChristopher Harris
Sydney Boys High School
Exclusive

The ‘fully funded’ Sydney selective school desperate for donations

One of Sydney’s top-performing public schools will seek to cut costs and ask parents to pay more after its budget was slashed.

  • byLucy Carroll andChristopher Harris
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NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says international students will always remain key to the state’s economy.
Exclusive

‘Not problems to be capped’:NSW treasurer defends international students

International education is second only to coal in terms of NSW’s export industries. Would a cap on overseas student numbers put that at risk?

  • byAlexandra Smith andMatt Wade
Intermittent heavy rainfall from Cyclone Alfred made for wet work for the employees of Brads Butchery in Lismore as they evacuated their workplace.

How Cyclone Alfred is impacting Northern NSW

Supermarkets,health clinics,transport,schools and roads have all been impacted by Cyclone Alfred. Here’s what you need to know.

  • byKayla Olaya
The 2025 SMH School Summit.
Exclusive

The major NAPLAN change coming to schools

Teachers will get maths and reading results almost instantly under a plan by the national curriculum authority.

  • byNick Newling
The 2025 SMH Schools Summit.

SMH Schools Summit 2025 as it happened:Prue Car speaks after funding deal,selective schools in the spotlight

Sydney’s education thought leaders have gathered at ICC Sydney for The Sydney Morning Herald School Summit.

  • byNick Newling
Dr Michele Bruniges,the former head of the Department of Education.
Editorial

Comprehensive schools carry a disproportionate burden of disadvantage

The SMH Schools Summit 2025 will hear radical proposals for selective public schools and private schools to share the load of disadvantaged students.

  • The Herald's View
Dr Michele Bruniges’ research found public schools educate almost all of the most disadvantaged students.

Former education chief’s call to curb new selective schools

Michele Bruniges will use a speech at The Sydney Morning Herald Schools Summit on Wednesday to outline how public schools disproportionately educate disadvantaged students.

  • byChristopher Harris
Changed catchment zones for Killara High School

This north shore school catchment shake-up blindsided parents. Now there’s a delay

A controversial change to the catchment zone of one of Sydney’s top-performing comprehensive schools,Killara High,has been pushed back.

  • byNick Newling
Some overcrowded public schools are operating at double or triple their enrolment caps.
Editorial

New homes without new schools is shooting planning in the foot

The Minns government has shelved plans to build schools in the very suburbs it has earmarked for housing development.

  • The Herald's View
NSW will run a trial year 1 numeracy screening check in 150 schools from next term.
Exclusive

Thousands of NSW primary school students to sit new mathematics test

The teacher-run 15-minute test will check students’ maths skills in counting,ordering numbers and simple addition and subtraction.

  • byLucy Carroll andChristopher Harris
Schools were overwhelmed by questions from exasperated parents when the voucher launched.

Albanese clears $4.8bn hurdle in race to federal election

The federal government will lift its share of NSW school funding in a similar deal to a $2.5 billion agreement with Victoria five weeks ago.

  • byDavid Crowe
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Changed catchment zones for Killara High School

It’s one of the north shore’s most prized school catchments - and it just shrank

Families pay a median price of $3.3 million to live in Killara. Now,many of them won’t get their kids into Killara High.

  • byNick Newling
Some parents have no option but a childcare centre.
Opinion

To win parents’ votes,put their kids first – with childcare that hits home

There’s evidence that children aged under three are more stressed in childcare centres than at home. Working parents need options.

  • byParnell Palme McGuinness
Students at Queenwood play on the monkeybars after their parents struck a deal with the school not to buy students a smartphone.

The principal who made a pact with parents about what happens after school

Bans and restrictions on use and type of mobile phones are gaining traction.

  • byChristopher Harris
Chatswood Public is among the northern Sydney schools to have recently received an upgrade.
Exclusive

These north shore schools have been shelved but thousands of new homes are coming

Plans for an education precinct at St Leonards and a new Chatswood public primary school were earmarked under the former government.

  • byLucy Carroll
New data reveals funding disparity between government schools in different states.

Private schools lobby vows federal election fight over ‘class-war rhetoric’

Seventeen seats have been designated “ground zero” in a campaign to pressure major parties to shore up billions of dollars in public funding.

  • byBridie Smith
Students protesting at Granville Boys High School on Wednesday.

Students protest at Sydney school after Muslim staffer told to work from home

Granville Boys High student support officer Sheikh Wesam Charkawi was ordered to remove social media posts where he downplayed antisemitic comments made by two Sydney nurses.

  • byLucy Carroll andChristopher Harris
University fees for some students have risen by 50 per cent in just five years.
Opinion

How the housing crisis is destroying university life

With part-time jobs,fewer lectures and long commutes,many university students are weighing up whether it’s worth turning up to class.

  • byMichelle Arrow,Jonathan Symons andTanya Evans
Video allegedly showing a young Ballarat Grammar boy being bullied by a group of older schoolmates.
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Video allegedly shows a young boy being bullied by older students

Video allegedly showing a young Ballarat Grammar boy being bullied by a group of older schoolmates.

Documents dated from April last year include 21 public education system targets developed by the education department.
Exclusive

Revealed:The secret performance targets for our schools

Performance goals that have been kept from the public for months reveal what parents really think about their children’s school.

  • byLucy Carroll
Duncan and Liz Davies with their daughters Arianne (left) and Catie.

The most popular schools for Sydney house hunters revealed

While the state government is focused on delivering more co-ed options,many of the most popular schools are single sex.

  • byChristopher Harris
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Freshwater High school captains Sebastian Rayel and Sophie Rawstorne.

Parents plan legal challenge over Sydney high school’s controversial changes

Parents this week launched a fundraising campaign to raise $20,000 in a bid to stop the senior campus from being dismantled.

  • byChristopher Harris
Miriam Palazzi,18,graduated from selective school Merewether High in Newcastle and enrolled at the University of Sydney this year.
Exclusive

Private school bubble:Where students at Sydney’s biggest universities came from

Public school graduates made up only 41 per cent of new undergraduates at Sydney University despite efforts to increase students from disadvantaged groups.

  • byChristopher Harris andLucy Carroll
For Labor,the road to Parliament House runs through the Federal Labor Business Forum.

Seven in 10 high school students fail civics and citizenship tests

The latest results come amid a loss of faith in democracy and political institutions,rising antisemitic attacks and a breakdown in social cohesion.

  • byLucy Carroll andChristopher Harris
Rebecca King and her daughter daughter Maddy.

Girls lead exodus as parents choose private and Catholic schools

Thousands more NSW parents are choosing Catholic and private schools for their children amid an exodus from public education.

  • byChristopher Harris andCraig Butt