All-Time High Suspension Rates in Early Primary School

According to recent data from the Queensland Department of Education, almost 11 prep and year 1 students are suspended from school every day.

In the last school year, almost 3000 prep and year one students were suspended due to serious behavioural issues in the classroom.

To help ease the pressure on teachers, the Queensland Government introduced a teacher aide into every prep classroom across the state.

 

A Possible End to China’s Family Planning Laws

China has announced that it is scrapping three agencies responsible for enforcing family planning and the country’s strict procreation laws.

This is further indication the country may be looking to end its heavily enforced rules which disallow families to have more than two children without facing heavy fines.

This comes after a draft of the civil code dropping all family planning legislation, as well as the dropping of the notorious one child policy two years ago.

Lucky Escape for Lucky Boy

A 10-year-old boy in the United States has made a miraculous escape after a meat skewer pierced his skull, completely missing his eye, brain, spinal cord and major blood vessels.

Xavier Cunningham ended up in this position after he fell from a tree house at his home in Harrisonville, straight onto the meat skewer. Insects attacked him, causing him to tumble to the ground.

New App Granting Sight to the Blind

Microsoft Australia and Vision Australia announced a new app yesterday that empowers people who are blind or have low vision to explore the world around them through a 3D audio experience.

Called Soundscape, this app uses location awareness to provide users with information (through speech and sound) about their surroundings, allowing them to build a mental map of what’s around them.

A Problem With Female Representation in Parliament

As the air begins to clear after our recent leadership spill, the debate has turned to whether or not there is adequate female representation in parliament.

Under Scott Morrison, the number of women in cabinet has increased to 6, an improvement on the five women in parliament under ex PM Malcolm Turnbull, or the meagre one under Tony Abbott.

In an ABC interview, deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg admitted that “we needed to get more women into safe seats as well as at the top table.”

Say Hello to the ‘Speedy Cat’

As of the 24th of September, 100 new ‘speedy cat’ ferry services will be introduced to the Brisbane city Council's current public transport system in keeping with Lord Mayor Graham Quirks electoral announcement in 2016.

These changes will introduce 100 new weekly ‘speedy cat’ express services all along the city cat routes with increased speeds, with as little at 15 minutes between UQ St Lucia and North Quay stops.

Needles In Strawberries

Three Australians have reported finding needles imbedded in their strawberries over the past few days.

This has prompted an urgent supermarket recall on the popular fruit, while police investigate what they believe to be a deliberate contamination.

The strawberries, originating from a South East Queensland farm, are branded Berry Obsession and Berry Licious.

Anyone who has purchased these strawberries in the past week should dispose of them immediately.