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The end of Term 1 is approaching at a rapid speed and like many of you I find it incredulous that we are here already. With so much going on we haven’t had much time to sit back and reflect, but have continued to steer our schools onwards and upwards. The Easter break will give us a chance to slow down and re-charge the batteries.
On a disappointing note, two absolute gems of our system will be leaving us at the end of this Term. Executive Director Mark Grant has taken up a position as CEO of AITSL and Executive Director Geoff Pellizzer is retiring. Both of these senior officers have been enormously supportive of us in our schools, always willing to collaborate, valued our input and looked at issues with a school lens. Both have worked on projects that have tried to bring our system into the 21st century, supporting equity funding and bringing home some of the more complex software solutions for schools. They will be missed enormously by our system, by the primary principalship in general and very much by our Executive.
Following the NSW State elections we were blind-sided by the removal of our Minister Hon Rob Stokes - even after a win for the LNP coalition. He was obviously needed in another portfolio after his strong showing in Education. The Minister was always someone who would listen
SPC President Chris Presland and I have been involved in supporting the Fair Funding Campaign on behalf of our public schools to ensure the best chance of our 2200 schools gaining the funding that our students deserve. We’ve taken the line of needs based sector blind resourcing for our students based on the original Gonski recommendations.
To this end we have been involved in an AEU advertisement entitled “heartbreaking”
And were involved in the display outside Federal Parliament on Budget eve. We met and discussed with Greens and ALP members their different takes on funding for our public schools (both very supportive).
By now most will have been involved in their local PPC meetings and should be well aware of what was discussed at State Council. I thought I’d discuss two key presentations for you. One of the key groups that presented to Council was the Be You group. Adrian Larkin [Headpsace] and Deb Yates [Early Childhood Australia] are two of the leaders of this initiative which is : “An online platform with a professional development package for educators, and a skilled and trained workforce. Together, they support early learning services and schools to adopt a whole-setting approach to building a generation of mentally healthy children and young people”
Be You at a glance:
- the online Be You national mental health framework with learning modules
- your school’s Be You consultant
- free professional development and training opportunities
- free online resources
The other group that presented was Stewart House. CEO Graeme Philpot presented data on our number one charity and discussed the programs & continued difficulty Stewart House has had financially. Following donations, Stewart House still has a shortfall of $4.8m and relies on schools and individual members of staff to survive. Graeme presented some interesting facts:
I’ve included the Workplace giving form so you might encourage staff to become a regular donor. I’ve also included the link to a short video about Stewart House that’s on our website. Graeme has offered to attend PPC meetings where he needs 30 minutes, or he has asked schools to allow one of his staff to attend a staff meeting where they will need 20 minutes to discuss the program. Please consider.
Aboriginal Education :
The Aboriginal Education Reference Group, chaired by Paul Byrne, visited Queanbeyan schools this term. The aim is to build our understanding of how aboriginal education is being delivered across the state and how these initiatives are impacting schools and students’ outcomes. The teams we visited highly valued the opportunity for the NSWPPA state representatives to visit and hear their stories.
The reference group meets on the weekend and before breakfast to cover reports and PPA business, then combines to meet with principals, parents, students and community members to gain insights into what programs are changing outcomes for Aboriginal students and how our work as an association can further inform improvements and outcomes. We visited Queanbeyan West Primary School, Karabar High School, Queanbeyan High School and Queanbeyan East Primary School. A common feature of all schools was the focus on aboriginal identity, community, wellbeing and attendance. These factors combine to keep links between family and school strong. There is a focus on educating staff and embedding practices in every area of the school rather than single events. It was great to have time talking to elders and parents about what they valued about public education.
Queanbeyan East PS vision is to promote aboriginal social and cultural wellbeing and continue academic growth through, choice, responsibility, leadership and empowerment. This inspiring team of educators tackle aboriginal education an innovative way. They start with staff and build an understand that Aboriginal education is for all, then move that through to delivery within the school.
Deputy President Robyn Evans & I represented the NSWPPA at the Parramatta Office farewell of some of the Senior Officers we have worked with for a long time. Whilst we have known Matt Brown as a DEL and in his last iteration at ED for Rural South & West, we haven’t worked extensively with him as we have with the other two Executive Directors. We wished him well on his retirement & thanked him for his years & contributions in public education.
Executive Director Geoff Pellizzer has been a stalwart for public education for years. From his teaching, principalship and Directorship in the Riverina, to his work which began with Robyn McKerihan on the RAM methodology, Leadership & High Performance, as ED for Rural South & West and more recently with is work on SPA/HR, Geoff has been instrumental in many shifts & improvements in our system. Never short of a few words, Geoff was always approachable, grounded & moved to support schools in an ever changing landscape. He followed up our concerns and advocated for our schools. He will be sorely missed.
Instructional Leaders – Early Action for Success
Following some questions around Instructional Leaders we have followed up and received this advice: Literacy and Numeracy Unit are currently developing a consistent statewide approach to the possible extensions into 2020 for Instructional Leaders appointed for the 3 year period from 2017-2019. They are planning to provide advice for Principals and Instructional Leaders early in Term 2. We should have positive information coming out on this soon.
Principal Classification:
The HR Reference Group has been working hard on developing our position on principal classification and are now looking at modelling using the complicated formula. There is a much stronger emphasis on enrolments and will be released for comment next Term.
PPA Position statements
Many of the Executive attended media training early in the Term and the importance of having some easily enunciated positions was highlighted. We have therefore started developing “positions” that reflect the beliefs of the membership. So far we have been working on:
- NAPLAN
- SRE/SEE & ethics
- Safety & Security in our schools (violence)
- Bullying prevention
- Special Education
Synergy
We were advised at State Council that Synergy was being de-commissioned and it caused lots of angst amongst schools that use it. The announcement was premature, but reflected issues with the Tribal, the software owner. Further discussions with both Learning & Well-Being and Learning & Business Systems Senior Officers will continue to determine the best actions ahead….. there is no immediate intention to de-commission Synergy.
SBAR & SSP schools
With the release of the SBAR - actuals this week there were some very different results for our SSP colleagues. When comparing the estimated SBAR with the actual SBAR there was a significant difference in the QTSA and Principal Support funding. Thanks to quick & strong support by Director Mary-Lou O’Brien and HR, this has been rectified.
Human Capital Management – HCM
Another acronym for us to learn. HCM is all about recruitment for permanents, temporaries & casuals and was the subject of an email I sent out this week asking for commentary on improvements & challenges. It was an initial call -out but more will follow.
Artificial Intelligence & Ethics
Deputy Secretary Leslie Loble convened another meeting this week around the Catalyst Lab and it’s work on innovation and AI. Two Operational Directorates will be involved (Metropolitan South and Regional North) in developing projects that eventually would be scalable for the whole system… See #EthicalAI
Many Executive members have been out and about visiting local councils, spreading the “good oil” and listening to stories & re-assuring colleagues. If you wish for an Executive member to attend your local Council meeting, please contact President Phil on pseymour@nswppa.org.au.
Public Education Foundation Awards
Applications for the 2019 Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence are now open
Please consider nominating students, teachers, programs, SASS, parents etc as many of these Awards go to Secondary schools. Don’t be shy !!
Through the NSW Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence, we thank our teachers, leaders, support staff and parents for making a difference to the lives of students across the state. Together with the NSW Department of Education, the Public Education manages awards that acknowledge excellence in NSW schools across a range of categories:
- Minister’s Award for Excellence in Student Achievement
- Minister’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Secretary’s Award for Excellent Service (Teaching and Non-Teaching)
- Secretary’s Award for an Outstanding School Initiative
- Secretary’s School Achievement Award
- Public School Parent of the Year Award
Applications for the 2019 Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence open in March 2019 and close in June 2019. An Awards Ceremony will be held in September 2019. Here is the link for further information:
AGPPA
Following our recent AGPPA meeting, the following was sent to Minister Tehan and could form the basis of any discussion you may have with local politicians now that the election has been called.
Representing over 5,300 Primary School leaders and over 3.3 million voters from Government Schools across all States and Territories, we are keen to know the Liberal Party’s position on our key priorities listed in the following document and look forward to your response. [there was another document that elaborated on these points]
In short, AGPPA calls upon the Federal Government to:
- Increase the primary base SRS funding level so that every student K-12 is funded equally.
- Implement a fairer funding model that is needs-based, sector neutral, student-focused and moves all government schools to at least 100% of the Australian Schools Resourcing Standard (SRS).
- Increase the funding for students with disabilities in all settings including: mainstream, support classes and schools for specific purposes.
- Increase resources to support early and sustained intervention programs for students under 12.
- Engage AGPPA in a conversation about how to make adequate adjustments to the role of the government primary school principal drawing on the evidence of Professor Philip Riley on Principal Health and Wellbeing.
- Develop and lead a joint State and Federal government approach to address the increasing problem of violence and aggression in government primary schools.
- Support States and Territories to develop a resource strategy to attract, retain and provide necessary supports for leaders and aspirants in rural and remote areas.
- Involve AGPPA in the design, implementation and review of policy and guidelines related to student health, wellbeing, engagement and inclusion.
- Remove barriers for registered teachers to move between states and territories.
- Develop an approach that attracts and retains high quality teachers in government primary schools.
Similarly APPA has developed a slightly different set of expectations of our Federal politicians:
On behalf the Executive, Robyn Evans, Di Robertson, Rob Walker, Lyn Davis, Ian Reeson/ Trish Peters, Bob Willetts, Michael Burgess, Jude Hayman, Michael Trist, Craig Redfern, Mark Pritchard, and myself best wishes for a great first Term. Please always remember that we are here for you [details are on our webpage]…. And to look after yourself.
cheers
Phil Seymour
PRESIDENT