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- President’s Report:
- Professional Learning Opportunity | Principals and Teacher Librarians | Monday 20 March 2023:
- Field days provide an opportunity to talk education with regional communities:
- STEWART HOUSE | What a wonderful resource for our students to access!
- Term 4 PPA Podcasts | Vice President Leah Martin:
- And finally…..
T’is the Season
With School Development Days covered off, it is TIME. Time to take charge and prioritise yourself and YOUR wellbeing. YOU KNOW what you need to do to rejuvenate after the year that 2022 has been.
Colleagues, in the past three years you have been leading your schools prioritising the wellbeing of your staff, students and community as well as ensuring each and every student has had access to the highest quality teaching and learning through the AMAZING staff you have in your schools. Bushfires, floods and the pandemic have indeed taken their toll. YOU and your colleagues however have continued to rally and TOGETHER we have all weathered what has been called ‘unprecedent times.’
NEVER underestimate the key role you have played in sustaining the energy you’ve invested in leading your school community through three years where mother nature turned on bushfires and floods and the world changed forever with the COVID pandemic. COVID has taught us much. We are without doubt one of the most agile and resilient workforces. COVID remains in our communities and schools, we still had cohorts learning from home last week. The road to recovery for our bushfire and flood affected schools and communities continues – this road is long and harrowing. Lives have been changed forever.
Look back and see how far you have come and look forward with great hope and optimism. 2023 … what will it bring? Whatever it is, it will be harnessed and managed, and we WILL shine.
On a personal note, I’d like to extend my absolute gratitude to so many of you – thank you for your emails, phone calls, invitations into your schools, catch ups at PPC meetings and opportunities to spend sustained periods of time with you at conferences. It is THESE opportunities that have given me voice and clarity about the diverse issues and many of the same issues in our schools across the state. I look forward to more of these experiences. The State Executive and Chairpersons have been in every room and taken every opportunity to be the voice of the Principalship. We have had a number of significant wins and by wins I mean we achieve ‘what was the right thing to do’ we are collectively very proud.
Thankyou too to YOUR AMAZING staff – those who walk with you and invest in distributed leadership of your school. They have like you stood up and given their all – we often talk about what matters most – it lies in our people – the relationships we build, the trust that grows and the communication that grows. Leaning in on each other has made us the workforce we are. A workforce that has achieved more than could have ever been imagined!
NOW IS your time – rest, relax, recover and invest in the festive season and new year celebrations!!
Professional Learning Opportunity | Principals and Teacher Librarians | Monday 20 March 2023:
Teacher Librarian Glenfield PS, Gina Krohn is hosting the fourth primary teacher librarian conference and the focus is library advocacy. A panel of academics, an author and representatives from the School Library Association of NSW and the P&C Federation, all of whom will be talking about the important role of school librarians and libraries in the lives of our students. Principals are being invited to attend this morning session, with their TLs, to hear and ask about the panels' research and experience in this area. Can you please draw your TL’s attention to this opportunity also.
Field days provide an opportunity to talk education with regional communities:
The department has been connecting with regional and rural communities, showcasing public education at agricultural field days across NSW this year. Led by the Regional, Rural and Remote Education Policy Unit, the team closed out the year with a stand at Primex in Casino in November. This followed on from exhibitions at AgQuip in Gunnedah, Henty Machinery Field Days and the Australian National Field Days near Orange earlier in the year.
The field days have provided an opportunity to gain valuable feedback from regional and rural communities to help guide future direction for our schools. They are also an opportunity to celebrate the great work taking place in local schools and promote opportunities across the department. But the buck doesn’t stop there - planning is already underway for 2023, kicking off with the Sydney Royal Easter Show in April.
To learn more about upcoming field days or get involved in planning for 2023, please contact the Regional, Rural and Remote Education Policy Unit.
STEWART HOUSE | What a wonderful resource for our students to access!
Craig Petersen |SPC President and I were invited by the Stewart House Board to support their new strategy for promoting salary sacrificing from the education family to ensure the future functioning of this brilliant resource for the most vulnerable students in our NSW and ACT schools. I will share the video with you for your PPC meetings and staff meetings when released. Huge thankyou to Olga Cahill for hosting us on the day.
Last week we also visited the AMAZING Stewart House School. The sound of the happiest students engaging in wonderful activities, socialising, learning, and anticipating the next adventure was such a joyful sound. Talking with Principal |Steve Smith and his brilliant staff about the school programs, the achievements in 2022 as well as their hopes and plans for 2023 was truly inspirational. Our schools, indeed, our students are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to attend this facility and have an experience they haven’t had before. Medical services are accessed, curriculum is covered, and friendships are formed – importantly lives are changed. I would like to acknowledge the Stewart House (DoE) team for their commitment to, patience for and expertise at offering students the program you do.
Look out for information in 2023 – there may well be students in your school that would benefit from the Stewart house experience. Your area contact for Stewart House is the best place to start.
Term 4 PPA Podcasts | Vice President Leah Martin:
We have created two 20 minute podcasts for our membership this term to share the business of the Association and the incredible work of our Reference Groups.
Podcast episodes can be accessed in the members only section of our website so you will need to log in using your email address and password.
Episode 4, our Term 4 Executive & Chairs Update, is an update from our President, Robyn Evans on the key initiatives and business of the Association for Term 4. This episode also includes updates from Norma Petrocco, Vice President and Executive Liaison for the Curriculum Reference Group, Andrew Rodgers, Chair of the Teaching Principals Reference Group and Tracy Anderson the Chair of the Newbuilds and Rebuilds Standing Committee.
Episode 5, our Term 4 Chairs Update incudes comprehensive updates from Skye Ramsay, the Chair of the Human Resources Reference Group and Brent Kunkler, the outgoing Chair of the Asset Management Reference Group.
On behalf of the NSWPPA Executive – Rob Walker, Bob Willetts, Michael Burgess, Leah Martin, Trish Peters, Norma Petrocco, Stuart Wylie, Greg McLaren, Michael Trist, Scott Sanford, Mark Pritchard, Lisa Beare and Drew Janetzki, I wish you all a fabulous festive season and long awaited holiday!!! YOU are so deserving!!!!!! It is now over to you to PRIORITISE YOU - get busy spending time with family and friends. Welcome the New Year in with much hope and optimism. Look back on 2022 and smile YOU HAVE SO MUCH to celebrate and be proud of! Spend each and every moment with those you treasure – laugh, dance, swim, doze, walk, fish, surf, read, travel and meet up with those who make your spirit soar – it’s your time!
The NSWPPA Office at Ultimo is closed from Thursday 23 December and will reopen Monday 9 January. I will be contactable via email during that time and from 9 January also by phone 0429 547 619.
Take care and travel safely ?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Kindest regards for the festive season.
Robyn Evans
NSWPPA President