 |
A Regular update from the
|
|||
|
No 6, 2005. Published 20th June, 2005 |
||||
State Council held last week Delegates from all 43 Area Councils gathered in Sydney last week for the Term 2 State Council meeting. Your Area Delegate will be able to provide feedback for you in relation to the two day agenda. Matters discussed included the Federal/State agenda and the impact being felt by the fact that the Federal government is driving the agenda with the injection of a range of funding which all comes with significant strings attached. Examples of this include the ‘Investing in our Schools’ program, the Tutorial Voucher Initiative, and all of the regulations surrounding the schools’ funding for the next quadrennium. Look for more information regarding some very significant motions passed at Council and the action which will follow as determined by the state Executive. President’s Report As usual, a number of reports were presented to State Council including reports from the President, the Treasurer and Secretary, along with reports from all Reference Groups and Standing Committees. Your delegates have copied of all of these. If you would like to read the President’s Report then click here to download separately. Aboriginal Education State Council also condemned the unsatisfactory nature of the funding of a very limited amount of the recommendations from the Aboriginal Education Review, and some specific actions will follow from this condemnation. Your delegate has access to a copy of an excellent report presented to Council by Brian Giles-Browne in relation to Aboriginal Education. Reporting to Parents State Council members were informed about progress regarding the NSW plans for Reporting to Parents and the attempt to develop a report format which satisfies the requirements of the Federal legislation but which also allows some consistency with the very extensive work undertaken in NSW in relation to Outcomes Based curriculum planning and delivery. NSWPPA Priorities 2004/5 Association Priorities were reconfirmed after a State Delegates' workshop at the Term 1 State Council meeting. They are:
Reporting to Parents - National Concern – Please complete the APPA survey There is actually strong concern right across Australia from Principal groups in all sectors: independent, Catholic and Government. As a result, the Australian Primary Principals’ Association is conducting a survey which closes this Friday, 24th June. The survey is collecting data on attitudes toward reporting to parents and is a powerful piece of data gathering to put pressure on the Federal minister, Dr Brendan Nelson. Please take the few minutes it takes to complete the survey which is online at: http://www2.mcgregor.com.au/7398APPA/7398APPA.htm The result from NSW can provide a massive boost to the national result. APPA is also making strong representation in a number of other areas. For a summary of where this is up to at this stage, please click here to download. Leadership Collective update State Council members were also brought up to date with the work which has been going on to move the work of the Leadership Collective ahead. Current work and future plans were outlined and a ‘taste’ offered of the sorts of activities which will be delivered across the state in programs co-ordinated by the Leadership Collective. Look out for some activities coming up this year as the NSWPPA works toward assisting the professional development of the Principalship. An especially exciting proposal is one for an exchange of Principals in shadowing roles. Watch for more information about this. TIME : to plan; TIME : to do it; TIME to evaluate it; TIME to report it. State Council expressed very grave concern that we have a situation where the expectations on schools have increased enormously in the last fifteen years, but where the time to deliver on these expectations has not been amended since the initial phasing in of RFF time in the late 1980’s. The situation for our PP5 and PP6 Principals was seen as especially in need of attention, along with the provision of additional time for Executive staff in all schools. The PPA has made representation to Industrial Relations to inform the upcoming salaries campaign and has clearly outlined the great need for more time for our PP5 and PP6 Principals in recognition of the vital role they play leading their educational communities while maintaining a teaching load as well. Teaching Principals’ survey PP5 and PP6 Principals are reminded that they may still complete the Teaching Principals’ survey online, as the closing date has been extended to Friday June 24th. The survey can be found and completed at : http://www.nswppa.org.au/3daywonder/TPSurvey052005.htm Transition Website There is now a website up and running which outlines ideas for transition between primary and secondary schools. You can see an outline of the information by clicking here, or by visiting the URL below. http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/highschool/transitions/index.php INPrincipal announced You would have seen the email from the DG last week about the new electronic memorandum which will start to hit your schools. This looks like being a really good summary of all of the information which would otherwise arrive in your inbox. The INPrincipal idea is a response to the input gained from the survey of communication run earlier this year and should help to streamline information flows. The way this is managed at school level will be a local decision and it will be good to share some ideas from colleagues as to how they are getting the best usage out of the information provided. Your feedback after implementation will be very useful. Principal Liaison Officer jobs advertised Principals are reminded that two very important jobs are currently open and close on Friday, 24th June. These are the positions which will have a focus on providing statewide support for Principals following the imminent retirement of Joan Kryzsik and her secondary counterpart. You can see a copy of the job advertisement at the URL below. Interested Principals are strongly encouraged to apply. https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/jobs/JobApp?Command=DisplayPublic&DocumentID=428246 Rain – hope you got some We all held our breath last week and hoped that all communities got some decent rain from the falls across some of inland NSW. It was good to hear stories of falls over 25mm ad it is hoped that some decent follow up rain comes to allow at least some return this season. Byrock – collegial support in dry times Byrock Public School, in the remote north west of the state has gained help from a number of schools in their fundraising to alleviate some of their water supply problems. Schools, and organisations like the NSWPPA have kicked in by purchasing packs of school postcards to raise money for the school. This has been a great example of the ability of groups of Principals to devise and manage a range of self help programs State Conference information and registration LIVE Don't miss out on the NSWPPA State Conference to be held in the last week of October. Our Annual Conference is now regarded as a great experience and places will go fast. You can register online by clicking the link on the main page of the PPA website at http://www.nswppa.org.au Education Week timing Many thanks to those NSWPPA Principals who are part of our SCAN network. As a result of a feedback SCAN related to the preferred timing of Education Week, the preferred option was to stick with holding Education Week in May as it was for 2005. As usual, there is much to think about. It is hoped that the outline above gives you some idea of the range of matters under discussion. Look for more information this week as Executive generates action in keeping with the recommendations from State Council last week. Have a great week . . not long now until the vacation. Roger Pryor
[Please click here to use the feedback form] Past web based editions of What's Hot
|
