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A Regular update from the
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No 7, 2005. Published 30th June, 2005 |
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Now you see it, now you don’t Like all of you, members of the PPA Executive were appalled at the announcement, late in the school day, of a contradiction to the advice given earlier in the week that there would be no penalty to staff who took part in industrial action on Friday in support of the NSW Teachers’ Federation and Unions NSW response to proposed changes in Industrial Relations laws. It is yet another example of the extent to which we are all caught up in the increased level of political impact on our workplaces, and our disgust has already been expressed at a number of levels. Wild Weather Our thoughts are with the many schools which have been affected by the extreme weather conditions and flooding in various parts of the state. Aboriginal Education update – a good result We were very pleased to hear during the week that the Working Party which has been set up to work at responding to the recommendations of the Aboriginal Education Review has now been given a brief to look at a much more broader based distribution of funding than that which had been understood based on previous information. Now, an amount of up to $2.5 million will be allocated to pilot project in a limited number of schools with significant Aboriginal enrolments to enable them to establish PAS style programs. The bulk of the funding for the first year will then be available for broad based programs across all schools. This represents an extremely positive result for the action which resulted from the work of our Aboriginal Education Reference Group members, and the resolve of State Council which led to a number of media stories and interviews in relation to initial concerns. Memorandum of Understanding The Memorandum of Understanding between the NSW Primary Principals’ Association and the DET has been signed by the Director General and the PPA President. This Memorandum sets in place a number of understandings, including recognition of the role of both our Area Council and Regional Advisory Groups. The involvement of all of our Area Delegates in canvassing the views of local members in the development of this has been much appreciated. Annual School Reports Along with Chris Bonnor, from the Secondary Principals’ Council (SPC), I was recently shown a copy of proposed Annual School Reports and advised that there would be an announcement at some stage soon that this format would be required to comply with some of the new Federal requirements. As you know, that announcement was made earlier this week. The PPA Executive has met with the SPC Executive and agreed to work together on a program to “level the playing field” between public schools and the publicly funded independent system. The PPA supported the SPC call for a universal application of the new government imposition of a reporting format for all sectors of schools. The announcement by the Premier yesterday of the intent to make the reports mandatory for all schools represents a great first achievement in this process. As you would be aware, the Teachers’ Federation has lodged a dispute in relation to the proposed ASR’s and it is anticipated that this, and a range of other matters will be a major part of the agenda at the Federation Annual Conference which begins in Sydney this Sunday. APPA Conference The APPA Conference concluded in Canberra on Wednesday with chilling reminders that the Federal Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson, has clearly decided that he has no desire to take on board advice coming from the educational community in relation to many of the proposed requirements around Reporting to Parents and the annual reporting of school “performance.” The tying of massive levels of funding to a string of conditions has seen states under enormous pressure to comply with this agenda. As you would be aware from a Memo last week, the NSW government has signed off on these conditions. Survey thanks Many thanks to the hundreds of NSW Principals who responded to the APPA survey on Reporting to Parents. A Report from the survey is being prepared by McGregor Tan, the research company, and will be presented as a package of recommendations from all Australian Primary schools. Leadership Award Congratulations are due to Neil Trenear, from Milton Public School, who was one of two runners up in the Scholastic/APPA National Leadership Awards announced at the conclusion of the APPA conference. The winner, from Victoria, and the two runners up, were selected from a field of 22 applications from around Australia. Well done Neil ! In addition to the positive work at Milton, Neil has also had a great input to the NSW PPA Leadership Collective and continues to provide great leadership of this working party. Best wishes Joan ! We wish Joan Krzysik all the very best as she moves into retirement. Joan has been a friend, colleague and supporter to hundreds of Principals across NSW. A selection process is underway to appoint Principals to a new role as Principal Liaison Officer. Sad News Many PPA members will be saddened to know that former Riverina based school Education Director, Mark Everett, passed away in Griffith Base Hospital on Wednesday evening. Our sympathies are extended to his family. Have a great holiday At the end of all of these goings on, no doubt everybody will be ready for a break ! It is hoped that everybody has a great holiday in readiness for what will no doubt be a very interesting time ahead. Best wishes to everybody for a relaxed and wonderful holiday Roger Pryor
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