Vol 43 | No. 3 May 2011

AEUJOURNAL SA

INsIde:

uMemberstalkaboutpermanency

uNAPLAN:Goodforeducation?

Areyouover-worked?AEU/DECS review begins

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Paybonusesdon’tworkThe PM’s plan to pay top performing

teachers is swimming against the tide of professional opinion and common sense.

A one–off payment of any amount, capped by a budget figure and restricted to the best 10% of teachers does nothing to increase the number of exceptional teachers. To the contrary, this scheme will create a competitive environment for lim-ited bonuses, stunting opportunities for sharing excellent practice between teach-ers for the benefit all students.

This approach has been tried in Victoria and failed after a few years. Similar fail-ures have occurred in the US.

Gillard and Garrett’s slavish adoption of educationally unsound and regressive education policy from the US is perplex-ing when the USA’s education achieve-ment has been and currently is lower than Australia on international measures of student achievement.

Finland however has been consistently ranked in the top three countries for stu-

dent literacy and numeracy and insists that all teachers are accredited with a Masters in Education. Finland’s focus is professional development.

If this government truly believes that, “one of the best ways to get a great edu-cation is to have exceptional teachers,” then funding should be targeted at the provision of professional development for the whole teaching workforce after identi-fying best practice nationally, not some pop media sound bite. nAshleyLindnerHallettCoveR-12School

ContractTeachingAs a contract teacher of 25 years I

think converting contract teachers to per-manency should be a high priority for DECS. I believe if a teacher has been working in longer-term contracts for a period of say five years they should be considered for permanency.

If a contract teacher has proven to be reliable and committed with the right skills and no poor performance issues then they should be made permanent, even if their contract positions have not been continuous or at the same site.

Principals and directors I work with often ask why I haven’t been made perma-nent. I don’t have the answer to that question. Maybe Mr. Weatherill can tell me why?

I have worked in more places than many permanent teachers. My knowledge and experience probably outweighs that of some permanent teachers, yet I am seen as not as worthy of permanent employ-ment by DECS.

The AEU must keep fighting for con-tract teachers like me. n

ContractTeacher(Namewithheld)

PRESiDENt’S ViEw UNiON tRAiNiNg

AustralianEducationUnion|SABranch163 Greenhill Road, Parkside SA 5063Telephone: 82721399Facsimile: 83731254Email: journal@aeusa.asn.auEditor: CraigGreerAEU Journal is published seven times annually by the South Australian Branch of the Australian Education Union.

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Subscriptions:Free for AEU members. Non- members may subscribe for $33 per year.

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3

Features

Letters to the editor

AEU JOURNAL

*WinnerofTOPLETTER!

AdvertiseintheAEUJournal.Reachover13,500membersacrossSouthAustralia.

82721399journal@aeusa.asn.au

ReviewofTeachers&LeadersWorkbeginspages12–13

We outline some of the key issues affecting members’ workload.

PermanencyConversionspages14–15

Three AEU members talk about why permanency matters.

NAPLANpage8–9

Is it good for education?

INsIde:

uMemberstalkaboutpermanency

uNAPLAN:Goodforeducation?

Areyouover-worked?AEU/DECS review begins

4

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Recently in Adelaide to perform Miles Davis classics with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (ASO), trumpet

legend James Morrison was asked about the importance of music in schools by ABC Adelaide presenter Ian Henschke. His response made a lot of sense.

“We’re right in how we just assume that everyone should play sport. Not eve-ryone’s going to be a sportsman … and music is another one of those things that everyone should do.”

Miss Lily a big hit with kidsWhile students don’t necessarily get

the chance to play an instrument at ASO performances, experiencing an orchestra or string quartet at a young age is often something that will stay with a person forever.

Recently performing their adaptation of Margaret Wild’s popular children’s book Miss Lily and Her Pink Feather Boa, ASO principal cellist Janis Laurs says he gets a real buzz out of playing to kids and their families.

“I never underestimate the importance of this kind of situation. Even though kids might be running around and doing all sorts of things, they might come up after-wards and say ‘I like that instrument’ and they’ll remember this. It’s a very good first impression for those who haven’t experi-enced it before.”

Although the ASO is used to playing to thousands at the Festival Theatre, they certainly don’t take their education con-certs lightly.

“For me this kind of thing is as an impor-tant as a Beethoven symphony. If children see you totally committed and involved they’ll be impressed by it. If your body language implies that you’re treating it as something less important, the kids can tell. Speaking from my own experience, it’s this kind of thing that can lead to a child playing music.”

With the 2011 schedule almost full, the ASO are hoping interest in their educa-tion program will be just as big next year. So if your preschool or school is interest-ed in hosting a performance of Miss Lily and her Pink Feather Boa or would like more information on the ASO’s Education Program, contact: TammyHall|phone:82336233oremail:hallt@aso.com.au

MUSiC EDUCAtiON

5

ties to host the event. The AEU extends our congratulations to Alice and her family for their hard work in raising almost $6,000. Further, AEU Branch Executive has donated $1,000 on behalf of AEU members to the Red Cross Appeal and we have sent our condolences to the Japan Teachers Union.

SupportingworkersabroadWhile our core work is focusing on

AEU members’ rights and conditions, we also need to keep an eye on what is happening both nationally and interna-tionally. Natural disasters, political unrest and humanitarian injustices are all trau-matic for workers and their families.

Organisations such as Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA and Education Inter-national (EI) undertake vital support work during times of crisis. The AEU is affiliated with both organisations and members can sign up for regular updates to contribute to this work.

If you would like to make a personal donation to Red Cross, please go to:

8:www.redcross.org.au and click on Japan and Pacific Disaster Appeal 2011.

If you would like more information about Education International and to subscribe to the EI newsletter, please go to: 8:www.ei-ie.org

And finally, to become an APHEDA global justice partner, please go to:

8:www.apheda.org.au“If you want others to be happy,

practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Dalai Lama. n

Insolidarity,CorrenaHaythorpe|AEUPresident

deCs using medical panels to full advantage

The creation of Medical Panels SA was part of the Rann Government’s attack on the rights of injured workers in the re-write of workers compensation legislation in 2008.

Injured workers can be referred to a Medical Panel when there is disagree-ment or uncertainty about aspects of their medical condition. A panel of doc-tors makes a decision which is not sub-ject to review on the medical questions that have been referred. Workers must attend a panel if they have been referred by their self-insured employer such as DECS, or risk cessation of their compen-sation payments.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) appli-cation by SA Unions has revealed that DECS is by far the largest user of Medi-cal Panels of all State Government departments.

The FOI revealed that from April 2009 to December 2010 DECS referred 87 employees to Medical Panels SA, more than double the 43 referrals of the next largest, the Public Sector Workforce Relation’s Injury Management Service, which manages workers’ compensation for 30 Government Departments and agencies. DECS referrals are seven times greater than the South Australian Police who have made 12.

Other shocking information that has come to light includes:

• Each doctor receives at least $1,200 for each medical panel they sit on

• 11 individual doctors sat on over 100 Medical Panels each

• One doctor sat on a staggering 237 Medical Panels

• The top five ‘earners’ received a com-bined $1.17 million for their work on medical panels (they ‘earned’ between $324,000 and $198,000 each)

• Of the top five ‘earners’, four were General Practitioners rather than specialists.

In what some have likened to an interrogation, AEU Members, with very little notice or understanding of what is at stake, have had to sit before a panel of doctors and face the threat of having their payments cease.

In 1996, my partner Ben and I trav-elled to Japan to undertake a teaching exchange with the DECS Adelaide sister city exchange program in Himeji. Work-ing in junior and senior high schools as a “sensei” (teacher) we quickly became part of the school community and were welcomed into the homes and lives of our Japanese colleagues.

A few months prior to our arrival, the Kobe earthquake had occurred; the effects on people, families and infra-structure was still a major problem for the community. Many were still “doing it tough”, living in temporary huts while waiting for services to be restored. One thing I remember clearly was the Japa-nese spirit of working collectively to overcome adversity.

While living in Himeji, we were occa-sionally buffeted by typhoon winds and shaken by earth tremors, but generally we felt safe and secure as we went about our daily business.

This year, Alice Haberfield (a past AEU Branch Executive member) was teaching in Sendai with her family when the magnitude nine earthquake and devastating tsunami hit northeast Japan. More than 12,600 people have died and approximately 14,700 are still missing. After surviving this terrible natural dis-aster, she and her family were evacuat-ed to Tokyo and eventually safely back to Australia.

Alice contacted the AEU to inform us that she was organising a fundraiser for the people of Sendai and the AEU was pleased to assist by offering our facili-

Unions support workers around the globe

PRESiDENt’S ViEw wORkCOVER

“Ifyouwantotherstobehappy,practicecompassion.Ifyouwanttobehappy,practicecompassion.”

DalaiLama

continued over page3

6

earLy ChiLdhood

The National Quality Framework (NQF) for early childhood centres, as agreed by the Federal and State Governments through the COAG National Partnership Agreement, will be implemented from the beginning of 2012. Among the new regulatory requirements will be a mini-mum qualification for Early Childhood Workers and School Services Officers employed in preschool programs for a Certificate III in Children’s Services or Education.

Members are naturally asking lots of questions about what this means and how they might achieve such a qualifi-cation. In addressing these questions, the AEU has undertaken to conduct a series of forums and workshops for members to clarify what the require-ments mean. As TAFE is the major pro-vider of Certificate and Diploma level qualifications in the area of child studies, the AEU has arranged to run sessions to assist members in the process of attain-ing the appropriate qualification.

Given that most members have a

lengthy employment record in working in preschool programs in both kinder-gartens and school-based preschool programs, experience through the Rec-ognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process will enable ECWs and SSOs to readily achieve minimum Certificate III level qualification. A competency-based approach, whereby a TAFE lecturer establishes contact with a member and visits the site to discuss elements of their work and subsequently observe them engaging with children and fami-lies will provide the basis for the RPL process.

An experienced ECW or SSO will be able to gain accreditation for many skills and competencies through experi-ence and demonstrated training and development programs.

The AEU, in conjunction with TAFE program providers, is currently provid-ing support for members in preparing for the RPL process and to make the transition to minimum Certificate III qualification as easy as possible. n

what does it mean for ECws and SSOs? AEU organiser HowardSpreadbury explains

wORkCOVER CONtiNUED.. .

AEU officers who have supported members have witnessed these pro-ceedings first hand but have been directed not to speak or even take notes. There is no right of appeal and a panel’s decision is final and binding.

DECS’ use of medical panels can have a disastrous impact for some AEU mem-bers, as the following examples illustrate.

Example1A teacher with a very significant work-

related disability who had been unable to return to any work for approximately 10 years attended before Medical Panels SA at the direction of DECS. The Medical Panel decided that if “prolonged and carefully administered rehabilitation” starting at just a few hours per week was provided, the worker might be able to return to teaching over an extended period. DECS used the Medical Panel decision to discontinue the teacher’s workers compensation payments.

DECS put no arrangements in place to provide any of the rehabilitation identified by the Medical Panel as nec-essary to achieve a return to work over an extended period. The teacher faced the prospect of having to claim a Cen-trelink disability pension.

Example2A teacher with a significant work-relat-

ed disability as a result of an assault at work was engaged in a rehabilitation process under the guidance of his treat-ing doctor whereby the teacher was participating in a graduated return to work process.

DECS paid the teacher as an SSO2 for the hours worked in the school as part of the rehabilitation process and the teacher received workers compensation at 80% of the difference between his SSO pay and their pre-injury teacher salary. The teacher attended before Medical Panels SA at the direction of DECS.

The medical panel decided that the rehabilitation process the worker was participating in was appropriate. DECS used the Medical Panel decision to dis-continue the teacher’s workers compen-sation payments. The teacher continued with their rehabilitation receiving pay as a part-time SSO only.

The AEU has written to Minister Jay Weatherill asking him to establish a review of how DECS manages its work-ers compensation and rehabilitation responsibilities. n

EdGrueAEUWorkCoverOfficer

National eC framework just around the corner

8:w

ww

.decs.sa.gov.au/childrensservices/pages/earlychildhoodreform/

1 Josephine Cray from TAFe sA addresses eCW members at the AeU

...continued from page 53

7

employed continuously on a casual basis with a 20 percent loading and who therefore did not technically meet the definition of a temporary employee. It is important to note that permanency is available to members who are working across sites or who have worked in a number of different sites.

• SSOs and ECWs who have been employed for several years but were engaged for less than 15 hours per week for the first two weeks of the first term, prior to having their appoint-ments increased to at least 15 hours per week.

SSOs and ECWs who believe that they should be considered for conver-sion to permanency based on the above criteria are advised to complete a VL718 form and fax it as soon as possible to the DECS Conversion Project Team on fax:81244631 We would encourage members to discuss the completion of this form with their line managers.

To assist with this process, we have posted the relevant update sent to prin-cipals, preschool directors and business managers, as well as the VL718, on the AEU website.

Members requiring further advice can also contact the AEU Information Unit on 82721399 or email questions to DECS.conversions@sa.gov.au Members are advised to check the ‘SSO ECW Per-manency Conversions’ on the DECS website on a regular basis.

EARLYCHILDHOODISSUESThe AEU has written to Minister

Weatherill to arrange discussions regarding the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF) in preschools and other early childhood settings.

The new ratings system for pre-schools has very significant workload implications for directors and other staff, and will require significant levels of resourcing and support.

In addition, the AEU is seeking clari-

As this Journal goes to print, intensive negotia-

tions are continuing between the AEU and DECS regarding the current Recruit-ment and Selection policy. No agreement for a changed policy has been reached at this point.

We are acutely aware of the huge impact this policy has on job security and satisfaction for permanent teach-ers, opportunities to gain permanency for contract members and the ability of schools across the state to attract and retain the right mix of staff. The policy must also deliver sufficient movement and genuine opportunities for teachers in all schools, and especially country and hard to staff schools, to work in a range of settings.

Recommendations will be put to Branch Council on 28 May and all deci-sions made by Branch Council will be communicated to members as a matter of high priority.

FURTHERCONVERSIONSTOPERMANENCY:SSOsANDECWs

Approximately 800 SSOs and ECWs have gained permanency since the beginning of Term 4, 2010 following ongoing negotiations between the AEU and DECS based on our new Award.

The AEU has successfully lobbied DECS to commence a new round of per-manency conversions to address the situation of long-term SSOs and ECWs who did not meet all of the criteria specified in the Award. This additional process is taking place throughout Term 2.

The current conversion project will focus specifically on:

• SSOs and ECWs who have been

Four big issues for AeU members

ViCe President’s rePort

AEU Vice President AnneCrawford discusses recruitment and selection, permanency conversions and more

7

fication about the four year teaching qualification requirements associated with Universal Access and the situation of teachers who have worked for many years in preschools, but have teaching qualifications specialising in areas oth-er than early childhood. We will inform members of the outcome of these dis-cussions in the near future.

The AEU Early Childhood Consulta-tive Committee is currently developing a survey for members focussing on the levels of support, resourcing and train-ing needed for participation in the NQF.

All members working in early child-hood settings are encouraged to respond to this survey. Your responses will be invaluable in identifying the resources needed now, as well as providing infor-mation relevant to the next round of enterprise bargaining which will begin early in 2012.

AMALGAMATIONSThe AEU has been working closely

with schools targeted for amalgamation under the ‘Colocation Initiative’ which was part of last year’s State Budget cuts.

In response to joint AEU and commu-nity campaigning, Minister Weatherill has announced publicly that there will be no coercion for primary schools to amalgamate with secondary schools. Most governing councils were very unhappy at the prospect of combined primary and secondary schools and are relieved at the outcome.

The AEU is also ready to support jun-ior primary and primary school commu-nities where they wish to retain sepa-rate schools.

Amalgamations involving a junior pri-mary and primary schools may result in a funding cut of at least $250,000 and, in many instances, much more. The Colocation Initiative brings no educa-tional benefit, but delivers very signifi-cant cuts to resources.

Sub-branch secretaries in schools identified for colocation are encour-aged to contact the AEU for advice and support. n

8

Comment

Months of test-prepping and drilling students in classrooms around Australia culminated with the national litera-

cy and numeracy tests (NAPLAN) in Week 2. As usual, it was a week of enor-mous pressure on students and teachers. The results will determine school repu-tations and affect the careers of teach-ers and principals.

NAPLAN has now taken over the cur-riculum in the first part of the year. Teachers have been drilling their stu-dents for months on practice tests. Stu-dents in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 have been test-prepped to death. Many schools even sent NAPLAN test booklets home for students to practice on during the school holidays.

Professional development has been dominated by NAPLAN. Education con-sultants have been inundated with requests to do workshops in schools to prepare teachers for this year’s tests.

Education departments have been thrusting test preparation materials on schools since the beginning of the year. Education publishing companies have got in on the act too with online and other test-prep materials.

The official NAPLAN website publish-es the tests from previous years, which schools can use to practice for tests. The message is clear to everyone – get your class scores and school scores up.

Such is the pressure that many teach-ers and schools will be tempted to rort or cheat.

NAPLAN is now a threat to good edu-cation. It diminishes good teaching and the curriculum just about everywhere. It has been re-named “NAPALM” by many teachers because it kills everything in the classroom.

Drilling for tests and test-taking skills now take precedence over exploring, creating, thinking and analysing skills. As one Victorian eight year-old said last year: “We did lots and lots of practice tests…Once you do lots they start to get

boring.” [Herald-Sun, 12 May 2010]

Practicing for the NAPLAN tests has shrunk the time spent on other key parts of the curriculum – science, histo-ry, social science, arts and music, lan-guage, health and PE. A survey conduct-ed by the Australian Secondary Princi-pals Association last year found 65% of schools reported they had increased the time spent in class on preparation for the NAPLAN tests and 70% said they had increased the time spent on prac-tising tests.

NAPLAN has been a boon for educa-tion publishers. One publisher has been actively promoting its product in schools to encourage more test preparation. Pascal Press has promoted its online Excel Test Zone test practice website to teachers and parents through direct emails to schools and teachers.

Schools have also invested heavily in preparing teachers for NAPLAN with professional development workshops and materials. For example, there has been a flurry of test preparation activi-ties and resources on persuasive writ-ing which is a theme of the NAPLAN writing test this week.

ACARA informed education authori-ties that this year’s writing test would involve a change of writing form. Stu-dents this week will write a persuasive text instead of a narrative text. This should not have caught schools and teachers off guard because persuasive writing and other non-narrative forms are used across all curriculum areas as students progress through school.

NAPLAN: a threat to good education

NAPLAN ‘test-prep-ping’ has become an impediment to quality teaching says Save Our Schools convenor TrevorCobbold.

To read the original article in full go to: 8:www.saveourschools.com.au

9

Yet, the decision created turmoil in schools. It was as if persuasive writing was new to the curriculum. It became the focus of preparation for NAPLAN. Suddenly, there was a spurt of test preparation activities and resources on persuasive writing. Education depart-ments posted teaching resources on their website to assist teachers.

For example, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority encouraged schools to have students practice for the persuasive writing test and provid-ed a range of test preparation materials online. In South Australia, DECS issued a 58-page guide to teachers in February on how to teach persuasive writing. The Queensland Studies Authority has a special assessment bank of online test preparation materials for teachers and the Western Australian Department of Education has a special NAPLAN Plan-ner website for teachers.

According to two leading education consultants, teachers everywhere were frantic about the change, spending inor-dinate amounts of time having students write persuasive texts. Students every-where were drilled in persuasive writ-ing. Their observation is telling.

We thought we’d moved past the 19th century ‘factory approach’ to edu-cation where students were all doing the same thing at the same time as they were moved along a production line. Is this what we want for students today?

NAPLAN has been a huge distraction to learning and teaching in schools across the country. It has diverted resources to drilling students in literacy and numeracy at the expense of deeper learning in these areas and at the expense of other key learning areas. This is not education improvement; it is education debasement. It is entirely due to the My School website. None of this was hap-pening prior to the publication of school results on My School. n

Adapted from Trevor Cobbold’s article on the public education policy website Save Our Schools.

JOURNAL:HowlonghaveyoubeenaSub-branchSecretary?

WAYNE:I’ve been at Blackwood High for 17 years and Sub-branch Secretary for about 15 years. Before that I was sub-branch secretary at Kingston for around 10 years and was also Chair of the Area Council for some time.

JOURNAL:HowdoyouseeyourroleasSub-branchSecretary.

WAYNE:Primarily it’s about being an advocate for union members. Just acting as a support person for members who may have been through a performance management process or the like can be extremely time consuming. There are other responsibilities too. As an experienced sub-branch secretary I’ve been involved in the selection process for a number of principals during my time here and of course the number of applications and processes you have to go through can be quite lengthy.

JOURNAL:HowdoyouensureyougetreleasetofulfilyourresponsibilitiesasSub-branchSecretary?

WAYNE:In the past I’ve always relied upon a letter of understanding between the education department and the AEU way back in the 1980s. It’s never been withdrawn. But superseding that, the new PAC Handbook states that sub-branch secretaries are entitled to one and a half hours release per week.

JOURNAL:Isithardforschooladministratorstotimetablerelease?

WAYNE:It’s in the Award so it has to be provided. But to make life easier for timetabling it’s a good idea for the Sub-branch Secretary to remind them to allow for this release time at the end of each year when the staffing is being arranged for the following year. I’ve always managed to get time allocated. For example, this year I have one lesson less and one less yard duty, it’s never going to be enough to cover all the work you do but it certainly helps.

interView

JOURNAL:Whatwouldyousaytosub-branchsecretarieswhoaren’tgettingthereleasetimeintheirschool?

WAYNE:They should write a submission straight to the PAC. Address the letter to all members of the PAC and copy and paste the section from the new PAC Handbook that states you have the right to the release. Perhaps also make some suggestions about some things they might be able to do to accommodate. They might be able to drop a yard duty, a supervision, or even a lesson by getting a permanent relief if necessary.

JOURNAL:Somesub-branchsecretariesreportthattheyfeellikethey’rerockingtheboat,so-to-speak,inordertogetthereleasetime,isitworththehassle?

WAYNE:Absolutely. Sub-branch secretaries shouldn’t let that worry them really. As I said you have an industrial right to the release time and you have a very important role in the worksite.

The Award says worksites require AEU representation on all sorts of things. You have to organise AEU reps for panels, if you can’t find anyone who wants to do the panel it’s up to you to do it. There are ballots and elections to run and members to support on a whole range of issues. So yes, if you have to push for the release time then do it, you’re doing the right thing by yourself and your member colleagues. n

“Wedidlotsandlotsofpracticetests…Onceyoudolotstheystarttogetboring”

Blackwood High teacher WayneLearmonthtalks to the AEU Journal about his role as Sub-branch Secretary.

Release time is crucial for AeU reps

10

OPiNiON

shortage?

All of my life I have been hear-ing that there is a shortage of teachers; our class sizes are too big because Australia

needs more teachers; our children’s lit-eracy is falling behind because we need more teachers; university standards are low because not enough people want to be teachers.

So, naturally, when I entered the pro-fession over a year ago I thought that I would be beating schools away with a stick due to the large amount of offers being thrown my way. Yet, to my great and perhaps naïve surprise, I found that it was in fact very difficult to get a job as an English/SOSE/Psychology teach-er. After three months of applying for any position made available through the paper or the DECS and Independent Schools’ websites, I started to think: maybe it’s me.

Maybe my grades weren’t high enough. Maybe I should go to church and pretend to adopt doctrines I don’t agree with. Maybe my resume is in an unpleasant format. Maybe I should use Verdana font instead of Arial. You name it, I tried it. People told me not to worry,

they told me that teaching is an ageing profession and that soon I would be bombarded with offers to fill vacancies of retiring teachers.

So I kept applying and I waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, I got a call. Unfortunately, the job was 310km from my home of 21 years, Adelaide. Still, I stuck to my guns and I took it.

I thought: it’s just because I have no experience. There must simply be loads of other teachers looking for work. I thought that once I have some solid teaching experience under my belt and some more referees, a job closer to home was sure to come my way. So after a year I applied, and waited, and waited.

I have taken every professional development opportunity short of where it would impede the progress of my classes. I have taught two subjects outside my specialty areas. I have made excellent friends in the industry and I am a member of multiple teaching organisations. I have moved away from my home to work in a Category 2 school and proved my salt. I have done every-thing right and I am yet to receive a sin-gle interview for any but the job I cur-rently hold. Is it really the case that there are so many qualified applicants out there for all 60-something jobs that I have applied for? Am I that under-qualified that I don’t warrant an inter-view? Is the teaching profession so sta-ble that we can’t afford to interview the very people the media are constantly telling the public we need?

I am not in danger of becoming one of the 50% of teachers that leave the profession in the first three years due to stress or disillusionment. I love my job; it’s fun, it’s fulfilling and it challenges me in a variety of wonderful ways every day. I am in danger of leaving the pro-fession because I simply can’t seem to find a chance at a job close to my home.

Editor’s note: Jessica’s article puts her in the running to win some great Apple products in our Next Byte AEU Media Competition. Go to page 22 for details on how to enter. n

Beginning teacher JessicaBeanasks what she has to do to get a job close to home.

PROfiLE

I love being a teacher. I am a very valuable employee, constantly volun-teering to take on extra responsibility and updating my training. I easily applied for and achieved my Step 9 and this year I’m in a coordinator position. I love the school I teach at and have earned respect from the community, my peers and my leaders.

Everything is fine until November rocks around and everyone starts to prepare for next year! I try to keep my chin up and stay positive through plan-ning sessions that I am required to attend, from class placement processes with the children I have taught for a year, to the farewell staff meeting. I then spend almost a whole day updat-ing my details online in the Employable Teachers register. Finally, I pack up my resources, find room in my shed and hand over my keys.

My watch always comes off in the holidays but I have to keep my mobile phone with me just in case I receive a call. I make up a basic program so that I can be somewhat prepared even though I have no idea what level or subjects I may be teaching. I try to stay positive through Christmas and keep reminding myself how lucky I am that I don’t have to do a summer shift in a coffee shop because I had a full year contract. My phone vigil returns after Christmas until I finally get the call and breathe a sigh of relief that I have another year back in the job I have done for the past three years.

What an emotional rollercoaster ride. Still, I make for one very resilient teacher! n

VickyLacey|ContractTeacherPortElliotPrimarySchool

The contract rollercoaster continues

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may day 2011

Numbers were up in this year’s May Day march in Adelaide. The Rann Gov-ernment’s slashing of public services, increases in rents and charges and the axing of 3,700 public service jobs sparked strong support for the event from public sector unions. SA Unions secretary Janet Giles outlined the extent of the attacks on the welfare of the community to the crowd in Victoria Square before the approximately 500 participants moved off down King Wil-liam Street towards the Torrens Parade Ground. “One struggle one fight, work-ers of the world unite!” and “Money for health and education, not for war and occupation!” were among the chants.

May day events send a strong message to government

At the Parade Ground, Humphrey McQueen spoke about the struggle of working people against their exploiters and the huge cost of the gains that have been made. Rain, which had been threatening all morning, put a bit of a dampener on family fun day activities but not before a very vocal point was made to the Rann Government.

Humphrey McQueen spoke again at the Workers’ Memorial in Port Adelaide the next morning, recounting some his-tory of the monument and continuing the theme of the real heroes in society – those who fought and keep fighting for a better and safer future.

The May Day dinner at the Cyprian

International Workers’ Memorial Day is held each year on April 28. This year in Adelaide a moving combined church service and acknowledgement ceremo-ny was held at Pilgrim Uniting Church to remember and honour those who have lost their lives at or as a result of work.

Family members, including children, reflected on their loss and their heavy hearts. People told their stories and spoke of their hopes for a safer world for all.

Too many killed on the jobAEU OHS Organiser JillCavanough reports

Significant contributors were the asbestos victims and diseases societies and VOID (Voice of Industrial Death). The Minister for Industrial relations and SafeWork staff also attended.

Candles were lit and later, balloons were released in memory of loved ones lost. There were a lot of candles and balloons, far too many.

Most years, the number of people killed at work in South Australia is in double figures. Across the world it is in

the many thousands, almost always in so-called accidents that could have been avoided if attention had been paid to prevention.

Representing the union movement at the memorial service, SA Unions secre-tary Janet Giles read the following: “We pray for our community that workplace safety becomes a greater priority. Help us to see that accidents are not some-thing that happens to others but some-thing that we all need to be aware of and that we need to strive to overcome. We pray that safety information will always be available, be studied and become part of work practice. We ask that our safety laws, codes and guide-lines are strong and effective.” AMEN. n

1 Participants display the famous eureka Oath as they march down King William Road on May day

1 Long-time union activist Vic Potticary with the May day spanner Award.

Community Hall was packed out once again. Courageous building worker Ark Tribe was in attendance and spoke emotionally about the support he had received from the community during his battle with the ABCC. Steve Dolphin of his legal team also recalled incidents from the remarkable battle to free Ark from persecution by the notorious spooking force.

Humphrey McQueen was an impres-sive keynote speaker and ABC radio personality Peter Goers was in sparkling, witty form. Vic Potticary of the SA May Day Collective was the recipient of this year’s “Spanner Award” for his contri-bution to the ideals of May Day. n

SeemorephotosoftherallyanddinnerontheAEU’sfacebookpage: www.facebook.com/aeusa

The review team, which con-sists of both AEU and DECS representatives has begun consultation and will continue discussions with teachers &

leaders through structures such as the AEU consultative committees, confer-ences, principal association meetings, school staff meetings and AEU forums in metropolitan & regional areas.

The review team is seeking informa-tion regarding workload issues that impact on teachers’ and school leaders’ ability to carry out their core roles of teaching and educational leadership while maintaining a reasonable work/life balance.

There may be aspects of their work that staff feel have limited value or are unnecessarily time consuming, could be streamlined, or even removed from their roles. The review team is looking for examples of best practise that can help reduce workload and will be investigat-ing the best ways to share these ideas.

This review is a great opportunity to have a say on workload issues and the AEU asks that you encourage your col-leagues to do the same.

AREASOFWORkLOADSTRESSIn consultation with members, the AEU

has identified many areas of teachers and leaders work that needs addressing and has submitted these to the joint Review team for consideration. These are just some of the areas that need attention:

StudentsWithDisabilitiesThere are a number of issues relating

to students with disabilities that add to workload pressures for teachers and leaders.

• There is a high workload associated with grant applications such as those to the RAAP.

• The writing of NEPs, especially in schools and classes with a large

number of such children is of concern.

• The placement of some students with special needs in mainstream classes adds to workload. This is often increased due to the waiting lists for students to get into special small classes.

• The inadequate SSO funding in spe-cial schools remains a workload issue.

IndividualLearningPlansAs with NEPs there is a high work-

load associated with the development and writing of individual learning and health plans however described.

StudentBehaviourManagement

Behaviour management is a key work-load stressor in many schools. The level of resources available to schools to imple-ment restorative justice practices needs to be reviewed to reduce workload.

The DECS policy on student behav-iour management is outdated and needs to be revised to reflect current practice.

DECSMeetingsThe purpose, number, frequency and

timing of regional and central office meetings should be reviewed. Particular attention should be taken of the needs of small schools. The amount of time a leader is required to be out of their school on DECS business should be examined.

ProvisionofProfessionalDevelopment

The timing, access to and location of professional development should be reviewed as this adds to a teacher’s workload. Professional development outside of work hours compounds the workload problems of teachers and leaders.

StudentAbsenteeismThe monitoring and reporting of stu-

dent absenteeism is a workload prob-lem. Teachers and leaders should be relieved of non-teaching and clerical tasks relating to this task.

TRTsThe shortage of TRTs, particularly in

country areas, impacts on the workload of teachers and leaders. This additional work is created through increased time and effort in securing a TRT and in teachers and leaders taking relief les-sons if no TRT can be found.

Classroom teachers in some schools are required to undertake the adminis-trative function of having to find their own TRTs and arrange the TRT’s timetable.

Non-teachingClericalFunctionsThe workload associated with cleri-

cal functions such as photocopying, typing and filing could be reduced. A number of the clerical functions that leaders and teachers undertake do not fit with the role of teacher or leader.

YardDutiesYard duties both before school, at

recess and lunch and after school add to a teacher’s and leaders workload. Often the rostering of yard duties results in a teacher or leader not having access to meal breaks. Issues associated with yard duties include managing traffic around schools, parents not picking their children up on time, children being left in school grounds prior to the adver-tised start to the school day and taxis and buses not arriving or arriving late.

CentralCommunicationsOfficeControls on the number, frequency

and timing of central and regional office communications could be implemented. Often the timing of communications and requests from central office are not coordinated and lead to a compounding of workload. The number of email com-munications from the central office or regional office should be monitored.

CurriculumChangesCurriculum changes such as the new

Australian Curriculum need to be ade-quately resourced and appropriate time-lines set. Before such initiatives are put

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CoVer story: workLoad reView

the AEU & DECS Review of teachers & Leaders work announced as part of the Arbitration decision handed down by the industrial Relations Commission last year is now underway

Review of Teachers and Leaders Work begins

To complete the survey go to: 8:www.aeusa.asn.au>Issues>ReviewofTeachersandLeadersWork

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ACTION•Goto:www.aeusa.asn.au>Issues

>ReviewofTeachersandLeadersWorkandfollowthelinkstocom-pletetheonlinesurvey.

•FormoreinformationortoprovidefeedbackonanyaspectoftheReview,memberscancontactJanMurphyjan.murphy@sa.gov.auorkenFrancouken.francou@sa.gov.au

CoVer story: workLoad reView

in place an assessment of workload and impact on work/life balance should be undertaken.

ReviewofDevolvedResponsibilities

The number of devolved responsibili-ties needs to be reviewed and an analy-sis undertaken as to the level of resourc-ing provided for each task. While work-load remains high, a moratorium should be placed on the further devolution of tasks unless the additional workload associated with the task is addressed.

ManagingandMonitoringCleaning,MaintenanceandBuildingContracts

The workload associated with moni-toring the cleaning, building and main-tenance contracts in schools needs to be reduced. A simple but formalised reporting process will reduce workload and ensure standards are maintained.

Teachers and leaders should not be required to undertake cleaning duties at school. Cuts to cleaning contracts have meant school staff have taken on cleaning tasks.

Schools in remote locations need to be provided with adequate services.

OtherDutiesTeacher’s face-to-face teaching and

non-instruction time is defined and lim-ited. This is not the case with other duties which have gone unregulated or monitored. In some schools, duties that last year were described as face-to-face teaching have been determined (we would assert incorrectly) not to be face-to-face teaching. The workload of teach-ers has thus increased.

AccountabilityandReviewsThe workload associated with DiAF,

SSI Diagnostic Reviews and other accountability measures should be identified and appropriate controls or resourcing put in place.

TravelThe lack of funding for staff travel for

work purposes and the requirement for this to be undertaken outside of normal work hours needs to be addressed.

StudentHygieneToileting of students and other per-

sonal hygiene tasks for students should not be required to be undertaken by teachers or leaders.

GrantApplicationsThe grant application process is high-

ly bureaucratic and time consuming. The process could be streamlined to reduce workload. The number of grant applications adds to the workload.

OHSWNo resourcing is allocated to schools

to provide human resources to under-take OHSW tasks in schools. Cuts to central office OHSW staff have meant that work has fallen to schools with no additional resourcing.

VETThe IRCSA identified workload of VET

teachers as an area of concern. Workload of VET teachers needs to be examined.

ParentandFamiliesBehaviourVexatious parents are a growing

problem for schools that creates work-load issues.

Meetings may be delayed and issues escalated through the attendance of advocates.

Schools also have to deal with a growing number of ‘bad behaviours’ from parents. There is an increase in abusive and violent parents. Ensuring staff safety adds to leaders work.

WellbeingMany schools do not have student/

school counsellors. This work falls to the school leadership team and individ-ual teachers.

CoordinatorSchedule 7 of the Arbitrated Enter-

prise Bargaining Award lists the number of leadership functions that a coordina-tor should be undertaking dependent upon the classification of the school.

Many coordinator roles include more than the prescribed number of functions. This creates a workload problem as the functions cannot be completed within the time allocated.

StudentswithHighMedicalNeeds

The increased number of students with HSPs adds to the work of leaders and teachers. Teachers and principals are currently monitoring and actioning the plans. Often the plans require train-ing to be undertaken.

As a key part of the AEU’s submis-sions to the Industrial Relations Com-mission in the recent Arbitration case, it’s extremely important AEU members voices continue to be heard on the mat-ter of workload. The review into Teach-ers and Leaders Work is your big oppor-tunity to play a part in achieving improved work/life balance for public education workers. n

To complete the survey go to: 8:www.aeusa.asn.au>Issues>ReviewofTeachersandLeadersWork

ECW

SS

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PermanenCy ConVersions

Charmaine Silvani could hardly believe it when after 17 years as an SSO she was finally converted to permanent. In fact, despite having a wealth of experience working with special needs children, Charmaine was so convinced she would never have real job security as a DECS employee that she was seriously con-sidering moving on.

“When I initially applied for perma-nency I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to go through the turmoil and self-doubt that you go through each year when you don’t know if you have a job to go to,” she says.

“But I was knocked back due to an apparent short break in service, so I quickly made up my mind that I was ready to walk. I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t know what else I had to do to prove myself. I’m passionate about the kids I work with, I’ve build strong rela-tionships with the students and their families and the Department, along with the training I’ve self-funded, has put time and money into developing my skills.”

Charmaine had recently completed a Certificate III in Students with Disability and Certificate III in Supporting Student in Education when she was told about her unsuccessful permanency applica-tion. Feeling both confused and devas-

Now I can plan for the future

tated, she called AEU SSO organiser Lisa Sigalla to tell her the news. In the course of the conversation Lisa checked the dates DECS said constituted the break in Charmaine’s service; it turned out the two dates mentioned were a Saturday and a Sunday – non-work days for an SSO working in a public school!

On Lisa’s advice, Charmaine wrote a letter to the DECS conversion team describing the mistake and asking for her permanency application to be reconsidered. Charmaine had almost given up hope when she was called into the Principal’s office two weeks later. She emerged with a smile on her face, giving her very supportive colleagues the thumbs up – DECS had approved 20 permanent hours.

Charmaine, says she’s never been a “traditional union person” but is very

glad she joined the AEU.“I urge people to join the AEU. If you

think you can change things by yourself, you’re wrong. It’s being part of a collec-tive group that makes things happen.”

“One of the big things that permanen-cy does is give you a sense of purpose for the future. I’m not finished by a long way. I’ve got ideas for a whole range of things that I now feel like I can start work on and I can do it with the knowledge that I’ll still be around next year.” n

Jo Mibus (pictured below right) start-ed working in early childhood when then Valley View Preschool Director Sandra Cattel (pictured below left) recognised she had a broad range of skills to offer students and families. Notably, Jo has spent a number of years working with children with disabilities and now has a range of qualifications under her belt. Having worked in a number of support roles in various northern suburbs cen-tres, Jo is now back working with San-dra who for the last four years has been Director at Mawson Lakes Preschool.

Permanency benefits eCW Jo and community

PermanenCy ConVersions

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While Jo’s last two contracts have been 12 months long, most of her eight years of service have been spent in term-by-term contracts, providing her with little job security and leaving her constantly wondering if she’ll have work in the future.

Fortunately for Jo she has a very sup-portive director.

“Sandra has been great at encour-aging my training and formalising my skills. Her support has been wonderful. All that was missing was the guarantee of permanent work,” says Jo.

“Being on a contract is really hard. You never know if you’re going to have the same hours as you have different children moving through at different times and a lot depends on whether the Department has money to put in to sup-port a particular student. Sandra has been great in that she been able to “top up” hours for special needs kids but there is still stress as you never really have security.”

And it’s no secret that working from contract to contract is particularly dis-tressing for workers who have mortgag-es and other household bills to pay.

“My personal situation changed four years ago which meant I became the sole income earner, and the income of an ECW isn’t great. I’ve gone from living in a two-income family, where mine was a supplementary income, to becoming the single earner in the house. So to be on a relatively low wage with no secu-rity is extremely stressful,” says Jo.

With the support of the AEU, Jo applied for permanency and her skills and expertise were eventually recog-nised by DECS. Jo is one of the lucky few ECWs who have achieved full-time permanent hours.

“It took a little while to sink in but when it did I realised that this is actu-ally my first ever permanent job. It’s a great relief. I have to say that the AEU has been there 110 percent of the way and I think it’s benefitted a lot of peo-ple. It’s set a precedent and hopefully there will be more contract staff con-verted over time.”

Jo’s conversion to permanency is bound to benefit everybody involved with Mawson Lakes Preschool. With the confidence that she is there for some time to come, projects can be seen through, more plans can be made and relationships with parents and commu-nity can be strengthened. n

TAFE

Helen Carey has worked with children for more than 20 years. Starting out in mothercraft nursing and then moving into childcare, Helen’s latest role is that of Children’s Services Lecturer at Mt Barker TAFE.

Like a number of TAFE lecturers Hel-en, who also has expertise in Occupa-tional Health and Safety, began her time in TAFE working as an Hourly paid Instructor (HPI) after completing the Certificate IV in Training and Assess-ment. While she misses working with children on a daily basis, she says she feels she can have greater effect pass-ing on her skills and passion to others.

“I teach students who are going into a range of different childcare settings: childcare centres, after school hours care, family day care and the like. I’m really passionate about the industry and in my heart I could see that some childcare workers coming through weren’t properly prepared for the job. So I thought, how can I have an effect here?”

Initially, moving into TAFE wasn’t an easy decision, Helen had been offered a permanent role at Lady Gowrie child-care centre and the TAFE work had no

Finally, Helen has job security

permanency attached. Fortunately for the students at Mt Barker, her passion for childcare education won out and she spent the next three years doing con-tract work.

“I started at 0.2, then 0.4 and 0.6, then went full-time but still on a con-tract. Although it was a growing indus-try there was still a build up of emotion – what’s the contract going to be? Is it going to be 0.4 or 0.6 or full-time? So it was a real relief when I was offered permanency.”

Helen says the uncertainty that con-tract work creates is the hardest thing to cope with.

“Knowing that the work was there and you were hoping you’d be kept on you weren’t 100 percent sure that you’d be sticking around. So I was really thrilled when I found out that I was on the list of staff to be made permanent. It has given me a sense of security and I feel more valued by TAFE.”

While permanency has provided Hel-en with job security there are still a number of challenges to overcome.

“Children’s Services is such a grow-ing industry and fortunately we have a great manager who is projecting staff-ing needs into the future but still there are challenges in working out how we manage staffing for particular projects.

“On a personal level, my passion tends to take over sometimes. I often take work home with me. I put all I have into my students but I realise this impacts on my work/life balance. So that’s something I need to work on.” n

Performance pay for teachers is a terrible idea and here’s why

PERfORMANCE PAy

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On 7 February 2007, then Federal Education, Science and Training Minister, Julie Bishop, announced that “like other professions,

teachers should be recognised and rewarded on merit.” This policy announcement, made despite the Federal Government having no legal authority to set pay or conditions on public schools, was based on the perva-sive private sector management prac-tice of performance-related pay (PRP) and the incentive principles inherent in economic rationalism. It purported to create an incentive in the employee (teacher) to improve his or her work performance, in order to improve the quality of output (education) that cus-tomers (students) receive.

The key criteria which merit pay was to be decided upon, as outlined in the Minister’s speech, would be literacy and numeracy scores of students. PRP

is a method by which proponents of market-based governance seek to intro-duce private-sector management tech-niques into the public sector to lead to better outputs, greater cost-efficiency, and a ‘customer service’ ethos.

The day after May Day in 2011, Julia Gillard announced that Labor would introduce performance related pay for teachers in this year’s Federal Budget.

“We want to reward great teaching so the individuals who are doing it experience the benefits of those rewards so we can model what great teaching is to the rest of the teaching workforce,” Ms Gillard said.

Performance-related pay has a long history in Australia and around the world, with teachers in Australia, Eng-land and the United States paid accord-ing to pupil’s ‘results’ as assessed in examinations, tests, and visits by inspectors as far back as 1862.

This system sought to improve the performance of teachers, increase the quality of education received by stu-dents, and use pay incentives as the chief means to do so. This system saw no appreciable improvements in stu-dents’ education, or morale or quality of teachers, and so was discontinued in the early 20th Century, and was not revived until the 1980s.

In the United States, the Bush Administration introduced a number of education reforms, including PRP pro-grams and ‘test-based accountability’ systems. The most recent program was the establishment of the Teacher Incen-tive Fund that gives up to 100,000 teachers in the United States a reward of $5,000, in an attempt to increase the number of states using incentive-based PRP systems.

The Florida Department of Education introduced a system called STAR (Spe-cial Teachers are Rewarded) that gave a five per cent pay increase to “the 25 percent of teachers with the highest rat-ings in two areas: an evaluation from their superiors, and improvements in student test scores, notably the Florida

Julia gillard imports yet another failed education policy despite warnings from Australian experts

straight talking – a dying art?

ViCe President’s rePort

we have a communication problem

As a union, the AEU writes many, many letters. Mostly we write, on behalf of our members, to DECS officers and the Ministers responsible for

pre-schools, schools and TAFE. What we usually say or ask is perfectly clear, written in plain, direct English.

Often we make demands or pose a series of specific questions. In the last six months many of the questions we’ve raised have required equally specific and direct answers. A typical example is the series of letters requesting evidence of a detailed risk assessment of the impact of the implementation of the Australian Curriculum, but there have been count-less others of a similar nature.

Now you’d be excused for thinking that a straight-forward question could be readily answered in the same way. Not so. In that specific case, while there are several written responses, not one constitutes a plain answer.

I’m concluding that it must be an issue of written English as opposed to oral language. In face-to-face meetings with the very same people – chief exec-utives, ministers and their senior staff – the conversations are usually clear, open and direct. When our members’ issues and concerns are put to them in writing, however, something strange happens to the mode of communica-

tion. The questions are clear, but the answers are often opaque.

As anyone who’s written to a politi-cian or senior bureaucrat on any matter will be aware, the simplest questions or requests can get mangled and manipu-lated through the system, so that while we get an answer of sorts, it’s definitely not the answer to the question we asked. The usual form is for the person who is given the job of writing the answer to drag out a list of anything, say, DECS has done on the subject and express that as a simple narrative. It doesn’t matter if it deals with the specifics of the request. Striking an oblique blow will more than suffice.

Contrast that with experiences we may have had in the classroom, where we may try to communicate something to our students and if they’re either not interested in learning, or don’t care much about the topic at hand, they let us know about that very clearly and directly. In my classes they certainly did.

Further, teachers are continually being asked by the employer to make course content, purpose and assessment very explicit, and that’s as it should be. How come the same bureaucrats and senior officers can’t do that themselves? Sometimes in my imaginings I think there must be a government School of Obfuscation to which such people are sent early in their public service career. Ah, perhaps there’s a reason for the lack of coherence and clarity. If so, just who do they think they’re fooling? n

Comprehensive Assessment Test.”

Massachusetts also introduced a program to link teacher pay to evalua-tions of student performance with the goal of providing “incentives for high-performing teachers” and placing teachers on a “comparable standing” with private-sector employees “where rewards for performance have steadily increased”. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called in 2005 for merit pay to “usher California’s schools into the modern era” and that it was the duty of government to “financially reward good teachers and expel those who are not.”

Numerous other US states have introduced PRP programs into the pub-lic education sector, almost all of which include bonus pay, and with most bonuses linked to improvements in stu-dent test scores.

There is a great deal of literature on the effectiveness of PRP programs and the research suggests that since the 1980s – a period that marked a spurt of PRP proposals for teachers – perfor-mance-based pay plans have been introduced as a result of market govern-ance and New Public Management (NPM) pressures on the public sector, specifically to improve the output of public education.

It is the view of a report from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the majority of reports on PRP programs in the USA, that “there was no evidence… to sup-port the position that it was pay-for-per-formance which improved student achievement”.

There is further literature that sug-gests that there is little effectiveness at all in PRP systems either in the public sector or the private sector, in terms of increased productivity.

The overwhelming evidence in both England and the USA suggests that a more effective way for teaching stand-ards to improve is through improving professional development, accreditation and qualifications, measures that are not necessarily encapsulated in perfor-mance pay. n

Abridged from an article by Alex White of the NTEU in Victoria. Read the full article on Alex’s blog:

8:http://alexwhite.org/

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Calling all ex-scholars, teachers, community members and any interested parties!

Stirling north Primary SChool’S 30th birthday CelebrationS!

the school will be open from: 11.00am - 2.00pm Saturday 20th august

All are welcome to browse through the school. Food & refreshments available. A dinner will follow the open day at

the Stirling north ProgreSS hall from 6:00pm. For bookings and further information contact the school on:

% (08) 8643 6020

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Leaders FoCus

Our leaders need support

are serious about recruiting and retain-ing highly skilled leaders in our schools.

I am currently working part-time on the AEU Women in Leadership Program (WILD), which was featured in the last edition of the Journal. I will continue with this work throughout 2011 and believe it will complement the new role as it has a focus on leadership recruit-ment and development.

I want to promote leadership as I have loved being a principal and see it as a fantastic role where an individual can have a direct influence on support-ing teachers to be their best in providing high quality education to our students. However, I also want to address the concerns raised by leaders as we enter a new round of campaigning for fair pay and improved working conditions.

The AEU SA President, Correna Haythorpe has met with several leaders and regional directors to express the Union’s renewed commitment to sup-porting school leaders. With Correna and colleagues within the AEU, in par-ticular the Principal’s Consultative Com-mittee, I plan to place school leaders clearly and firmly on the agenda for the next round of enterprise bargaining. My role will also be to support individual leaders dealing with complex issues in their sites.

I want to support leaders in any way I can, and I encourage people to contact me. I am more than happy to meet with leaders here at the AEU and visit them in their sites across the state.

I would like to acknowledge the great work done by Ken Drury in this role. Ken has now returned to Sydney and we all wish him health and happi-ness in new ventures.

The AEU is DEFINITELY here for lead-ers in 2011 and beyond. Let’s work together to do the best we can for indi-vidual leaders and also to support and strengthen the role of site leaders in all our schools in South Australia. n

With apologies to ‘The Stones’, please allow me to introduce myseIf. I have been a teacher/leader in

DECS for over 35 years, and have been a principal in four schools, Yankalilla Area School, Mitcham Girls High School, Pasadena High School and most recent-ly, Tumby Bay Area School for a one year stint in 2010.

I have also worked at the SA Centre for Leaders in Education (SACLE) as a leadership consultant and in the chief executive’s office and the minister’s office. I spent two years as an education adviser in the Social Inclusion Unit in the Department of Premier and Cabinet. These roles have provided me with an insight into our political system, partic-ularly as it affects education and chil-dren’s services and the workings of DECS Central Office.

I am thrilled to be undertaking this new role within the AEU. I believe our school leaders need to be supported; I know first hand the demands of the job – and the delights! We are facing a lead-ership crisis in Australian schools as few-er people are stepping up to the princi-palship. It is not seen as an attractive option due to workload and external pressures. This must be addressed if we

Recently appointed AEU Organiser with School Leaders focus, VirginiaGill, brings a wealth of experience to the AEU

Having just been converted to permanent after nine years working as an SSO at Mulga Street Primary School in

Mount Gambier I, along with my col-league Chris, attended the AEU SSO Conference in Adelaide, which took place during the Term 1 school holidays.

After a short flight, we arrived in Adelaide, checked in at the motel and headed straight for the café where the SSO dinner was taking place. As we entered we saw a sea of faces we didn’t know. We found a table to sit at and were soon joined by others and conver-sation started easily. The meal was fan-tastic, the night was fun and I was finally able to put faces to AEU staff with whom I’d had many phone conversations and email exchanges during the conversion to permanency process.

The next day we walked down the road to the AEU office. The main hall

SSO CONfERENCE

My journey to the AeU

ContactVirginiaon:8

: vgill@

aeu

sa.a

sn.a

u&

:82721399

SSO karenkennedyreports on this year’s SSO Conference held during the term 2 holidays

Annette Bulling from Mind Matters addresses ssOs on wellbeing.5

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iNtERNAtiONAL

“It’s just terrific to be able to come out of school for two hours, learn something new and informative and hear

directly from and talk with the President of the Union. And to be able to enjoy a delicious lunch, converse with colleagues, ask questions and get them answered …and to be treated as a truly valued professional. What a pity our employer doesn’t demonstrate that they value us in the same way.”

This was the frequent comment made by the some 90 plus school leaders who attended the AEU President’s inaugural series of lunches for leaders. Common-ly, the members attending supported this kind of format and stated that they were looking forward to the next rounds to be staged throughout the year.

The format adopted was similar to that practised at the National Press Club luncheons for journalists. For this most recent series, the AEU hosted Wendy Engliss, senior manager implementation co-ordination with ACARA in Sydney. Wendy was formerly a principal in sev-eral schools in SA and has enjoyed an extensive background in curriculum innovation and implementation, most recently having been the Director of the Office of New SACE in SA.

At each lunch, Wendy spoke briefly about the roll-out of the Australian Cur-riculum, of timelines, resources and requirements on school leaders. After Wendy had presented, AEU SA branch President Correna Haythorpe replied by outlining the AEU’s support for a national curriculum, while maintaining

strong reservations about existing time-lines and lack of clear support and resourcing by DECS.

Following Correna’s rejoinder, mem-bers were able to ask questions of both presenters in order to both clarify and make substantive comments. It is fair to say that few, if any, were praising of the manner in which DECS is handling the introduction of the Australian Curricu-lum in schools throughout SA. However, many expressed how valuable it was to not only hear from Wendy in such a clear and reassuring manner, but to also be able to informally chat with her after lunch in order to get their particular issues clarified.

The lunches were held in Adelaide North, Adelaide South, Mount Gambier, Port Pirie, Whyalla and Port Lincoln. We were very sorry to be unable to organise a lunch in the Riverland due to Wendy’s strict commitments. The Riverland is first cab off the rank for the next series.

Given this series of President’s Lunch-es, blending the professional and indus-trial, was such an appreciated success, others will follow. Watch this space and keep an eye on your emails for news of upcoming leaders events and how to register.

And on the subject of the Australian Curriculum, the AEU Journal is discuss-ing the topic in a series of podcasts. You can listen to the first episode at:

8:www.aeusa.asn.au/podcasts.htmlkenDrury|AEUProjectOfficer–SchoolLeaderFocus

Leaders eVents

Leaders lunches hit the spot

AEU Project Officer kenDrury reports on the recent series of Leaders lunches

1 ACARA senior Manager Implementation Co-ordination Wendy engliss addresses AeU members at The edinburgh Hotel.

looked great and we all received a bag of goodies to take home with some very informative information for SSOs. There was also an ‘SSO Survival Kit’ con-sisting of an assortment of lollies, each representing a different purpose for SSOs.

The keynote speaker was Jonathon Mill from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). He spoke on ‘Power in the Workplace’. His words were both inspiring and funny and reas-sured us of how important our roles are in the workplace. After morning tea my first workshop was ‘Assertive Communi-cation’ with Jan Webber. She showed us not only ways to be assertive but also how to understand ourselves and how to be good, active listeners.

After a fantastic lunch, I attended a workshop on the impact the new fund-ing model would have on SSOs. This was very informative and gave us a lot to take back to our colleagues at home. This workshop brought the conference to a close. What a day! It was good to spend time in great company with many new acquaintances, great food and informative speakers.

Sharing a taxi to the airport with some newfound colleagues had us chat-ting about the conference and the things we’d enjoyed most. Conversation continued on the flight home with a bundle of information to share with work mates on Monday. I will be really encouraging them to attend next year. Thanks AEU! n

InformationforSSOsisavailableonourwebsiteat:

8:www.aeusa.asn.au/sector_ssos.html

33

20

running headNOTICE BOARD

Teachers’ Professional RésumésTel: 0411 245 415

E: teachers-resumes@bigpond.comServing Australia’s teachers for 20 years. ABN: 40 833 718 673

Seekingpromotion?Aspiring Principals, DPs, APs, Coordinators

Announcing our new

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FOR APPLICATION WRITING AND INTERVIEWfor all promotions positions in

SA government schoolsTailored uniquely to the SA state system, this detailed 60 page booklet and PowerPoint shows you how to

develop a dynamic resumé and selection criteria, and provides many valuable ideas and hints to help you

prepare for a powerful interview performance! Available for immediate download at:

www.teachers–resumes.com.au

Everything Apple and More.www.nextbyte.com.au 1300 769 480

Adelaide • Sydney • Melbourne • Brisbane • Gold Coast • Townsville • Perth • Hobart

Go to the www.aeusa.asn.au for competition details.

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The new MacBook Air.The next generation of MacBooks.Available in 11- and 13-inch models.

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Annual Fundraising Dinner and Silent Art Auction

Guest Speaker: Steffan Lehmann Professor of Sustainable Design School of Art, Architecture and Design, UniSA

Saturday 25 June 2011 7:00 for 7:30pm Italian Function Centre 262 Carrington Street, Adelaide

Ticket Prices: Members: $80, Concession: $75, General Public $90

For further information contact Leonie Ebert: Phone: (08) 8267 3915 Email: info@artspeacetrust.org Website: www.artspeacetrust.org

Graham F Smith Peace Trust

8:www.aeusa.asn.au>events&courses

8:www.aeusa.asn.au>events&courses

21

aeu 2011 training and deVeLoPment Program

Fri3June 9:15-15:30Non-teachingStaffandSSOContactOfficers1-day day course for AEU SSO Contact Officers and non-teaching PAC reps on resolving workplace issues effectively through vari-ous school decision making structures and processes and their role in supporting and informing non-teaching members.Whocanattend:Non-teaching staff reps on PAC and member SSO contact officers.

Tues30&Wed31Aug 9:00-17:00CampaigningSkillsforDelegatesA 2-day course to support members’ involve-ment in local campaigns. The ACTU Organis-

2011UNIONMEMBERDEVELOPMENTPROGRAM

ADS

AnIntroductionWednesday20July 9:30am–12:30pmMonday10October 9:30am–12:30pmMonday19December 9:30am–12:30pm

ProgrammingandPlanningWednesday20July 1:30pm–4:30pmMonday10October 1:30pm–4:30pm

CreatingunitsofworkusingtheAustralianCurriculumFriday18November 4:00pm–5:30pmMonday19December 1:30pm–4:30pm

CounCiL dates For 2011

NewBranchCouncilMeetingsUpcoming dates for 2011 are:Saturday,August13Saturday,November19

TAFEDivisionalCouncilMeetingsUpcoming dates for 2011 are:Friday,August5Friday,November11

CURRICULUMORGANISERONLINEPDDatesandTimes2011 From the brain, language and

learning to Pedagogy and PraCtiCe

dr. Clare mcCarty (Adjunct lecturer Flinders University)

Professional Development for middle and senior school staff based on a creative pedagogy that can be applied across the school and across the curriculum

integrating literacy, numeracy and the capabilities in SACE.

For further information and bookings:

mccarty@internode.on.net“SChool imProvement muSt

begin with Pedagogy.”

tailem bend Primary SChool

is celebrating 100 years! 1911 – 2011

Centenary Celebrations will be held on:

Friday 28 august & Saturday 29 august

Visit our website:

www.tailembdps.sa.edu.aufor updates and for past student

and staff profiles.

To register your interest or for any queries, email to:

info@tailembdps.sa.edu.au

ing Centre runs this course to provide union representatives and activists with the skills, knowledge and confidence to campaign ef-fectively in their workplaces and industries.Whocanattend: AEU members keen to be directly involved in AEU campaigns.

Fri18November 9:15-15:30PotentialDelegatesCourse1-day course introducing members to AEU decision making processes.Whocanattend: AEU members.

PAC members who have not attended training previously should attend Full PAC training (3 hours).

Two-hour updates are also available for PAC members who have undertaken training in the past but wish to gain a better knowledge of changes associated with the new Award and funding arrangements.

The AEU strongly recommends that all members of the PAC, including principals, AEU representatives, equal opportunity and non-teaching staff representatives, register for initial or update training.

FullPACTraining|CountryTues7June 3.30pm -6.30pm CooberPedyASWed8June 4.00pm -7.00pm PortLincolnHSWed8June 4.00pm -7.00pm ClareHSWed15June 4.00pm -7.00pm TailemBendPSWed15June 4.00pm -7.00pm JohnPirieSSTues21June 4.00pm -7.00pm WaikerieHSWed22June 4.00pm -7.00pm GlossopHS

InformationandUpdateSessions|Metro(for members who have previously attended Full PAC Training)

Wed8June 1.30pm -3.30pm AEU,ParksideWed8June 4.15pm -6.15pm AEU,ParksideTues19July 1.00pm -3.00pm AEU,Parkside

PACTRAINING|TERM2

FullPACTraining|MetroWed15June 4.15pm -7.15pm AEU,ParksideWed22June 1.00pm -4.00pm AEU,ParksideTues19July 9.30am-12.30pm AEU,Parkside

2322

Member’sMarketVICTORHARBORHolidayHouse&StudioApartments: Southern Escape 3BR fully s/cont. family friendly hse. Walk to beach, parks, shops, restaurants and town centre. Lge enclosed yard, BBQ. Rates from $150/n. StudioApts: s/cont, open plan w. kitchenette, bath, living area. Sleep 2 upstairs with sea views OR sleeps 3 ground level. Rates $135/night. T:0413920554E:crupi@chariot.net.auHOLIDAYHOUSE,‘NORTHBAY’,CARRICkALINGA:Arch. designed new 2 storey beach hse. 4BR, 3 bath, 2 living areas, European kitchen, decking & views. Suits 2 families. Sleeps 10. Play equip. for kids. T:0403015964www.stayz.com.au>NorthBay,CarrickalingaABSOLUTESEAFRONTHOUSEkingston:Stunning beach, wine- dolphins - seafood. Heated balcony suites frm $70. Whole house (off- peak) $190 (half price in winter). smsorT:0402922445a/horT:(08)83382316a/hHOLIDAYRENTAL:YorkePenin-sula: New up-market esplanade beach hse ‘Manyana’ at Wool Bay (near Edithburgh). Spa, plasma TV, DVD, stereo, dish-washer. Tastefully ff, 3BR, sleeps 7.

Panoramic views, walks, fishing. T:(08)88322623www.countrygetaways.infoVICTORHARBOR:AllSeasonsLakefrontGetaway:Stunning s/cont. lux. colonial hme. Priv. secl. beach & lake! 4BRs, 2 living areas, 2nd bath, 3 toilets & laundry, lge backyd. Sleeps 8. LakesideGetaway: Encounter Lakes Villa, 100m to beach & re-serve. 5-min. to Esplanade, walk/bike trail, cafes, restaurants, store. 3BRs. Sleeps 6. Spacious living/fam/dine, 2-way bath, sep. toilet, laundry. M:0419868143E:foumakis@hotmail.comhttp:/victorharborholidayhomes.spaces.live.comkangarooIslandGetawaykIRURALRETREAT: Attractive s/cont. lge country hme, gdn, native bush, 260 acres. 2 bath, 2 qn beds, 2 living areas, laundry, patio. Sleeps 12. Frm $120/night. T:0407790754a/hE:kiruralretreat@bigpond.com.aukIHOLIDAYCOTTAGE:Vivonne Bay, close to beach & Harriet River, wildlife, exc. location for KI attractions. 2BR. s/cont, air, BBQ. Sleep 4, $95. T:(08)83419185E:enquiries@ravencottage.com.auwww.ravencottage.com.au

kIHOLIDAYHSE,kANGASTAYHarriet River, Vivonne Bay, 3BR fully equipped. Close to Seal Bay, Remarkables, Admiral Arch and more) relax, swim, fish. Linen prov. winter discounts, sleeps 6. Frm $100/night. T:0407215345kangastay@gmail.comkIQUEENSCLIFFECOTTAGEKingscote, recently restored 2BR, period decor, gdn. Walk to beach, cafes, jetty, pubs. Sleeps 6. Exc. location to explore island. T:0885539007 www.kangarooislandholidayaccomodation.com.au/property.php?p_id=232‘WINDSWEPTCOTTAGE’Overnight & short-stay accom. in Adel. Hills (Stirling). Suit couples (no children due to steep stairs to mezz. BR). Quiet, botanic setting, own carport & entrance w. galley kitchen, TV, DVD etc. 5 min walk to Stirling restaurants, cafes. 15 min drive to wineries, Hahndorf and Hills towns. From $90-$120/night. T:0431991431 E:windswept@pacific.net.auwww.windsweptcottage.webs.comHOLIDAYRENTALWALLAROO:Arch. designed new 2-storey beach hse, bay views. 3BR, 3 bath, open plan living, modern kitchen, sleeps 7. DVD, CD, dishw. Safe beach for kids, great walks, fishing. www.stayz.com.au>Bayview,NorthBeach

HOL.RENTALNORMANVILLE:South Shores Holiday Villa #25. 3BR (sleeps 8). Secure behind dunes at Normanville. Golf, horse riding, pools, beach, lawns, cafes. T:0413155460www.stayz.com.au/23983PORTELLIOTHOLIDAYESCAPEStunning new, a/c, 4BR, s/cont. Close to Main St. cafes, shops, restaurants, galleries. Horseshoe Bay, swim, surf and fish. Walk/bike trails, markets, wineries, Steam Ranger Cockle train. Spe-cial rates. E:jack.k@live.com.auwww.allseasonsescape.spaces.live.comSEAFRONTHOLIDAYHOUSE:YorkePeninsula“OceanfrontEscape” 2-storey hse w. pergola to beach & farmland views, secl, 4 BRMs, full kitchen, BBQ, DVD/ VCR/TV, billiards, fishing. Peace-ful & relaxing, great for kids. ContactBrenton:T:0409864682E:bjejstevens@bigpond.com CEDUNABEACHHOUSE:S/cont, beachfront, BBQ/DVD/ LCD/ TV, r/c air. Sleeps 6. Corp. rates AEU members. Main st and jetty 5 min walk. T:(08)86253343HOUSEBOAT:(nearMannum)AEU members are offered a 10% disc. during shoulder/off pk. Sleeps 10. T:(08)82778751E:tandu.prucha@bigpond.comwww.bundara2.net/

ANINVITATIONTORETIREDORRETIRINGTEACHERS&SSOsHave you retired or are about to retire? Are you seeking

opportunities to maintain or increase your level of fitness and want to learn more about your city and surrounding hills and bushland? Are you seeking companionship with other retired teachers and their partners as well as other

walkers from a range of backgrounds (not just teaching!)?

The R.T.A.WalkingGroup is a sub-group of the Retired Teachers’ Association and is affiliated with WalkingSA.

Walks are organised at several levels.Rovers walk from 14–18 kms, Walkers – up to 10kms, and the Strollers

andAmblers – up to 5 kms. We walk in conservation and national parks within the Mount Lofty Ranges and Fleurieu Peninsula, suburban beaches, and along the six creeks of

the Adelaide Plains, the River Torrens Linear Park and other suburban trails. It’s a great way to get to know your city and surroundings! A camp is also organised each year in country

areas within South Australia or Victoria.

Ifyouareinterestedinfindingoutmoreaboutourwalkinggroup,youareinvitedtocontact:

our Secretary, DavidTassell|T:82934320email:dtassell@internode.on.net

or our Convener: TonyNichol|T:83961682

NOTICE BOARD

2322

GLENELGNTH/TOWNHOUSERETREAT:Rent for short/long/hols. Good, quiet, peaceful loca-tion, mins frm Jetty Rd, close to tram/bus stops. Secl. T-Hse feat. 3 BRM, new kitchen, 2 toilets, ldry, bath, sep. dining, lounge, a/c, gas heating, patio area, car-port, garden. T:0437847034E:wendyvoight@bigpond.comFORRENT: ff private apartment in Glenelg for hols or wkds. Spa, heated pool, steam-rm, sauna, gym etc. Plasma TV, 100m to beach. T:040360605235mmSLIDESCANNINGAdelaide&Hills:Do you have old slides gathering dust and deteriorating? Have them profes-sionally scanned at high resolu-tion and transferred onto CD. 19 yrs exp., reasonable rates. T:0401590875WORkSHOP:Stress manage-ment, personal dev. and learning difficulties: Brain Gym – an intro wkshop. Movements to ‘switch on’ the brain. T/F:(08)87682537E:gibbons@seol.net.auGOSCUBADIVINGWITHELITEDIVEACADEMY: Are you a diver, but haven’t been in the water for a while?! Get $50 off a PADI Tune-Up program to refresh your skills. T:(Steve)0413134827E:info@elitediveacademy.com.auwww.elitediveacademy.com.au

HOUSESITTING: Mature couple, teachers, non-smokers, exp. pet owners, gardeners seek hse sit while new home is built. Adelaide Nth pref. Available for the entire Term 2 – 2011. Referees avail. E:edgell.zajac@sehs.sa.edu.auE:Pam.Zajac@tafesa.edu.auT:0409608518or0409280019HOUSESITTING: Prof. couple seek hse sit, Adelaide & environs, late July – Oct. 2010. Non-smok-ers, hse proud, exp. renovators, repairs, gardening, animal caring. ContactChris&EleanorOystonT:0262363008E:oystons@iinet.net.auROOMFORRENT:Female to share 3BR house with 2 others in West Croydon. $150/wk includes phone, internet, electricity and water.T:0431518683E:medwards33@optusnet.com.auFRANCE–SOUTH:Lovely Village House. Languedoc region. T:0403314928 (Julie)www.myfrenchhome.com.auCIVILCELEBRANT:Dr Tom Haig: weddings, renewal of vows, com-mitment ceremonies, funerals and baby namings. First class personalised services with AEU members receiving a 10% dis-count on services upon request. T:85311726or0439687529E:tomhaig@internode.on.netwww.tomhaig.com.au

HOLIDAYHOUSE,WALLAROO:New house with 4 BRMs, just a five minute walk to the beach. Sleeps 8. Self contained. Peaceful and very relaxing. From $700/wk.T:0410054059E:khatchley82@bigpond.com

MOONTABAYHOLIDAYRENTAL:3BR, sleeps 8, 350m to beach, CD/DVD, PayTV, games for kids, modern kitchen.T:0404717720or0406429040E:prislodge@yahoo.com.au

ALDINGABEACHHOUSEFROM:$680WEEk5 minute walk from beach, opp. National Park, sleeps 8, ff, TV, DVD, Microwave, Air Con. T: 0418843711E:acaciahouse@optusnet.com.au

CAPETRIBULATION,FarNthQldGorgeous hilltop B&B surr. by rain-forest, 5mins to beach. Ensuite double & fam rms from $80/dble (with AEU member discount).T:(07)40989039E:www.rainforestbb.com

AUSTRALIANCERTIFIEDORGANICPRODUCTS: for per-sonal use & gifts www.bodytune.mionegroup.com

BrainGym®101 long weekend course in Robe, June 11 & 12 to assist people to relax & focus, be organised, learn and commu-nicate more easily. A movement

based course to balance the hemispheres for your personal goals. Register with Heather. T:87682537E:gibbons@seol.net.au

BEACHHOUSESWAPfor‘IT’TUITION: smsorT:0402922445a/horT:(08)83382316a/h

BOOkOFFER:“WHENGRANDPASANG”byMargaretJust.A wonderfully NEW and ENGAGING children’s picture book with BONUS activity sheets. to read the story, order a book, download activity sheets or organise author visit go to:www.whengrandpasang.comor E:whengrandpasang@gmail.com

FORSALE:1999kIAMENTORSedan, good condition. $2000 o.n.o. Call Steve on: T:0459600960

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