ACT Educator Term 1 2014 by Australian Education Union ACT

MAGAZINE OF THE AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION - ACT BRANCH

ACT

EDUCATOR

TERM 1 2014

THE POWER OF COLLABORATION

Visit Our New Website!

Teachers on Twitter

The Quizling App

Our New LIAN EDUC RA AT ST

AEU

N IO

Website U NIO N AC T BRANC H

Latest news

www.aeuact.org.au

Our new site makes it even easier to unite together. New members can use our online join facility to sign up. Our join video is a great way of letting colleagues know what our union is all about.

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We’re using our blog to keep you updated on all the news you need, when you need it. As well as viewing the latest news, you can easily sort posts by category to find the information you’re after.

The go-to place to find out what’s on, whether it’s a training session or a meeting of Branch Council. And you can RSVP online and see who else is going.

We’ve made it really easy for you to find out what you need to know about your rights at work with a Frequently Asked Questions page.

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Find out more about the full-time officers working for you and also members of AEU ACT Executive on our people page.

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AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION

New email address: aeuact@aeuact.org.au Staff email addresses are now: first name.lastname@aeuact.org.au Glenn.Fowler@aeuact.org.au Sue.Amundsen@aeuact.org.au Andy.Jennings@aeuact.org.au Lauren.McKee@aeuact.org.au Therese.Tonna@aeuact.org.au Joelle.Dulac@aeuact.org.au Sam.Delaney@aeuact.org.au Tom.Greenwell@aeuact.org.au ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

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Tracey.Govan@aeuact.org.au Michelle.Kirby@aeuact.org.au Garrett.Purtill@aeuact.org.au

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chec k our n out webs ew Term 1 2014 ite!

contents 8

Teachers on Twitter

The Quizling App

Features Teachers on Twitter The Quizling App Gonski Vans arrive Surviving Your First Year Teaching Public Education Week 2014 A Helping Hand For Members In Crisis Mature-Age Survey Membership Form Office Team

Interview with Nick Maniatis

Regulars 8 12 13 16 17 17 18 19 23

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President’s Report - Welcome to ACT Educator Upcoming Events Secretary’s Report - The Power of Collaboration School Assistants Update – It’s About Recognition and Respect CIT Update – Negotiations Nearing Conclusion Member Profile – A Conversation with Nick Maniatis

More info Feedback and Contributions Do you have any comment or feedback on the new look ACT Educator? Is there a story about your school that you’d like us to share in our next edition? Would you like to write for us? Our next edition will celebrate public education. The editorial deadline is April 4. Please contact Tom Greenwell in the AEU ACT office (62727900, Tom.Greenwell@aeuact.org.au).

ct.org.au

Contact us Phone (02) 62727900 Email aeuact@aeuact.org.au Web aeuact.org.au Facebook facebook.com/aeuact Twitter twitter.com/aeuact Post PO Box 3042, Manuka 2603 Visit 40 Brisbane Avenue, Barton ACT 2600

Advertising Enquiries Contact Tom Greenwell Phone (02) 62727900 Email Tom.Greenwell@aeuact.org.au Deadline for next edition: April 4 Design Spectrum Graphics, sg.com.au Print Paragon Printers, paragonprint.com.au

ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

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Fi us onnd

Welcome to ACT Educator Welcome to the first edition of ACT Educator for 2014. The change of name from Public Education Voice reflects our renewed focus on telling the stories of AEU ACT members. Of course, we’ll still be championing public education but we hope to find more space to share our triumphs and challenges as educators. We’re also really excited about what Spectrum Graphics has done to create a new look and feel for the magazine. We hope you like it!

By Lana Read AEU ACT President

More than ever, teaching is about collaborating. This is reflected in our feature story about teachers on Twitter. It’s amazing to hear our colleagues talk about how they’ve tapped into professional learning networks reaching across the globe. Similarly, reading Patrick and Suki’s reflections on their first year teaching, what stands out

is the importance of the sharing and conversation that goes on between us as professionals. There’s wide acknowledgment that professional collaboration creates better learning outcomes for students but we need the time to do it. As Glenn explains, our new enterprise agreement claim is being shaped to address this. I encourage you to make the most of your professional learning network in 2014. I also invite you to be involved in the wonderful network that is our union. In a year when we’re negotiating a new enterprise agreement, our collective voice is so important. //

Upcoming Events Gonski Vans at Richardson Primary

Navigating Annual Professional Discussions

Branch Council

Monday March 18

Thursday March 27 4pm – 6pm Hedley Beare Centre for Teaching & Learning 51 Fremantle Drive Stirling

9am – 12pm J Block Theatre, CIT Reid 37 Constitution Avenue

Thursday May 22

Before school Richardson Primary May Gibbs Close, Richardson

Wealth Creation

Public Education Showcase

Branch Council Saturday March 22 9am – 12pm J Block Theatre, CIT Reid 37 Constitution Avenue

Planning for Retirement With Jennie Murray from State Super Financial Services Tuesday March 25 Lake Ginninderra College 2 Emu Bank Belconnen

AEU ACT Leadership Retreat Friday April 4 – Saturday April 5 Birrigai Outdoor School

TAFE Council Friday April 11 1:30pm – 4pm E 207, CIT Reid 37 Constitution Avenue

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

Saturday May 3

With Jennie Murray from State Super Financial Services Thursday May 6 4pm – 6pm Lake Ginninderra College 2 Emu Bank Belconnen

Public Education Week Launch Thursday May 15 4pm – 6pm Civic Library London Circuit

2014 Public Education Dinner National Press Club 16 National Circuit, Barton

Friday May 23 Venues to be confirmed

Maternity Leave Information Session Thursday May 29 Details TBA

The Power of Collaboration AEU ACT Branch Secretary, Glenn Fowler, explains our new enterprise agreement claim is about giving teachers the time to make more lessons great lessons. With the current School Teachers Enterprise Agreement expiring in September, we’re almost ready to serve our new claim on the employer on April 1. Thank you for your extensive input and feedback; because of your participation our claim is shaping up to be very robust indeed. A big thank you as well to sub-branch representatives for your leadership in convening discussions in your workplace.

By Glenn Fowler

The major focus of the current draft is on the resources needed to establish and maintain meaningful and sustainable teacher learning communities in schools. It calls for a reduction in face-to-face teaching hours to 20 in primary and 18 in secondary to ensure that collaboration and professional learning time is embedded within the teaching week. The international evidence for such a claim is very strong. Leading UK educational researcher Dylan Wiliam, who has provided much advice to leaders in the Directorate in the past, recently published on the importance of reforms such as this. He said: “The only way to make system-

How bargaining works • Our current enterprise agreement expires on September 30 this year. • We will be required to serve our claim (the list of things we want in the new agreement) by April 1. • Between April and September, the AEU, as our bargaining representative, will negotiate the new agreement with the employer.

wide improvements in teacher quality is to make professional development for serving teachers a central feature… Professional development is too often regarded as something that is done to teachers on five days a year… In Shanghai, most teachers get some form of professional mentoring every single day… We need to design our education system so that teachers get support for improving their practice every week if not every day.” This is not about us doing less work with students – it is about making more lessons great lessons. The claim will be debated and voted on by your elected representatives at Council on March 22. If you think any further amendments to our claim are necessary, get together with your sub-branch and pass a motion. It’s also a great time to start a conversation with any teacher who is not a member of our union, because every single member makes us stronger. Tell new teachers about the 2011campaign when we won the best salary increases in living memory. If we’d been divided then we would have achieved little! //

• On March 22, elected representatives from every AEU sub-branch will meet at Council and debate and vote on our claim. • The draft version of our claim includes things like reduced face-to-face teaching hours; nationally competitive salaries and payment of fees for certification. • If you want changes or additions to our claim, call a meeting of your sub-branch and instruct your councillors accordingly.

ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

It’s About Recognition and Respect A year of unprecedented activism amongst School Assistant members has achieved real results. By Therese Tonna, School Assistants Co-ordinator “I am a preschool assistant. Joining the AEU has allowed me to find my professional voice. There are many diversely talented people working as assistants and we need to show the directorate that we deserve to be recognised.” Kim MacPherson

“I joined the AEU as an Learning Support Assistant working in the preschool early intervention unit two years ago. It’s great to be part of a team that is working for better workplace conditions, career progression and better pay.” Susan Thomson

“Being a member is about being part of a community that offers me ongoing support. The AEU has a comprehensive understanding of where me and my co-workers are coming from as AEU staff have worked at the grassroots level.” Jen Morgan

What We’ve Won • Recognition of all School Assistant Classifications by the Education & Training Directorate. • Flat rate wage increase of $1770 to be back paid to July 2013 and then six 1.5% increases each over remaining 3 years. • Review of all classifications, remuneration, career paths, qualifications and allowances etc. to be completed within 12 months of FWC approval.

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

• Preschool Assistants taken out of the SA2 classification which they have been stuck in for over 30 years and placed in the SA2/3 classification. This means over 130 assistants will be eligible to apply to progress through the competency barrier. • Planning and Preparation time for all School Assistants. • Payment and back payment of Special Education Allowance and First Aid Allowance to many members who were entitled to it but did not receive it.

CIT Negotiations Nearing Conclusion AEU ACT Industrial Officer, Garrett Purtill reports on the status of negotiations. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re hopeful of having a new CIT Teaching Staff Enterprise Agreement shortly. The teacher focus groups conducted on excessive workloads are assisting us as we seek recognition of the progressive intensification of work and overtime. We are bargaining for a reduction of excessive overtime through the provision of additional teachers. Proposals for a new teaching/management structure above Band 1 are still in a state of flux. AEU negotiators are seeking more detail from CIT in order to make a reasonable assessment.

The AEU is seeking the removal of limitations on way professional development funds are accessed. We are also seeking an increase in overseas allowance: doubled from $75 per day to $150 per day and that they also apply to interstate travel of three days or more. TAFE Council has accepted, in principle, the employerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pay offer, contingent on the package of terms and conditions that go with it. The offer is for $2090 plus 6 x 1.5% increases over the 4 year life of the agreement. Pay will be backdated to July 1, 2013. //

ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

Teachers on Twitter With Twitter becoming an increasingly powerful tool for teachers, we sat down with AEU educators who are big on Twitter to find out about how they use it in their practice. Tom Greenwell (@TBGreenwell) spoke to: Prue Gill (@Prue_G, Lanyon High) Jason Borton (@Borto74, Richardson Primary) Craig Edwards (@CraigMEdwards, Gungahlin College) Betty Chau (@betchau, Dickson College) Shaun Haidon (@shaunhaidon Transitions & Careers in the Directorate) Glenn Fowler (@GlennFowler AEU, AEU ACT Secretary).

So, how do you start using Twitter? Craig: I only started using Twitter in Term 4 last year. When a principal from Sydney, John Goh, visited Gungahlin, he was tweeting about the school and I realised it was a really good way for schools to put ourselves out there and share the good things we do. Once I was tweeting about a few things we were doing at school, then I realised itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great way to share resources and readings.

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

Betty: I started a while ago but I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand it so I left it for about two years. Then I started a project called the Positive Education Initiative. From there, I started to learn more about what Twitter was about, what it could do and knowing more about who to follow and what hashtags are. The rest is history!

Q Shaun: I got into Twitter through listening to a podcast by two guys from Victoria called the Ed Tech Crew. Twitter is a way of sharing information and I think it provides a social aspect to continuous learning and engagement with new ideas. Jason: I heard George Couros speak at an ILEAD conference. He asked questions about where we record our professional practice. How do you actually keep a log or record of what you’re doing in your work? Prue: You can get snippets of things and decide ‘Nope, I’m not going to read it’ or ‘Yep, I’m going to look into that’. So it’s a way of getting new ideas. I signed up two years ago and at first I only followed Perez Hilton but in time I realized there was a lot more going on.

What do you see as the main benefits of Twitter for educators? Jason: I would say access to internationally renowned experts with no cost is a great advantage. So, for example, our school’s really focused on formative assessment as an instructional strategy. I can access people like Dylan Williams, Jim Knight and other experts who often tweet material. Then that often starts conversations with others across the world who are using similar strategies. I’ve connected with educators in Canada in particular who are doing almost identical things to what we’re doing in our school and we’re sharing back-and-forth our successes and our roadblocks and the approaches we’re using. So, it really opens the world up. ›

From left to right, Prue Gill, Jason Borton, Craig Edwards, Shaun Haidon and Betty Chau talking Twitter at Tilley’s. ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

“So, for example, our school’s really focused on formative assessment as an instructional strategy. I’ve connected with educators in Canada who are doing almost identical things and we’re sharing back-and-forth our successes and our roadblocks. So, it really opens the world up.” Jason Borton

Q Craig: One of the really good things I’ve found is that the sharing that you do on Twitter just happens much faster. I’ve heard it said that two weeks on Twitter is like spending two years at morning tea talking to colleagues about teaching. Betty: I went to a PD yesterday where John Goh was speaking and he asked the question: ‘How many people do you normally talk to about education or about what you’re doing in your classroom?’ People usually have five or less. Whereas on Twitter you can have hundreds.

Shaun: I think it enriches the experience for the students and it enriches professional learning for the teacher. We always strive to learn about how we can be better at what we do and make the lives of our students better. Twitter is a way of building a professional learning network. Also, as an educator, it’s not just educators who are on Twitter. As a legal studies teacher, it was very handy to follow #auslegal. A lot of lawyers engage with it, so students, if they were having problems, could go straight to the source of industry. Prue: At our school, we wanted to do something new. Being on Twitter gave us access to other perspectives. Through Twitter, we actually went and visited a school in Sydney and saw what they were doing in terms of changing the way the classroom works.

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

As a teacher, is Twitter just one more thing? Or is Twitter a better way of doing things you’ve always done? Craig: It’s a better way of doing what we’ve always done. It’s quicker. Jason: I do a lot less email or surfing because I can access specific information much more readily using Twitter. Prue: It also helps me remember things. I’ll retweet something so I know where it is. Shaun: It definitely isn’t an add-on to workload. It enriches the experience for students and for the teacher.

Jason and Betty, you’ve both managed the @EduTweetOz account. Can you tell us a bit about what that is? Betty: @EduTweetOz is a rotational account that was set up by a few educators in Sydney. A different educator takes over the account each week. It just happened I was doing it the week that Pyne backflipped on Gonski. I thought I’d make it a bit of a light-hearted thing and it was report writing season. So I made a hashtag #reportpyne, encouraging teachers and the public to write a report comment about Christopher Pyne. It ended up trending in Australia for two hours. So it was great!

Jason: My role was really to talk from a leadership perspective about starting off the school year on a positive note. It’s something that I’m really passionate about, especially around work-life balance and looking after yourself. Our job’s really hard and we need to make sure we don’t overdo it because we need to be our best when we’re in front of kids. I had masses of positive responses from people who really appreciated that message from a school leader.

Is Twitter opening up a space for greater collaboration amongst educators? Glenn: Teachers that aren’t on Twitter are missing out! There’s an incredible level of sharing of resources and ideas. When I started teaching in the 90s, it was basically me in my classroom with a few colleagues to chat to. Now I look at what teachers are doing and I just can’t believe how connected we’ve become. Prue: Sometimes people share things and you think: ‘I’m going to try that. That’s amazing. Why I have been doing this ten step process when you’re telling me I can do it in one?’ And, I think, for beginning teachers having access to mentors outside of your school is amazing too because there’s all that support. Betty: In the 2013 Jane Hart Centre for Learning and Performance Technology survey, where over 500 learning professionals voted across 48 countries, Twitter retained the number one spot for the fifth year running. So, get on it! //

AT&T

Top Hashtags For Educators • #auedchat – Australian educators • #actlearn – ACT educators • #tsnet – Tuggeranong Schools Network • #ozprimschchat – For primary teachers • #satchat – School leadership • #globalclassroom – Learning opportunities across the globe • #educoach - Mentoring other teachers • #learningfrontiers – Expand your school’s network • #teacherwellbeingchat – Look after yourself • #austl – For teacher-librarians

ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

The Quizling App When Damien Trask and Dion Oxley couldn’t find a tool to quickly create quizzes for their classes, they decided to do something about it. Q. What is the Quizling App? Dion: It’s an Apple App that allows teachers to make their own quizzes and play them with their classes. There can be multiple choice or true or false questions and there’s an option to have ‘did you know’ trivia pop up. Groups within a class can make quizzes and play them with each other. You can email them so classes can even organise a quiz against each other.

Q. What inspired you to create it?

Quizling creators, Damien Trask and Dion Oxley

Dion: Frustration with what was out there. I was doing Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with a 7/8 class and went to find a quiz online. Heaps came up but they were asking about really specific parts of the text that we hadn’t focused on and concepts that were way over the head of my guys.

Damien: I had a Grade 5 class and had that half hour, you know that little gap that you can come up against. And this little girl was saying ‘can we do a quiz on health’. So I had a look on the app store thinking it would be quite simple to find an app that would allow me to make a quiz rather than just get a preformatted quiz. But there was nothing that enabled me to create a quiz that was right for my students. That was the genesis of the idea.

Q. What other features does the app have? Dion: Once you’ve created your quiz, you plug it into your smartboard or project it. It’s up there; it looks really good. It flips between each of the questions with an animation. You can choose if you want to go question-answer, question-answer or just do your answers at the end. You can choose whether you want a timer or if you want a score. Often primary school teachers don’t want students to worry about the scores but just to enjoy the quiz.

Q. How have you used it in your own classes? Dion: We’ve used it in a high school context so if I do a film study then I have a quiz on that to check comprehension and highlight themes. Damien: And also to check preliminary knowledge. I used it in a SOSE class – Australians at War – where at the start of the class I just needed very quickly to find out how much these guys learned previously so I had a very quick twelve

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

or thirteen question quiz on the First World War, the ANZAC legend and the like. I put them into groups, pub-quiz style. It was fun and it gave me a lot of data on what they knew. It was also a really interesting way to stimulate a broader class discussion. For instance, it had a question about death tallies amongst the various nations in the Dardanelles campaign. I don’t think any of the groups knew that more French soldiers died than Australian soldiers. They just thought the whole campaign was this slaughterhouse of Australians in their slouch hats. So it enabled us to launch into a discussion about how more French died than Australians and yet, in France, this is a minor campaign

that isn’t celebrated at all. Something that’s so significant for us has next to no significance for them.

Q. Have you been surprised at all by the ways teachers are using Quizling? Dion: Primary school kids actually use it far more interactively where the students make their own quizzes on certain topics and play them against each other. In a year 1/2 class, students were putting in questions that they wanted answered. Then they put what they thought might be the answer. They loved putting information in the ‘did you knows’. So you can have that more student-focused style. //

Gonski Vans Arrive at Richardson Primary M1a8rtch of Join us to give the Gonski vans a big welcome and make our message loud and clear – we want the full Gonski!

Ahead of the May budget, we’ll be sending a message to Tony Abbott that unless the Gonski funding is continued beyond four years, public schools across the country will remain below the resource standard the Gonski Review determined was required. From Hobart, Perth, Brisbane and Darwin, the Gonski vans are travelling across the country. On March 18, they arrive in Canberra. Join us at Richardson Primary to give them a big welcome and make our message loud and clear – we want the full Gonski.

More info Check www.aeuact.org.au for details.

ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

A Conversation with Nick Maniatis Educator speaks with Nick Maniatis from Campbell High School about his English unit on TV, film and literary portrayals of teachers. First, we asked Nick about the challenges and rewards of being a sub-branch president. Q. How did you first become a sub-branch president? I fell into it. I moved to a new school and the sub-branch needed to be formed. Unfortunately, the person who used to ensure it happened had moved on. I agreed to help out not knowing what was required, but hugely inspired by a couple of amazing teachers I’d worked with in my first years of teaching. I remember being completely overwhelmed.

Q. It can be a pretty challenging role. How did you learn about what’s involved? Initially just from the printed materials provided by the AEU, the good old handbook, and some advice from those I was working with. I eventually attended valuable AEU training which made my role clear and gave me direction.

Q. What do you see as the most important aspects of being a sub-branch president? I’ve found that being very familiar with our enterprise agreement is often the best way to begin to resolve any workplace issue. Knowledge is also important. Sometimes members seek advice in order to make important personal or career decisions, but the decisions can’t be made without knowledge of our working environment. Helping members find the right information, or being able to help them find someone who can advise them, without being judgmental and maintaining

Nick Maniatis

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

“I’ve found that being very familiar with our enterprise agreement is often the best way to begin to resolve any workplace issue.” confidentiality can be really tricky. It’s also important for a sub-branch to understand what’s happening more widely, and that’s where reporting significant events and decisions from council meetings comes in. Having healthy and productive relationships with the school leadership team is of utmost importance too.

Q. What do you see as the rewards of the role? Helping members to understand their workplace rights so they are happier in the workplace. Being asked, ‘How do I join?’ by teachers who had never considered joining the AEU, or had previously left, telling me they are joining because of the way I support, speak and represent others in the workplace. It’s happened more than a few times now. I’m not a morning person so getting up for monthly AEU council on Saturdays is often a chore for me, but once there I’m so glad I’ve made the effort. The breadth and depth of experience and passion for education in that lecture theatre is mind-blowing.

Q. You teach an English unit called ‘Representations of Schooling’. Where did the idea come from? I think the origins of the ‘Representations on Schooling’ unit are in why I became a teacher. I guess the ‘idea’ of being a teacher, which I’d learned from consuming books, television, and movies ended up being significantly different to ‘being’ a teacher. Term 4 is a notoriously difficult time to engage Year 10 students, so I decided to teach a survey unit with the end point of critically analysing the representation of teachers, students,

school environments and communities in texts. Generally, the students pick a text they love and then look deeply at what the representations within imply about school and then compare that to their own experiences.

Q. What texts about teachers and schools do you tend to cover in the class? I’ve used everything you’d expect, particularly the films with the ‘amazing teacher’ trope. But I really love showing episodes of shows I watched when I was growing up, ‘Degrassi’, ‘Saved by the Bell’, ‘Press Gang’, along with shows like ‘Invader Zim’ and ‘The Simpsons’. We read short stories and poems too. I try to include as many forms of text as possible.

Q. How do students engage with this material and respond to it? Generally they are enthusiastic and completely engaged. Students make the same observations we do as teachers. All the teachers are either impossibly super-human, or cardboard cut-outs. Students face the same problems and are often pigeon-holed into stereotypical archetypes. The classroom is rarely, if ever, as it is in real life.

Q. Are teachers and schools portrayed accurately in TV, film and literature? Often the representations of teaching models, pedagogies and classrooms support outdated ideas about education. Very rarely do you see teachers working collaboratively when it is something we do all the time. //

ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

Surviving your first year teaching Everybody knows the first year of teaching is challenging. AEU officer, Sam Delaney, talks to Patrick Judge and Suki Dorras-Walker about their experiences as beginning teachers in 2013. Q. We won reduced face-to-face hours for first years in the 2011 Enterprise Agreement campaign. How did you use your reduced face-to-face hours?

Patrick and Suki at AEU New Ed Conference

Patrick: I used my reduced face-toface hours to catch up on planning, professional reading and all of the little admin tasks that surprise you in your first year of teaching. It was also a really valuable opportunity to observe or have conversations with experienced teachers and to learn from their accumulated wisdom. Suki: I used the time to take notes about my students in preparation for report writing. I also used them to meet with other new educators at my school to talk about how we were all going and give each other tips and support. They were so important for just a moment of breathing space, where I could take stock of where I was and where my students were.

Q. What about the new educator support days? Did you find them helpful? Patrick: I used my support days to go on a range of different courses in behaviour management and collaborative learning, including a session on cooperative reading. Suki: These days were crucial for my development as a teacher last year. I went to a new educator day as part of the New Educator Support Program which focused on behaviour management and I was able to discuss some of the behavioural issues I was having in class with other

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

new educators and with experienced teachers running the sessions. I used tips they gave me straight away in the classroom and am still using them now. It was such a good way to stop and reflect on how I was going. I also did a Quality Teaching round at my school for one of my educator support days, which was very useful. My lesson was observed and coded by senior staff from both my school and another school and I received some invaluable feedback from that.

Q. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to beginning teachers? Patrick: You’re not alone, so share everything! Sharing your problems with other staff members and working together to solve them is, for me, what the AEU is all about. Suki: I think it’s important to remember that you are in the first year of your career so you won’t be perfect and you will make mistakes, so don’t beat yourself up about it. Remember that your core business is your classes so prioritise that. //

“You’re not alone, so share everything! Sharing your problems with other staff members and working together to solve them is, for me, what the AEU is all about.”

Public Education Week 19th – 23rd May 2014

Join us as we showcase the excellence and diversity of ACT public education! Thursday 15th of May: Public Education Week Launch Civic Library, 4pm – 6pm. Refreshments provided. Art Displays: Showcase your student’s work at local libraries or at Calvary Hospital.

Thursday 22nd of May: Public Education Week Dinner, National Press Club Keynote speaker: Nobel prize winner Brian Schmidt. MC: Jane Caro. It’s going to be a great night. Get in quick and book a table before tickets sell out.

Jane Caro

invoget lved!

Friday 23rd of May: Performance Showcase Event A great opportunity for your students to strut their stuff. Venues to be confirmed

Brian Schmidt

A Helping Hand For Members In Crisis The Teacher Welfare Fund supports members who find themselves in severe financial hardship. Executive can approve an interest-free loan or grant of up to $6,000 based on its assessment of a member’s situation. In the last two decades the Teacher Welfare Fund has helped 43 of our members in times of crisis. $79146 of interest-free loans have been made available, ranging from $200 to $3500 each. 80% of all money lent has been fully repaid. Significant donations from Stop Work Meetings and individual donors have continued to support the fund when repayments have not been possible. //

“When I recently found myself in financial hardship, AEU officers explained the Teacher Welfare Fund to me. I applied for a small loan, which was granted within two days. I am now experiencing a much better financial situation, thanks to the AEU. Without this service I would have not been able to pay my basic needs.” Recipient of a loan from the Teacher Welfare Fund

ACT Educator Magazine \ AEU ACT Branch

Mature Age Members Survey Over 390 members participated in our survey on issues faced by mature age workers. Responses indicated a number of areas of concern: excessive face-to-face teaching hours; the need for training in new teaching methods and using the new Australian Curriculum and teaching standards. For many of us, provision of long-term stable employment is also important. Excessive workload, poor work-life balance and experiences of agediscrimination mean some members feel they are more likely to retire earlier. “Without undermining the valuable input from many of our more junior colleagues, it sometimes appears that their skills and knowledge are preferred over more experienced professionals. In many cases the more experienced teachers have seen curriculum change and pedagogical

change many times over and are the people who have lived and breathed change.” AEU member “I do get sick of people assuming that because I’m over thirty (in fact double that) I couldn’t possibly know anything about technology.” AEU member The considerable insight provided by the survey will support our pursuit of better conditions for mature age members in the next Enterprise Agreement. //

ACT Educator Magazine / AEU ACT Branch

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joiny! other. And united together, toda we make a difference.

Australian Education Union ACT Visit 40 Brisbane Avenue, Barton ACT 2600 Post PO Box 3042, Manuka 2603 Phone (02) 62727900 Web www.aeuact.org.au Email aeuact@aeuact.org.au Facebook facebook.com/aeuact Twitter twitter.com/aeuact

A union for public school teachers, school assistants and teachers at CIT.

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AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION

What you get when you join Better pay

You have experts at the bargaining table representing you when your pay is being negotiated. And the strength of our united voice gives us real bargaining power. That’s why ACT teachers are earning $11000 more in 2014 than they were in 2011.

Better conditions

You have smaller class sizes, paid maternity leave, permanent part-time work, reduced face-to-face hours for beginning teachers, new educator support days and a union constantly campaigning to improve the conditions in your workplace.

Information, advice and support

Whenever you have questions about topics like salary, leave, entitlements, probation, contracts, transfer, workload and work safety you have a network of support at your school and full-time paid officers to assist you.

A voice for educators

Your representatives are constantly meeting with public servants and politicians to make sure they understand what it’s like in the classroom. You also have a voice in the media making sure the community understands the challenges we face and the great work we do.

Journey Cover insurance

The employer does not provide journey cover. As an AEU member you’re covered. If you are injured travelling to or from work or professional learning events, you are eligible for income protection under our policy.

Union Shopper

With the collective buying power of union members across Australia, you get great deals on electrical products, travel services, cars, computers, phones and more.

Teachers’ Health Fund

You are eligible to join Teachers Health Fund, the national, not-for-profit health fund designed exclusively for education union members and their families.

You have a say

You’re part of a democratic organisation in which you have a say. You choose who you feel best represents your interests in your workplace or you can become a representative yourself.

You’re part of our community

You are part of a community of 3,500 educators in the ACT and nearly 200,000 educators across Australia. Meet people, share ideas and collaborate.

A voice for public education

You know we’ve got your back

You have a champion for public education in the community, promoting our schools and winning extra resources for them.

If you ever run into trouble, whether you’re not being treated fairly at work or you find yourself in financial hardship, we stick by each other.

Training

It’s easy and affordable

You can access training on maternity leave, managing finances and superannuation, applying for jobs, preparing for leadership and other aspects of your professional life.

You only pay .85% of your salary. That’s only $21 a fortnight for a beginning teacher. In addition, your union fees are tax deductible!

Membership Application Form AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION - ACT BRANCH Please complete this form send it to the AEU - ACT Branch Office Post: PO Box 3042, Manuka 2603

Fax: 62731828

Email: aeuact@aeuact.org.au.

1) Personal Details Title:

First Name:

Surname:

Postal Address:

Postcode:

Home Phone:

Mobile:

Please indicate preferred Phone:

 Home

Work Email:

Work Phone:

 Mobile

 Work

Personal email:

Please indicate preferred email: Gender:

 Work  Male

Do you identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander? Are you from a language background other than English?

 Personal  Female  Yes  Yes

 Unspecified  No  No

 Yes  Yes

 No  No

 Intersex

If yes what is your primary language: Have you previously been a member of the AEU-ACT Branch? Were you asked by a colleague to join the AEU? If yes, please provide colleague’s name

2) Employment School Teacher › go to section 3

School Assistant › go to section 4

CIT Teacher › go to section 5

3) School Teacher

4) School Assistant

Work Location:

Gross Annual Salary:

Employment Status:

 Classroom Teacher  Subject Speciality:  School Psychologist  Teacher Librarian  Executive Teacher  Deputy Principal  Principal

Position:

Sector:

Position:

Progress to section 6 ›

Sector:

 Full time permanent  Full time contract  Part time permanent % load:  Part time contract % load:  Relief Average days per week:  0-1  2-3  3-5  Primary: Preschool  Primary: K-2  Primary: 3-6  Secondary: High School  Secondary: College  ACT School Office  Other  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Officer  Bilingual Assistant  Learning Support Assistant  Defence Transition Mentor  Library Assistant  General Assistant  Preschool Assistant  Hearing Support Assistant  School Administration Assistant  Home Science Assistant  Vision Support Assistant  ICT Assistant  Youth Support Worker  Laboratory Assistant Progress to section 6 ›

5) CIT Teacher College:

Work Location:

 Business, Tourism, Accounting & Communication  Trade Skills & Vocational Learning  Building, Technology & Design  Health, Community & Science  Bruce  Reid  Fyshwick  Tuggeranong  Gungahlin  Woden

Gross Annual Salary:

 Full time permanent  Full time contract  Part time permanent % load:  Part time contract % load:  Casual Average hours per week:  0-6  7-14  15-20  Teacher  Subject Speciality:  Teacher: Educational Development & Support  Education Manager  Head of Department  Head of College

Employment Status:

Position:

6) Membership Agreement I hereby apply for membership of the ACT Branch of the Australian Education Union and if admitted agree to abide by the Rules of the Union. AEU Rules can be found at www.aeuact.org.au. I agree to pay to the AEU fees owing in accordance with the Union’s schedule of subscriptions. I understand that my fees will be adjusted automatically in line with salary movements. I recognise that I must inform the Union of any other salary or status adjustments otherwise I will not be a fully financial member and may not be eligible for the full range of services. I understand that the Union’s Rules require me to give written notice of resignation.

7) Payment Options Fortnightly Payroll Deduction (permanent and contract staff only)

Monthly Credit Card

I authorise the AEU to contact ETD to commence fortnightly deductions at the appropriate rate as soon as possible. I authorise the AEU to access my salary and other employment details from the Education and Training Directorate for the

I authorise the AEU to commence monthly charges at the appropriate rate

purpose of updating AEU membership records. AGS Number (found on payslip): Signature: Date:

Monthly Direct Debit I authorise the AEU to commence a monthly direct debit from my nominated account at the appropriate rate to be debited on the 11th of each month using the bulk electronic clearing system (BECS). Name of Financial Institution: BSB: Account Number: Signature:

to be debited on the 11th of each month. Card type:

 MasterCard

 Visa

Card Name: Card Number: CSC: Expiry: Signature: Date:

Thanks for joining our community of 3,500 ACT educators and nearly 200,000 educators nationwide! We’ll be in touch soon to confirm your membership and tell you more about how you can access the benefits of being a member and take an active role in our union.

Date: PRIVACY STATEMENT

The AEU will not sell or provide any information regarding AEU – ACT Branch members to third parties. The AEU’s Privacy Policy may be viewed at www.aeuact.org.au.

DIRECT DEBIT SERVICE AGREEMENT DEFINITIONS THE ‘UNION’ means the Australian Education Union ACT Branch MEMBER a financial member of the Australian Education Union ACT Branch SPONSOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION a financial institution or agency with whom the Union has an agreement to enable participation in the Direct Debit Scheme 1.PAYMENTS 1.1 The Australian Education Union ACT Branch (the ‘Union’) shall use the funds collected under this Debit Request Service Agreement for the sole purpose of paying the members subscription payment. 1.2 All such membership payments shall be collected every four weeks in advance for the previous four weeks. 1.3 The Union shall provide not less than 14 days notice to members of any proposed variation to these arrangements. Such notice shall be published in a union publication circulated to all members or by means of an individual notice to each participating Debit Scheme member. 2.DEFERMENT OF DEBIT ARRANGEMENTS A participating member may request deferment of or alteration to his/her debit arrangements. Any such requests must be in writing addressed to the Branch Secretary of the Union. 3.CANCELLATION OF DEBIT ARRANGEMENT A participating member may cancel his/her debit arrangement by giving notice in writing to the Branch Secretary. All requests for cancellation must be forwarded to the Union in the first instance.

4.DISPUTED DEBITS Any participating member who wishes to dispute a debit item related to this Agreement shall direct their queries in the first instance to the Union. Any such queries or matters of dispute shall be addressed in writing to the Branch Secretary who shall investigate and adjudicate on the matter within 14 days of receiving any such correspondence. 5.DIRECT DEBIT ACCOUNTS Direct debiting through the bulk electronic clearing system is not available on all accounts. If in doubt please refer to your financial institution before completing the Direct Debit Request. It is the member’s responsibility to check that account details are correct. 6.COLLECTION DAYS When the due date for collection is not a normal business day (normally a state or national public holiday) the collection shall be made on the nearest normal business day after to the regular due date. If a member is uncertain as to when a debit will be processed to his/her account they should enquire direct to their financial institution. 7.REJECTED DEBITS It is the responsibility of the member to have sufficient clear funds available in the relevant account by the due date to permit payment of debit items included under the direct debit request. If a direct debit is rejected by a member’s financial institution their Union membership fee remains due and payable. The member shall also be responsible for any fees related to the rejection applied by the financial institution. 8.PRIVACY – Access to Information The Union shall preserve the privacy of the member’s records and account details whilst noting that these details may have to be divulged to the sponsor financial institution when requested.

Thanks for joining our community.

AUS

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AE U

LIAN EDUC RA AT ST

AEU

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AN EDU ALI C TR

The AEU ACT Office Team AC

UNIO N T BRANCH

U NIO N AC T BRANC H

AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION

out k c e h c w our ne e! websit www.aeuac

t.org.au

Lauren McKee Business Manager Lauren.McKee@aeuact.org.au

Garrett Purtill Industrial Officer Garrett.Purtill@aeuact.org.au

Sue Amundsen Primary Schools Organiser Sue.Amundsen@aeuact.org.au

Michelle Kirby Membership Officer (Primary & School Assistants) Michelle.Kirby@aeuact.org.au

Andy Jennings Lead Organiser Andy.Jennings@aeuact.org.au

Sam Delaney Secondary Schools Organiser (Acting) Sam.Delaney@aeuact.org.au

Tracey Govan Membership Officer (Secondary, CIT & Casual) Tracey.Govan@aeuact.org.au

Glenn Fowler Branch Secretary Glenn.Fowler@aeuact.org.au