Education Matters 2016 (Secondary)

A content rich, comprehensive, buyer’s guide for schools. www.educationmattersmag.com.au

MAY-NOV

2016

Building wellbeing in our students How does personality affect teaching and learning?

The value of learning music Responding to parent complaints about bullying

DISRUPTING LEARNING TO FOSTER INNOVATION

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Editor’s Note

With the nation’s mining boom over the Federal Government has shifted its focus to ‘minds’ by acknowledging the importance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in primary and secondary schools even though many talented teachers across Australia have already been hard at work implementing digital learning initiatives and embedding STEM into the wider curriculum.

The government’s national approach to improve the teaching and take up of STEM in Australian schools – the National STEM School Education Strategy – is a plan to give school children the skills needed for the jobs of the 21st Century.

The key measures to support the delivery and participation of STEM subjects in primary and secondary schools include supporting the teaching of coding across different year levels, and reforming the Australian Curriculum to give teachers more class time to teach science and maths.

It seems fitting then that in this edition of Education Matters we get to hear from not only the Education Minister himself, but also from teachers who have successfully implemented initiatives to support STEM education at their schools.

Susan bowler, from Tasmania’s all-girls Ogilvie High School, has a very strong interest in promoting STEM and has been involved with robotics for the past nine years. Susan integrates robotics in the classroom, using it as a platform to teach engineering, programming, technology, arts, science and maths, and her passion is to build girls’ interest in STEM. I spoke with her about these issues and her presentation at this year’s EduTECH conference.

Further north, at Bundaberg’s St Luke’s Anglican School a school-wide deployment of Google Apps and the BYOD network that evolved sees over 600 student-owned devices every week with anywhere from 60 to 80GB of Internet consumed daily. The ongoing success of the school’s technological network has transformed teaching and learning, and you can read more about the journey St Luke’s took inside.

Wirreanda Secondary School in South Australia also embarked on a journey - to disrupt and transform a traditional library into a Learning Hub to foster innovation, collaboration and creativity. The school’s Coordinator of Innovative Pedagogies, Melissa Mulholland, discusses their journey inside.

In our ‘spotlight on’ series Dr Brad Merrick, National President of the Australian Society for Music Education, reports on the current status of music education in Australia and the value of learning music.

Looking at playgrounds, Dr Brendon Hyndman writes about the safety influences on students’ free play within school playgrounds and says reduced play priorities in many school settings, combined with the emergence of ‘helicopter parenting’ or adult-directed policies, are having a detrimental effect on children’s cognitive and social development.

Treading on more tricky territory, Karyn Healy discusses issues surrounding your school’s response to parent complaints about bullying and says despite the difficulties, there are important reasons why school staff members need to engage with parents on the topic of bullying.

Also inside, Justin Robinson reports on the first 10 years of Positive Education in Australia and sustainability group Cool Australia has included an exciting new activity called ‘The Nature of Mindfulness’ where your secondary students can concentrate, regulate their emotions, exercise empathy and experience happiness through connection with nature.

Finally, make sure you turn to page 30 where principal of Perth’s Shenton College, Michael Morgan, talks about how teachers can improve their level of reflection, the quality of teacher-to-teacher collaboration and construct meaningful classroom observation and feedback protocols in the magazine’s first ‘principally speaking’ column.

I’m delighted to bring you this edition of Education Matters – Secondary and we’d love to hear your feedback. Please feel free to pass on any comments or questions to me directly via email kathryn.edwards@ primecreative.com.au or get in touch via Twitter @edumattersmag.

Education Matters editor

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education matters secondary

Publisher: John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au Editor: Kathryn Edwards kathryn.edwards@primecreative.com.au Art Director: Michelle Weston Designers: Blake Storey, Sarah Doyle Group Sales Manager: Terry Wogan terry.wogan@primecreative.com.au

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Cover Geelong Grammar Copyright Education Matters is owned by Prime Creative Media Pty. Ltd. and published

by John Murphy. All material in Education Matters is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical including information retrieval systems) without the written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequenses arising from information published. The opinions of the magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated. All photographs of schools (including students) depicted in feature articles and advertisements throughout this magazine have been supplied to the publisher (and approved) by the contributing school. All material supplied by schools is done so with the understanding that such images will be published in Education Matters and may also appear on the our website: www.edumatters.com.au.

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contents

SECONDARY MAY-NOV 2016

DEPARTMENTS

Editor’s Note 4

SPECIAL FEATURES 21 A school’s IT journey from traditional labs to cloud computing and a flourishing BYO network

Foreword

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Until 2011 St Luke’s Anglican School’s approach to digital services was very much centralised to on-campus computing facilities with traditional laboratories, but after the school-wide deployment of Google Apps today’s BYO network that evolved sees over 600 student-owned devices every week with anywhere from 60 to 80GB of Internet consumed daily. Mitch Miller reports.

Secondary Column

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48

National Education News

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52

Justin Robinson reports on the first 10 years of Positive Education in Australia.

Events Diary

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64

Responding to parent complaints about bullying

Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training

Rob Nairn, President, Australian Secondary Principals Association (ASPA)

Principally Speaking

Michael Morgan, Principal, Shenton College – Perth

30

The nature of mindfulness

Cool Australia’s resources have been created to boost education in secondary schools across Australia.

Building wellbeing in our students

Despite the difficulties, there are important reasons why school staff members need to engage with parents on the topic of bullying, writes Karyn Healy.

70 Disrupting learning to foster innovation

The physical learning environment can significantly impact student learning with flexible and inviting spaces acting not only as enablers for learning, but when designed intentionally, can strategically disrupt the learning process. Melissa Mulholland reports.

74 Judging or Perceiving? How does personality affect teaching and learning?

We are all unique, but in understanding and acknowledging the preferences of both yourself and your students you can teach with greater knowledge, clarity and empathy, writes Kate Mason.

76 The safety influences on primary and secondary students’ free play within school playgrounds

Reduced play priorities in many school settings, combined with the emergence of ‘helicopter parenting’ or adult-directed policies are having a detrimental effect on children’s cognitive and social development, writes Dr Brendon Hyndman.

80 The current status of Music Education in Australia and the value of learning music

Music in schools continues to draw the attention of our students, providing many with the necessary path to follow their aspirations to become professional musicians and most importantly, providing the opportunity to develop musical understanding and self-expression irrespective of their career path, writes Dr Brad Merrick.

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There’s also a generous 3 year/200,000km warranty and 24/7 roadside assist†, and 12 months/30,000km service intervals with $349 Capped Price Services^. Stop waiting, visit Renault.com.au for more information. † Three (3) year/200,000km warranty offer and 3 year/200,000km Roadside Assistance both apply to all new or demonstrator Master Bus models. Warranty and Roadside Assistance valid for 3 years or 200,000km (whichever comes first) from new. Demonstrator vehicles receive balance of new vehicle warranty and Roadside Assistance. Roadside Assistance terms and conditions apply. Call our Customer Service Team on 1800 009 008 or view the Terms and Conditions statement at www.renault.com.au/drivingpeaceofmind for details. ^First 3 scheduled maintenance services capped at $349 per service on new and demonstrator Master Bus models, based on standard scheduled servicing from new and on normal operating conditions. Scheduled maintenance services required every twelve (12) months or up to 30,000km (whichever occurs first). However, Master Bus is subject to adaptive servicing requirements, as determined by the Oil Condition Sensor, and may require Servicing prior to the standard twelve (12) months or 30,000km service interval. If vehicle is not presented within three (3) months of when the scheduled service is required, right to that capped-price service under the program is forfeited.

Foreword

Ensuring students keep pace with technology WITH OUR ECONOMY MOVING FROM ONE RELIANT ON MINES TO ONE FOCUSED ON MINDS, IT IS FITTING THAT THE FIRST EDITION OF EDUCATION MATTERS FOR 2016 HAS A FOCUS ON DIGITAL LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS. Ensuring young people develop the skills they need to

While we are firmly focused on the digital age, we

keep pace with rapidly changing technology and can

know that the success of this and future generations of

take advantage of the opportunities this presents is a key

Australians will also be based on having strong foundation

priority for the Turnbull Government.

skills in literacy and numeracy.

We now have a national approach to improve the

The 2015 NAPLAN National Report released

teaching and take up of science, technology, engineering

in December last year confirmed some areas for

and mathematics (STEM) in Australian schools – the

improvement in literacy and numeracy outcomes for our

Simon Birmingham has served as a Liberal Party

National STEM School Education Strategy. We must attract

students, but we can and must do better.

Senator for South Australia since May 2007 and in

more school students to study these subjects, which we

Research tells us the alphabetic teaching approaches

September 2015 was appointed to position of Minister

know will increasingly be the skills needed for the jobs of

we are adopting, such as Direct Instruction and Explicit

for Education and Training.

the 21st Century.

Direct Instruction, are particularly beneficial for children

Simon grew up near Gawler in Adelaide’s north and was

having difficulty learning to read.

educated at government schools before completing his

Through our National Innovation and Science Agenda, we’re also investing around $65 million in new funding to help Australian students embrace the digital age, engage with science and maths in the early years and prepare for

We also understand that not all students learn in the same way and all schools have unique needs.

This lies at the heart of our Students First approach

study at the University of Adelaide.

After less than three years in the Senate, Simon was appointed to the Shadow Ministry, serving as Shadow

to give schools more autonomy, to encourage community

Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray-Darling Basin

involvement and increase parental engagement. Our

and the Environment until the 2013 election.

is tackling the digital divide to ensure those students

$70 million Independent Public School Initiative is also

Following the change of government in 2013, Simon

most at risk of falling behind in the digital age are given

helping local government schools to become more

served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the

opportunities to participate and engage. This includes $7.9

independent and encouraging more community and

Environment. In 2014, Simon was appointed to serve as

million in additional support for schools in disadvantaged

parent engagement.

the Assistant Minister for Education and Training and he

the jobs of the future.

One focus of our Innovation and Science Agenda

areas for training teachers to use digital technologies, using digital technologies.

Disadvantaged students will also get the chance to

We know that quality education relies upon quality

is now Minister for Education and Training.

teaching. That’s why this year you will see the introduction of a national test for new teaching students in literacy and

fully implemented.

improve their digital literacy through computer science

numeracy. It’s an initiative we’ve worked with the states

summer schools for Years 9 and 10. This $1 million

and territories to develop and it will provide a nationally

on student outcomes, that moving NAPLAN online from

initiative specifically targets help towards students in low

consistent measure to ensure that new teachers are

2017 gives information more quickly, that parents are

SES areas.

operating in the top 30 per cent of the adult population.

better engaged in education and that we have a smooth

To inspire students and help them engage with the

Last February we accepted 37 of the 38

I want to ensure there is more accurate information

transition to the new national curriculum.

world, we are using digital tools to deliver language

recommendations of the Teacher Education Ministerial

learning from the earliest age. The success of the Early

Advisory Group (TEMAG) to improve initial teacher

with teachers and schools to deliver the best education

Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) trial last year with

education and have gained support from education

for our children. I look forward to working with teachers,

more than 1,700 pre-schoolers means it is being extended

ministers to introduce new selection guidelines to tighten

parents and students to further strengthen an education

into 2016. That success and as part of the Innovation

the entry practices of providers offering teaching education

system that supports all Australian children.

and Science Agenda has seen the Turnbull Government

that goes much further than an admission based simply

commit $6 million to develop a similar STEM-focused app

upon an ATAR score. It’s the first time in nearly three

Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham

for the early years.

decades that the recommendations from a review will be

Minister for Education and Training

8

education matters secondary

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education matters secondary

Facilities Management

Carpet Care IN TODAY’S FAST-PACED SOCIETY, CLEANING IS RESTRICTED TO TIGHT SCHEDULES, WHATEVER THE DAY, WHENEVER THE TIME, AND THIS HAS HAD A DIRECT IMPACT ON CLEANING TURNAROUND TIMES.

To deal with these time constraints, the carpetcleaning paradigm has shifted. The focus is no longer on cleaning stains after they occur; rather a proactive approach to maintaining carpet appearance and cleanliness has developed instead. This involves preventative maintenance measures such as dry vacuuming and interim cleaning with the use of carpet cleaning equipment.

Tennant’s innovative ReadySpace® Rapiddrying Carpet Cleaning Technology cleans and dries carpets in under 30 minutes. This minimises area closure times and allow for the removal of soils before they become embedded in the carpet fibres. Carpets remain cleaner over time, last longer and extraction is required much less frequently.

Tennant also provides a complete line of vacuums for daily carpet maintenance. Tennant’s vacuums are durable and versatile with heavyduty, cordless, wet-dry, backpack and wide-area vacuum options available. Most of our vacuums

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Contact us at www.tennantco.com/au/education to schedule a FREE cleaning assessment!

11

ASPA Column

Looking for our next school leaders RESEARCH HAS ESTABLISHED TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS AS THE STRONGEST INFLUENCE ON STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES OF ALL SCHOOL-BASED FACTORS. THE QUALITY OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP RATES SECOND AMONG THESE INFLUENCES; SOME WOULD ARGUE THAT EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON EFFECTIVE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP.

The aging demographic of our profession means that there will be a significant demand for school leaders in the near future. Current trends indicate that we are facing a crisis in the search for quality school leaders with less people applying for this complex and challenging role.

In 2009 a survey by the National College of School Leadership (UK) suggested 92% of head teachers believed they had “a great job”. In 2015, another survey of senior leaders indicated almost nine in 10 (87%) felt headship was less attractive than it had been five years ago.

A sustainable supply of quality principals and other school leaders is essential to the quality of education and student learning.

In 2012 the Australian Secondary Principals Association (ASPA) identified the need for a new leadership paradigm where edupreneurial leaders are creative, analytical, inspirational, innovative, adaptive, policy shaping; imaginative and outward looking who have a shared responsibility for students and learning. Schools are ecosystems where leadership is contributive and school leaders are instructional leaders.

The Centre for Public Education Report – The principal perspective (Published April 2012) makes a number of points about principals and the essential role that they play.

• The job of principal has changed dramatically and many believe the job is just not “doable” as it is configured now.

• Principals impact their students’ outcomes, particularly at the most challenging schools. Unfortunately, principals typically transfer to less challenging schools as they gain experience.

• Principal turnover adversely impacts schools.

• Effective principals retain and recruit effective teachers.

Teacher turnover rates typically increase when there is a change in principals, no matter if the principals are effective or ineffective. However, less effective teachers tend to leave under an effective principal, while more effective teachers tend to leave when the school is taken over by an ineffective principal.

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education matters secondary

“Great leaders make great schools and great schools change lives.”

(The Future Leaders Trust)

• Principals become more effective as they gain more experience. Just as teachers become more effective with experience, so do principals, especially in their first three years. Furthermore, no matter how effective a principal was at his or her previous school, when he or she transfers to a new school it takes approximately five years to fully stabilise and improve the teaching staff as well as fully implement policies and practices to positively impact the school’s performance.

• Being an instructional leader is a hallmark of effective principals. Effective principals are more likely to provide their teachers with the support and motivation they need to be effective teachers.

Andrew Cole, Wallace Foundation; ICP Convention 2015 said, “A leader isn’t fit for purpose until they can produce a leader that can produce a leader.”

With this as a backdrop, what role must current principals take to ensure the sustainability of our profession?

• Firstly, principals must actively identify the future

leaders working in our schools.

• Secondly, principals, in a supportive environment, must give potential leaders the opportunity to develop the skills for future leadership. Give them opportunities; allow them to make mistakes and to learn!

• Thirdly, we have to overhaul selection processes so that we better ensure that we get the “right person in the right place at the right time.” How often are we settling for the “best applicant rather than the right person?”

• Finally, we must ensure that there is appropriate professional support for school principals; it can be a lonely role and support is essential.

Principal turnover has a negative impact in schools and too often we are putting our least experienced principals into our most challenging and isolated schools with our least experienced teachers. The recruitment and retention of experienced principals into challenging schools must be addressed. A further challenge is to ensure that schools are appropriately resourced to support the principal to be effective as “instructional leader”.

The somewhat simplistic approach adopted by many systems and sectors is to promote Masters programs as a way to address the predicted shortage. A higher qualification does not guarantee a better principal – it is how the principal applies the knowledge they have learned that is critical for effective leadership.

As a profession we must develop a paradigm of leadership and learning that will create a new, a better and a preferred future for all students.

We need GREAT principals not just principals!!

education matters secondary

ROB NAIRN BEd, Dip Teach, MAICD, MACEL Rob is Executive Director of the Australian Secondary Principals Association (ASPA Ltd) and Adjunct Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University. He has extensive experience in metropolitan and regional Senior High Schools in Western Australia particularly in low socio economic areas.

Rob is passionate about developing exemplary leadership to provide high quality secondary education to all young people no matter what their geographic, social or personal circumstances.

Rob is Deputy Chair of the Board of Principals Australia Institute (PAI Ltd), Director of Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), Chair of Edith Cowan University Applied Health Research Centre Advisory Board, Director of the Asia Education Foundation (AEF) Advisory Board and Executive member International Confederation of Principals (ICP).

13

Education Overhaul

Welcome to the HSC Revolution A new approach to HSC success THE REMARKABLE STORY OF HOW ONE SYDNEY FAMILY AND THEIR DECADE OF WORK HELPED STUDENTS BEAT STRESS AND BOOST HSC RESULTS BY UP TO 42%. NOW THEY’RE READY TO SHARE THEIR SUCCESS SECRETS WITH SCHOOLS.

SUCCESS UNLIMITED ACADEMY I N S P I R E D M I N D S . P O W E R F U L R E S U LT S

Let’s face it, no educator worth their salt would take too seriously claims that a single workshop could have such a profound impact as to boost students’ HSC results by up to 42 percent.

But that’s exactly what veteran teacher Lian Sztajer and her consultant husband Zev say they have achieved over and over again for nearly a decade with hundreds of students using carefully researched techniques from the fields of behavioural psychology and neuroscience.

“We have developed a series of really powerful physiological and mental inner control techniques that allow students to perform at their highest level; think of high achievers like master educators, elite athletes, business leaders and world class concert and stage performers who routinely show up in their best mental state, and that is what we teach students to do,” Mrs Sztajer said.

Previously only available privately, Success Unlimited Academy workshops are now available directly to schools looking for new ways to boost student outcomes.

14

education matters secondary

So is it like helping kids get “in the zone” to put it in today’s parlance?

“To a point, yes,” she said. “We have researched this for nearly 20 years and developed a whole suite of focusing techniques that allow students to take INNER CONTROL and build INNER STRENGTH and develop laser sharp INNER FOCUS in any situation, so their best self shows up ready to perform.”

“Of course students in the top one percent can’t mathematically improve by 42 percent but it’s true to say students we’ve worked with have seen their results improve by up to 42 percent,” she said.

PRINCIPALS ARE SCEPTICAL “We understand fully why colleagues and principals find it hard to believe such increases are possible, as a teacher it just seems so unrealistic, but I’ve seen it happen time and time again.”

And most importantly, Mrs Sztajer has seen the impact on her own children, twins Anita and Chana.

Flashback to 2000 and Chana and Anita were typical Year 11 students who hoped to follow their professional parents into tertiary education. Out of nowhere Anita started to have epileptic fits. Tests showed abnormal patterns but no medical reason behind it. A few months later twin sister Chana’s seizures started. Both were put onto strong antiepileptic medication.

Stress and drug side effects meant the girls suffered memory blanks, often were oblivious to what day it was and struggled with algebra and writing essays. Projected HSC results in the high 90s were soon downgraded to the 40s and repeating would probably be a necessity.

“This was no way for our bright girls to live so Zev and I turned to our research and started using the techniques we’d learned with our girls. They were quite fragile, so anything too “out there” would have

Not a replacement for quality teaching, Success Unlimited Academy’s one-day program is a vital add-on which gives students a “toolbox” of techniques to access in times of stress.

been a real stretch for them. We modified and tweaked the techniques until we came up with a set of processes which a struggling teen could cope with emotionally,” she said.

WHAT WAS THE RESULT? Anita ended up with a UAI of 91.8 and was accepted into Speech Therapy. Chana received a UAI of 97.5, plus a scholarship to Sydney University, and is now a soughtafter chiropractor, an amazing result for two girls whom all others thought would fail.

Since the remarkable turnaround, Zev, Lian, Anita and Chana have continued to study the human brain and how we learn; little did they know at the time where this would lead.

“It’s clear to us now that stress is a performance suppressant,” she said.

RESEARCH FINDINGS Mrs Sztajer points to recent research out of UNSW School of Education which shows that high stakes assessment takes its toll: of the 722 students surveyed in 2015, 42 percent registered high level anxiety symptoms, 44 percent described being regularly agitated, irritable or nervous, and 32 percent reported an increase in procrastination.

“You tell me, when you prepare under these circumstances, when you show up for your HSC full of anxiety, fear and doubt, what is your likely outcome?

If you have tools and techniques to eliminate all these negative emotions and you prepare and show up as your best self, do you think your chances of success are enhanced?” she posed.

The change in the twins was noted by the family’s immediate circle. Word spread about a “new” way to help teens not just cope, but create success. Other parents wanted access to this learning for their teens.

Individual and small group workshops followed.

Success built on success. And soon turnaround stories were many, including a boost in HSC results of up to 42 percent based on first projections.

INTERESTING FOR SCHOOLS And this is where it gets interesting for schools looking for new ways to boost student results.

It’s no secret, education today is an ultra-competitive market where every school, and by extension, its leader, is judged on their HSC results. With finite contact hours the challenge is to find new ways to help students succeed, without adding more to an already overcrowded curriculum.

Through their company, Success Unlimited Academy, the Sztajer family is now ready to take their proven “brain training” workshops directly to schools.

WON’T REPLACE QUALITY TEACHING No way intended as a replacement for high quality teaching, rather it’s a vital add-on which can be tailored to suit Year 11 and/or Year 12 students. Through a series of easy to learn games, the program gives students a “mental toolbox” to access in situations of high stress, like around exams.

“The techniques worked for our girls. They’ve worked with students from all backgrounds. And we’re confident they can work with any group of students, to help them achieve their full potential,” Mrs Sztajer said.

She said once students have completed one of these powerful one-day trainings, no longer will they revert to previously stored reactions to stressful situations: as well as improved Year 12 results she said schools report noticeable changes to student “culture” in terms of how students interact with each other and staff.

WHAT DO STUDENTS THINK? “The skills have allowed me to deal with problems at school and I even managed to enrol in the course of

education matters secondary

Success Unlimited Academy’s techniques give students the tools to approach high stakes assessment like the HSC with confidence.

my choice and I use the techniques at University now,” said Harveen Kaur who was at Abbotsleigh when she completed the training.

Lawrence Rom was in Year 12 when he attended the workshop: “I learnt how to easily get rid of the stress and relax myself… very beneficial for studies and daily life.”

Year 11 student Shannon Lang: “I learnt how to control my feelings and to clearly evaluate my values and goals, it is a great workshop for anyone insecure about themselves.”

“The key to the success of our programs is that each technique is not just shown or discussed. Every student needs to demonstrate they are proficient at the technique before we move on which ensures they are able to repeat it at a later time whenever the need arises – it’s real learning by doing, which gives all students the tools to respond to any pressure situation,” Mrs Sztajer said.

“Frankly, I would expect every principal to be sceptical, that’s why we’d love to arrange a 35-minute Executive Briefing where we’ll show you what we do and present you all the evidence of our remarkable results,” Mrs Sztajer said.

COMPLIMENTARY GUIDE AVAILABLE OBLIGATION FREE If you would like to find out more about how this program can benefit your students, for a limited time you can request a complimentary of, “Resolving the Year 12 Results Riddle – A Guide for Today’s Pro-Active Principal” (valued at $47). Either call the 24 hour recorded message on 1300 13 26 60 and leave your details or go to www.educationbreakthrough. com.au and enter your details. Upon receipt of your request the Guide and video presentation will be mailed to you free of charge.

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National Education News

Govt cements focus on restoring STEM in schools The Federal Government has announced a $1.1 billion plan to increase Australia’s innovation, including a renewed focus on promoting science, maths and computing in schools.

In the recently-released National Innovation and Science Agenda Report (http://www.innovation.gov.au/page/ national-innovation-and-science-agenda-report) the Federal Government has outlined key measures to support the delivery and participation of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects in primary and secondary schools, these include: • Supporting the teaching of computer coding across different year levels in schools; • Reforming the Australian Curriculum to give teachers more class time to teach science, maths and English; and, • Requiring that new primary school teachers graduate with a subject specialisation, with priority for STEM. It has been labelled the ideas boom designed for the nation’s future prosperity and to help it move on from the mining boom that has passed.

“We want to be a culture, a national culture of innovation, of risk-taking, because as we do that, we grow the whole ecosystem of innovation right across the economy,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at last year’s launch. “We become more experienced, more innovative, more agile,

“By unleashing our innovation, unleashing our imagination, being prepared to embrace change, we usher in the ideas boom. That is the next boom for Australia and, you know something, unlike a mining boom, it is a boom that can continue for ever.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

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more prepared to take on risk and become a culture of ideas because it is the ideas boom that will secure our prosperity in the future.

“By unleashing our innovation, unleashing our imagination, being prepared to embrace change, we usher in the ideas boom. That is the next boom for Australia and, you know something, unlike a mining boom, it is a boom that can continue for ever.”

A pledged $48 million Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) literacy program intends to help schools with the following: • Encouraging school students to participate and achieve in science and maths by supporting participation in international competitions and by introducing youth prizes in the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science; • Engaging preschoolers with fun experiments, inquiry and play-based learning apps focussed on STEM concepts; and, • Backing science in communities, with events such as National Science Week, that inspire STEM curiosity and knowledge in young people.

The government will also implement a five-year $51 million package starting in July 2016 to promote digital literacy and has set $13 million over five years aside to be used to encourage and retain women and girls in STEM industries.

Labor promises to fully fund Gonski Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has brought school funding to the fore of Labour’s election campaign by committing to fully fund the Gonski reforms in a package that will cost $4.5 billion over school years 2018 and 2019 and a total of $37.3 billion a decade.

The Coalition has so far only committed to fund four years of Gonski, not the full six years. Labour has also promised to reverse the $30 billion reduction to school funding over the next decade revealed by the Coalition in its 2014 budget.

Entitled Your Child. Our Future, Labor’s education plan has set key benchmarks that indicate by 2020 it will ensure 95 per cent Year 12 (or equivalent) completion and by 2025

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Australia will return to the top five countries in reading, maths and science.

Despite admitting there are some instances around the country where the implementation of Gonski funding has improved outcomes in schools, Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the government does not believe increased funding automatically improves educational and student outcomes. The government has refused to commit to the final two years of Gonski funding.

“So what we need to focus on, and what the Turnbull Government has been focussing on, are the things that matter in relation to improving student performance: the

right curriculum in schools, the best quality in our teachers, the engagement of parents, [and] the autonomy of school communities to be able to set a course that’s relevant to their school,” Birmingham said.

“The opportunity to create the right type of environment to meet the innovation challenges of the future, to create an entrepreneurial spirit, to ensure people are studying science and maths and technology and engineering – skills that will equip them for the future – these are the things we should focus on first. And in those areas that we know will actually make a difference to student outcomes and school performance, you then make funding decisions as to how you support them.”

Federal President of the Australian Education Union (AEU),

Correna Haythorpe, welcomed Labor’s plan and said Gonski funding is the only way to ensure all children have a chance to make the most of their potential.

“The education of our children is too important to be a partisan political issue,” she said. “We need [Prime Minister] Malcolm Turnbull to back the full Gonski, not just stick to [Former Prime Minister] Tony Abbott’s policy of ending needs-based funding after 2017 and cutting real funding to schools.

“Minister Birmingham needs to recognise that Gonski is delivering results in the States where funding is going straight to schools. He and Malcolm Turnbull have a stark choice – do they continue investing in programs that are helping students, or do they abandon them?”

The racism challenge for Australian schools Results from a three-year study on intercultural understanding in Australian primary and secondary schools has revealed unique insights into young people’s thoughts on racism.

The project, Doing Diversity: Intercultural Understanding in Primary and Secondary Schools, examined the issue of responsibility for racism in focus groups with Year 7-10 high school students.

As intercultural understanding has been made a mandatory part of all curriculum areas in the new Australian curriculum, the researchers sought to investigate issues in schools and work on ways to best implement this new aspect.

Professor Christine Halse, Chair in Education, School of Education, Faculty of Arts & Education at Deakin University, said some of the key findings were how powerful outside of school influences were on shaping students’ attitudes and behaviours, and how important and necessary it was for schools to consider and take into account they operate in this broader social context.

“Schools are sites of social formation,” Halse said. “Students bring attitudes and values to the school space and schools have to be responsive to those sorts of contexts.

“We found the most effective schools were schools where issues of building the intercultural capabilities was a priority across all aspects of school activity. So it wasn’t just limited to the curriculum, it was a part of school policy, it was part of the nature of their interactions with school communities, and it was built into their strategic plan.”

The research also found that in schools where the intercultural capabilities were a priority across the school, there were much higher levels of acceptance of diversity, more positive relations between different cultures, and these schools had safe and calm environments that facilitated learning.

“Having a school where there is a supportive and active environment for diversity, meant they actually had very robust, calm learning environments and that had a direct positive impact on learning outcomes,” Halse said.

Students in the focus groups attributed responsibility for racism to one of five factors.

• Racism is normal.

• It’s the racist bully.

• It’s ethnic minorities who don’t assimilate.

• Whites are the real victims.

• We’re all responsible.

Halse said the research can be of use to schools to help create a genuinely anti-racist, multicultural nation.

“While those five factors are not representative of all schools it’s helpful for teachers to know that these are the different ways students think about responsibility so that in their engagement with students and the way they structure their curriculum, develop policies in schools, this is part of the knowledge base that can inform their decision making.”

Visit http://interculturalunderstanding.org for more information about the project.

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“Having a school where there is a supportive and active environment for diversity, meant they actually had very robust, calm learning environments and that had a direct positive impact on learning outcomes.”

Professor Christine Halse, Chair in Education, School of Education, Faculty of Arts & Education at Deakin University

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National Education News

Call for minimum entry scores to teaching courses The Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) report into initial teacher education has indicated that the ATAR scores required for entry into teaching courses around Australia has dropped.

Australian Education Union (AEU) Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the research further strengthens the case for minimum entry scores for teaching courses and has called for Education Minister Simon Birmingham to take action.

“Education Minister Simon Birmingham must follow the example of the NSW Government and put clear minimum entry standards in place for undergraduate teaching degrees, a measure which has the support of AITSL chair Professor John Hattie,” she said in a statement.

The NSW government has implemented rules requiring all beginning teachers to have ATAR scores of over 80 in three subjects, including English, before they can be employed in schools.

The AITSL report shows that entrants to undergraduate teaching courses have lower ATARs than the average university student with: •D ouble the proportion of students with ATARs between 30 and 50 (6% compared to 3% average for other courses) • 4 1% with ATAR 70 or less compared to 25% for other courses • 3 0% with ATAR of 81 and over compared to 53% for other courses • 9 % with ATAR of 91 plus compared to 27% for other courses The report also revealed that the retention rate for students moving from first to second year has also fallen from 77 per cent in 2011 to 72 per cent in 2012,

and students admitted with low ATARs are less likely to continue with their course.

“Entry scores for teaching degrees have dropped steadily over the last decade, and we have now reached a point where they are significantly lower than for other courses,” Haythorpe continued.

“It is also clear from the data that universities are using other pathways to allow students with low ATAR scores to enter teaching courses. The report shows that 18.5% of those coming through another pathway have an ATAR of between 30 and 50.”

Haythorpe said while those students may have other qualities that will make them good teachers, it is a concern that other pathways are being used to lower academic entry standards even further.

“We cannot expect young people who struggled at school to become high performing teachers within a few years,” she said. “If we want to have high quality teachers in our schools we need to select the best graduates for teaching courses, ensure that courses are rigorous, and give beginning teachers support and professional development when they begin in the classroom.

“The current system is producing too many graduates who are unable to find work, yet we still have shortages of teachers in the crucial areas of maths, science and languages.

“We need minimum entry standards for teaching degrees because as long as universities can enrol unlimited numbers of students in teaching degrees, this issue will remain.”

Australia’s education inequality continues to grow while rankings slip Although the OECD has recognised Australia’s education spend is above average, a new report from the Grattan Institute has shown that education gaps between different students are widening.

The Widening Gaps report shows the lag between students whose parents have a low education themselves versus those students with parents of a high education grows from just 10 months in Year 3 to 2.5 years by the time they reach Year 9.

Co-author of the report and Director of Grattan’s School Education Program, Peter Goss told SBS News the findings are “alarming”.

“Students who start behind fall much further behind so that by Year 9 the top students in a class might be up to seven years ahead of where the bottom students are,” Goss said.

The report also shows students from a disadvantaged background were also likely to be one or two years behind by Year 9.

Rather than advocate for further funding, the report suggests that teachers

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could be provided with better information, allowing them to better identify the various levels of learning from student to student.

The Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham said the report shows that providing a quality educations must take into account much more than adequate funding levels.

“This report validates our focus on teacher quality and demonstrates that we need to ensure all teachers are skilled in ensuring every student in a class is progressing, with a years’ worth of learning equating to a years’ worth of progression, to the best of their abilities.

“Australia is investing record funding in education that will continue to grow, all targeted based on need, and the Turnbull Government is focused on improving student outcomes through measures we know are effective – teacher quality, a better curriculum, greater parental engagement and support for principals to make local decisions about their local school,” he said.

See the report here: https://grattan.edu.au/report/widening-gaps/

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Events Diary

Upcoming events in education A RANGE OF EVENTS ARE COMING UP ACROSS AUSTRALIA FOR PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS – FROM PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE CONFERENCES TO TECHNOLOGY EXPOS – CHECK OUT THE LIST BELOW.

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER

Aspect Autism in Education Conference

5-6 May 2016, Melbourne VIC

Engaging learners for life http://autismineducation.org.au/

ETAWA State Conference 2016

7 May 2016, Perth WA

That was then, this is now http://www.etawa.org.au/events/etawa-2015-state-conference/

Positive Schools

Various dates and locations May to June 2016

Mental health and wellbeing conference http://www.positiveschools.com.au

EduTECH 2016

30 May – 1 June 2016, Brisbane QLD

International conference and expo http://www.edutech.net.au

ACEL ISCAPPED Symposium 2016

2-3 June 2016, Sydney NSW

Enhancing wellbeing and success for students and staff https://www.acel.org.au/

2016 NSWSPC Annual Conference

14-16 June 2016, Hunter Valley NSW

Leading learning, aiming high http://www.nswspc.org.au/

NCEC 2016 Conference

19-22 June 2016, Perth WA

Faith to lead, lead to faith http://ncec2016.com/

CaSPA 2016 National Conference

3-5 July 2016, Melbourne VIC

Live in the light, open your heart, sing a new song http://www.caspa.edu.au/conference-2016.html

ATEA 2016 Conference

3-6 July 2016, Ballarat VIC

Teacher Education: Innovation, interventions and impact http://federation.edu.au/faculties-and-schools/faculty-ofeducation-and-arts/events/australia-teacher-educationassociation-conference

CONASTA65 2016 - Superheroes of science – unmask your potential

3-6 July 2016, Brisbane QLD

http://asta.edu.au/conasta

ACER Research Conference 2016 Improving STEM Learning: What will it take?

7-9 August 2016, Brisbane QLD

https://www.acer.edu.au/rc/overview

Anglican Schools Australia Conference 2016

11-13 August 2016, Adelaide SA

Rivers in the desert http://conference.anglicanschoolsaustralia.edu.au/

The AIS Conference 2016

25-26 August 2016, Hunter Valley NSW

Shared purpose, different journeys – focusing on impact http://www.aisnsw.edu.au/

The Education Show

2-4 September 2016, Melbourne VIC

Showcasing school resources, products and services http://www.theeducationshow.com.au/

English Australia Annual Conference

29 September – 2 October 2016, Brisbane QLD

http://www.eaconference.com.au/

ACCE 2016

2-4 September 2016, Melbourne VIC

Shared purpose, different journeys – focusing on impact http://www.aomevents.com/ACCE2016

AAEE 19th Biennial Conference

5-7 October 2016, Adelaide SA

TomorrowMaking – Our present to the future http://aaee2016.com/

TO HAVE YOUR ORGANISATION’S EVENT LISTED IN THE NEXT EDITION OF EDUCATION MATTERS MAGAZINE PLEASE EMAIL THE DETAILS TO KATHRYN.EDWARDS@PRIMECREATIVE.COM.AU education matters secondary

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S

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INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS & EXPO

CIAL OFFE E P

Use code

“EDM10” for 10% discount before 20 May 2016

K-12 ED LEADERS CONGRESS

K-12 IT MANAGERS & DIRECTORS

CONGRESS

K-12 BUSINESS MANAGERS &

ADMINISTRATORS

CONGRESS

A school’s IT journey from traditional labs to cloud computing and a flourishing BYO network Mitch Miller is the IT Manager of St Luke’s Anglican School, a K-12 independent school in Bundaberg, Queensland. During his time with St Luke’s Miller has been instrumental in implementing Google Apps, the school’s widely used BYO program, cloud-hosted services along with a number of other technical implementations.

Given the school’s BYO approach and Google Apps instance, Chrome is considered to be the school’s content delivery platform prompting a recent expansion of their Chromebook fleet targeted at primary students. As Chair of the school’s ICT Committee, Miller has been actively promoting the use of Google Apps not only for collaborative learning among students, but for implementing Google Sites and Classroom as the school’s CMS/LMS. More recently Miller has been implementing St Luke’s applications upon Amazon’s AWS platform to not only provide more robust disaster recovery solutions but for the purposes of business continuity and to move away from the dependence of oncampus infrastructure.

ST LUKE’S ANGLICAN SCHOOL IN THE FAMOUS QUEENSLAND TOWN OF BUNDABERG CATERS FOR 820 STUDENTS FROM KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR 12. ESTABLISHED IN 1994 AND SITUATED ON A 32-HECTARE CAMPUS, ST LUKE’S HAS ABOUT 60 TEACHERS AND 450 SUPPORT AND ADMINISTRATION STAFF. UNTIL 2011 THE SCHOOL’S APPROACH TO DIGITAL SERVICES WAS VERY MUCH CENTRALISED TO ON-CAMPUS COMPUTING FACILITIES WITH TRADITIONAL LABORATORIES, BUT AFTER THE SCHOOL-WIDE DEPLOYMENT OF GOOGLE APPS TODAY’S BYO NETWORK THAT EVOLVED SEES OVER 600 STUDENT-OWNED DEVICES EVERY WEEK WITH ANYWHERE FROM 60 TO 80GB OF INTERNET CONSUMED DAILY. THE RAPID UPTAKE AND ONGOING SUCCESS OF THEIR BYO PROGRAM CAN BE LARGELY ATTRIBUTED TO GOOGLE APPS’ ABILITY TO BE USED ON DEVICES THAT STUDENTS ALREADY OWNED. MITCH MILLER REPORTS.

Until 2011 St Luke’s Anglican School’s approach to digital services provided to staff and students was very much centralised to on-campus computing facilities with traditional laboratories, email not readily accessible off campus and unreliable file download/upload facilities. Most of these services were provided through a staff and student portal hosted from campus on an ADSL service which was inherently slow. With the Digital Education Revolution (DER) funding in full swing, St Luke’s took the opportunity to move to on-campus hosted laptop trolleys with a new server room and Wi-Fi deployment. Knowing that DER funding wasn’t likely to continue in its current form St Luke’s aimed to

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make platform choices that would be sustainable into the future.

Staff and students were at this point on different platforms for communication, meaning that teaching staff rarely emailed students resulting in almost no digital communication. At this stage the ICT Committee assessed what options were available to consolidate these platforms and bring a level of accessibility previously not available at the school. Having previous experience with Software as a Service (SaaS), IT Manager Mitch Miller recommended to the committee to consider this a method of reducing dependency of on-campus infrastructure given the challenges faced with their

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geographic location. Regional Queensland presents issues of bandwidth and power, both of which come at a substantial cost to the school given the availability of vendors and infrastructure required to support it locally.

When considering options the most mature of all offerings was Google Apps for Education with a compelling price tag of $0.00. With a background in the government sector, Miller managed a Google Apps for Work deployment which come at a cost of around $5.00/per user/per month, meaning St Luke’s would be getting around $50,000 worth of SaaS per annum for free. While other offerings were ‘free’ they required the ongoing expense of being part of perpetual campus licensing agreements, Google Apps gave the flexibility to discontinue this type of agreement in the future if no longer required.

Google Apps wasn’t only a communications platform it also had a full productivity and collaboration suite available from anywhere on any device, with no dependency of on-campus infrastructure. Bundaberg and its surrounding areas have been subject to a number of natural disasters in the past which, when considering a move to

“I like that I can get the information on my iPad or my laptop and my iPhone, I can share my work with my teacher and she can comment on it at the same time. It is like having heaps of drafts of my work. It helps me keep on track, and I don’t lose USBs anymore, or have my printer run out of ink.” - Student Comment

SaaS, was another argument that meant staff and students would still be able to communicate during these times. This proved to be invaluable in 2013 when Bundaberg was hit by rising river water as a result of Cyclone Oswald. The school lost power for an extended period and made the decision to start the year one week later than scheduled. Having a hosted solution meant staff and students could still communicate and access subject outlines, content matter and interact with each other while they were cut off from the main town.

By the beginning of 2012 St Luke’s had migrated all staff and student email to Google Apps meaning email was gaining momentum in popularity for

communicating between these two groups within the school. Google Apps’ other main advantage over all other platforms considered was the fact that it was not platform-specific, meaning that any user with access to the Internet on practically any device could now access their email and files from anywhere in the world.

Discussions began in late 2011 about the opportunity for the school to provide students with a BYO network which would only provide access to the Internet, and given the school’s choice of Google Apps deployment, that would be all that was needed. By August 2012 the BYO network was seeing approximately 350 different devices every

Caption.

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week and consuming around 6GB of Internet traffic daily. With this success the focus to have more resources available online became a priority for the ICT Committee and IT team which would ensure the increased use and functionality of student-owned BYO devices over time.

Today the BYO network sees more than 600 student-owned devices every week with anywhere from 60 to 80GB of Internet consumed daily. The rapid uptake and ongoing success of the BYO program at St Luke’s can be largely attributed to Google Apps’ ability to be used on devices that students already owned.

TEACHER AND STAFF ADOPTION The BYO at inception was in no way mandated for any particular use, meaning teachers could choose to use student-owned devices for anything they wished or not at all. This gave teachers freedom and when the occasion suited they were free to ask students to use their own devices for research or other suitable applications. Having mixed devices also gave flexibility for use, teachers were free to split students into groups so that the right mix of devices across the groups was gained, for example, if a science class was conducting an experiment those students with backward facing cameras were distributed across all teams so that someone was available to record or photograph the experiment. These students could then upload and share the video and photos via their Google Drive app for the remainder of the group to embed into a document or presentation.

Given students were using their own devices very little instruction was required from teachers with regard to their use. Students were actively encouraged to see the IT staff for connectivity issues or guidance on App installations etc., with the time gained through not having to host and maintain oncampus email and collaboration tools the existing IT department was available to absorb this type of work.

During 2013 a project was started for teachers to engage their students through the use of a Google Site as a place where information could be distributed, resources located and assignment or homework activities could be posted. The sites’ project ran for 18 months and saw more than 60 sites created by many of the primary, middle and senior teachers. Lower primary utilised their site to communicate to parents using the student’s logon credentials which were communicated home.

Caption.

With this focus for content to be online Google Sites and Drive have become the new normal place for staff and students to collaborate in and use for sharing and production of school documents. In the last months with the issuing of Chromebooks to teaching staff, St Luke’s has seen the number of documents created in Google Drive explode from 120,000 at the end of 2015 to well over 200,000 at the end of January 2016.

Teachers are now using some of the newer and more advanced features in Docs et al. to suggest edits on student work for drafting purposes, as well as leaving comments, and tracking and monitoring student progress through individual and group assignments all securely from anywhere with Internet access. Many staff are also using tools like Flubaroo to automatically mark and provide students with feedback on assessments based in Google Forms.

Administration and non-teaching staff are also using more advanced features of Google Apps to improve their processes with the adoption of using many of the plugins and APIs to create workflows and time-driven processes that have improved efficiencies. The use of tools like YAMM for mail merges to parents as well as scripting to provide staff and student timetables in Google Calendars has empowered all users to find the information they need when they require it.

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STUDENT ADOPTION In early 2012 St Luke’s was one of the first schools in Australia to pilot Chromebooks with huge success. This small fleet initially shared amongst primary were in high demand and quickly grew to a 2:1 program by the end of 2013. With the increased availability of technology now in primary demand continued to grow to the current 1:1 Chromebook deployment for students in years 2-6 which leaves the school today with over 450 school-owned and managed Chromebooks.

Given the school’s Google Apps migration is now into its fifth year, students who were in upper primary during the deployment’s early stages are now seniors which has seen linear growth in popularity throughout the years until more recently where document creations in Google Drive have started to grow exponentially. Students become deeply engaged in Google Apps primarily in year 2 where they start sharing documents etc. with each other and with teachers. The use of apps that leverage the power of Google Drive are also explored through the use of online video production and editing using tools like WeVideo.

Students’ ability to work together from home has been transformed by the collaborative nature of Google Docs. What would have been a task requiring the emailing of traditional files between students, collaboration can now happen in real time reducing

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confusion with automatic backups and versioning – advanced features needing specialist knowledge in traditional suites – all of which happen automatically in Google Drive.

Real-time continuous saving of work in the cloud has meant students no longer have to worry about damaging their device, losing USB sticks or computers crashing. Gone are the days where IT staff would need to run data recovery software on a damaged USB stick to recover a student’s lifetime of work.

All classrooms have been fitted with Apple TVs and Chromecasts meaning students are now able to bring their work to the rest of the class wirelessly from their own desk, whether it is a YouTube clip or a Google Presentation, students can present their work without having to use an unfamiliar device.

The most rewarding part for Miller is the fact that before this journey started he would need to visit one of the school’s designated computer laboratories to see students using technology, whereas now it is rare to walk past a classroom where at least some, if not all, students are using some piece of technology to assist in their learning.

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ADVICE AND RECOMMENDATIONS Given St Luke’s is now around five years out from the previously mentioned DER funding program, many of the devices purchased through this funding have either now been replaced or have gone out of production. With the choice of Chromebooks for primary this has made the purchase of these a much more sustainable process with units costing around one third of the original DER-funded machines. On a journey like the one St Luke’s has made, it is important to take the time to get the little things to work. Miller says that scripting his student user creation and group memberships from using data directly from their student information system (Tass.web) has meant that sharing in Google Drive and Sites is no longer an overhead for teachers at the beginning of year or semester. Miller has automated the process of students having accounts created and then placed into members of the appropriate subject’s group in their Active Directory infrastructure which then syncs with Google. This means that if a teacher has a Google Drive folder or Site which needs to be shared with “9science1”, all the teacher needs to do is share that site once with a single group and that will continue to

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work for students who are new and from year to year.

Throughout the last two years the shortcomings of tablet devices with regard to production of large documents in terms of practicality of keyboard-less work has been highlighted. This along with the fact that the Google Drive Apps for Android and iOS are usually lacking some of the features of the full desktop version found inside Chrome has seen the school formalise its BYO program with recommendations which are loosely around “the device must be able to run the full desktop version of Chrome and have a keyboard”. For subjects that require the use of specialist software, there are high-performance laboratories that will be maintained to deliver these subjects. The formalised BYO program is set to kick off for the middle and senior schools in 2017 with parents encouraged to consider these devices if looking to purchase their children something prior to next year. St Luke’s will formally maintain their primary Chromebook program as these devices are likely to be used for controlled environments when looking at future online-based assessment pieces.

While St Luke’s is formalising the BYO device schedule, students are still encouraged to bring in their tablets for the functionality they provide above a traditional laptop as mentioned earlier.

Choosing Chrome as the school’s “platform” has meant that it focuses on delivering all of its apps through the browser which in turn makes the user experience centralised and simplified. This also yields simplicity when designing a network that only needs to deliver services that run on common protocols.

Technology / 21st Century Learning

Casio - Lampfree projection WITH 200 SCHOOL DAYS EACH YEAR, AROUND FIVE HOURS OF USE EVERY DAY, THAT’S A 20-YEAR LIFESPAN. NO WONDER LAMP-FREE PROJECTORS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE EDUCATION MARKET.

CASIO may be best known for its calculators and watches, but it’s a true innovator in the projector sphere. CASIO is a pioneer in LED/Laser Hybrid Technology. Distributed in Australia by Shriro, CASIO manufactures a full range of lamp-free projectors. Being a global leader, it is currently offering its sixth generation of lamp-free projectors.

The key benefits of the Japanese made projectors for education purposes are: on/off/restart within five seconds, no lamp or filter replacements, 5-year warranty and low power consumption. The unit comes with a bracket, cable cover and Wi-Fi dongle for wireless connectivity.

Make the change and SAVE money. Ask for your Total Cost of Ownership evaluation and product demonstration today.

Email: casioprojectors@shriro.com.au www.casioprojector.shriro.com.au

ULTRA SHORT THROW INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE OVER SHORT DISTANCES LAMPFREE Projection (No lamps) INSTANT On/Off 5 Year Warranty^ Industry Leading TCO** 20,000 Hours Light Source* Made in Japan Up to 100 inch Screen (254cm) CASIO PRODUCTS- PROUDLY DISTRIBUTED BY SHRIRO AUSTRALIA 1300 768 112 ^ 5 years or 10,000 hrs Total Cost of Ownership * 200 school days a year, assume 5 hours a day use, 1000 hours a year = 20 year life **

Technology

Griffith University relies on Parallels Mac Management to run its huge fleet of PCs and Mac on five campuses

Business Situation Summary • Huge PC-based network without solid and comprehensive support for Mac • IT administrators needed a solution to manage the school’s multi-platform environment seamlessly Solution Summary • Implementation of Parallels® Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM Benefits Summary • The solution provides software discovery and distribution without the need for a costly Mac-only infrastructure.

Parallels Products Used • Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM • Parallels Desktop® for Mac Business Edition www.parallels.com

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Business Challenge As one of Australia’s largest universities, Griffith University boasts 43,000 students and 4,000 faculty members. With such a large population, the university IT department was facing the enormous challenge of supporting and managing not only a huge number of IT systems, but also a wide variety of client devices connected to the university’s networked infrastructure. The university has around 2,900 Mac computers alone, spread across its five campuses—2,000 of which are used by faculty; the remaining 900, by students. As the number of multiplatform computers and devices continued to grow, so did management and support-related issues.

Griffith University had a huge PC-based network with a sound management and support infrastructure in place, but it did not have solid and comprehensive support for Mac. IT administrators needed a solution that would enable them to manage the school’s multi-platform environment seamlessly and more effectively, without disrupting operations or further draining resources—both human and financial.

“The challenge for IT was to find a solution that would allow seamless and efficient management of the constantly growing number of Mac computers within the university’s predominantly PC environment without having to invest heavily in additional resources,” said Merv Connell, Architect Workplace Technologies, Information Technology Services Manager at Griffith University. “It was crucial for us to continue to balance the IT budget and available resources with the IT demands of the academic community.”

Griffith University looked at solutions that would allow Mac and PCs to coexist and run efficiently within the network infrastructure.

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Technology / 21st Century Learning

STEM and girls EDUTECH IS THE LARGEST ANNUAL EDUCATION EVENT IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. HELD FROM 30TH MAY – 1ST JUNE 2016, EDUTECH IS THE ONLY EVENT THAT BRINGS TOGETHER SCHOOLS, TERTIARY EDUCATION, VET, AND WORKPLACE LEARNING UNDER ONE ROOF – THE ENTIRE EDUCATION AND TRAINING SECTOR – TO GATHER TOGETHER TO LEARN, DEBATE, EXCHANGE IDEAS AND BE INSPIRED.

After 20 years working in the IT industry as a consultant across many projects from design, development and implementation of large systems, and as a program and process manager, Susan Bowler decided to study teaching and naturally gravitated towards a specialisation in technology, along with maths and science.

Susan has a very strong interest in promoting STEM and has been involved with robotics for the past nine years as a teacher and mentor of teams for her after school club RoboSquad United. The teams from RoboSquad United have won 24 competitions including four international championships. Susan integrates robotics in the classroom, using it as a platform to teach engineering, programming, technology, arts, science and maths. Susan is also a member of three robotics organising committees, Robotics Tasmania, RoboCup Junior Australia and International RoboCup Junior.

Susan is a strong advocate of Australia’s public school system and her passion is to build girls’ interest in STEM and as such currently teaches at Tasmania’s all-girls Ogilvie High School. She spoke with Education Matters magazine’s Kathryn Edwards about robotics in the classroom, STEM and her presentation at this year’s EduTECH conference.

HOW DO YOU THINK WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN STEM CAN BE INCREASED THROUGH THE SCHOOL LEVEL? I’ve taken many teams to robotics competitions, and to the international level, and we’ve won four times. Now, those teams have been mixed, boys and girls, because the club would pull students from other schools, but what I’ve seen in all girls’ schools is the girls are not afraid to try things when the boys aren’t there, whereas when they started mixing with the boys, they were a little bit more subdued at first.

I think if you really want to get girls started in STEM, you’ve got to make it creative, you have to make it very open-ended, and you have to put it in a context where they can see the benefit of it, which is why I’m going to talk about projectbased learning at EduTECH because robotics is exactly that.

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HOW DID YOUR TEACHING OF ROBOTICS EVOLVE? When I was doing my post-graduate degree in Teaching, they told me that I should be teaching maths and science. Then I discovered they had an IT stream so I thought, “Oh well, I’ll do three streams; that gives me more employability at the other end.” But once I actually started the class, the professor basically said, “You know more than what you’re going to learn in this class”, and I said, “Yeah, but I’m really interested in these little yellow robots you have running around. While I’m here, can you at least show me them?”

So I looked at the robots and discovered we had a competition in Tasmania, so I volunteered for that, and then when I started at Ogilvie, I discovered we had a whole closet of unused robots, so I took those into a class that I was teaching of how things worked, and it was a lower-level class sort of centred around engineering at a simple level, and the girls just took to them like crazy, they really, really enjoyed them. I thought, “All right, they’re actually going to learn something” and I taught them how to do some pretty basic moves and use the sensors with the robots, and then thought about the competition that was coming up.

They have a dance category – that’s very creative – and the girls get to choose their music, they get to choose what the robot’s going to do, they get to dress the robots up, and so it really does attract quite a few girls. We just starting entering them and actually did all right. Then it just started growing, and because we did all right, we got the newer version of the robots, and because I had a girls’ team, we applied for a Google grant in 2009, and got fully funded to go to Austria by Google. We did all right in one of the divisions, not so well in the others, but we returned in 2010 and 2011 and took it out twice in a row; we were the international champions!

Then we did it again in 2013 and it was

Technology

great fun, you know, the girls and the boys love it, because they love the travel, but it’s hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of work on their part and you just wouldn’t know it. They’re happy doing it, they’re working collaboratively, they are learning, they’re having fun, they are talking, and being silly in many cases. So it’s a lot of afterschool and weekend work, and through school holidays too, but joyful, very, very joyful.

IS ROBOTICS STRICTLY AN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY FOR THOSE EXCELLING AT MATHEMATICS OR IS IT INTEGRATED INTO LESSONS AT THE SCHOOL? At our school, we are trying to integrate it into lessons. We also have a science and engineering club and we’ve been playing around with some new robots; we haven’t started that up yet this year because this is only our second week of school.

It’s open to anybody and it can be if they’re good in science or if they’re good at maths or if they’re good in audiovisual, because there’s programming involved. What they need is a very open mind and to be logical; it’s really what it’s all about. It develops analytical thinking and critical thinking.

HOW ARE YOU TRYING TO INTEGRATE ROBOTICS IN THE CLASSROOM? In science, there are quite a few areas that you can use it, you can use it for data logging, you can use it for physics, you can use it for chemistry by using, you don’t have to build really elaborate

I think if you really want to get girls started in STEM, you’ve got to make it creative, you have to make it very open-ended, and you have to put it in a context where they can see the benefit of it.

robots, they’re very simple, but you use the sensors quite a bit. So for example you could use a light sensor to measure the density of a solution just by its transparency then compare that to the weight, and things like that, or whether something fully precipitates or doesn’t.

In physics, you can use it to demonstrate velocity and acceleration because you can, again, use the light sensors. The data logging can be used to measure temperature. There are all kinds of sensors that you can use. You can explain things like balance by using the gyroscope in the robots.

You can explain compass and maths by using the compass sensor and programming it to make right angles or a 90o turn of a 180o, and it’s something that takes the pencil off the paper and gets kids thinking about it.

In science, you could use it to collect samples too and if you were worried about sterile things you could send a robot in. The programming essentially helps you with algebra because it uses variables in a lot of the programming, but that’s getting pretty advanced at that point.

So right now, what we’re doing is starting to design where we might use the robots. But before we do that, we need to get some new robots because ours are rather worn out; they’re quite old now. So I’m actively working on where to put them in the curriculum so I can get some good robots to get the club started up again and current.

IS THERE A NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF STEM TEACHERS TO BE IMPROVED? Yes, I think there is. I believe that it would not be a bad idea to have teachers work with universities and industry to develop some very specific post-graduate programs for working teachers, and make it part of the undergraduate programs. I think IT is always seen as an aside.

YOUR PRESENTATION AT THIS YEAR’S EDUTECH WILL BE ABOUT PROJECT-BASED LEARNING. CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT, WITHOUT GIVING TOO MUCH AWAY? What I’m going to talk about is how you could use robots for project-based learning, both within say a classroom for maths or science, like what

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we’ve just talked about, or as a standalone project.

I’m going to bring an awful lot of examples of where I’ve seen it done.

You’ve got the US-based Buck Institute of Education, who seem to be the leaders on projectbased learning, and I’ve been going through their site and thought, “Yep, this is a robotics project; yes, this could be an IT project” because it’s following whether you have big questions or you have a big goal. For one of my competitions, it was to have 14 robots all work together without running into each other and do a performance of the tea party in Alice and Wonderland. And I had around 10 team members working together in two different countries, because we had two US team members and they were working from the US, and we pulled it all together.

And that takes the basics of PBL – you’ve got to be thinking critically, you have to be collaborating, and the communication skills have to be top-notch. Those are not things that are necessarily taught in a standard classroom, probably more so here in Australia from what I’ve seen in the US, or what my experience was. But robotics is just the perfect tip for it.

A variety of attendance packages are still available for EduTECH 2016. If you would like to be inspired

by Susan Bowler or one of the many other talented speakers from the local and global education sector visit www.edutech.net.au for more information.

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Principally Speaking

Building teacher quality through effective instruction MANY TEACHERS ARE KEEN TO IMPROVE THEIR LEVEL OF REFLECTION, THE QUALITY OF TEACHER-TO-TEACHER COLLABORATION AND CONSTRUCT MEANINGFUL CLASSROOM OBSERVATION AND FEEDBACK PROTOCOLS. IN 2015 SHENTON COLLEGE PRINCIPAL MICHAEL MORGAN CONDUCTED A CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP HE WON TO RESEARCH EFFECTIVE TEACHING IN THE UNITED STATES. IT WAS CONDUCTED AROUND THE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN BY THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION IN SEATTLE INTO THE MEASURES OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING (MET) PROJECT. EDUCATION MATTERS SPOKE WITH MICHAEL ABOUT THE SHENTON COLLEGE DIFFERENCE, THE CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP AND WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD TEACHER QUALITY THROUGH EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION.

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In Chicago, Shenton College Principal Michael Morgan spent time with Fred Brown from Learning Forward, an organisation that has recently revised Standards for Professional Learning, discussing the importance of professional learning in school settings and its direct link to teacher evaluation, reflection and improving student outcomes.

At Harvard University he met with the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) faculty director Professor Thomas Kane, best known for directing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching study, and project director Miriam Greenberg. They discussed aspects of their recent finding from the Best Foot Forward Project about the need for context specific observations and using video as a tool to support classroom observations and teacher evaluations.

HOW DOES SHENTON COLLEGE DIFFER FROM OTHER SCHOOLS? Shenton College has a student repeated informal motto, which they call “The Shenton Difference”. Shenton is very proud to be a public school. We feel successful countries are those countries that have very strong public institutions. We take great pride in being a strong academic school; however, we take greater pride in the fact that we achieve this in a public setting and under the various equalities that are part of public education.

We are proudly coeducational and Shenton College celebrates the fact that if a child is to move into a workforce and become a person who can work successfully with both males and females and understand the important aspects of tolerance and equality, then it’s beneficial that these skills are nurtured in a school environment. Our universities and our workplaces are proudly coeducational and so is our school.

At Shenton we are also proudly inclusive. Shenton proudly co-exists with the Shenton deaf school. All of our students have the availability to learn Auslan, Australian sign language, as an additional language. We also offer French, Japanese, and Mandarin, however we acknowledge inclusivity of deaf culture by having deaf students learn alongside mainstream students and allow our students to learn deaf language and deaf culture. The Young Australian of the Year of 2014 and Shenton student was Drisana LevitzkeGray. Drisana is a fine example of the importance of proudly inclusive education. She was the Young Australian of the Year, and she is proudly deaf.

Shenton College is also focussed on more than just academic excellence. We have a saying “Much More than Marks; Learning for Life”.

This idea implies that yes, marks are important, grades are important and academic achievement is important, but so too is progress and whole-child development. How you progress a child, and how you allow a child to actually

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“The greatest challenges are trying to provide today the educational attributes and skills and knowledge for the unknown future of tomorrow.” grow and improve beyond the academics is also important. It’s not just about the top-performing ATAR students, it’s not just about those students with A’s, and it’s also not just about academic performance, it should be much more, it should be around one’s social and personal development.

HOW DO YOU PROVIDE LEADERSHIP TO SHENTON’S TEACHERS? That’s a really timely question, actually. First of all, I’m pretty passionate about how leadership should develop others more than just the leader themselves. I believe educational leadership has to be defined in a simple way. Whilst I have great respect for the documentations around quality educational leadership and the AITSL standards etc. if a principal can’t actually say what leadership is, who benefits or if they have to read it, they don’t really own it. I see education leadership in four interconnected parts: in setting directions, in developing others and also in developing your school. The fourth part, which I think is equally important, is how you develop beyond the school to developing the system.

Directions for schools and teachers must be set based on quality information, and it is only by developing and supporting teachers that any sustainable change will occur in the classroom.

Leaders have an important role to play in providing and resourcing support that will create the desired change. At Shenton College the type of leadership I try and provide is to be clear about the direction we are going, support teachers to affect the change and develop a culture of trust, and enable collaborative groups for teachers to work effectively.

We also try and map out the leadership pathway from those teachers who might be an aspirant leader.

We try and identify the talent early, provide training and support and succession planning.

WHAT ROLE DO YOU PLAY IN THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF YOUR STUDENTS? Direct and indirect. Directly the role I play is in

the fact that the greatest influence on successful students, according to all the literature, is the quality of the teachers that the child has. So directly being involved in the selection of teachers, I panel chair every recruitment into Shenton College. I don’t outsource recruitment, teaching or non-teaching. The reason why is simple, I believe if you know that the greatest influences are the quality of your teachers, then that’s probably the most effective end-line accountability point for the principal. That’s my most direct influence.

The indirect influence is the substantial bit that probably doesn’t get easily put into the metrics: the way in which you develop the culture of the school, the way you develop relationships and model trust and respect, the strategic aspects. These indirect influences have significant benefits to a child’s learning.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT EDUCATION ISSUE? I think we as a society have to remind ourselves of the importance of a robust quality public education system that allows success for our citizens and our children. We must be cautious not to over stratify our education system. I am not saying that you should deny people choice, I’m not saying that at all. I’m just saying that I believe that whether you send your children to a private or a public school, I believe parents ideologically want strong public school structures. If you want overall successful mean and median performance in education, if you want advantage for all, you have to have a strong public education system.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF PROVIDING A 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION? The greatest challenges are trying to provide today the educational attributes and skills and knowledge for the unknown future of tomorrow.

One thing we have noticed with technology, and certainly with modern day community structures, is the portability of jobs and the shifting nature of skillsets. Schools need to provide knowledge, skills and attributes that will best place their students of today in a position of competency and advantage for the society and workplace that they’ll inhabit tomorrow.

HOW HAS BEING A PRINCIPAL CHANGED YOU ON A PERSONAL LEVEL? I’ve found the greatest reward is it has given me an incredible confidence in the quality of teachers and

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Michael Morgan took up his appointment at Shenton College as Principal in 2008. Prior to joining Shenton College, Michael was Principal Consultant and Principal in the Goldfields and Pilbara regions of Western Australia. Michael has extensive educational experience and a strong record of significant and successful leadership in secondary school education. He has established strong international and domestic education partnerships and strategic alliances with China, Singapore, and Japan. In 2013 Michael was announced as Secondary Principal of the Year and Shenton College was also announced as Secondary School of the Year. Shenton College was also ranked Australia’s Top Comprehensive Public School by the Weekend Australian 1-2 June, 2013 and listed as the first Independent Public School to be selected for an exemplary study by the Director General of Education.

Michael believes in a school that is “much more than marks”. The College’s motto established in 2010 “Much More Than Marks – Learning for Life” embodies his belief that a child’s schooling experience is more than an outstanding academic result. He has implemented programs that empower teachers, educators and schools to develop their students’ knowledge of the world and to foster the emotional and social intelligence they need to be active participants and leaders, now and in the future.

Michael defines a successful student at Shenton College as one who will be entrepreneurial, able to work in teams, care for others and be an active contributor to a global society. He was awarded an Honorary Australian Council for Education Leaders (ACEL) National Fellowship and a Churchill Fellowship in 2014. Michael’s Churchill Fellowship enabled him to conducted extensive research in the best performing schools and institutions in the USA identifying how they empower teachers to develop a culture of reflective practices.

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Principally Speaking

students and a reassurance that things are going to be okay and to be confident in myself to affect change for the better.

I feel that I’ve been very fortunate to be in a range of schools and settings, and in all of those schools and settings I’ve been moved by the overall nature of the adolescent child and the desire of teachers to make a difference. There are characteristics in today’s youth that I think should be celebrated more, such as tolerance. If we reflect back I believe the youth of today are far more tolerant than the youth of yesterday. I think they’re far more inclusive than they used to be and far more able to accept difference.

The other thing I have found is it’s enabled me to understand a lot more about myself. I have a greater understanding of my own responsibility to affect change. By my involvement in education, but mainly in principalship, I worked out, “Well, if you want to make those changes, then you’re in a position where you have some ability to do it, however small, but go ahead and try.” Whereas I think there were moments in my growing up which I just felt I had to just accept.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT TRAITS DO YOU NEED TO BE AN EFFECTIVE PRINCIPAL AND RISE TO THE MODERN CHALLENGES OF THE JOB? I’ve been fortunate, both through my Churchill Fellowship and through my MBA that I undertook, to observe traits of effective leaders. Effective principalship put simply is: you’ve got to be going somewhere and you’ve got to have people following you. If you’re not doing those two things, then you’re not actually an effective leader, you’re just a person going for a walk.

I believe the traits are that you need to have great relationship skills. You can call them EQ or emotional intelligence, but it is how you develop trust and develop support and empathise with others. Look, there’s no doubt there are operational traits that are absolutely required in the role. Effective principals require specific operational skills and traits, and more so today the modern day principal requires very good business acumen around finances and human resource management as

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“…we as a society have to remind ourselves of the importance of a robust quality public education system that allows success for our citizens and our children.”

we devolve schools and make them more autonomous; however, if they cannot build cultures of trust and empowerment then I believe that they will not rise to meet the modern challenges of the job.

If you want to be a good, effective principal in the modern school, I think especially in a devolved, more autonomous school, you need to actually be very strategic. You need to be innovative, take risks (controlled/calculated risks) but you must take them. You’re actually there to lead; you’re actually there to do something.

You’re not there just to manage, so you need to have that strategic trait and skill set.

An additional trait of modern day principals is you have to have in you that ability to see your part, beyond yourself and beyond your own organisation. You have to have that ability to be a little bit more holistic and see that just supporting your own school, or just being a part of a great school, isn’t going to be enough. You’ve got to have a trait that enables you to see your part in the whole, your part in the system.

IN YOUR OPINION HOW CAN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS BEST IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE EVALUATION OF TEACHING? There’s a couple of clear things here in terms of how you make more effective cultures of reflections of teaching beyond evaluation. If everything we’re doing is just at the layer of accountability, we’ll never have sustainability or improvement.

If we look at the research that came from my Churchill Fellowship, which was

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“Directions for schools and teachers must be set based on quality information, and it is only by developing and supporting teachers that any sustainable change will occur in the classroom.”

involving the Gates Institute out of Seattle and the work they’ve done with the Measures of Effective Teaching Project (the largest funded study into measuring teaching) and working with the Centre for Educational Policy Research out of Harvard University, the comments that they make certainly talk about going beyond accountability to cultures of reflection.

So, how do we empower teachers to reflect on their own practice? So that empowerment is not something that is done to you. We need to create cultures in schools and amongst teachers where we go beyond the accountability moment to a state of teachers reflecting on their practice and acting on their reflections.

HOW DO WE ENABLE THAT REFLECTION? Well, collaborative learning communities where you have set up reflective professional learning and observations with peers where you train teachers in observation and you reduce aspects of bias. You may be using video technology to allow multiple viewings of a person’s teaching practice, which certainly reduces bias or use empirically tested student-based perception surveys. Properly constructed student surveys can provide a teacher with immediate feedback and highlight areas that they may need to put more focus into. You have 20 to 30 students in a classroom every day. Students are there and observing you as a teacher every day.

Allowing students to have a voice and allowing them to have input in a constructive way, not a destructive way, is a powerful reflective tool that is certainly getting a lot more use around the world.

Those are the sort of things that we could implement to move beyond that evaluation/accountability moment and actually look at empowerment and upskilling.

HOW CAN SCHOOLS ENSURE THAT THESE IMPROVEMENT AVENUES ARE LINKED TO QUALITY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING? I’m reading a soon-to-be-released paper from Dr Ben Jensen and Learning First on quality professional learning. Quality professional learning has to be about improving the quality of teaching: modes of delivery, how one engages a child, how one creates a creative classroom and how one creates critical thinkers, all that’s really important.

We need to ensure professional learning support teachers to be content experts, so they are very knowledgeable of the course, of the subject and the content of their teaching. The only way that a teacher can deconstruct a lesson to allow for creativity is they need to have a highly-proficient understanding of all of the learning parts and how they all fit together. Professional learning needs to do many things but we need to ensure our teachers have a very sound knowledge of the content and how to engage children to learn it.

CAN YOU SHED MORE LIGHT ON THE STUDENT PERCEPTION SURVEY, AND THEIR ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES, IF ANY? The student perception surveys were one of the things tested by the Measures of Effective Teaching out of the Gates Foundation. They looked at a constructive way in which students could have a voice, and could provide constructive feedback.

There was a high correlation between a well-constructed student survey and teacher competence and teaching qualities. Well-constructed student perception surveys were shown to be a very beneficial and a very important way of providing evaluation and feedback that was empirically supported and valid.

So the advantages of surveying students is that they’re not overly difficult to use, they’re not a massive time impost to a teacher, and they empower students in the process. The disadvantages are: if you don’t use quality surveys they have limited value. If teachers, administrators and students aren’t trained in their use or in their purpose, then they can be abused.

I draw a parallel to collaborative learning. Collaborative learning has evidence to be effective, but you have to teach people on how to actually work in collaborative groups, you have to introduce protocols on how actually to collaborate. You can’t just say, “Right, we’ll just get in a group and collaborate.” You need to train and empower people in the effective use of collaboration and in the effective use of student perception surveying.

Furthermore, in its first instance, surveying must not be used as a punitive measure or for an administrator to measure a teacher. The first instance of student

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Principally Speaking

“Effective principalship put simply is: you’ve got to be going somewhere and you’ve got to have people following you.”

If the question is, “Have we got more to do”, the answer to that also is yes. But that second part, I believe, it’s not just a political question, it’s a social and societal question. Are we prepared as a society to support that? Do we as a society value our teachers? Do we as a society support our teachers?

The way in which we can attract some of our very best and brightest into the profession and retain them within the profession, are also big questions that we need to ask, not just, how we can ‘evaluate’ them more. Or make them more ‘accountable’. Questions like these just appease our anxieties, it doesn’t make many long-term sustainable changes or improvement.

surveying information is between the student and the teacher, and to create a culture of trust but also a culture of communication. Students need to have an ability to communicate back on how they felt their course was delivered, on how they felt their discussions were encouraged, on what they felt about the learning environment of the classroom. At the same time, the teachers are empowered to reflect back to the students.

So you empower the learning partnership, which is both the teacher and the student. It’s not designed as an administrative tool to garner information around the teacher’s competence so it can be used as some punitive measure. If that’s a part of its purpose, then it will have no other purpose than that purpose.

HOW HAVE YOU IMPLEMENTED EFFECTIVE EVALUATION OF TEACHING AT SHENTON COLLEGE AND WHAT OUTCOMES HAS IT LED TO? We’ve moved more into reflective teaching practices. So we have empowered the teachers to be a part of this process, it’s a journey they’ve gone on now for about five years. We’ve got to a point where they very much have ownership over that process and they want to reflect on their practice. We have a process where they reflect on their teaching, they collaborate on their review, and they identify professional learning in support with administration that needs to be conducted.

We have resourced leadership development as well as resourced teacher development in terms of the provision of real quality professional learning. We reflect, we make sure we recruit quality graduates and quality educators into the school. We place the scrutiny early in our processes and then we work in an environment of trust and believe that we must all do our best to make a real difference to every child under our care.

GENERALLY, ARE WE ANY CLOSER TO HAVING A SYSTEM THAT ENSURES TEACHERS ARE REVIEWED AGAINST RELIABLE EVALUATION PROCESSES TO MAKE SURE THEY’RE AT A STANDARD? Well, I think we are. Each state sets up different registration boards and requires a certain quality. This is a positive step. We’ve put in some fairly good measures around teachers, out of AITSL etc. There has been some healthy discussion around the quality of pre-service programs, the quality of graduate teachers entering the system, the requirements for leaders and I believe we have enhanced the cultures of reflection that exist in most schools.

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education matters secondary

Uniforms

The fabric of school.

A CHILD’S SCHOOL DAYS ARE NEVER FORGOTTEN. THESE ARE FORMATIVE YEARS OF LEARNING, GROWING, FORMING FRIENDSHIPS AND TAKING BOLD STEPS TOWARDS THE FUTURE. EVERY CHILD’S SCHOOL DAY STARTS WITH PUTTING ON THEIR UNIFORM, AND FEELING THAT SENSE OF BELONGING - THAT CONNECTION TO THEIR SCHOOL.

For more than three decades, Weareco has been supporting children through every stage of their learning journey. As a proud, privately owned Australian business, we understand how a uniform is much more than a collection of clothing. It is a connection between the children and their entire school community.

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ensuring we understand and respond to your exact needs. We want you to be proud of your uniform and that’s why we care so much about the final garment.

Outfitting your students should be smooth and simple. We’ve developed the capacity and networks to deliver you a complete uniform solution. From design and manufacturing to wholesaling and logistics, everything we do is about making things easy for schools and parents.

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learning Weareco provides schools with a complete apparel solution.

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the fabric of school

Furniture

At Woods, we’re for flexible learning EDUCATION IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE, NOT ONLY FOR THE CHILDREN OF TODAY, BUT ALSO FOR OUR ENTIRE WORLD TOMORROW.

This belief has driven our team, for over half a century, to study how children learn – from a behavioral, ergonomic and cognitive perspective – and to develop furniture that is flexible, adaptable and stimulating. Our product range positively enhances the educational environment, ensuring our children are reaching their full learning potential.

We offer an extensive range, service and support to education facilities across Australia. Our support and services commence with the initial contact or enquiry and continue years down the track with our valued Woods clients. We provide professional advice on how to integrate best practices into the learning environment, which in turn inspires education and allows students to perform better in a flexible and stimulating setting. We are proud to say we take a “hands on” approach, with our people travelling all over Australia to work with educators, architects and specifiers to design and provide the best possible learning and teaching outcomes.

Woods is committed to Australian manufacturing. Whilst many of our competitors have chosen to use imports as the key source of their furniture supplies, our company remains Australian owned and continues to manufacture our award winning, innovative furniture right here in Australia, as we have done since 1953.

By investing in CNC machinery and hightech equipment, Woods has the technology to produce the majority of the components for its broad furniture range in house. Additionally, having our own extensive warehousing facility, teamed with strong alliances with locally-based transport companies, Woods has the resources to meet customer expectations and requirements by delivering our products anywhere throughout Australia in a timely manner.

At Woods, not only are we committed to providing inspired and flexible learning environments, we are also passionate about

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providing a better world for future generations.

At our factory we have adopted processes of utilising solar power, harvesting rainwater, waste minimisation, resource conservation, recycling and sustainable manufacturing decisions and processes. It is this consideration that sets us apart and this is the contribution we are making to the world of tomorrow.

Our products are GECA certified (Green Tick).

This provides our customers with the confidence that our products meet environmental, human health and ethical impact criteria. Additionally, all Woods products are VOC Emissions Certified and contain no volatile compounds or carcinogens that cause chronic irritation to children. Naturally, Woods considers this an important factor when developing furniture that will be used daily by many children.

Additionally, we proudly manufacture our products to the highest quality standards, of AS/NZS 4610, ensuring our products meet the demands of classrooms today and well into the future. We back this promise with a 10-year warranty on the entire Woods range.

By implementing best practice in management control, business practices,

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operation performance, communication and coordination Woods achieved an ISO 9001 accreditation. Ensuring we maintain a consistent level of service and product delivery throughout the company.

With our own in-house research and development team, Woods is constantly expanding and refining its line of products to ensure we keep providing current furniture designs, relevant to today’s complex learning and working environments. Our strategic partnership with VS, a German company, arguably the world’s best designer and producer of ergo-dynamic and flexible school furniture, ensures Woods is always at the forefront when it comes to innovation and design within the Australian education system. By incorporating our design philosophy with products that are produced to the high Australian and New Zealand Standards, in an environmentally sustainable way, we are creating furniture that not only enables students to reach their full learning potential, but also contributes to a better future for them and the planet in which they live.

Visit www.woodsfurniture.com.au for more information.

At Woods, we believe that education is of the utmost importance – not just for the children of today but for our world tomorrow.

This belief has driven our team, for over half a century, to study how children learn – from a behavioral, ergonomic and cognitive perspective – to develop furniture that is flexible, adaptable and stimulating.

It’s this philosophy that inspired our ergo-dynamic PantoFlex chair. Designed by one of the world’s greatest furniture designers, Verner Panton, the PantoFlex chair promotes correct posture, improves blood and oxygen circulation, assists the developing musculo-skeletal system and most importantly contributes to an increased attention span. And that’s only half the story.

To find out more about our innovative range of educational furniture visit woodsfurniture.com.au or call 1800 004 555.

We’re for flexible learning

DARWIN KAKADU

ARNHEM LAND

KATHERINE

TENNANT

CREEK

ALICE

ULURU

SPRINGS

Come on an adventure to the Northern Territory

to discover, understand and learn new skills that will stay with you and your students for a lifetime. Students will have an extraordinary chance to connect with the real Australian landscape, the people and the culture of the NT. This experience is second to none and will leave your students with a deeper understanding of the importance of sustaining our history, environment and culture for their future.

AUSTOUR OUTBACK EXPERIENCE

From

10 Days and 9 Nights

Aboriginal guided touring components Kakadu National Park Nitmiluk National Park Katherine Gorge Cruise The Devils Marbles Alice Springs sightseeing Kings Canyon Rim walk Cave Hill sacred art site and Indigenous immersion experience • Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

$1499 per student

Highlights: • • • • • • • •

*

Includes:

• Experienced and accredited driver/guide • Tour Manager responsible for tour operations and catering • Comfortable tents (sleeps 2) with vinyl floor and mattresses • Meals as per itinerary • Entry fees and touring as per itinerary

*Ground content only. Price is subject to availability. For full itinerary and terms and conditions please go to www.austour.com. au or contact 1800 335 009.

SAVE & LEARN IN THE NT

Grants from $1000 per trip available to all interstate schools visiting the NT. Simply apply online to save and learn!

See our website for more information www.ntlearningadventures.com

Valid from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.

Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

Darwin FreeSpirit Resort Situated 17kms from Darwin city, we offer a range of accommodation options to suit travelling school groups.

Resort facilities include; Element Café (meal packages can be arranged), 3 Swimming pools, Jumping Cushion, Entertainment programs, BBQ areas and much more – it’s the ideal destination for your school’s Top End adventure! Please mention this ad when you call.

08 8935 0888 darwinfreespiritresort.com.au

Nitmiluk Tours Nitmiluk Tours presents the ‘Footsteps of Our Ancestors’ immersion program based at Nitmiluk Gorge just outside of Katherine – a 3hr drive from Darwin. Specifically designed for school groups in mind, this program encompasses the lifestyle, culture and traditions of the Jawoyn people by providing hands-on learning experiences for a range of group sizes and ages. Students will have the opportunity to explore Nitmiluk Gorge on a cruise where your local indigenous guide will provide fun, historical and geographical facts about the area.

The program can be catered to suit educational outcomes along with accommodation and catering packages if required.

08 8971 0877 nitmiluktours.com.au

Culture College “The complete Aboriginal immersion experience for students” Culture College invites you to meet the Yolŋu people of East Arnhem Land and learn about one of the world’s oldest and unique living cultures. Join us on a life changing adventure to share cultural and environmental knowledge in the Northern Territory. Culture College is a social enterprise that organises tours to Arnhem Land for secondary schools. We offer 5-day homeland visits as part of our 7 to 14-day tour. Programs are tailor-made for each school’s requirements and the personal development needs of your students.

(02) 9518 6359 www.culturecollege.org

School Camps and Excursions

Trip report: 2015 Top End tour LAST YEAR, TOURISM NT OFFERED NINE INTERSTATE TEACHERS THE CHANCE TO EMBARK ON ANOTHER EDUCATORS’ FAMIL, BUT THIS TIME IN THE ‘TOP END’ OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY.

Teachers from around the country shared an experience combining the natural beauty and cultural heritage of the Northern Territory, including visits to a cattle station, a cultural cruise in Kakadu, as well as participating in an immersion program in Katherine.

Among those educators to join in on the experience was Megan Webster, from Galen Catholic College in Victoria. Megan explained that the trip offered “lots of educational benefits that would complement a range of subject areas”, and would “also assist with student personal development”.

“As an Indonesian and Humanities teacher, I have been able to discuss what I’ve learned about the live cattle trade with my students, following the visit to Mount Bundy Station near Darwin,” Megan said.

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“Since returning from the trip, I taught my students how the Northern Territory (in particular Arnhem Land) has been linked to Indonesia for many, many years before white settlement – the students loved hearing about the similarities in language and culture.”

Coby Beames from the Torrens Valley Christian School found all of the experiences offered were amazing, saying “what a beautiful place the NT is”.

“The things that I liked most would be the Indigenous interactions we had with the various tour groups, cooking, site seeing, sharing stories, listening to culture and learning about a different way of life; such a precious gift,” she said.

It is this cultural element that is particularly expansive for both educators and students who experience the tour. At the centre of this experience

lies the wisdom and stewardship of traditional owners, who play an integral role in preserving the integrity of the Territory’s National Parks such as Kakadu and Nitmiluk.

On top of the National Parks experience, educators also had the chance to get ‘up close and personal’ with the local wildlife at Crocodylus Park and Territory Wildlife Park.

In fact, Coby found that there were myriad opportunities to “link curriculum with the tours”.

“From History, Geography, Science, Language, Indigenous Culture, Civics and Citizenship, Religion to Home Economics, there was something for every class,” she said. “If I were to take a Middle School

class on such a tour, I wouldn’t go past the Nitmiluk tour’s Footstep program. This is an all-inclusive Indigenous experience which would see the students immersed in culture in a meaningful way.”

Those who have attended say they continue to draw benefit from having developed new contacts in the Northern Territory and indicate they look forward to drawing on the expertise and experience of NT Learning Adventures for future educational trips.

“When my school is ready to organise a trip to the Northern Territory, I have a great understanding of what programs are on offer, suitable accommodation options and transport for students and staff,” Megan said. “Tourism NT’s ‘NT Learning Adventures program’

“Since returning from the trip, I taught my students how the Northern Territory (in particular Arnhem Land) has been linked to Indonesia for many, many years before white settlement – the students loved hearing about the similarities in language and culture.”

offers a variety of suitable education programs and can point you in the right direction of how it can be arranged” “The 2015 NT famil tour was an amazing trip,” echoed Coby. “Tourism NT organised such a great itinerary and we experienced so many diverse activities in the five days. This is a trip not to be missed, I would go again in a heartbeat!”

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Camps & Excursions

Melbourne Discovery Melbourne Discovery Group knows school accommodation. Planning a camp can be stressful but we make it easy. If you want a stress free, easy and educational camp that, most importantly, is full of fun? Then Melbourne Discovery Groups should be your number one choice.

We are the premier provider of school group accommodation in Melbourne. Ideally located in the heart of the city and right on the doorstep of everything the city has to offer. Take advantage of the free tram zone to get to all of Melbourne’s major attractions or make your way by foot through Melbourne’s famous laneways.

School camps are what we do with free itinerary planning, on-site catering and numerous facilities such as a conference room and cinema. Our expert groups consultants will help you every step of the way and make sure your school camp goes off without a hitch and that you get to see the most that Melbourne has to offer. Melbourne Discovery Groups has you covered.

For further information go to: www.melbournediscoverygroups.com or call +61 3 9329 4012

TEACHING CIVICS & CITIZENSHIP? N EED H ELP?

Consider an excursion to Canberra with your students

An excursion to Canberra can provide your students with a clear understanding of Australian democracy and civics and citizenship.

Your students can view Australia’s founding documents, participate in a historical political debate, learn the importance of their voting rights, watch

For information about planning an excursion to

Question Time at Parliament House or view a High Court of Australia sitting. Explore Australian stories, commemorate the service and sacrifice of

Canberra visit canberraexcursions.org.au

Australian soldiers and delve into treasures

*

at Canberra’s wide range of museums

* * *

Sign up for our quarterly e-newsletters for all the latest information Order a National Capital School Excursion Planner Look out for special teacher programs Register for a National Capital Teachers Pass

and galleries.

Canberra also offers experiences in a range of other subject areas which include history, art, science and technology, environmental education, health and physical education.

Transport

Premium transport for the First XI THE NEW MASTER 12-SEATER BUS IS THE IDEAL SMALL GROUP TRANSPORTER FOR ANY SCHOOL WITH AN EYE ON STYLE, COMFORT AND REDUCED RUNNING COSTS.

Buying a new Renault Master 12-seater Bus is a good way for school administrators and principals to encourage teachers to volunteer to escort pupils to off-site engagements.

The Renault Master Bus is based on the highly successful van of the same name and is very easy and comfortable to drive.

It’s very safe too, with the engine up front, not between the seats, meaning there’s a larger, safer crumple zone in front of the occupants.

And with dual airbags, a driver head and chest airbag, ABS and traction control, ESP and Grip-Xtend as well as a myriad of clever electronic aids, both passive and active safety systems give their all in the protection of those on board.

Renault Australia has specified the Bus with 12 seats so that there is plenty of legroom and shoulder room for growing kids, while behind the back row of four individual buckets seats there is a huge space for school bags or sports kit, or both. The uncompromising luggage space means teachers don’t necessarily need to tow a trailer when taking the bus away on a camping weekend, making life easier for all concerned.

Plus a roof rack can carry up to 200 kilograms (including the rack).

An optional cargo barrier will be available complete with two metal shelves to allow the floor-to-ceiling space to be safely, yet fully loaded.

Because the barrier sits behind the rear seats, a glazed panel in the roof provides the required third emergency exit and allows in plenty of light. All emergency exits are equipped with a hammer to break the glass in case of the need to evacuate in a rush.

Renault has priced the Master Bus from $59,990 (Manufacturer’s List Price, but less for ABN holders), making it exceptionally affordable.

Renault running costs are reduced with up to 30,000 kilometres between scheduled servicing or once per year (unlike some that demand a day at the dealership after just 10,000 kilometres) and the first three scheduled services costs only $349 each. Renault protects its LCVs with a 3-year/200,000-kilometre-factory warranty, and this can be extended to five years, which is very

handy for schools that don’t clock up big km on a regular basis.

Of course there are lap/sash seat belts for every seat as well as ISOFIX connections and tether strap hooks on two seats, just in case smaller tots are carried.

The air conditioning system has been designed to cope with Australian conditions, which means it can cool the cabin down very quickly even if the bus has been left in the sun for a while at a cricket or netball game. That means the engine doesn’t need to be left idling to run the A/C all the time, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

Getting in and out is easy, too, with a powered step emerging from under the side sliding door aperture even for models with the manually activated door. An optional electrically powered side sliding door is controlled by the driver.

Should the driver attempt to drive off with the side door open an alarm sounds and the door

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automatically begins to close.

Teachers will love driving the Renault Master Bus because it is very quiet, with barely any engine noise reaching the cabin. The smooth automated gearbox makes very slick changes and the elevated driving position gives a commanding view over the road.

Despite being 6.2 metres long and almost 2.5 metres high and over two metres wide, the Master Bus doesn’t feel huge on the road, or even when parking, thanks to a standard reversing camera.

Smooth sides and flush glazing also help to reduce wind noise from reaching the cabin, making the Bus exceptionally pleasant on longer journeys, even on the freeway at cruising speeds.

The 2.3-litre single turbo diesel engine is also very light on fuel with around 10 or 11.0-litres per 100-kilometre consumption easily achievable, depending on load, topography and headwinds. With a 100-litre thank, that means a theoretical range of more than 1,000 kilometres per fill, helping to further drive down the cost of transporting the First XI. “We have designed the Master Bus to meet the needs and exceed the expectations of school users in Australia,” says Lyndon Healey, Model Line Manager for Renault LCV. “We have a bus that is easy to drive, efficient to run and affordable to service.

“It is comfortable to drive and to sit in as a passenger, and it is exceptionally spacious down the back, with particularly generous luggage space especially compared with typical rival vehicles.

“For schools looking for a smart, spacious and affordable solution to moving small groups of pupils or teachers around, the Master Bus fulfils their requirements perfectly,” he says.

“And if the 12-seat configuration doesn’t work for you, talk to us to see how we can devise a version to meet your exact needs. After all in Europe there are more than 380 different variants on the Master van theme, so there will be a solution that’s right for you,” Lyndon says.

Find out more about the new Renault Master 12-seater Bus at renault.com.au

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Sustainability

The nature of mindfulness COOL AUSTRALIA IS AN AWARD WINNING NOT-FOR-PROFIT THAT HELPS TEACHERS INSPIRE THEIR STUDENTS THROUGH REAL-WORLD LEARNING. THEY PROVIDE FREE-TO-ACCESS UNITS OF WORK AND LESSON PLANS THAT INTEGRATE TOPICS SUCH AS SUSTAINABILITY, ETHICS, ABORIGINAL HISTORIES AND CULTURES, ECONOMICS AND WELLBEING ACROSS SUBJECT AREAS. COOL AUSTRALIA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PLANET ARK HAS CREATED ‘THE NATURE OF MINDFULNESS’ SERIES TO CELEBRATE SCHOOLS TREE DAY. THESE LESSON PLANS PROVIDE SECONDARY TEACHERS WITH A RANGE OF ACTIVITIES THAT HELP THEIR STUDENTS CONCENTRATE, REGULATE THEIR EMOTIONS, EXERCISE EMPATHY AND EXPERIENCE HAPPINESS THROUGH CONNECTION WITH NATURE. THE RESOURCES WERE WRITTEN BY JANET ETTY-LEAL, A HIGHLY EXPERIENCED EDUCATOR WHO DESIGNS MINDFULNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN SCHOOLS.

Teacher preparation Overarching learning goals: The aim of these activities is to deepen personal connections and relationships with nature-based mindfulness.

These activities provide opportunities to enhance student focus, emotional regulation, empathy and happiness through connection with nature.

Students cultivate present moment awareness so that calm, considered and conscious choices can begin to replace impulsive, unconscious reactions.

Teacher background information: The benefits of mindfulness We are a culture increasingly becoming addicted to instant communication and everchanging technologies. While technologies such as mobile phones bring wonderful opportunities, children are spending more and more time being passively engaged in these technologies rather than actively engaging in the world around them. This includes the natural world and our environment. There is growing concern about the lack of time young people spend in nature and the consequences of this disconnection.

The practices of mindfulness and meditation offer people of all ages an effective path to develop healthy responses to the chaotic world around them and often inside of them. The key benefit of meditation and mindfulness is developing self-knowledge, or learning about what’s going on inside. This positively influences student wellbeing, emotional intelligence and resilience. Other benefits include improved concentration, sharpened focusing abilities and simply being calm and still.

It is important to clarify the differences

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between relaxation and mindfulness.

Relaxation. Activities such as reading a book, eating an ice-cream or lying in the shade can be considered relaxation activities.

Mindfulness. These same relaxation activities can become mindful activities by becoming more aware. Learning to observe the self and bring attention fully to the present moment is key to mindful activities. Mindfulness requires practice (although some would argue that the same could be said of relaxation!)

By practicing mindfulness activities outside, students can enhance their focus, emotional regulation, empathy and happiness through connection with nature.

Nature provides us with limitless, enjoyable opportunities to focus and be absorbed in the moment, and offers countless ways to improve our minds.

Teaching sequence Activity 1: Planting seeds Resources: • Clear plastic cups, cotton wool.

• S eeds that will sprout easily. Choose one type to be used in all cups (lentils, alfalfa, mung beans, etc.)

• A container of water with labelled cups for mixing liquids to match with seed containers.

• Additives, such as salt, vinegar, dishwashing machine powder, methylated spirits.

• S ticks, labels and pens to identify each cup.

Preparation: Find a suitable space for this activity and assemble all necessary ingredients and containers. Note: To speed up the germination

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process, soak seeds overnight in water. Drain in preparation for class.

Introduction: Discuss with students what plants/trees need in order to thrive, e.g water, soil, sunlight, etc. Explain to students that this is a simple visual activity to see first-hand the impact of conditions (light/dark) and a range of additives on the growing potential of seeds.

Procedure: Step 1. Each student/group will need twice as many cups as you have additives. For each type of liquid you will be watering seeds with you will need two cups: one of these cups will be to grow seeds in and the other will be to mix and store your liquid for watering your seeds (e.g. if you have vinegar, salt and methylated spirits as additives you will need eight cups: two for each additive and two for just plain water).

Ask students to set up each seed-growing cup with a base of cotton wool inside the cup.

Step 2. Place a teaspoon of seeds in each seed cup on top of the cotton wool.

Step 3. Organise students to prepare liquids to add to each cup. One cup should just have pure water (even rainwater, if possible). Other cups should have a mix of an additive and water (2 teaspoons of additive to 100 ml of water).

Step 4. Students should clearly label each seedgrowing cup and each liquid formula.

Step 5. Instruct students to add enough water/ liquid solution to fully moisten the cotton wool.

Step 6. Place seed cups with access to light under a windowsill (where they receive light, but not full sun).

Step 7. Place one seed-growing cup (with pure water added) in a dark corner with no access to light.

Step 8. Each day, check moisture levels, adding more liquid as needed.

Step 9. Regularly observe growth levels of seeds in cups (the students might like to take a photo each day).

Step 10. Invite students to share a quiet moment for mindful meditation: take a moment when either seated or lying down together to create the ideal conditions for all the systems of the body/mind to return to being settled, calm and in balance, creating an ideal environment for the body/mind to harmonise, just like in nature.

Invite feedback/reflections • Ask students what this activity makes them think about in the way we conduct industry and manage the environment.

• Ask students to reflect on how the body and mind is affected by our habits: diet, hydration, exercise, drinking, smoking, taking drugs, etc.

Activity 2: The natural interconnected web Resources: • Ball of string or wool.

• Use whiteboard to notate ideas from students that arise out of this session.

Introduction: Introduce the concept of interdependence/connection to students. “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” – Chief Seattle

Read Chief Seattle’s quote to your students to cermet their understanding. Begin by asking them to consider the natural elements: sun, sky, wind, water, fire and earth.

Explain to students that in this activity they will be starting with a natural starting point, e.g. sun, water, earth or fire. They will explore the multifaceted connection points of each element by throwing the wool/string across the room as each student calls out a sequential connection and then throws the wool to another classmate.

For example: Starting with the ‘trees’ - trees providing shade, protection (wind, rain, sun), cooling environment, soil health, oxygen, resources such as timber/fibre/woodchips/fuel for humans and shade/ homes/food for animals.

The details of this activity will emerge more clearly as you follow the procedure below.

Procedure: Step 1. Arrange students in a large circle.

Step 2. Ask for someone to start the web, by holding the end of the string/wool, calling out the agreed starting point (e.g. trees) and throwing it across the circle to a classmate.

Step 3. The next student connects the idea and throws it to another classmate across the circle.

Step 4. Keep going as a ‘topic’ becomes covered and keep the process open and flowing as you move onto other connected elements. Continue until all students are holding onto the web.

Step 5. When everyone in the circle is holding on to the web, stop. Create a ‘meditative moment’. Ask

everyone to practice a quiet, standing meditation and just simply let their hands, bodies (and tongues!) be completely still. Pause for a few moments and experience how every thread of the web can become completely still.

Invite feedback/reflections Ask how this activity helps students recognise the connected web of their life.

Consider social, emotional, performance, health connections arising from this theme, and the imperative to connect and look after nature.

Australian curriculum links: General capabilities: Personal and social capability.

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.2.

These activities can be used with all subject areas to enable student deep focus and engagement. They are also directly linked to the following Australian Curriculum content descriptors: Year 7 & 8 Health and Physical Education • Plan and use health practices, behaviours and resources to enhance the health, safety and wellbeing of their communities (ACPPS077).

• Plan and implement strategies for connecting to natural and built environments to promote the health and wellbeing of their communities (ACPPS078).

Year 9 & 10 Health and Physical Education • Plan and evaluate new and creative interventions that promote their own and others’ connection to community and natural and built environments (ACPPS097).

Time required: 50 – 60 minutes for each activity.

Also check out: Download the full lesson plan at www. coolaustralia.org/activity/schools-tree-daynature-mindfulness-60-minute-activities/ Explore the Nature of Mindfulness Digital Library at http://www.coolaustralia.org/ca_topic/naturemindfulness/ Register for Schools Tree Day at treeday.planetark.org/involved/coordinate.cfm

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Sustainability

Students give a fig about gardening A SOUTH AUSTRALIAN HIGH SCHOOL IS HELPING ITS STUDENTS DEVELOP A NEW-FOUND APPRECIATION FOR FRUIT AND VEGETABLES, THANKS TO A GROWING KITCHEN GARDEN PROJECT.

It’s not very often you see secondary school teens munching snappy, fresh beans and delicious ripe figs direct from a school garden, but that’s exactly what’s happening at Craigmore High School.

Students at the school, which is in the northern Adelaide suburb of Blakeview, have been discovering the joys of growing and harvesting produce through their own kitchen garden.

The project started last year and is being run by two passionate staff members: School Services Officer Kim Nys and Home Economics and Art Teacher Emma Campbell.

Kim and Emma said the idea to start a school garden had been brewing for several years – beginning as a plan to grow herbs to supplement the produce used in the school’s existing Home Economics program.

The school joined the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation’s new Kitchen Garden Classroom membership in May last year, which they said gave them the confidence to bring their plans to life.

Kim and Emma attended training with the Foundation in 2015 at Adelaide’s Blair Athol North School, an established Kitchen Garden

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Program School, and came back full of inspiration.

“The training was fantastic and really interesting. We came back thinking ‘we want that!’ We want a garden like them, we want a pizza oven!” they said.

Kim and Emma said after attending the training their small idea to grow herbs snowballed into a much bigger plan.

The kitchen garden project was lucky enough to inherit an area of the school garden that had been landscaped over four years by Year 11 and 12 students, who were completing a course that gave literacy and numeracy a practical application.

The large garden – almost a quarter of an acre in size – features fish ponds, a barbecue area, seating, a creek bed and an array of established fruit trees growing plums, figs, lemons and limes.

After adding four raised veggie beds they had their kitchen garden, and set up a gardening group with about 15 students – mostly from Year 9. The students, who volunteered to be part of the group, have one lesson a week in the garden and have been busy tending to herbs, zucchinis, beans, lettuces and melons in recent months.

“There’s a core group that have been there since day one and they just love it,” Kim and Emma said.

They said the gardening group was encouraging the students to develop a positive attitude to discovering new foods, and a willingness to try them.

“We’ve had kids who won’t try new foods in Home Ec classes, but they will try it when they have grown it and picked it from the garden themselves,” they said.

“They loved eating the figs straight from the tree, as it was something many of them had never tried before.”

The students have also been eagerly eating strawberry guavas, plums and beans fresh from the garden.

“Most of the time, with the beans, they eat them straight on the spot,” they said. Students also took some of the excess plums home to share with family members and make jam.

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ALL educators can now dig into pleasurable food educati0n!

ll Start s ma , and grow s to contact u learn how

Kim and Emma said some of the students in the group gardened at home with their families, but many of the students didn’t have any gardening experience.

Those students who have gardens at home had also been inspired to bring in plants to add to the school garden.

But it’s not just the food growing in the garden that has been exciting the students.

“They also love seeing the nature in the garden and got very excited about a praying mantis they found. It’s not very often you see a Year 9 girl excited about a praying mantis,” Kim and Emma said.

Once the garden is established, and producing more fruit and vegetables, the school hopes to start cooking classes with the students and to integrate the kitchen garden project into the Year 8 and 9 curriculum.

The school will utilise its established kitchen, which is used for Home Economics classes with Years 8–12 students.

Kim, who looks after all the food ordering for the school, said they had already been able to supplement the Home Ec food supplies with fresh herbs from the garden.

Kim and Emma said they had big plans for the garden and had involved the students in the planning process all the way along.

“Last year we sat them down, gave them pieces of paper and asked them to W draw what they would like in the garden.”

“We’re really trying to give them ownership of this project.”

Next on the wishlist is a greenhouse made from recycled plastic bottles and, down the track, maybe that pizza oven.

Details: kitchengardenfoundation.org.au

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For the first time, ALL educators can now access: Face-to-Face Training u Online Professional Development u Kitchen Garden Classroom Membership u

Educational Resources u Customised Consultancy Services u Ongoing Support u

Call: 13000 SAKGF (13000 72543) Email: support@kitchengardenfoundation.org.au Visit: www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au

Positive Education

Building wellbeing in our students JUSTIN ROBINSON REPORTS ON THE FIRST 10 YEARS OF POSITIVE EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA.

Justin Robinson, M.Ed. MACE, is the inaugural Director of the Institute of Positive Education, based at Geelong Grammar School. He leads a team dedicated to promoting the theory and practice of Positive Education through research and providing training for other educators. As a passionate leader in the field of student and staff wellbeing, Justin has been invited to write for a number of publications and speak at conferences both in Australia and around the world.

His appointment at the Institute follows a successful career as a Mathematics and Physical Education teacher and school leader at both Geelong Grammar School and Trinity Grammar School.

An enthusiastic sportsman, Justin has coached many school sporting teams and is a keen marathon runner. Justin is an Honorary Fellow of Melbourne Graduate School of Education, and lives with his wife Jeanette and their four children on the Corio campus of Geelong Grammar School.

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In 2006, Dr Martin Seligman first introduced Positive Psychology to Geelong Grammar School in Victoria. Since then, there has been a rapid diffusion of Seligmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educational philosophies and principles in Australian schools. Known today as Positive Education, the results of this partnership are helping educators to transform the way they approach pastoral care in a learning environment and prepare students for lifelong learning and flourishing beyond the school gates. As Roosevelt noted, we cannot predict the future. However, we can try to assist our students to be resilient and adaptable to whatever their future may bring. This is one of the key aims of Positive Education.

Historically, education models have tended to focus largely upon academic excellence at the expense of less quantifiable variables such as wellbeing. Positive Education is used to overcome this discord, bringing together achievement and personal growth. Positive Education promotes

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specific skills that assist students to strengthen their relationships, build positive emotions, enhance personal resilience, promote mindfulness, and enable the exploration of meaning and purpose in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life.

While Positive Education is utilised in many different ways to serve a variety of purposes, it is underpinned by several essential tenets.

Positive Education helps students to understand their individual character strengths and learning styles, and adopt a growth mindset. The practice of mindfulness and active gratitude improves interpersonal relationships and interactions.

Students and staff strive to achieve optimal wellbeing through focusing on the areas included in the PERMA model, which stands for Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Achievement. In developing our own Positive Education programme here at Geelong Grammar School, we added Positive Health to the PERMA

model, and over the past seven years, have worked to refine the topics taught under each area. The realisation of optimal wellbeing allows students to flourish, emotionally, socially and psychologically. All of these aspects are used conjointly, to build resilient and emotionally intelligent students, who emerge from their education having gained the skills to thrive and make a meaningful contribution to their world.

Research Research has shown that motivation to learn and achieve one’s best is linked with higher levels of wellbeing – ‘feeling good and doing good’. It has also been shown that happy children perform better academically, and positive staff feel a greater connection to their organisation.

While Positive Education is a new area for research, studies conducted at Geelong Grammar School and elsewhere show promising results in regards to Positive Education programmes decreasing stress and anxiety as well as increasing self-efficacy, self-esteem and optimism.

A team of scholars, led by Associate Professor Dianne Vella-Brodrick from the University of Melbourne, received an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant to conduct research on the effectiveness of Positive Education programmes at Geelong Grammar School.

They have tracked the wellbeing of students across Years 9, 10 and 11 using a range of psychological, physiological and behavioural indications. Year 9 and 10 students from Geelong Grammar School who all receive Positive Education were compared to the

corresponding year levels at a range of SES matched schools without Positive Education programmes.

They found that: • Positive Education can protect young people from declining mental health; • Students are able to use positive strategies taught through Positive Education programmes to help them respond effectively to everyday life events; • Student-teacher connections matter to young people; • Students engage with Positive Education most when they can see its relevance to their real world experiences and get involved with the learning process; • Positive Education improves both the emotional and physiological state of students; and, • Through Positive Education strategies, students are better able to regulate their emotions, savour personal achievement, understand their strengths, achieve their goals and appreciate others.

Vella-Brodrick and her colleagues found that Positive Education, which focuses on early intervention and prevention and is adopted with a ‘whole school approach’, increases the likelihood of sustained wellbeing benefits to students.

Key findings from Vella-Brodrick et al.’s (2015) research included: On average, Year 10 students from the representative schools experienced a decline in social connectedness and physical health, as well as an increase in depression, anxiety and antisocial behaviour. However the effects were far less

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pronounced in students within the Geelong Grammar School Positive Education programme.

Students at Geelong Grammar School reported significantly higher levels of wellbeing, social relationships and physical health at the end of Year 10 relative to comparison students.

While there was a clear benefit despite the short timeframe of the programme (less than a year), it is unlikely that the results would be sustained if the Positive Education programme was not maintained. A continuous effort throughout the schooling years would have the greatest upward effect on student wellbeing.

In my role at Geelong Grammar School’s Institute of Positive Education and as a teacher, I have seen firsthand the challenges facing educators today. In particular, there is a growing need to address concerns about the mental health and wellbeing needs of our students.

Shockingly, studies suggest that one in four young Australians report experiencing mental illness. As students spend such a significant portion of their lives at school, schools are ideally placed to address these mental health and wellbeing needs, perhaps even before they become an issue.

Young people, males in particular, can be reluctant to seek help for mental health issues, so adopting a preventative and early intervention based programme can help those who might have otherwise fallen through the cracks. Positive Education aims to give students the coping mechanisms required for living in a fast-paced and often high-stress environment, both at school and later in their adult lives.

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Positive Education

Developing the whole school approach Developing a whole school approach to Positive Education involves four key elements: Learn it; Learn it involves providing opportunities for all members of the school community to understand and grasp the science of wellbeing. This requires introducing staff, both teaching and non-teaching, to the key tenets of Positive Psychology and allowing them to explore and consider how particular activities and principles may be applied in their life. While initial and then ongoing staff training is an essential component of a Positive Education programme, each school must also consider how best to help the parent body and members of the wider community to appreciate the growing evidence base of Positive Education.

Live it; Live it is the next logical step in the implementation of a whole-school approach to Positive Education. Individual wellbeing is a multi-faceted construct that is dynamic across time and consists of meeting different challenges throughout each of the life stages.

Wellbeing will never be a goal that can be ticked

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off, instead it will be a quality, a value that we endeavour to foster within ourselves to help us thrive.

In particular, each adult within a learning community must endeavour to be actively involved in nurturing their own wellbeing. This may be through maintaining a gratitude journal, practising daily mindful meditations, overcoming a fixed mindset or taking part in other personally meaningful wellbeing activities.

Research into Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School has shown that it is vital for teachers to be authentic role-models of the concepts espoused within Positive Education.

Teach it; T each it refers to providing students with the opportunity to discover and explore each of the key elements of wellbeing.

Teaching wellbeing can occur in various ways within the one school, including: the explicit delivery of a wellbeing curriculum, the addition of wellbeing focus days devoted to exploring relevant themes, weaving wellbeing components where appropriate into existing academic curriculum and the specific exploration of wellbeing topics during

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pastoral/home group tutorials.

In 2009, Geelong Grammar School created a Positive Education Department and introduced a Head of Positive Education position to focus on the explicit teaching of Positive Education from Years 5 to 10. At Geelong Grammar School, the explicit teaching of Positive Education occurs from Years 5 to Year 10 and each of The Junior School campuses and Academic Departments across the School are also charged with the responsibility of addressing relevant wellbeing concepts.

Embed it; Embed it refers to adopting school-wide policies and practices which align with the principles of supporting and nurturing wellbeing within individuals and within the community.

Each element of a school must be considered through the lens of wellbeing: This includes formal communication through assemblies, reports, the school prospectus, job descriptions, newsletters and emails, as well as informal communication through: • The implicit messages and expectations visible around the school; • The effective management of mistake and the promotion of positive relationships; • The procedures for staff appraisal and professional development; and, • How the school community celebrates and grieves important local and global events.

Whilst the applied ‘Learn It, Live It, Teach It and Embed It’ framework that we use at Geelong Grammar School is described in a linear and ordered sequence, each element continues to be actioned as part of a successful Positive Education Programme. It has been suggested that the fifth phrase in the framework should be “Repeat It”.

We believe that Positive Education should never be static. Each element of the programme must continue to evolve as the science evolves. We need to ensure that we respond to feedback from students, staff and parents, while also not shying away from complex or difficult topics. We also need to gain a deeper understanding of genetics, the mind-body connection and how different cultures and personalities relate to the various wellbeing concepts.

One of the biggest questions still facing the field of Positive Education is what the most effective frequency, balance and delivery of wellbeing elements

“We cannot always build the future for our youth but we can build our youth for the future.” – Franklin D Roosevelt, 1940.

is. Answering this will allow the establishment of an evidence-based developmentally staged K-12 wellbeing curriculum coupled with the most effective environments that nurture human flourishing. Such a curriculum could then be adapted to fit the unique needs of individual schools.

How schools are implementing Positive Education Over the past three years, over 8,000 educators from more than 500 schools from around Australia and the world have participated in our Positive Education training courses.

In working with these inspiring educators, we have seen first-hand that Positive Education is not a onesize-fits-all approach to education.

Positive Education should look different in each school. Yes, many of the ingredients will be the same – character strengths, gratitude, mindsets, flow, mindfulness, resilience, savouring, kindness and more, and many of the processes will be the same – staff training, whole-school practices, wellbeing committees and positive interventions to name a few. However the exact components need to be shaped by the culture and practices of the individual school.

A small sample of schools who have completed training with our Institute and gone on to successfully implement a Positive Education programme are highlighted below.

Auburn South Primary School in Victoria has integrated Positive Education throughout their syllabus.

Positive Education has been integrated into Auburn South Primary School’s IB PYP curriculum through the

development of, and access to, co-curricular activities that allow students to grow, identify their strengths and understand their emotions. Positive Education strategies are being reinforced in all classes, across all year levels at the primary school from mathematics to literacy and health, and are practiced through strength-based activities, inquiry and solution-focused language, verbal and written in the classroom.

Teachers at Auburn South Primary School are also encouraged to lead students in classroom mindfulness

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meditation to help alleviate stress and anxiety levels and to train attention and focus for optimal learning.

Mount Barker High School in South Australia has taken a different approach. One lesson a week across all year levels has been dedicated to Positive Education. Over time, the school is working to introduce Positive Education into all classes, whether explicitly or implicitly. Teachers at Mount Barker are taking a collaborative approach to this process, working together to find the best solutions. For instance, maths teachers are using Carol Dweck’s Mindsets to challenge students’ preconceptions about the difficulty of maths. Year 9 science classes include a unit on the brain, neuroscience, and neuroplasticity, in which students look at the science behind Positive Education and how they can change their own negativity bias and patterns of thinking.

Like many educational theories, Positive Education has lofty aims and ideals. However, it is not a system that requires extensive funds and resources. Many schools, government, independent or otherwise are implementing Positive Education programmes within their existing curriculum and strategic framework.

Rather than requiring a complete overhaul, it is a matter of taking the time to assess the school’s current strengths and weaknesses and evaluate how Positive Education can be implemented in a way that best suits the needs of the school.

Having worked with many schools over the years, we know that the success of Positive Education is often determined by how the programme is implemented and integrated in to existing structures throughout academic and pastoral care programs, co-curricular activities and in school literature, such as weekly newsletters.

Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School in Western Australia is an example of a school who have

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Positive Education

About the Institute of Positive Education The Institute of Positive Education is an initiative

by Geelong Grammar School aimed at improving student wellbeing.

Since the launch of the Institute in 2014, more than 8,000 representatives from more than 500 primary and secondary schools have attended Positive Education training courses at the Institute of Positive Education. These educators have come from all Australian states and territories and nine different countries.

You can find out more about the Institute, Positive Education, the courses they offer, and the research undertaken at Geelong Grammar School on the Instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website: www.instituteofpositiveeducation.com Other useful websites PESA (Positive Education Schools Association): www.pesa.edu.au/ IPEN (International Positive Education Network): www.ipositive-education.net/

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incorporated Positive Education into their pre-existing culture and ethos. The school has a strong sporting culture and physical education programme which has been enhanced with the adoption of Positive Sports Coaching. By introducing new concepts one by one, the school is also encouraging students to discover their own character strengths. In exploring these strengths and how they can be nurtured, developed and applied to multiple aspects of their education and interests, students are able to enhance not only their studies, but also their sense of self-esteem and general wellbeing.

Positive Education is used to negate the effects of stress and transform negative mentalities into a growth mindset, which seeks to address challenges in the manner that best suits the individual.

Caring for the carer While Positive Education exists as a means to improve student wellbeing, one of the essential tenets of Positive Education is staff wellbeing. The rationale behind this is that teachers need to feel the impact of the training on their own lives in order to model and enact the principles of Positive Education in the classroom.

An excellent example of a school working to

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improve teacher wellbeing is Geelong High School in Victoria. Staff have been provided with opportunities to be involved in ongoing Professional Development.

The school has also established the position of Positive Education Leader, which has been the key to driving the programme and allowing the school to remain strongly committed to implementing Positive Education. Geelong High School has introduced initiatives such as staff gratitude and recognition activities, meditation, and a regularly scheduled coffee van visiting the school, as a way of encouraging staff to take some time for themselves.

An effectively implemented Positive Education programme is taught by teachers who are knowledgeable about, and genuinely believe in Positive Education. It is for this reason that genuine staff engagement with Positive Psychology is a prerequisite for effectively communicating Positive Education.

Providing comprehensive teacher training and upholding an open dialogue between administrative and teaching staff allows teachers to play an active role in shaping the curriculum, utilising and adapting Positive Education as they feel best fits their classroom.

A higher level of engagement and responsibility

Education can help teachers to encourage their students, nurture a love of learning and support their character development.

promotes ownership in a way that a dictated and fixed model cannot.

The implementation of Positive Education programmes can arm teachers with the necessary

tools and mindset to deal with less favourable classroom situations, through positive communication and coping mechanisms learnt through Positive Education strategies. At the same time, Positive

Conclusion Positive Education is not about completely dismantling our current curriculum in favour of the new and shiny. Nor is it simply paying lip service to popular buzzwords such as mindfulness and wellbeing without the research and science to support it. Positive Education is a means of complementing and enhancing current educational strategies, supported by valuable membership organisations including PESA (Positive Education Schools Association) and IPEN (International Positive Education Network).

Furthermore, I believe that, over the next ten years and beyond, as the science continues to develop and Positive Education schools share best practice in teaching and learning, both the mental health of our young people and the wellbeing of our communities as a whole will show the benefits of this legitimate and necessary commitment to placing wellbeing at the heart of education.

Health & Wellbeing

Don’t let illness define your travel holiday ASTHMA, ALLERGIES, HEART PROBLEMS… NONE OF THESE CONDITIONS SHOULD STOP YOU FROM TRAVELING, AS LONG AS YOU RESPECT YOUR DOCTOR’S RECOMMENDATIONS AND PREPARE YOUR TRIP WELL. TO ENSURE YOU HAVE AN AMAZING TRIP HERE ARE SOME YOU THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU TAKE-OFF.

FIRST THING TO DO – SEE YOUR GENERAL PRACTITIONER! • He or she will know best whether or not your trip is feasible and what medically is required to help you be fully prepared. Have a complete medical exam and ensure that your condition is stable. Ensure you ask about the potential risks if you travel. Review all the situations you should avoid and the measures to take in case of an emergency and be sure to write down all of your doctor’s recommendations and advice • Always plan on taking a surplus supply of medication in case your return flight is delayed, and make sure you have several days’ worth of medication in your carry-on luggage.

• Ask your doctor to provide a letter stating the medications you will be carrying, how much you will be taking and confirming that they are for personal use. You may have to present this document to Customs to justify taking any PBS drugs overseas. You must keep all medications in their original packaging. There are also restrictions on the amount of PBS medication you can take overseas.

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• Ask your doctor for a written summary of your health condition(s) in English. This will be very useful in helping any Doctor overseas treat you appropriately if an incident should occur. Also if you have a heart condition, ask for a copy of your last electrocardiogram (ECG).

• S tart thinking about vaccinations at around three months prior to your intended travel.

TRAVELING BY PLANE • Transporting medications requires careful organisation. You should ensure that in your carry-on luggage you have enough medication to last at least a week. Also verify that all the medications you carry in any bag are packaged properly, as they may be very sensitive to high or low temperatures.

•D o you have a heart condition? Remember to point out your pacemaker to security staff before passing through the security gate.

•D uring the flight, stay well hydrated and take frequent short walks throughout. Discuss using compression stockings with your doctor and undertake calf and foot exercises regularly.

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DURING YOUR STAY • Adjust your medication to the change in time zones. Follow your doctor’s recommendations. If the time change is more than three hours, you’ll have to compensate for this - the aim being to adjust to the local time as soon as you arrive.

• Diabetics should be aware that changes in diet, activity levels and time zones can affect their blood glucose so they will need to monitor this more closely than usual. Speak with your doctor and prepare a diabetes diet plan that takes into account local food options. Travel often involves a lot of walking and Diabetics should also take extra precautions to look after their feet and avoid injury.

• Adapt your activities to your situation. Those with allergies to insects should avoid hiking in tropical forests. If you are a diabetic, epileptic or have a chronic cardiac or respiratory condition you should seek specific medical advice before considering scuba diving. Hiking in high altitudes or in the cold can trigger an angina attack in a susceptible individual or limits to how high you can travel may be required if you have certain cardiac or respiratory problems.

• In case of a health incident, stay calm! If the problem is more serious you can contact your assistance provider who will know how to advise you appropriately for your location you are in and help you reach local medical, emergency and hospital services. If you have received medical care overseas, ask the health care professionals for a written and exact account of the care they have provided (in English if possible), with their contact information so that your own doctor back home can appropriately follow up on your care if necessary.

Follow the advice of your doctor, and don’t let living with a chronic disease prevent you from travelling.

Professional Development

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This course will teach you to lead with confidence. You will learn from, and work with, a diverse range of professionals who bring different knowledge and perspectives.

Select from specialisations such as Curriculum and Pedagogy, Organisational Learning or Principal Preparation. If you prefer, you can select General Leadership Studies and tailor your unit choices for a more generic, broadly applicable leadership qualification. The best part is that the course structure is flexible so you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to make your decision before you start.

Study one year full time, two years part time, on campus or off campus in Clayton or even Singapore (Organisational Learning specialisation only).

Learn how to lead in learning communities and inspire others to adapt and innovate. Make your mark in Education. Enrol today.

Call 1800 MONASH or visit www.monash.edu/education/postgraduate

educationmattersmag.com.au is a leading source of breaking industry information. The website is updated daily with news, policies, governance, curriculum and editorial from leading authorities, industry experts and ministerial decision makers.

The Premium School Suppliers Directory has a user-friendly interface making it easy for educational professionals to search for products and services they may require for their school.

educationmattersmag.com.au education matters secondary

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Bullying

Responding to parent complaints about bullying DESPITE THE DIFFICULTIES, THERE ARE IMPORTANT REASONS WHY SCHOOL STAFF MEMBERS NEED TO ENGAGE WITH PARENTS ON THE TOPIC OF BULLYING, WRITES KARYN HEALY.

Karyn L. Healy is a psychologist with extensive practical experience in supporting schools, parents and students in preventing and addressing bullying, and resolving conflict. She worked as Principal Project Coordinator with Queensland Department of Education for many years leading a major initiative implementing conflict resolution in schools in South East Queensland, and through this role developed several whole-school programs and teaching resources to address bullying and promote social and emotional skills of students, staff and families.

Karyn is co-author of the Resilience Triple P program which is an evidence-based family intervention for children chronically bullied at school. She has a Master’s degree in organisational psychology specialising in social consultancy, conflict resolution and group facilitation. She has a PhD in intervening with families of children bullied at school. Karyn is an Associate Editor with the Journal of Child and Family Studies. She has ongoing roles in staff wellbeing for Queensland Department of Education and in program development

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School bullying is a sensitive issue, and conversations on this topic with parents can often be stressful for teachers and principals. It is common for school staff to feel attacked by parents who complain that their child is being bullied. It is common for parents and schools to have different views about whether a particular student is being bullied. Parents usually only know their own child’s version of events, which may not be the whole story. They may also have a different definition of what is bullying than used by the school.

Despite the difficulties, there are important reasons why school staff members need to engage with parents on the topic of bullying. If parents are not satisfied with the way the school responds to their concerns, they might take matters into their own hands including directly reprimanding the other student, getting into conflict with the student’s parents or taking their story to the media – all of which risk making the situation much worse. If parents are not happy with the school’s response, they might also complain about the school to other parents, which damages the school’s reputation and may cause further problems down the track. Some parents resort to transferring their child out of the school, which may or may not be in the best interests of the child.

Apart from the risks of not managing parents’ complaints about bullying well, there is evidence that working with parents to address victimisation will achieve better results for students. A recent metaanalysis showed that school bullying interventions which actively involve parents are more effective (Ttofi & Farrington, 2010). Other research has found that warm, supportive parenting protects against victimisation (Lereya, Samara & Wolke, 2013) and provides a buffer against ongoing emotional

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distress caused by victimisation (Bowes et al., 2010). Parental coaching of social skills and support of children’s friendships affects children’s peer competence and acceptance by peers (McDowell & Parke, 2009). At the University of Queensland we have developed a program for families of children who are bullied at school called Resilience Triple P which teaches parents to support children’s peer skills and relationships and to work with the school to address bullying. The trial of this program found that students whose families participated in the program had significantly greater reductions in victimisation than control families who were relying mainly on school efforts alone to resolve the problems (Healy & Sanders, 2015). Schools are therefore likely to achieve better results for students when they work with parents concerned about bullying.

IF THE PARENT THINKS THERE’S A PROBLEM, THERE’S A PROBLEM So how can school staff work with parents who claim their child is being bullied at school? Firstly it’s important to understand that schools and parents have very different perspectives and priorities – but these can be complimentary in solving the problem.

Teachers and principals are concerned with the safety and wellbeing of all students. Parents, on the other hand, are primarily concerned with the safety and wellbeing of their own child, and they are usually experts on this. If a parent says their child is distressed, then this is a concern. A large well-controlled study in the UK found that parents’ reports of their child being bullied at school predicted increased risk of ongoing mental health problems for children several years later (Arseneault et al, 2008).

It is noteworthy that we don’t know whether the

teachers of children involved in this study would have agreed with the parents’ conclusions about bullying: they weren’t asked. We do know, though, that if the parent says the child has been bullied, then the child is at-risk. It is therefore important, regardless of whether the school has evidence of bullying, and regardless of whether school staff agree with the assessment that the child is being bullied, that the school takes the parents concern seriously, investigates the issue further and seeks to improve the situation for that student.

LOOK PAST THE EMOTIONAL DELIVERY TO UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES It is the parents’ job to advocate for their child, and there are few issues which make parents more defensive and emotional than their child being hurt or targeted. Unfortunately, school staff are usually first in the line of attack for an emotional parent. Parents may blame school staff for failing to keep their child safe, or sometimes school staff feel attacked simply because of the emotional delivery. Either way it is important to remember that emotionality comes with the territory: the parent is just trying to protect their child from danger. Most parents are able to calm down if they are listened to empathically without interruption. This means putting you own views on hold, even if you think the parent is mistaken. It also means agreeing with what you can. You don’t need to agree that the student is being bullied if you are not sure whether this is true.

However you could still empathise with the child’s or parent’s distress. e.g.

“I’m so sorry to hear that Sam is having such a hard time at school with others students. I didn’t realise and I appreciate your telling me.”

If you ask the right questions you can get a lot of useful information from the parent about what has been going on. You can find out what behaviour the student found distressing e.g. “Did Sam tell you exactly what the other students were doing that upset him?” You can also find out about the context (where, when, who, who else was present) and frequency of the problem. It is also useful to ask the parent what their child did before and after the problem.

Although the parent may not know this information at the time, this might help them consider their own child’s behaviour as part of the relevant context.

Giving the parent a chance to tell you what they know, before providing your information, will usually help the parent calm down enough to listen to you, and to work with your to devise a plan to solve the problem.

AVOID AN ARGUMENT ABOUT WHETHER IT’S BULLYING All Australian schools have a school bullying policy, which specifically defines what bullying is and what bullying isn’t. This is very important as a guide for unacceptable behaviour, especially as bullying can take different forms: physical, verbal, technological and social, and may include behaviour which is very subtle. However many parents describe getting into arguments with school staff about whether behaviour constitutes bullying, according to the school bullying policy. It is not helpful to use the school bullying policy as grounds to dismiss parental concerns about their child. It is common for parents and school staff to have initially different views on whether behaviour is bullying. It is not necessary for parents and school staff to agree that the behaviour is bullying to be able to start working on the issue.

Sometimes it is not clear until you start dealing with the problem whether it really is bullying or not. For instance, in the situation of name-calling, it is not a concern if the student does not mind being called that name. Although it may

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Bullying

“If parents are not satisfied with the way the school responds to their concerns, they might take matters into their own hands including directly reprimanding the other student, getting into conflict with the student’s parents or taking their story to the media – all of which risk making the situation much worse.” be hurtful, it is also not bullying if the perpetrator is not aware the other student does not like being called the name. In this instance we will not really know whether the perpetrator is bullying or not until we are sure they are aware that the name-calling is not acceptable to the recipient. If they continue with name-calling when they know it is hurtful, we might then conclude it is bullying.

If the parent believes the behaviour is bullying and you do not, it is also worthwhile considering the possibility that there may be some information that you do not have. Students are often very good at bullying when adults are not around, and very often school staff see what students want them to see. For instance teachers might see a student lashing out angrily and not realise that the outburst is a reaction to controlled, sustained, subtle provocation. Although teachers and school staff think they know when bullying is happening, research shows they only know a fraction of what goes on, and that students tell their parents more often than teachers (Fekkes, Pijpers, & Verloove-Vanhorick, 2005). If you do not have enough information about whether the behaviour is bullying or not, or you have a different opinion to the parent, it is worthwhile collecting more information. This will not stop you from starting to do something to address the issue. You can say something like, “Look I’m very concerned that Jamie has been so unhappy at school, and I’m keen to find out more about what’s going on so we can improve things for him.”

If the parent insists it is bullying and demands a punishment, and you do not have enough information, simply say this to the parent: “Look I’m very

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concerned that Jamie is upset. We will investigate it immediately, and deal with any misbehaviour decisively according to our behaviour policy. In the meantime, let’s come up with a plan to keep Jamie safe at school.”

GIVE THE PARENT INFORMATION THAT MAY CLARIFY THE SITUATION Sometimes in listening to the parents’ concerns, it is apparent that there is some relevant information they are not aware of. For instance, the matter may have already been dealt with by yourself or someone else, but the family may not be aware of this. You may also know of something that the parent’s child did that may have exacerbated the situation. This is not unusual, and can be helpful for the parent to know.

Regardless of whether the student did something to exacerbate the situation, it is worthwhile making a plan to prevent and manage further incidents.

INVOLVE THE PARENT IN MAKING A PLAN Involving the parent in making a plan enables the parent to see that something is happening and can also encourage the parent to support the plan. The plan can include monitoring and strategies for the student, teachers and parent. Monitoring involves collecting information about the peer behaviour that is distressing for the student. Incidents of serious physical aggression are usually captured on school systems.

However information about minor physical incidents, verbal or social behaviour affecting a particular student are unlikely to already be represented on school data systems. Teachers can keep a record of incidents they

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are aware of. Parents are also in an excellent position to keep a record by checking with their child at the end of the day. Records will usually include exactly what happened, the context (including what happened beforehand) and how the student responded. Parents can balance this by first asking the child some good things that happened in their day, then asking if there were any concerns.

For issues in which the student is in physical danger, keeping them safe is the immediate priority.

This might mean ensure the student avoids situations that may be dangerous until school staff are confident the issues have been resolved. For instance if the student has been threatened with physical aggression, they might avoid walking home alone until the situation has been dealt with. Sometimes keeping a student safe involves educating the parent and student about how the student’s own behaviour might provoke the situation. To avoid defensiveness on the part of the parent, this can be done by using questions: “When Jamie threatens the other boy back, do you think that makes it better or worse?”

Any effective plan to address victimisation will need to involve the child’s teachers. In a high school setting, this involves communicating with all of the teachers who take classes in which the problem occurs. It is helpful if one staff member, such as the Form Class teacher, Year Coordinator or Special Education Teacher takes responsibility for communicating with the relevant teachers. Drawing the teachers’ attention to the behaviour of concern will help them notice, and respond to, incidents. If the behaviour occurs mainly in the playground, duty

teachers may need to be informed. The coordinating teacher may be able to have a quiet talk to the other children involved. Techniques like the “Method of Shared Concern” provide a process for the teacher to address concerns through a series of low-key conversations with individual children involved (Rigby & Griffiths, 2009).

PLAN TO INVOLVE THE STUDENT IN LEARNING SKILLS TO HANDLE THE SITUATION THEMSELVES It is important that the student has an opportunity to learn how to prevent problems, and to deal with the problems themselves. Having good friends at school is an important protective factor against bullying (Bollmer, Milich, Harris & Maras, 2005) and can also help students cope with emotional consequences of unkind behaviour of peers (Hodges, Boivin, Vitaro & Bukowski, 1999). So one proactive strategy is to check that the student has friends and something to do at lunchtime, or when the problems occur. Parents can help support friendships by allowing their child to catch up with school friends outside school hours and encouraging them to participate in extra-curricular

“Any effective plan to address victimisation will need to involve the child’s teachers. In a high school setting, this involves communicating with all of the teachers who take classes in which the problem occurs.”

activities offered at the school.

It is important to ensure that the student knows how to deal with minor incidents themselves. Very often children need coaching and practise to respond effectively to problem behaviours of peers. Parents can help children practice strategies. Staff like Guidance Counsellors or School Chaplains can work with students and parents to help them develop and practice effective strategies to address minor behaviour from peers. For instance, rather than lashing out emotionally in response to teasing, teenagers can learn just to shrug and give eye contact or to say “yeah whatever” in a neutral voice. Achieving calm body language often requires some practice.

IT IS REASONABLE FOR PARENTS TO EXPECT THE SCHOOL TO DELIVER CONSEQUENCES FOR SERIOUS BEHAVIOUR At some stage of tackling the issue, it may become apparent that there has been deliberate harmful behaviour perpetuated. This is usually easiest to prove when the behaviour is physical or there is a record such is sometimes the case with cyberbullying. In these circumstances it is reasonable for a parent to expect that the school will deliver reasonable consequences. Even if cyber-bullying occurs outside school, if it involves relationships between students who attend the school, school staff are in an excellent position to help. It is the job of the school to keep the child safe, and part of this is delivering consequences. It is reasonable and important for a school to take into account a student’s cultural background, family circumstances and disabilities in determining an appropriate consequence. However, none of these reasons should prevent the school from imposing a reasonable consequence for serious harmful behaviour.

PLAN A FOLLOW-UP MEETING TO REVIEW PROGRESS Sometimes plans work immediately, and a misunderstanding is resolved, or students taught more appropriate social behaviour. More often, plans need to be worked on over time, to successfully solve a problem involving students’ peer relationships.

Although your initial plan may not succeed in solving the problem, it will probably help you better understand the nature of the challenge. It is important to plan a follow-up meeting with the parent and with the student (separately or together). This will enable you to find out if the initial concern has been dealt with, and whether there have been any new developments which require further action. It will also enable you to communicate with the parent what the school has done to address the issue. Very often parents assume that if they hear nothing from the school, nothing has been done. Equally often, school staff assume that if they hear nothing more from a parent, the issue is sorted. Neither of these assumptions is necessarily true. Communication, and working together, is central to resolving parents’ concerns about bullying.

Disclosure Statement about Author’s Involvement in Resilience Triple P The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program is developed and owned by The University of Queensland. The university, through its main technology transfer company Uniquest Pty Ltd, has licensed Triple P International (TPI) Pty Ltd to publish and disseminate Triple P worldwide.

Royalties stemming from published Triple P resources are distributed to the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, School of Psychology, Parenting and Family Support Centre and contributory authors. Karyn L. Healy is a contributory author of Resilience Triple P and may in future receive royalties from TPI. TPI is a private company and no author has any share or ownership of it. TPI had no involvement in the writing of this report.

References Arseneault, L., Milne, B. L., Taylor, A., Adams, F., Delgado, K., Caspi, A. & Moffitt, T.E. (2008). Being bullied as an environmentally mediated contributing factor to children’s internalizing problems: a study of twins discordant for victimization. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 162(2), 145-150.

Bollmer, J. M., Milich, R., Harris, M. J., & Maras, M. A. (2005). A friend in need: the role of friendship quality as a protective factor in peer victimization and bullying. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(6), 701-712. doi: 10.1177/0886260504272897 Bowes, L., Maughan, B., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T.E. & Arseneault, L. (2010). Families promote emotional and behavioural resilience to bullying: evidence of an environment effect. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02216.x Fekkes, M., Pijpers, F. I. M., & Verloove-Vanhorick, S. P. (2005). Bullying: who does what, when and where? Involvement of children, teachers and parents in bullying behavior. Health Education Research, 20(1), 81-91. doi:10.1093/her/cyg1100 Healy, K.L. & Sanders, M.R. (2014). Randomized controlled trial of a family intervention for children bullied by peers. Behavior Therapy, 45(6), 760-777. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2014.06.001 Hodges, E. V. E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1999). The power of friendship: Protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology. Vol, 35(1), 94-101. doi: 110.1037/0012-1649.1035.1031.1094 McDowell, D. J., & Parke, R. D. (2009). Parental correlates of children’s peer relations: an empirical test of a tripartite model. Developmental Psychology, 45(1), 224-235. doi: 210.1037/a0014305.

Rigby, K., & Griffiths, C. (2009). Applying the Method of Shared Concern in Australian schools: an evaluative study. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. http://www.ncab.org. au/Assets/Files/MethodOfSharedConcern.pdf Ttofi, M. M., & Farrington, D. P. (2010). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 7(1), 27-56. doi:10.1007/ s11292-11010-19109-11291.

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Administration

Timetabling for education CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF TIMETABLE STRUCTURES TO MAXIMISE CLASS SIZES WITHIN ACCEPTABLE LIMITS MAY CUT YOUR STAFFING COSTS BY THOUSANDS, WRITES CHRIS COOPER OF EDVAL TIMETABLES.

Schools face an ongoing challenge to offer suitable and cost-effective educational opportunities to all students. This is accomplished via efficient scheduling of resources to match classes, teachers and learning spaces. This scheduling is best managed by a well-implemented timetable package.

CURRICULUM STRUCTURES When was the last time you reviewed your curriculum structure?

Optimisations can be made in the structure of a timetable. Some key considerations could be: • The advantages of running some subjects in a Line or Block and how this might restrict the availability of resources.

• Grouping students for a number of subjects giving them more access to specialist rooms and teachers.

• Run lines where half the year cohort study core subjects while the remainder study electives.

• Setting the number of core classes, or how core and (smaller) practical classes merge together can play a part. Do you really need that extra practical class or are you hindered by a legacy of previous years, which dictates that you ‘always’ split pairs of core classes into three practical classes? This may no longer be the most efficient approach. Perhaps you could run one core class that is ‘also’ a practical class and split three into four.

• Combining classes in some subjects may give students access to a greater range of choices by offering electives across two or more years

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where vertical classes could consist of students from years 9 & 10, 11 & 12, or 9, 10 & 11 as is common in many states. Composite classes can also be used to run two classes with small numbers of students studying similar subjects or subjects at different levels.

“Using a more complex vertical structure with Years 11 and 12, we saved over 37 periods. This is equivalent to saving over one full-time teaching load!” – Tom Massarella, HT Administration, Dapto High School.

Careful analysis of timetable structures to maximise class sizes within acceptable limits may well cut your staffing costs by thousands. Perhaps you do not need to build that extra Science lab, instead just change your curriculum structures to improve occupancy rates on your existing labs and other resources, at no extra cost.

WHICH ELECTIVE CLASSES SHOULD RUN? Determining just which electives will run is often difficult. There are constraints on the number of classes that can be staffed and roomed. Then there are the student requests. You could secondguess student choices and just use the raw data from pre-determined lines that always run together.

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However, you could use the preferential weight of students who can be granted subjects, together with the likelihood they will actually complete the subject. If 15 students want Art, and 12 want Biology, and you had to cut one of these classes – which should go? Student preference level should be a strong indicator, but other factors could also be important such as retention of students.

Good timetable software will automatically deduce the best arrangement of subjects to run, or numbers of classes to run, within specific guidelines as set by the school. When it comes to generating elective lines it is often better to use an umbrella year structure which allocates lines or blocks for subjects across a number of school years to take advantage of vertical and composite classes.

However the decision is made, determining the number and type of classes to run is incredibly complex. It has a massive effect on educational outcomes, retention rates and on the school’s bottom line and should not be a decision taken lightly.

“A timetable consultant showed how we could totally cut two whole classes and yet still satisfy more student preferences than the lines we had proposed to run. This was just an amazing difference.”

– Robert Aerlic, Timetabler, Matraville Sports High School.

COLLAPSE CLASSES At the end of Year 11 students typically reassess their educational progress and aspirations. This often leads to a reduction in the number of subjects or units being studied. Suddenly some classes have half the number of students they had at the start of the year.

All schools know they can run two classes on a line so they can easily collapse to one class if numbers drop later in the year. But it is not ideal to run both classes in one line, as it reduces access to choice and only applies to that one subject. Clever timetablers and clever software tools allow collapsing of classes “across lines” without changing the subjects granted to students. This can be achieved in several ways, such as swapping students through subjects they take in other lines where there is more than one class of that subject, or by reprocessing the lines themselves.

Reprocessing lines may be just a few clicks away, given the right tools. If you could reduce your classes by one or more, without affecting student choice, how much could this save your school?

TOTAL COSTS OF TIMETABLE SOFTWARE Big business always focuses on total cost of ownership (TCO), but it is not often the focus in a school. TCO analysis includes total cost of acquisition and operating costs. The cost of a timetable is related far more to the solution quality than the timetable software or labour costs to produce it. With more complex tools, well trained and experienced timetablers, the TCO can be much lower. Timetabling is understood by very few and yet the timetable directs millions of dollars of school resources, shaping the educational lives of thousands.

Accessing support in using timetabling software may add to the initial cost but will deliver savings overall. Our own company, Edval Timetables, has a well-established online model providing flexible and efficient support and our training days have BOSTES accreditation in New South Wales. We also provide

“We were shown how we could collapse three classes ‘across lines’. At around $20k per class with on-costs, this was an estimated saving of $60k alone. I later moved from SCEGS Redlands to Tara, and again I was able to collapse three classes across lines this year for a similar $60k estimated saving.”

– Sam Cannavo, Director of Curriculum, Tara Anglican School. a range of services with our highly experienced staff such as consultation at key points of structural change, a timetable construction service and a key new service: a ‘timetabler-in-residence’: schools are able to have a year round Edval consultant constructing and maintaining the timetable. All of these options result in improved educational outcomes for schools.

WHERE DO I START? Educational entities do not necessarily mandate standards for their school scheduling either in training, in software, in timetabling best practice, as published policy or with organised conventions to bring school knowledge and industry together.

Timetable generation rarely gets a mention, even in government tenders, allowing inefficiencies to fester.

Who would know what opportunities are being lost in our schools, both educational and financial? This is the hidden cost of timetabling.

There are simple, relatively inexpensive solutions to leveraging your existing resources for significant

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financial savings. Review your timetabling software, review your legacy scheduling practices. Change from the ‘We’ve always done it that way’ mindset.

Recognise that the timetable is a creative opportunity to really make a difference rather than a ‘job to be done’. Focus far more on the quality of the solution, instead of just completion of a task. The timetable directs the sum total of all the school’s resources and efficient scheduling makes all the difference.

Truly value your timetabler. Give them respect.

Listen to their advice. Allocate them time to do their job properly, or embrace assistance from external consultants in support, or curriculum reviews.

Encourage staff to engage in ongoing industry training courses. Treat any costs for this as a sound investment paying real financial rewards, as well as delivering improved educational outcomes. Why not schedule in some discussion time now, and start changing your bottom line?

Chris Cooper is a director of Edval Timetables, and active in Educational Scheduling research.

Visit www.edval.com.au for more information.

02 8203 5455 Sydney 03 9020 3455 Melbourne 08 8120 0855 Adelaide sales@edval.com.au

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Professional Learning Events M

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Get started with the new MindMatters Register for a free event today MindMatters is a mental health initiative for secondary schools that aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people. It is a framework, in that it provides structure, guidance, and support while enabling schools to build their own mental health strategy to suit their circumstances.

Principals Australia Institute delivers FREE MindMatters professional learning events and provides support to help schools get started and during implementation of the framework. Join a free Getting Started session to learn about MindMatters processes and tools, and how to develop a plan to improve student mental health and wellbeing in your school.

For more information about MindMatters professional learning events, call 1800 1 724 724, email mindmatters@pai.edu.au, or visit www.mindmatters.edu.au.

MindMatters is a national mental health initiative for secondary schools developed by beyondblue with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health.

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nts MindMatters Getting Started April - June 2016 dates Getting Started with MindMatters When

Where

New South Wales Tuesday, 5 April 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Sydney CBD

of Health.

Where

Tuesday, 19 April 2016, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Mackay

Wednesday, 20 April 2016, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Ingham

Brisbane Friday, 22 April 2016, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Convention Making it Matter: A special MindMatters event and Exhibition Centre

Friday, 29 April 2016, 8:30 AM -3:30 PM

Sydney CBD

Tuesday, 3 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Port Macquarie

Thursday, 5 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Liverpool

Tuesday, 10 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Armidale

Tuesday, 17 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM

Maitland

South Australia

Tuesday, 17 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Wollongong

Wednesday, 1 June 2016, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Thursday, 19 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Lismore

Tasmania

Thursday, 19 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Wagga Wagga

Thursday, 16 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Tuesday, 24 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Sydney CBD

Tuesday, 24 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Dubbo

Western Australia Wednesday, 4 May 2016, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Perth

Tuesday, 31 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Bankstown

Thursday, 5 May 2016, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

West Perth

Thursday, 2 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Dubbo

Thursday, 19 May 2016, 3:30 - 5:30 PM

Perth

Tuesday, 14 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

North Ryde

Thursday, 2 June 2016, 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM

Perth

Tuesday, 21 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Maitland

Wednesday, 22 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Coffs Harbour

Australian Capital Territory

Wednesday, 22 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Katoomba

Thursday, 23 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Gosford

Friday, 24 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Parramatta

Victoria

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When

Queensland

Friday, 8 April 2016, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Novotel Making it Matter: A special MindMatters event Parramatta

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Getting Started with MindMatters

Thursday, 21 April 2016, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Warrnambool

Tuesday, 26 April 2016, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Preston

Tuesday, 3 May 2016, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Leongatha

Tuesday, 10 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM Jasper Hotel Making it Matter: A special MindMatters event Melbourne Thursday, 12 May 2016, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Frankston

Friday, 20 May 2016, 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Berwick

Tuesday, 7 June 2016, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Melbourne CBD

Tuesday, 7 June 2016, 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Bendigo

Wednesday, 15 June 2016, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Shepparton

Wednesday, 22 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Glen Waverley

Thursday, 26 May 2016, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Springwood Adelaide Hobart

Wednesday, 6 April 2016, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Canberra

Wednesday, 25 May 2016, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Canberra

Tuesday, 21 June 2016, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Canberra

Register now: 1. Log in or create a MindMatters account via: www.mindmatters.edu.au/create-account.

2. Follow the prompts.

3. Click the Get Involved tab.

4. Register for your event by choosing the date and following the prompts.

More events coming soon.

Visit: www.mindmatters.edu.au/get-involved/events P: 1800 1 724 724 E: mindmatters@pai.edu.au

Making the Grade

Disrupting learning to foster innovation THE PHYSICAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT STUDENT LEARNING WITH FLEXIBLE AND INVITING SPACES ACTING NOT ONLY AS ENABLERS FOR LEARNING, BUT WHEN DESIGNED INTENTIONALLY, CAN STRATEGICALLY DISRUPT THE LEARNING PROCESS. MELISSA MULHOLLAND REPORTS.

Teachers plan for learning and do so intentionally. We consider learning intent and how students will demonstrate their thoughts, skills and understandings. We embed opportunities to provide ongoing feedback and do so to enable further growth and development. We support, nourish, provide counsel and encourage. But how often do we consider the role of the physical environment in learning? The environment can significantly impact student learning with flexible and inviting spaces acting not only as enablers for learning, but when designed intentionally, can strategically disrupt the learning process.

At Wirreanda Secondary School in South Australia, we embarked on a journey to disrupt and transform a traditional library into a Learning Hub to foster innovation, collaboration and creativity.

“If campuses exist to foster specific kinds of learning, they should inspire and foster this work physically as well as intellectually1.”

Intentionally disrupting learning required forethought. Initial discussion focussed on why our library setting was not meeting student, staff and community needs? How could be better utilise the space? How would it be used and by who? How could the space foster a culture of learning? What do staff and students want from the space? Just like planning a unit, a backwards by design approach was implemented with the focus remaining on learning intentions.

Melissa Mulholland Melissa Mulholland is the Coordinator of Innovative Pedagogies (Teaching and Learning) at Wirreanda Secondary School in South Australia. She is passionate about innovation and works alongside a team of Lead Teachers to support the development, implementation and review of innovative teaching and learning across the school. Her role includes supporting learners, staff and students, throughout this process. You can keep up to date about what is happening in Learning Hub by reading the blog, https://learninghubwss.wordpress.com/

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The the birth of an idea begins to take shape as the “Resource Centre” is stripped and made bare in December 2013.

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Developing strategic direction The physical construction was obviously a key component of this change but developing purpose began long before. Consultation was a high priority with a series of opportunities for staff and students to discuss what the library transformation could involve.

It began with an open invitation to staff to attend a voluntary forum, guided by a series of questions including: • What does innovation look like at Wirreanda Secondary School?

• How can we do things differently in a secondary school focused on “subjects”?

• What can creative learning look like within the constraints of the curriculum?

• What should the focus be for our Learning Hub? • What are the possibilities?

Discussion focussed on the need to create, “spaces and culture where staff and students want to come to for learning and for sharing... where classes are working side by side, where teachers can see, hear and be involved in another teacher’s lessons”. The role of the space and the technology to enable learning were also considered. Furthermore, a “need to invest in our people first and foremost [was identified]. We need to build opportunities to have staff share, learn, plan and teach together.”

Another opportunity for consultation occurred in July 2013, when staff were asked to respond to three questions:

1. What types of learning spaces would support and promote engaging and innovative approaches to learning?

2. H ow would you envisage the Innovative Learning Hub supporting your development in terms of pedagogy and professional learning?

3. H ow would you like to see students learning in the Innovative Learning Hub? Again, this was voluntary. Rhoni McFarlane, now Deputy Principal, responded, “I think that in designing an environment that is innovative I would first be honest about what type of learning I value. One that is quiet and compliant or one that is collaborative and dynamic.

I would see the space dominated by lead learners focussed on connecting learning for students and staff. A place where taking risks and trying new approaches, collaborating both within and across faculties could be facilitated. People passionate about resourcing, media and construction of understanding over “filling of the bucket”.

I see the “Hub” as a space where community and belonging is promoted and the flexible spaces evoke collaboration. Participation could be inspired through engaging learning opportunities and teachers modelling collaboration and reflection through team

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teaching and planning. Eventually I would like to see staff and students engaging different year levels together with a focus on personalised learning, mentoring and even student led staff development.

Such a space could support a move towards a culture of ideas, inquiry and suggestions, with higher order thinking and greater opportunities for students to be “creators”.

Following this, executive members and whole staff had opportunity, during formal meeting times, to shape the process. The scene was set by a TED talk by Adora Svitak titled, “What Adults Can Learn from Kids”. Staff were then asked to use Post-it Notes to respond to a serio prompts all of which were compiled and informed later stages of the process.

These statements included, • Wow…. wouldn’t it be amazing if our students could/would do this ….

• Wow…. wouldn’t it be amazing if our staff could/ would do this ….

• Wow…. wouldn’t it be amazing if our leaders could/ would do this ….

• Wow…. wouldn’t it be amazing if our school looked like this …

Staff were asked to think ‘big picture’ and the responses absolutely reflected this with a number of key elements evolving through this process.

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Making the Grade

Flexibility Staff and students acknowledged that the space should be a place to plan, be immersed in and showcase learning. Thus, it became clear that flexibility was important and that furniture must be able to move easily, but still help to define learning zones. Furniture including bookcases and tables on caster wheels were selected in response to a demand for flexibility.

Comfort and variety Students sought comfort and variety in the furniture options. In response, we embedded furniture pieces that enabled the staff and students to choose the most appropriate zone for the learning experience. Importantly, different furniture heights were incorporated to enable standing and seating options as well as a range of formal and informal gathering spaces.

Collaboration The school community placed great value in working together and wanted a space designed to be a centre (or a hub) for collaboration between • Students - students • Teachers - students • Teachers - teachers • Learners - experts / community Jelly bean shaped tables, large round tables and conference settings provide a range of meeting and sharing options. As a result of intentional staffing, formal opportunities to collaborate on the creation of learning experiences and resources with Lead Teachers is possible. The role of the Learning Hub Team also consciously supports a culture of reflection and sharing though whole staff TeachMeets each term.

Creativity The opportunity to be creative existed prior to the Learning Hub but school community felt that it

The Learning Hub team discuss the arrangement of spaces.

should be a space to foster and encourage creativity.

In consultation with the Principal, students indicated that Movie Making was of particular interest. As a result, a Media Room and Recording Room exist, each with green screen facilities, supported by iMacs for professional editing.

Staffing As always, staffing is a delicate matter and this was no different. A range of Teacher-Librarians and SSO’s were based in the space. But, discussion again focussed on learning intent and a need to ‘better’ serve this objective. Hence, a shift from Teacher-Librarian to a team of Lead Teachers and a significant HR change from SSO’s to Student Teachers employed in support roles. To enable this method of staffing, the Learning Hub Lead Teachers have either a .2 or .4 load in the Learning Hub with an annual application process occurring in Term 4 each year. It is an expectation that as lead learners in the space, they are actively seeking and promoting opportunities to innovate teaching and learning. With weekly meetings, the team work together to plan, share and reflect on everything from whole school to small group learning experiences.

Staff Perspective Laura deGaris, Teacher “Students love working in the Media Room. They think it’s creative and fun. ” Brett Whittaker, Learning Hub Lead Teacher “The way the Hub is staffed provides innovative benefits. The Learning Hub utilises Lead Teachers as its custodians, acting as ‘mentors’ within the space. These mentors provide basic troubleshooting and support to teachers and students, but are also innovative educators themselves and use their skills to enhance Learning Hub experiences. This might involve connecting and supporting teachers from different faculty areas to create cross-curriculum experiences for students, or working with a faculty area to facilitate an event or exhibition that uses the space. It might involve working with teachers to develop the use of a specific technology (such as the collaborative suite represented by Google Apps for Education) in their classroom or across the school.

This element is also responsive to student and teacher needs, allowing the Learning Hub space to adapt to what is required.”

What does the future of the Learning Hub look like?

“The first and most common pitfall is believing the task of evaluating the success of a learning space falls only at the end of the process of creating it2.”

The “Resource Centre” as it was in November 2013.

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Intentionally, feedback was the foundation of the design brief used with the architect. Designs were created, debated, modified and revised until finally we could go to tenure. In total, the space was out of action for approximately 4 months, which did put pressure on other areas of the school but the community focussed on the final product with many staff and students trying to sneak a peek of the space!

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As with any change, continued reflection is key and the Learning Hub at Wirreanda Secondary School is no different. As a new leader, it is an interesting time to coordinate the space. In its third year of existence, the Learning Hub faces a range of challenges.

The first challenge is how to maintain relevance.

Current projects such as a senior school space will open for Year 11 and 12 students soon, adopting similar practices and principles but with a specific focus on supporting senior school students. With other plans already in mind, the challenge becomes maintaining relevance among a growing range of learning spaces that are already or will become available. It seems that the answer to the relevance dilemma, is to continue evolving, continue disrupting.

In 2016, the Learning Hub team are working to develop diverse opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning but also to learn through doing. Thus, we plan to establish a MakerSpace that will support the learning intents in mind. Additionally, staff at Wirreanda Secondary School are intrigued by the Flipped/Blended Learning movement and some keen staff members are ready to create resources for use by learners. Similar to the MakerSpace, we plan to establish a location within the Learning Hub that will enable and encourage the development of high quality resources. Across the year, we hope to disrupt the learning process to include a range of learners showcasing their knowledge, understanding and skills to guide, inform and enhance the learning experience for others. The intent is to utilise this space to develop resources but also to create learner centred opportunities, where the learners can selfdirect and determine the pace of learning.

Opportunities to redesign tasks and units remain available to staff at Wirreanda Secondary School, but this year, the Learning Hub team is larger. Each

with a growing repertoire of skills, passions and interests, we are working to assist our colleagues to develop innovative learning opportunities for students across an array of learning areas. In addition, we are exploring how to engage students in this discussion, to authentically embed student voice in our processes. In 2016, the Learning Hub team will work closely with the Student Voice for Learning Coordinator to embed such opportunities across learning programs. We are excited to lead the disruption of the Year 8 Pastoral Care program with a trial of an externship model based on authentic opportunities to inform change at Wirreanda Secondary School.

The nature of how the team is staffed creates ongoing challenges. The team consists of Lead Teachers and SSOs. Lead Teacher roles are staffed on a yearly basis but SSO roles vary to utilise student teachers. While the choices regarding staffing were deliberate, they do create challenges particularly around the high rate of turnover and thus ongoing training in the SSO role as well as eligibility for staff applying for Lead Teacher roles. Previously, teachers were required to be based at the school site for the year relevant to their application, but like most schools, we have contract teachers that were not eligible to apply. When planning staffing for 2016, we were able to open the application process to all staff which has enabled two historically consistent contract teachers to apply and become part of the Learning Hub team.

Lastly, from a leadership perspective, it is challenging to measure our impact and to do so with data. “Asking questions of ourselves and each other to develop not just better ways, but new ways” is great, but how do we know that impacts are positive or sustainable? This year, the Learning Hub team are tracking our impact by documenting who we are working with and gathering feedback from staff and students. A process that has not previously happened so explicitly.

To conclude, the transformation from Library to Learning Hub was intentional and driven by a need to better serve our school community. On the verge of another redevelopment at Wirreanda Secondary School, it is critical that we do not become complacent, instead, the Learning Hub team must reflect, evolve and disrupt to remain relevant.

References: 1. Learning Spaces. 1st ed. Washington, DC: Educause, 2016.

Web. 1 Apr. 2006.

2. Bennett, Scott. “First Questions For Designing Higher Education Learning Spaces”. eReserve. N.p., 2006. Web. 1 Apr. 2016.

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Student perspective Isbah Sarwar “Reconstruction of the library to our Learning Hub has been a great movement to assist in students learning and students’ attendance, including mine personally. The Learning Hub is an attractive place as it is colourful, quiet in some areas and has comfortable spaces to study. Students like to study in the Learning Hub especially during their study lessons. Teachers use the space effectively as a place to engage in learning, with students able to move out of a normal ‘classroom’ to a modern space e.g. the board room and a variety of different zones. Technology is available to utilise which helps students to get set task done. Learning Hub Lead Teachers are available to provide help to any student. I find this very beneficial because I can get more work done without waiting for my normal teacher for that lesson. I like that accessing multiple teachers provides me with different learning techniques and feedback.”

Nick West “I think the Learning Hub is more organised especially for classes booking zones. When I use the space, I am studying or working on my own movie making projects either on the purple couches or high tables.”

Clayton Blackmore-Wells “This is a lot better than the library. No-one wanted to study in the library. In the Hub there is stuff happening, we are immersed and it seems more exciting to go to. You look forward to going to a nicer environment.”

Amber Wurst “I actually prefer it when I can go off and sit somewhere a bit different... I prefer it when I can sit at the Jelly Bean tables or at one of the couches.”

Troy Acierto “More support and opportunities are now available in Learning Hub for creative projects. In Research Project, I used the Media Room and the greenscreen to construct my Outcome. I was able to work with my peers as actors and access the mentor teacher for help with the technology to edit my final product. As a result, my outcome was more interesting and innovative.”

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In The Classroom

Judging or Perceiving?

How does personality affect teaching and learning?

WE ARE ALL UNIQUE, BUT IN UNDERSTANDING AND ACKNOWLEDGING THE PREFERENCES OF BOTH YOURSELF AND YOUR STUDENTS YOU CAN TEACH WITH GREATER KNOWLEDGE, CLARITY AND EMPATHY, WRITES KATE MASON.

Teaching is full of rights and wrongs, new ways of handling old problems, curriculum changes, different teaching and learning styles. To add fuel to the never ending fire, I ask you, how does your personality style impact your teaching and can the personality of students influence their learning style?

As a teacher, parent and a personality profile facilitator, I have witnessed the impact of how knowing ‘who you are’ and what makes you ‘tick’, can improve your teaching style and help you understand your students.

I use The Myer Briggs Type Indicator, a personality profiling instrument which provides tools to help build understanding about ourselves and others and how to work with our differences. It sorts our preferences into four areas, Introversion/ Extraversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling and Judging/Perceiving.

These preferences are innate, just as the hand that you ‘naturally’ write with. You can use the opposite but it requires greater effort and concentration lacking the ease and familiarity of the preferred hand.

For this article I am looking at the MBTI preferences Judging and Perceiving and how these affect the way we teach and how students respond.

Based in Adelaide, Kate has been a successful businesswoman for over 25 years. She has experience of diverse sectors such as teaching, food and fitness. Kate is trained in personality profiling, specialising in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. She is highly experienced in the relationship between personality, people and performance.

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Judging and Perceiving Preferences. What are they?

When determining how much structure or flexibility an individual needs in the world the Judging and Perceiving types have different outlooks.

Those who use their Judging preference prefer order and structure in their world. They are usually organised and planned. They are comfortable with the

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timetables, lists and diaries that are used to define their movements throughout the days and weeks ahead. They enjoy working progressively on the completion of one project before beginning another and find deadlines easy to meet.

Then there are the Perceiving types. These people prefer flexibility and adapt easily to change.

They enjoy responding to the moment and are not bound by lists and timetables. Time is taken exploring all options before decisions are made. They get pleasure from working on several projects at once and they are energised as the deadline nears, they make deadlines... Just!

J’s and P’s in the classroom These two approaches to ‘the world’ impact both teachers and students in many ways, both positive and negative.

The positives of the Judging teaching style are that work is usually marked and returned promptly, lessons well structured, expectations made clear and ground rules set and adhered to.

One negative of the Judging preference for order and structure is that it sometimes overrides the humanitarian aspect of teaching. For example, my daughter dreaded being late for a particular class where the classroom door was closed the minute the lesson began and the ‘offender’ was made to wait outside for a period of time without any question of validity for the delay. This method certainly got students into the teacher’s class on time but his need for control made this a process of humility rather than a desire to be there.

The positive aspects of the teacher who prefers the Perceiving style is that they create a relaxed

classroom environment with ease, where flexibility allows various new incidental experiences to be enjoyed. The timetable is effortlessly altered to fit in with the changes that occur during the day to day running of the classroom.

However this too has its negative side as discipline and classroom routines that are important for learning can be neglected and the subject matter that needs to be taught and reinforced ceases to be the focus. My daughter had some teachers for whom she was never on time, being a P herself, she would blithely say, “I don’t need to be on time for Miss Mason’s class she doesn’t care, she wouldn’t notice anyway.”

Be aware of who you are! These are extremes, are you too strict or too lax? Most teachers whether Judging or Perceiving types do find ways of creating a classroom environment where students want to be on time!

My daughter is always on time for teachers she respects and admires!

Judging and Perceiving teaching and student preference and the marking process When an assignment is given and a due date set for submission the students who prefer the Judging preference who will work steadily towards the deadline. My ‘Judging’ son even finished an essay before the teacher had assigned it to him

because he knew what the topic would be and wanted to get it out of the way!

My ‘Perceiving’ daughter however, delays much of her work until the final days, sometimes hours, before the assignment time limit. She is then however, energised by the last minute adrenalin surge as she throws herself into an ‘all-nighter’ to get her work finished on time.

Can you relate to these scenarios?

These Judging and Perceiving work styles are different but the end result is that both children get A’s for their work.

Perceiving types can meet a deadline but are also happy to postpone it. A frequent frustration for my son are his Perceiving preference teachers, who often change the deadline at the last minute for Perceiving students who had not yet completed, some not even started, their assignment. His outrage is that the last minute Perceiving students are rewarded for their tardiness and given extra time with no loss of marks and his effort at meeting the due date is not rewarded!

The opposite in this scenario is the ‘Judging’ teacher who does not compromise, even when lateness can be justified and fails students for not meeting the deadline.

However, it is a fact of life that when students join the workforce, no matter what their preference, finishing tasks on time is a life skill that they

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need to develop and school is the place to foster this expertise. Strategies should be in place for overdue work, such as loss of marks for each day the assignment is late. This gives the student consequences thus allowing those who complete their work on time to be rewarded and those that hand it in late to be penalised.

The negatives of these two teaching and study styles are as follows The J’s desire for quick closure can throw them when new information is disclosed near the deadline and they may have to rewrite all or sections of their work to include this.

The P’s last minute dash can sometimes be too late if they underestimate the time needed for researching and putting their work together.

Therefore their dilemma is that their work can lack important information and the flow that is needed.

Balance is the key We are all unique, but in understanding and acknowledging the preferences of both yourself and your students you can teach with greater knowledge, clarity and empathy.

How much structure do you need in your world?

Let’s find out!

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Playgrounds

The safety influences on primary and secondary students’ free play within school playgrounds REDUCED PLAY PRIORITIES IN MANY SCHOOL SETTINGS, COMBINED WITH THE EMERGENCE OF ‘HELICOPTER PARENTING’ OR ADULT-DIRECTED POLICIES ARE HAVING A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON CHILDREN’S COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, WRITES DR BRENDON HYNDMAN.

A climate of over-policing, surplus rules and regulations within school playground settings is becoming an emerging trend within our modern society. Teacher fears of litigation from potential accidents and parents seeking to protect students from physical dangers within the school playground is reaching widespread proportions.

Many of these safety concerns are due to the high national rates of child hospitalisations, yet ‘over-protecting’ school children from key life skills learnt through ‘free-range’ play needs to be avoided. By children learning from mistakes, problem solving through challenges, facing failure and overcoming risk through a process of trial and error, it can establish foundation habits for children to capably encounter many of life’s future

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difficulties and adverse events.

Within Australian schools, trends have shown that many educational leaders are modifying school playground rules by reducing play space size (trees, fixed equipment) and combining facilities to free up classroom locations and implement restrictive policing of children’s free play; including the elimination of running, cartwheels, kicking and ball games. Reduced play priorities in many school settings, combined with the emergence of ‘helicopter parenting’ (such as wanting to accompany, supervise and nurture children through school play activities) or adult-directed policies are having a detrimental effect on children’s cognitive (less inclined to overcome obstacles, boredom, frustration) and social development (reduced group

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exploration and team work opportunities). If there is too much restriction on children’s play behaviours, it can cause young people to have a reduced confidence during physical activities.

Importance of encouraging children’s ‘free play’ opportunities When at play, children are the leaders of their own destiny, naturally calculating hundreds of decisions as they take measured risks and determine which physical, emotion or social choice to undertake by simultaneously increasing a portfolio of life skills. Beyond our children, animals across the world are engaged in play behaviours to rehearse life skills that are the foundation developments to overcome obstacles later in

PRIMARY SCHOOL SETTING • • • • life. As the popular American educator, Fred Rogers stated, “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” A review of literature released by the University of British Columbia also revealed that children that experience encouragement for ‘free range’ play and exploration had greater physical activity levels, improved social skills and perform better at school.

Unstructured free play is defined as the activities children participate in that are spontaneous and without a set regime or purpose that can include digging, raking, lifting/carrying, exploring, planting, chasing, pushing objects into positions, construction, imaginative and creative play. The importance of children’s unstructured free play is reflected in Howell Wechsler’s definition of school recess breaks “as a regularly scheduled time for children to engage in ‘unstructured’ play”. Despite this, listening to students’ voices about how safety influences can affect their play behaviour has often been overlooked.

Listening to primary and secondary students’ voices about safety influences in schools Within my recent study in the Australian Journal of Teacher Education, seven focus group discussions (four primary school & three secondary school) were conducted with students by asking a series of questions using a semi-structured interview schedule in relation to the safety influences within their school grounds. Major safety individual and social influence themes that emerged across both sectors included:

• • • • •

What playground strategies can encourage more play freedom for students?

By overcoming elements of danger and taking risks, children develop a sense of play freedom to explore movement opportunities and improve confidence from a range of physical habits. School playground strategies that encourage unstructured, open-ended free play such as movable items (introducing non-fixed equipment), greening strategies (introducing trees, rocks and gardens) and eliminating restrictive rules (allowing running, ball games) are important strategies to develop children’s health. Such strategies have resulted in diverse skill development, enjoyment, playability and cognitive improvements) and the development of social skills (e.g. co-operation, reduced bullying, team-work.

The emerging strategy in school playgrounds of the provision of movable items to provide children with student-directed play opportunities via many different materials (often from the household) and choices for students has been crucial to ensure playground boredom is prevented. The introduction of school playground items such as hay bales, milk crates and tyre tubes (such as via the internationally recognised Lunchtime Enjoyment

PRIMARY SCHOOL SETTING • • • • • •

Risk taking (e.g. trying new tricks, groups of children going down slides) Preventing boredom (e.g. recklessness & destructiveness when bored) Teacher responsibilities (e.g. risks of litigation increasing teacher control of activities) Teacher support (e.g. more teachers can ensure students feel safe) Bullying/territorial issues (e.g. year level tensions) Peer support (e.g. friends to help when things go wrong)

There were also a number of physical environment and policy themes mentioned by the primary and secondary students that included:

Playground space (e.g. to avoid collisions) Surfacing (e.g. non slip & impact absorbing surfaces preferred) Weather protection (e.g. shade coverage for activities) Protective equipment (e.g. borrowing policies for types of padding) Hydration (e.g. more drink tap locations) Designated play areas (e.g. for specific year levels) Playground rules (e.g. restricting tree climbing) Further supervision (e.g. more support) Maintenance (e.g. replacing/monitoring equipment quality)

SECONDARY SCHOOL SETTING • • • • • •

Risk taking (e.g. risks make play fun) Preventing boredom (e.g. ensuring playgrounds/ activities are regularly updated) Misbehaviour (e.g. students like to challenge any rules in place) Teacher responsibilities (e.g. teachers need to trust student activities) Bullying/territorial issues (e.g. gender or age tensions) Teacher intimidation (e.g. over enforcement of rules/procedures)

Activity and Play [LEAP] school playground strategy in Western Victoria) has allowed children to actively develop and create their own playground areas and

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SECONDARY SCHOOL SETTING • • • • • • • • • •

School security (e.g. scanning doors) Surfacing (e.g. impact absorbing surfaces) Weather protection (e.g. shade for cooler temperatures during activities) Safe structures (e.g. impact absorbing walls) Protective equipment (e.g. padding & helmet provision) Passive smoking protection (e.g. smoke detectors) Designated play areas (e.g. a roster system for year levels) Playground rules (e.g. more restriction= boredom) Further supervision (e.g. security cameras) Maintenance (e.g. keeping facilities hygienic)

activities. Due to the level of engagement and inclusion offered from such items, what can be perceived as risky obstacles often results in an imaginative smorgasbord of activities. With the burdensome roles of many school teachers, teachers originally perceived that a diversity of movable school playground items could lead to increased demands. Despite this, reductions in misbehaviour and injury and improvements in learning and engagement across developmental areas re-shaped teachers’ beliefs in both New South Wales and Victorian contexts. Primary school teachers that were interviewed at the school with the LEAP playground strategy reported a host of cognitive benefits such as children rushing out to play with a specific purpose, the primary school students played with greater effectiveness, problem solving and independence. The social benefits from the LEAP strategy were also reported such as learning from children that were more confident at the activities, working like a team, mixing with other students in class they wouldn’t normally hang out with and improved interactions between the year levels. Greening school playground projects (introducing trees, rocks and gardens) have also shown promise as an avenue to promote open-ended play opportunities and can facilitate a school play environment to cater for all ages, interests and abilities. The power of such open-ended free play strategies can unlock a powerful ‘hidden curriculum’ of learning within school playgrounds to complement or be transferred to and from classroom learning.

School playground rules and policy considerations to encourage play freedom Another such strategy that has captured attention to reduce injury rates and improve behaviour within school playgrounds has been to eliminate restrictive school rules. Within a New Zealand primary school, normally restrictive rules have been waivered; allowing the riding of skateboards and scooters, climbing trees, play fighting, sliding in the mud, using stair rails for monkey bars, building huts and allowing children to access normally restricted areas. Such an unorthodox strategy

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Playgrounds

is the polar opposite to the surplus safety culture in which teachers often feel the need to over-police school playgrounds in a mission to reduce behaviour management or parents to want to supervise children’s movements. Yet, similar to providing movable items for children to direct their own play behaviours, the freedom provided by an unconventional approach of removing school playground rules has resulted in a blessing for classroom learning, improved behaviour and injury rates.

With school playgrounds a place where children seek to escape restrictions imposed by household and classroom rules, providing ‘free range’ play freedom could be the key to ensuring the developmental skills and health of our young generation reach another level. If we withhold opportunities for children to explore on their own merit, take risks, learn from errors, problem solve, create and innovate in the face of challenges, it could lead to a generation of ‘psychological fragility’.

Play has been acknowledged by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a basic entitlement for every child. School playgrounds provide

an avenue to engage in unstructured active play that includes self-directed activities to build active, healthy bodies. When play is driven by children rather than adults, it allows children to pursue activities within the environment that interests them, which can develop decision making, negotiating and motor skills. Children can strengthen their social and emotional wellbeing when making choices, accepting challenges, considering risks, managing change and coping with frustrations that can occur when more play freedom is provided. Children are programmed via an innate, in-built requirement to be physically active, and as adults we should be doing all that we can facilitate children’s freedom of play. We as adults should demonstrate trust and faith in our children that it is in their developmental interests to ensure they can experience the vigorous, healthy play freedom that past generations were fortunate to experience. A philosophy of resilience needs to be applied by adults that truly embraces children’s risk taking, uncertainties and obstacles to truly create a recipe and culture for child development within school playgrounds.

Dr. Brendon Hyndman is the Program Manager of the Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (Pre-Service) within the School of Education and a researcher within the International Graduate Centre of Education (IGCE) at Charles Darwin University (CDU), Australia. Dr Hyndman has extensive school-based teaching and research experiences within a diverse range of primary, secondary and tertiary settings and has been involved in teacher education since 2009. His PhD included the internationally recognised Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play (LEAP) school playground intervention. The originality, innovation and impact of Dr Brendon Hyndman’s research is showcased by the interest and recognition in his studies both nationally and internationally. In 2015, Dr Hyndman was nominated for a CDU Vice Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Performance in Research. Broadly, his research interests lie in health and physical education, the hidden curriculum of school grounds, teacher education and interventions to improve school children’s physical, cognitive and social skills.

References: Brussoni, M., Olsen, L. L., Pike, I., & Sleet, D. A. (2012). Risky play and children’s safety: Balancing priorities for optimal child development.International journal of environmental research and public health, 9(9), 3134-3148.

Bundy, A. C., Luckett, T., Tranter, P. J., Naughton, G. A., Wyver, S. R., Ragen, J., & Spies, G. (2009). The risk is that there is ‘no risk’: a simple, innovative intervention to increase children’s activity levels. International Journal of Early Years Education, 17(1), 33-45.

Chancellor, B. (2013). Primary school playgrounds: features and management in Victoria, Australia. International Journal of Play, 2(2), 63-75.

Dyment, J. E. (2005). Green school grounds as sites for outdoor learning: Barriers and opportunities. International Research in Geographical & Environmental Education, 14(1), 28-45.

Hyndman, B. P., & Telford, A. (2015). Should Educators be ‘Wrapping School Playgrounds in Cotton Wool’ to Encourage Physical Activity? Exploring Primary and Secondary Students’ Voices from the School Playground. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n6.4 Hyndman, B. P., Benson, A. C., & Telford, A. (2014). A Guide for Educators to Move Beyond Conventional School Playgrounds: The RE-AIM Evaluation of the Lunchtime Enjoyment Activity and Play (LEAP) Intervention. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v39n1.2 McLachlan, B. (2014). Project play at Swanson School. Play and Folklore, 61(1), 4-8.

Wyver, S., Tranter, P., Naughton, G., Little, H., Sandseter, E. B. H., & Bundy, A. (2010). Ten ways to restrict children’s freedom to play: The problem of surplus safety. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 11(3), 263-277.

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Spotlight on Music

The current status of Music Education in Australia and the value of learning music MUSIC IN SCHOOLS CONTINUES TO DRAW THE ATTENTION OF OUR STUDENTS, PROVIDING MANY WITH THE NECESSARY PATH TO FOLLOW THEIR ASPIRATIONS TO BECOME PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP MUSICAL UNDERSTANDING AND SELF-EXPRESSION IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR CAREER PATH, WRITES DR BRAD MERRICK.

Michelle Leonard’s Moorambilla Voices Regional Children’s Choirs, the subject of the recent ABC documentary “Outback Choir”, is a wonderful example of the impact of music learning. Whilst this program is not within the regular school curriculum, it nevertheless demonstrates the importance of music by providing welcome opportunities that are unique and life changing for children from regional and remote communities in western NSW. The Moorambilla Voices program is remarkable, especially given that it is geographically centred on the regional, remote and very remote regions of western NSW, covering over one third of the state. Every year, over 70 schools and over 180 children participate in the Moorambilla Voices program. If it weren’t for Moorambilla Voices, these children in remote areas would be unlikely to have the opportunity to experience making music. They are a not-for-profit organisation and provide an amazing service for the children in this rural community. Please see their website if you would like to support this initiative.

Further info at: www.moorambilla.com/

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Music in schools continues to draw the attention of our students, providing many with the necessary path to follow their aspirations to become professional musicians and most importantly, providing the opportunity to develop musical understanding and self-expression irrespective of their career path. A report from The Age earlier this year (2016) highlights the increased interest in the study of music. In this article, Professor Gary McPherson (previously President of ASME and ISME) states, “There’s a different mindset now. There’s an understanding that the solid training you get through a music career can apply in a number of different career paths”.

Other research continues to highlight the value of studying music and the increased development of neurological pathways and capacity that involvement in music offers to students, particularly those who commence learning at a young age. During the past year Dr Anita Collins, an experienced classroom educator and music lecturer from the University of Canberra, has received more than four million hits on TedEd for her talk “How playing and instrument benefits her brain” (https://www.youtube.com/watch2014, Jul 14?v=R0JKCYZ8hng) which highlights how the unique process of learning an instrument is

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so important and valuable to brain development.

Linked to this area of brain development is the increased development of executive functioning amongst those who engage in learning music.

Music education literature and publications have continued to espouse the value of learning music though little seems to be changing on the educational landscape. Coupled with this increased interest amongst students to study music, we are seeing many more artists vying for positions in orchestras and other groups, and striving to create and share their music around Australia and the world, but often their passion is not fully realised, as the difficulty of sustaining a livelihood in a difficult profession becomes more and more the reality. In recent months, the decrease in funding for Arts programs, at both the state and federal level has highlighted an ongoing downward shift in the value being placed on the importance of these subject areas.

Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed the creation and publication of an Australian Curriculum for all schools for the learning levels Foundation to Year 10. This has seen some competition for classroom hours across the various subject groups, and due to the onus placed upon the ‘core’ subjects, the competition for classroom hours has become keenly contested, particularly in an educational

environment that continues to place such an emphasis on external testing and results, often seeing Music and other Arts subjects like Visual Arts, and Drama lose status and priority within the learning process.

By combining Five Art forms into one curriculum document for all states and territories, there is now a clear mandate for music to be included in the classrooms around Australia, but is this the case?

The allocation of time to provide continuous music education in our schools, at both the primary and secondary level is still uncertain across many schools and settings in Australia. For many primary schools, there is still little or no music being offered. Petrova (2012) highlighted that 63% of primary schools in Australia offer no music education experience for the students in their care while Letts (2013) expands the discussion on the limited access many students have to music education across the country, highlighting the enormous shifts between education sectors and systems. While many independent schools offer a music program, the limited access to music in many public schools further highlights that access to quality music education is certainly not equitable across the country. In many public schools this can be due to the external organisation of a band program that runs separately to the school, but often appears to be part of

the school. Sure, students who participate are learning to play an instrument and be in an ensemble, but they are not receiving a sequential, properly implemented music curriculum for the duration of their primary years.

Esteemed educator and musician Richard Gill, has set about the development of the National Music Teacher Mentoring Project to further enhance the training and profile of music teachers over the next three years across Australia (https://ministers. education.gov.au/launch-national-music-teachersmentorship-pilot-programme) but despite this we are still in need of much greater commitment and provision of music.

Even if music is offered in many of the schools where it has been missing from the curriculum, the big question is finding teachers who have the training to teach music in Primary Schools. At last count primary generalist teachers received an average of only 17 hours of music in their undergraduate training (Letts 2013), exposing the difficulty that primary teachers face in the delivery of music as a subject.

The worry is that much of this has been known for many years, and many of the recommendations still requiring attention were highlighted in the Federal Government’s National Music Review Augmenting the

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Diminished in 2005. In this report, the Minster at that time highlighted the following priorities, which unfortunately are still very relevant today, i.e.: • Improve the equity of access, participation and engagement in school music for all students; • Improve teacher pre-service and in-service education; • Improve curriculum support services (advisory, instrumental music, vocal music and music technology); • Support productive partnerships and networking with music organisations, musicians, the music industry and the Australian community; • Improve music education in schools through supportive principals and school leadership, adequately educated specialist teachers, increased time in the timetable, adequate facilities and equipment; • Improve levels of accountability; and, • Improve the overall status of music in schools.

“Music literally ‘lights up’ the brain like no other human activity and neuroscience has shown that while some activities such as reading or solving mathematical problems used discrete areas of the brain, listening and creating music engaged multiple areas of the brain, either simultaneously or in intricate, interrelated and astonishingly fast sequences” (Collins, 2013, p.218). This emerging research has also highlighted how learning music from a young age has been connected to the acquisition of language. Surely this research is reason enough to ensure that the study and participation of music is available for all students, across all educational systems and levels of learning.

We are well aware of the social and emotional value of music as a subject, whereby its study and performance allows students of all cultures and

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Spotlight on Music

abilities to share in the creation and performance of music, such is the power of this universal language.

The recent Parliamentary inquiry in Victoria saw the spotlight placed on the value of arts, and music in particular, and the evidence presented by esteemed educational researcher, Professor Brian Caldwell suggested that “There is incontrovertible national and international evidence of the benefits of participation in arts education, including music education, not only for the intrinsic benefits of such participation but also for the benefits it brings to learning and personal and social wellbeing. Arts education, including music education, should form part of the curriculum of every school. It is critical that the arts component of

the Australian Curriculum be implemented in every school.” (2013) The same inquiry saw a submission by former ASME President, Associate Professor Neryl Jeanneret from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education highlight many of the advantages gained through involvement in music such as increased resilience, wellbeing, motivation, self-esteem, self-concept and self-regulation combined with a myriad of other positive influences gained from the involvement in learning and participating in music. (2013) So where to from here? The Australian Society for Music Education is committed to advocating for quality music education for all, and is currently looking to work closely with other key music associations and organisations to try and make this a reality. Working alongside others who have a common cause is key, and engaging those who understand both the aesthetic and developmental benefits gained from music will continue to be critical, particularly as the new Australian Curriculum is implemented and the tertiary teacher training process is also reviewed. This is not an easy pathway as many of those involved with music education and its provision have traditionally been involved through a ‘love’ of being involved rather than for any financial remuneration.

Feedback from music educators in a range of different settings from all areas of Australia suggests that the key is to gain further government support and increased priority for music education so that we can get on with teaching and delivering music to students rather than justifying its existence. It is fantastic to see pockets of musical excellence continue to shine in some of the established music programs in the Public, Independent and Catholic systems but this is not adequate, given that many schools are missing out as

shown by the recommendations and findings from the National Review of School Music in 2005.

Please advocate for the inclusion of a quality program at your local school and ensure that music has a place in the curriculum. Perhaps even share Dr Anita Collins’ online video with your school Principal just so they know how important and valuable music is for all students and the enormous benefits that it affords students in all settings.

For further information please visit our national website www.asme.edu.au or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ASME.musiced/ or on Twitter via @Asme_Music_Ed Dr Brad Merrick National President Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) An upcoming Film called Wide Open Sky wide www.wideopenskymovie.com is an uplifting documentary about the Moorambilla Voices, highlighting the power and value of learning music for all children involved.

“Out here, footy is king and music education is rare as rain. The children travel far from home to music camp to prepare for a big concert in Coonamble. They have three days to learn a demanding repertoire. Wide Open Sky follows four primary-aged children brave enough to dream big. While the choir means something different to each of them, it matters a hell-of-a-lot to all of them. Moving and funny, the film reminds us why no child, anywhere, should grow up without music”. It opens nationally in cinemas 7 April.

References Brandis, G & Pyne, C. (2014) Launch of National Music Teachers Mentorship Program. Media Release. Department of Education and Training.

Boon, M. (2015, December 22) Musical Neurons discovered in the brains auditory cortex. Limelight Magazine.

Caldwell, B. (2013) Music Education Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry Statement. Retrieved February 16.

Cook, H & Butt, C. (2016) Music hits a high note amongst school leavers. The Age Victoria. Retrieved February 2016.

Collins, A. (2013) Neuroscience meets music education: Exploring the implications of neural processing models on music education. International Journal of Music Education. 31 (2) 217-231. Sage.

Collins, A. (2014, July 22) How playing and instrument benefits your brain. Ted-Ed talk, YouTube.

Jeanneret, N. (2013) Inquiry into the extent, benefits and potential of music education in Victorian schools. Music Education in Victorian Schools. Retrieved January, 2016, http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/etc/submissions/Music_Ed_Inquiry/196_Neryl_Jeanneret_16022013.pdf Letts, R. (2013) The Provision of Music Education in Government Schools in Australia. Retrieved February, 2016: http://musicinaustralia.org.au/index.php?title=The_Provision_of_Music_Education_in_ Government_Schools_in_Australia Petrova, I. (2012) What Makes Good Music Programs in Schools? Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. University of NSW. (2005) The National Review of School Music Education- Special Report. Curriculum and Leadership Journal. Retrieved February, 2016

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