Western Teacher - Volume 48.5 - June 2019

Volume 48.5 June 2019

The State School Teachers’ Union of W.A. (Inc.)

Workload, school safety, EBA Log of Claims hot topics at State Council pg 8

sstuwa.org.au

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Features

Volume 48.5 June 2019

In this edition Correspondence: The Editor, PO Box 212 West Perth WA 6872 editor@sstuwa.org.au Ph: 9210 6000

2019 Publishing Dates Deadline Distributed 19 November

18 January

29 January

22 February

5 March

18 April

29 April

31 May

4 June

28 June

1 July

26 July

Authorised by Mary Franklyn, General Secretary, The State School Teachers’ Union of W.A. (Inc.) 1 West Street, West Perth WA. Printed by Vanguard Press, 26 James Street, Northbridge WA. June 2019.

12 August

6 September

9 September

4 October

Cover: State Council delegates travelled from around the state to participate in the SSTUWA’s highest decision-making forum. Read more on pages 8-10.

4 October

29 November

Member Assist:

Ph: 9210 6060 memberassist@sstuwa.org.au Print post publication 100004470 | $4.95 ABN: 544 780 946 35

To access the digital copy of Western Teacher, type the link below into your browser: www.sstuwa.org.au/westernteacher

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In this edition

Dates are subject to change

Support for country schools overdue.........6 Increasing load causing stress at work and home...........................................8 Schools funding, safety key issues.............9 Change to come through trust.................10 Bargaining framework..............................11 Australian teachers have higher workloads, fewer resources: OECD..........12 Q&A with Member Assist..........................13 A familiar face back in the Growth Team...14 Choosing the right OSH training course...16 Reconciliation in Action Award nominations open.....................................17 School choice increases educational segregation and inequity..........................20

Regulars

From the President.....................................5 From the General Secretary.......................7 National education and union news.........26 Education and Training.............................28 Member Benefits......................................30 Classifieds.................................................32 Noticeboard...............................................34

Advertisements in Western Teacher are the responsibility of advertisers. While Western Teacher makes reasonable efforts to ensure that no misleading claims are made by advertisers, responsibility is not accepted by The State School Teachers’ Union of W.A. (Inc.) for statements made or the failure of any product or service to give satisfaction. Inclusion of a product or service should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation by The State School Teachers’ Union of W.A. (Inc.)

Western Teacher is the official publication of The State School Teachers’ Union of W.A. (Inc.)

Barrie Bennett reference books Effective Group Work BEYOND COOPERATIVE LEARNING n

BARRIE BENNETT

Instructional Intelligence Building Instructional Expertise for the Classroom

An SSTUWA project in collaboration with Barrie Bennett © B. Bennett, The State School Teachers’ Union of W.A. (Inc.)

Instructional Intelligence

Effective Group Work

Classroom Management

Graphic Intelligence

Dr Barrie Bennett is an internationally renowned educational expert and emeritus professor at the University of Toronto. His books cover a range of interrelated topics that support effective teaching and learning. Members can access special pricing on the series.

Place your order at sstuwa.org.au/shop Western Teacher June 2019

3

Better pay and funding essential

From the President

By Pat Byrne President

At the centre of debate at State Council (see pages 8, 9, and 10) was the latest round of enterprise bargaining and the climate in which negotiations will take place.

There is no doubt that this campaign will be difficult; the state government is holding firm to its $1,000 per year position; both the police union and the public sector union have received offers in the last week – neither has contained any joy in relation to pay.

Our bargaining will be no different and we need to be prepared for that. In addition to better pay, we are seeking a range of system improvements which are predicated on valuing and trusting teachers and leaders, as it is only by doing this – valuing and trusting – that we’ll be able to ensure the maintenance of a strong public system in WA. At the same time as the Schools’ Agreement we also have a TAFE Agreement to negotiate – the agreements expire within two weeks of each other.

Unsurprisingly, the issues are very much the same – workload, professional development, leadership progression, lack of consultation, etc, etc.

Interestingly TAFE lecturers are also pushing to reclaim teaching and learning having had all the elements of teacher professionalism replaced by competency frameworks over the last 25 years.

The TAFE draft Log of Claims is in the final stages of consultation and we will be ready for the commencement of negotiations by mid Term 3.

We go into these campaigns with membership steady; so far this year our

recruitment figures have been excellent, thanks to the work of the Growth Team and organisers; we are seeing strong participation rates at District Council – a total in excess of 230 for Term 1 this year; and State Council was well represented.

Most importantly, in our branches we have 177 new educators holding at least one branch position and 26 holding more than one position.

All of that is very positive. That’s important as we’re going to need both strength and solidarity in the next 12 months.

We’re going to have to fight to ensure that this Labor state government delivers on traditional values: fairness for one; decent wages and conditions for workers for another. It has two great opportunities to do this: • The next state budget at which time it can choose to continue to fund WA schools at the 2017 level of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) which was approximately 105 per cent, rather than as per the current bi-lateral agreement which allows it to actually underfund WA schools.

• The forthcoming EBA negotiations which provide an opportunity for a decent wage outcome and the rebuilding of our once great public school and TAFE systems.

If the government doesn’t deliver, then we need to make it crystal clear that our members will take that fight into the public arena in the lead up to next state election. Unions worked incredibly hard to unseat the Barnett Government in 2017 and succeeded. Right now many in the

community – particularly public sector employees – are beginning to ask: what difference has it made?

Union members have loud voices and we use them. While we are good people to have onside, it is a mistake for any government to think that our support is unconditional.

Regardless of who is in government, educators are no different from the broader public. We want parties to deliver what they promise. So far, while we’ve seen some shift in culture, which is positive, not much has changed for schools. Despite its criticism of the Barnett Government’s budget cuts at the time, this government has done nothing to reverse them since coming to power.

It’s quite the opposite, in that the 2017 cuts further eroded public provision in a number of areas, while budget allocations have not kept pace with inflation and student enrolment increases.

No matter what some people say, money does matter – money in pay packets and money in schools – for teachers, for professional learning, for smaller classes, for specialist support staff, etc, etc. This extends to money for system support structures which are critical in maintaining student outcomes and preventing staff burnout.

The next state election is due in March 2021, with a pre-election budget due in May 2020. Teachers have a strong expectation that the state government must deliver on both the EBA and the restoration of proper funding for WA schools and will campaign right up to the state election if necessary.

Western Teacher June 2019

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Industrial

Support for country schools overdue

By Paul Bridge Senior Vice President

Rural education in WA is struggling and the further you get away from the metropolitan area the greater is the challenge.

Rural educators and communities have suffered a decade of neglect and it is now time to put quality support services back in the country regions to support public schools.

Governments over the past 10 years have cut central and regional office support, critically in the areas of Aboriginal education, curriculum, behaviour management, financial support services and leadership support as part of whole-ofgovernment cost cutting exercises designed to rein in the education budget under the guise of giving schools greater autonomy.

In reality, Independent Public Schools (IPS) and non-IPS have greater accountability and compliance frameworks, which in turn leads to more responsibility, higher accountability and significantly increased workloads for school leadership teams, but with minimal accountability and responsibility from the system to provide any support.

Remote Teaching Service (RTS) schools are even worse off. Despite being specifically selected for their positions in these challenging schools, the RTS leaders’ support network is in many cases virtually non-existent.

Schools leaders in the RTS are often only supported by rural regional executive directors who go beyond their designated duties and actually go out on the road to provide hands-on support and leadership advice to these remote school communities.

There is little other alternative, as previous governments have taken away the variety of specialist school support services that existed under the previous model of fully-staffed regional education offices.

The removal of specialised support services from the regions and the withdrawal of significant amounts of funding directed specifically at rural WA has resulted in schools themselves having to adapt and write teaching and learning programs specifically targeted at meeting the needs of their particular client group.

This diminished level of expertise and support is in many instances failing to meet the needs and aspirations of students in complex and remote communities.

Without this high level support network, we now find that in some cases inexperienced school leaders are leading inexperienced staff, all the while within a system expectation that this model of leadership will improve outcomes for students.

This lack of local area support has resulted in reduced retention and attraction for experienced teachers and school leaders to take up positions in rural WA. There is growing evidence that fewer staff are opting to move to country locations, and in particular the more remote locations in the state.

The decision to stay closer to metropolitan schools is understandable when it is discovered that even going to the bush for an extended period does not guarantee a return to the city or a preferred teaching location.

For school leaders, who may well have excelled at a Level 3 school in regional WA, to suddenly be asked or encouraged to apply for a higher level principal position beyond their leadership progression creates high pressure and anxiety.

In some cases this situation is made worse by poor support networks in remoter areas of WA, leaving these new leaders with no high-level mentoring or peer support, putting them at a clear disadvantage.

This is further exacerbated for graduate classroom teachers who are often required to take up positions in rural and remote WA, with an expectation that they will be supported – only to find that support is often not readily available or accessible.

The area of Aboriginal education in particular has been made to pay a high price. In the not-too-distant past there was once specialist support staff available in each region to provide structured cultural competency training and Aboriginal education support.

These locally based support mechanisms no longer exist since budget cuts saw the complete demise of the specialist Aboriginal education units based in regional WA. (Continued on page 7)

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Western Teacher June 2019

From the General Secretary

(Continued from page 6) In particular the regions with the largest cohorts of Aboriginal students have no Aboriginal staff in key leadership positions supporting schools.

Rural WA is hurting and it is now time to revert back to the model that worked: to adequately fund the system and to provide regional offices with sufficient resourcing to support country schools and that includes Aboriginal education specialist staff, curriculum experts and behaviour experts.

In addition to this, the much vaunted concept of putting lead principals in place must have a clear priority to provide localised support to those schools in regional WA, where the majority of school leaders progress down their leadership pathway.

The redeployment process as part of the merit selection process also needs to be overhauled so teachers and school leaders who, having spent time in country locations, know that at the end of their tenure they will be able to get back to the city or another country location of their choice.

The immediate restoration of resources into the regions will go a long way to making it attractive for school leaders and teachers to apply for country positions and to feel that they are being adequately supported whilst living and working in these locations.

Students in our rural school communities deserve the best possible education and should not be disadvantaged through the tyranny of distance. Significant changes to the way schools are resourced through the Student Centred Funding Model, supported via dedicated staff employed and deployed to meet the immediate needs of these schools, will go some way to ensuring that education outcomes for those in the bush are significantly enhanced.

The SSTUWA, as part of the enterprise bargaining process, is strong in the belief that more needs to be done to support rural education and these issues will be raised with a powerful and strong voice with the state government.

Benefits and numbers grow

By Mary Franklyn General Secretary

There are many benefits to being a member of the SSTUWA, but discounted and sometimes free access to some of the best professional development opportunities in Australia are close to the top of the list for new educators, relief teachers and regional and remote educators.

In 2019 the Education and Training Centre will host 100 different types of training courses, with this incorporating just over 200 days of learning.

This includes a range of industrial, professional, OSH, career advancement and financial planning learning opportunities in the forms of face-to-face courses, conferences, forums, workshops and a variety of online events.

Included in the calendar this year is the next stage of the SSTUWA’s Instructional Intelligence Project with Barrie Bennett, which builds on the hugely successful courses run last year.

The courses are now backed up with a new text book, Instructional Intelligence: Building Instructional Expertise for the Classroom. Also available through the SSTUWA is Barrie Bennett’s new text Effective Group Work – Beyond Co-operative Learning. This replaces the original Cooperative Learning text.

Another significant initiative is Skilled Up and Safe, a skills-based course where participants learn how to reduce the threat of physical violence and harm through: • Learning how to identify potential violent situations and environmental factors.

• Making use of effective verbal commands.

• Applying de-escalation strategies.

• Using team tactics.

• The application of the above skills and knowledge in real-life soft, medium and high-end situations that may occur in the school context.

In addition at least 40 days of industrial training courses are being scheduled across the four school terms in 2019 for union delegates – enabling them to offer even better support to their fellow members.

Membership

I was delighted to advise at June State Council that SSTUWA membership at 30 April 2019 had experienced growth of 1.5 per cent over the previous year.

More members means a louder voice for all and a number of initiatives are underway to keep our member numbers rising.

These include a focus on the following: • Graduate Teacher Modules – statewide and direct access with a new country follow-up plan.

• New starters project: Schools and TAFE – aimed at making effective usage of termly new starter data which is now provided by the employer.

• Joint Growth Team officer, school organiser and union rep action for targeted schools.

• Union rep/branch recruitment project – training and support to develop a branch team approach.

• Specific targeted member group project for Terms 3 and 4 – TAFE and education support.

• Campaign recruitment requirements for Terms 3 and 4 – EBA Schools and TAFE, and early childhood education.

• Improved internal sign-up facilities and operations.

• New educators/members professional learning and support resources.

The recruitment and retention plan ensures training, targeted resources and coaching for our union reps and union branch delegates.

This work aims to develop strong branch foundations and frameworks to successfully build delegate confidence and a culture of continuous branch membership growth.

Internally, we have implemented actions for recently resigned members to ensure direct contact and a proactive approach to retaining members where possible or (if not possible) having members leave the union with sound exit processes. These internal processes need consistency and expertise.

Western Teacher June 2019

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State Council Conference

Increasing load causing stress at work and home A new survey commissioned by the SSTUWA has revealed that increasing workloads on public school educators are affecting their ability to teach and their home lives, with many deterred from pursuing higher career aspirations, including leadership, due to fears of more stress.

The results from the Understanding Work in WA Public Schools survey were presented to delegates at the June State Council Conference, and make for sobering reading.

The survey was conducted by Curtin University senior lecturer and discipline lead Scott Fitzgerald (pictured), in conjunction with researchers from the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales.

catch up on what I need to do.”

About 73 per cent of members surveyed reported increases in their workload, with common areas of increased work being: collection, analysis and reporting of data; administrative tasks and the complexity of work duties. (See graph 1.)

“I feel that I cannot actually teach as there are so many administrative duties, extra-curricular responsibilities and behavioural/physical/mental and emotional problems with students that I deal with on a daily basis which stop me from doing my actual job,” a surveyed member said.

(Continued on page 9.)

Graph 1: Total percentage of staff reporting increases in workload

An online questionnaire was sent out to SSTUWA members, including teachers and school leaders, during Term 4 of 2018, with over 1,700 members responding.

Members were asked questions that covered topics such as work hours, type of teaching and learning activities and changes to work in schools over the past five years.

They survey found that members were working an average of 43 hours a week at school during the school term, with the maximum reported being 75 hours in one week.

Members were working an average of 10 hours a week at home, meaning that public educators clocked an average of 53 hours worked in a week.

“I am finding myself staying later and later at work every year,” one member stated.

“It is impossible to do everything and I’m just needing to prioritise so that the most important things are done.”

Another member said: “I feel stressed from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. Even though I am working very long hours, I never seem to 8

Western Teacher June 2019

Graph 2: Family and work life balance

State Council Conference

(Continued from page 8.)

In addition members reported that they were not having enough time to collaborate with colleagues, or being engaged in mentoring programs; nor were they satisfied with the time they had to prepare for classes and build rapport with their students.

Members said they were not receiving the departmental support they needed to implement curriculum or ICT systems; deal with student behaviour or welfare, as well as implementing one-line budgets or the transition of their school to Independent Public School status.

This led most to agree that their school’s capacity to develop and sustain quality teaching and learning were being hindered by high workload, compliance and administrative and work demands.

As a result of this, many teachers were feeling stressed and burnt out, not just at work, but also at home. (See graph 2.)

“I often lose sleep due to being anxious about my job and the fear of not being able to cope,” a member said.

“I often don’t have time to exercise or eat and drink properly due to the demands of my job. When I go home I am so frazzled that I don’t have any energy to cook, exercise or communicate properly with family.”

The increasing workload and pressures led many to state that they would re-consider pursuing higher career aspirations as it would mean more workload and pressure.

About 79 per cent of teachers, 67 per cent of program coordinators/heads of departments and 57 per cent of school leaders agreed that work demands negatively impacted on their career aspirations.

Dr Fitzgerald said that teachers desired greater professional respect and valuing of their judgement and capacity to teach.

He said they needed to be properly resourced to meet the diverse needs of student cohorts, which were complex in nature, and whom public schools were increasingly being called upon to support.

The findings from the workload survey solidify the union’s messaging that its members face growing pressure and stress from increasing workloads and will help inform negotiations for the new schools general agreement.

Graphs have been sourced from Dr Fitzgerald’s presentation to State Council: Understanding Work in WA Public Schools.

Schools funding, safety key issues The issues of schools funding and safety in the workplace were prominent topics at June State Council, alongside discussions on the enterprise bargaining agreement, workload and creating a high trust environment.

The 50th State Council Conference began with SSTUWA President Pat Byrne delivering her opening address.

She told conference delegates that the re-election of the Morrison Government meant that the current funding model would not change for at least the next three years, with states and territories forced into bi-lateral agreements that allowed public schools to be funded at 95 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard, while private schools would receive at least 100 per cent in combined state and federal government funding.

“The bilateral agreement if implemented as set out will see $6 billion of funding denied to WA government schools over the next 10 years,” Ms Byrne said.

“This will take us light years from the definition of equity endorsed by the original Gonski panel – the belief that the underlying talents and abilities of students that enable them to succeed in schooling are not distributed differently among children from different socioeconomic status, ethnic or language backgrounds, or according to where they live or go to school.

“We will not give up the fight for equity in school funding, no matter how hard it is – and we know it’s going to be pretty hard in the next few years.”

Ms Byrne spoke about upcoming EBA negotiations and also the issue of violence in the workplace, where there was major change occurring.

“Almost all applications for exclusion which have been made this year have been supported by the Director General, in some instances going against the recommendation of the panel,” she said.

“Matters are now being dealt with –

publicly and privately – differently from what has recently been the case.

“Standards and Integrity have begun to refer far more minor complaints back to the school for resolution.

“This is good news but, of itself, not enough. We need to secure systemwide approaches and resources in our Agreement, not just for behaviour management but also for a range of professional and industrial issues.”

Aside from guest speakers Scott Fitzgerald and Department of Education Director General Lisa Rodgers, June State Council Conference also heard from Professor Barrie Bennett, who spoke about working in high trust environments where workload issues were shifted to focus on effective teaching and learning.

Professor Bennett said systemic change failed to occur when leaders failed to act on changing wisdom, did not build a collaborative culture or were unskilled interpersonally.

He said that when education ministries and teaching unions worked collaboratively, teachers had better working conditions and higher salaries.

The challenge was to work together for the betterment of the students.

He said trust facilitated system change and helped stakeholders deal with conflict during the process of change.

There have been areas of growth for the SSTUWA in 2019, with the new educators report revealing the sign-up of over 480 new financial new educator or student members to the union to the end of April.

The Education and Training Centre (ETC) reported to June State Council Conference that over 100 different types of training courses will be delivered in 2019, with two major ones being the Instructional Intelligence project with Professor Bennett and the Violence at Work: Skilled Up and Safe training. Close to 500 members attended ETC training courses to the end of April this year.

Western Teacher June 2019

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State Council Conference

Change to come through trust June State Council Conference had new Department of Education (DoE) Director General Lisa Rodgers (pictured right) address SSTUWA State Council delegates for the first time, with members welcoming her message of building trust with public educators.

Ms Rodgers, who took up the post of director general at the start of this year, spoke about creating and working in a high trust environment and pledged to listen to and support public educators.

“I believe that you lead education,” she said.

“It is our job in the department to steward the system. What I am trying to do is to orientate the system to ensure that we are backing you to do the educational leadership job.

“It is not just words, this is about how we behave, so I am trying to change a bit of how we (the DoE) behave.”

Ms Rodgers said reform generally came in three areas, curriculum, assessment and workforce, and she promised to put educators in a position to succeed in those areas.

She said educators were dealing with a span of achievement four years wide in classrooms and teachers needed the content and resources to teach across that differentiation and curriculum.

Ms Rodgers acknowledged that while NAPLAN had a role, the most important

form of judgement was teacher assessment, based on good data, and with moderation.

In comments met with applause, the director general also stated her belief that people should be able to teach where they wanted to live and pledged to have the conversation about making that process easier.

Ms Rodgers said another focus in the workforce would be to improve initial teacher education and in service training.

She then took questions from delegates, particularly with problems members were experiencing with the Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH) program.

Members told the director general there was growing concern and anger with rent increases, slow maintenance response times and security, particularly in the Kalgoorlie area.

One member said they were being held liable for repair costs following break-ins and that colleagues were not feeling safe in their homes.

Ms Rodgers asked that member to contact her directly if she was not getting a satisfactory response and that fixing safety problems were a budgetary priority.

She pledged to take the issues with GROH back to her office as a matter of priority.

Ms Rodgers said that she would carve out the time to spend with educators and listen to them respectfully, and was relying on the teaching profession and a trustworthy relationship with the profession to make ethical and accountable decisions as director general.

“I’m expecting us to hear your leadership, to back your leadership and to put into place the supports and the stewardship that you need in order to support those kids,” she reiterated.

“I am very respectful of you, I will listen to you and if it doesn’t work in a classroom, it doesn’t work.

“You make an incredible difference to the lives of children every day.

“It is often a thankless job and I thank you for doing it.”

SSTUWA President Pat Byrne thanked Ms Rodgers for addressing the June State Council Conference.

“I hope that the message that people have heard is flagging a shift in the culture,” she said.

“It is a much needed shift and something that we all welcome very much.

“We appreciate it is not going to happen overnight and we appreciate that there are constraints, but just the notion that there is a will and a determination there is really very important.”

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Western Teacher June 2019

General Agreement 2019 Schools: Bargaining framework

June 2019 | No. 4

Bargaining framework General Agreement 2019 Schools The General Agreement 2017 nominally expires on 5 December 2019, meaning negotiations are due to commence for a replacement Agreement in the early part of Semester 2 2019.

Extensive debate at the June 2019 State Council has produced a comprehensive Log of Claims which will be – as the next step of the process – forwarded to union reps (and in schools where there are no reps but there are members, to principals).

It will now be a matter for members to vote on the Log of Claims for their workplaces to ensure SSTUWA senior officers are presenting the views of the majority of members when going to the negotiating table.

Once the votes have been cast, the Log of Claims will be finalised through the elected Executive of the union. We then serve that Log of Claims on the employer – the Department of Education – and formal negotiations commence. The aim is to have that negotiation process finalised by December 2019.

The state government wages policy continues to offer a flat $1,000 per annum. For new or recently-qualified teachers and lecturers this is not a bad deal, indeed for some it is better than 1.5 per cent. For more senior colleagues though it is not so good.

In our most recent EBA process the SSTUWA was clear that it wanted employers that respect the work school leaders, teachers and lecturers do.

There have been some encouraging developments in the form of the Minister’s commitment to making schools safer and in the declarations of the new director general that they want to work in an environment of trust and respect.

There is still much to do to gather the support teachers and lecturers need to do their jobs properly and to mitigate the everincreasing and detrimental levels of red tape teachers have to work through.

This is why the upcoming EBA negotiations are framed in the way they are – this agreement is an opportunity to take back our professional space and our professional voice.

Remember, this is the second agreement in a sequence of what we expected would be three agreements under this government.

Taking back our professional space is about pushing back against the “teachers can’t be trusted” mantra which underpins much of education policy making. NAPLAN and NAPLAN Online are classic examples; the push for learning progressions as per the National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) is another.

Funding for these matters replaces funding for real professional learning and in the process teacher judgement is devalued and teacher professionalism further reduced.

It is encouraging to see an upswing in membership numbers as people realise the fight that lies ahead. Our voice must be loud and proud to get the education environment members deserve.

Timeline for remainder of 2019 Term 2 – Log of Claims finalised • State Council endorsed draft Log of Claims to go to membership • Mail-out to schools, Week 10

Term 3 • Member/branch vote on Log of Claims via branch and cluster meetings • Meetings Weeks 2-6 • Voting to be completed by 30 August

September – Negotiations commence Term 4 – Member/rep/delegate education

2019

2019

• Cluster district and branch meetings • Communications – GA news

Consideration of next steps

GA GA

• Decision making re: any offers, options and actions

2019

SCHOOLS

GA GA

TAFE Committee is currently reviewing a potential log of claims and wider consultation will be undertaken with members.

TAFE

TAFE General Agreement 2019

Schools General Agreement 20 19 and Award 1993

2019

Western Teacher June 2019

11

Industrial

Australian teachers have higher workloads, fewer resources: OECD Australian public school teachers face higher workloads, fewer resources and more administration duties than global averages, according to a new international report into teaching conditions.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 report focuses on teachers’ work in the classroom, demographics, classroom challenges, Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and training and provision of professional development.

According to the report: • Teachers in schools with high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage face greater complexity in the classroom.

Consequently they have six minutes less per hour of class time available for actual teaching and learning than their colleagues in more affluent schools. This is the highest gap of any OECD country.

• Less than 30 per cent of new teachers in Australia received formal or informal induction.

• School time spent teaching has fallen in the last five years. Time spent on administration has increased, and is now 33 per cent higher than the OECD average.

• Australian teachers spend an average of 45 hours per week engaged in work on school grounds – well above the OECD average.

• Sixty per cent of Australian teachers report that their professional development is curtailed by conflicts with their work schedule.

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Western Teacher June 2019

• Australian teachers reported that “reducing class sizes” and “reducing teachers’ administration load by recruiting more support staff” were by far their highest priorities .

resource shortages at a greater level than schools in more advantaged communities.

It is vital that these schools have a diverse staff mix, including staff with significant experience in the classroom.

According to TALIS, Australian teachers regarded ITE and induction processes as leaving them feeling unprepared for the classroom, while access to professional development was limited by excessive workload and inflexible schedules.

“This creates an environment where new teachers can learn from more experienced teachers and provides a collegial environment for support and mentoring, which the OECD tells us Australian teachers are striving to create despite the resource challenges they face.”

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said it was critically important that Departments of Education provided sufficient support to beginning teachers in these schools to enable them to do their job well and teach students despite the overwhelming pressure they are under.

“As recommended by the OECD, this includes induction programs, reduced teaching load, access to regular mentoring and secure, ongoing employment,” she said.

“Escalating workloads impacts on teaching and learning in schools.

Teachers should not be spending more time on administration than on teaching.

“Schools in socio-economically disadvantaged areas face staffing and

Ms Haythorpe said Australian public school teachers were amongst the best in the world and should be part of a system which is the envy of other countries.

“Australia’s teachers are constantly asked to do more with less, leading to excessive workloads and workplace stress,” she said.

“The Federal Coalition Government has denied public schools $14 billion over the next decade which entrenches funding inequality in our schools for years to come.

“These TALIS findings demonstrate the critical importance of fair funding for public schools to ensure that Australian teachers have the resources to give every student the teaching and learning opportunities and attention that they need.”

QA and

Members’ matters

The team in Member Assist answers some of members’ most commonly asked questions

with Member Assist

Q

My partner has just had a child. Am I entitled to any paid leave?

A

Firstly congratulations. As a partner you are entitled to five days paid leave immediately following the birth of the child. The five days paid partner leave must be during the term and not during a period of vacation leave.

Q

If I take long service leave over a period, which includes public holidays and the term break, what happens to my leave?

A

Know Your Rights

KYR

Any public holiday occurring during an employee’s absence on long service leave is deemed to be a portion of the long service leave. Extra days in lieu therefore cannot be granted. If a period of long service leave falls during a period of student vacation, this leave is not deducted from an employee’s accrued long service leave balance. This also includes when a public holiday falls within the student vacation period.

Q

I have been told that I must use all of my accrued long service leave within two years of it falling due. Is that right?

A

This is correct. An application to take long service leave must be made within two years. If this is not done the Director General has the power to direct an employee to clear the accrued long service leave and the date when to commence the leave. However you now have the ability to carry over five days of long service leave credit until the next entitlement of long service leave has accrued.

Q

I am an employee returning back to work after parental leave. How long I am allowed to work on a part time basis?

A

An employee returning back to their substantive position after a period of parental leave may reduce their FTE on a

Have a question? A full compilation of Know Your Rights information sheets are available on the SSTUWA website and app.

Schools: sstuwa.org.au/schoolsKYR | TAFE: visit sstuwa.org.au/TAFEkyr You can also speak with your union rep and contact Member Assist: (08) 9210 6060 | 1800 106 683 | memberassist@sstuwa.org.au

temporary basis. The Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 specifies that an employee with a child of pre-compulsory school age has the ability to request part time employment. The Department of Education (DoE) has removed the twoyear maximum time period for part time temporary arrangements.

Q

I wish to retire from the DoE and want to know the process.

A

Once you have decided that you wish to retire from the department, the only requirement of an employee is to give the employer notice of their intention to retire within a period of not less than one calendar month. We advise members to seek financial advice on their best date of retirement.

Q

Does my paid parental leave cover student vacation periods?

A

Where a period of paid parental leave overlaps with a period of student vacation leave to which an employee is entitled, the period of student vacation leave is not counted as part of the paid parental leave, therefore extending the period of paid parental leave to the extent of the overlap.

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Growth Team

A familiar face back in the Growth Team

Former SSTUWA Growth Team officer Vanessa Williamson (pictured) has rejoined the union team this year. Here, Vanessa takes a moment to get reacquainted and discusses how the Growth Team and the union can help new educators.

My name is Vanessa Williamson and I am currently a Growth Team officer for the SSTUWA. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and Philosophy from Murdoch University. I completed my Graduate Diploma in Education (Primary) in 2014.

I was a student member and then became a financial member once I graduated.

I attended a number of professional development courses that allowed me to network and get to know people. I attended committee meetings and was part of the State Council Guest Program, which encouraged me to be a more proactive member of the SSTUWA. I wanted to support others by ensuring that they knew their rights and by standing up for them, alongside their union.

This led me to becoming a Growth Team officer in 2016. It was a fantastic year that allowed me to learn more about our rights and entitlements, how the union worked and to share this information with other new educators like myself.

I returned to teaching and continued to attend State Council and committee meetings. This year I have returned to the role of Growth Team officer to make a difference once again and ensure that our union stays strong.

It’s not easy being a new educator but our new educator members are already ahead because of the support that they receive through the union. I strongly believe in the importance of being part of a union but there are educators out there who aren’t 14

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aware of the benefits. I am taking on this role as an opportunity to show them why they should join the union.

New educators can access the New Educator Network (NEN) which provides support and the opportunity to network with teachers in a similar position.

They also get the support they need through their school union branch and SSTUWA Member Assist.

You’ve given so much to others, now it is time for you to rest and re-charge your batteries. Take some time out just for you.

The union also has a wonderful Education and Training Centre that provides a number of courses that are very useful to new educators. These are courses that I have accessed in the past and have absolutely loved.

Go for a walk, spend time with a furry friend, spend some time in a garden, sing or dance, join a sporting group, see a movie, catch up with a friend for lunch or even create something.

On top of this, SSTUWA members have one less thing to worry about, with Journey Cover being part of their membership, as well as district organisers, case managers and advocates who they can access if they have any issues at their school that require extra support.

Time to look after yourself Another term is coming to an end and the first semester is almost complete.

Take a moment to think about your achievements.

You’ve planned and taught multiple differentiated lessons, marked and assessed numerous tasks, written reports, spoken to parents, inspired students. The list is endless.

These are just some of the ways to reduce stress and anxiety, and help you to relax over your holidays. Planning a getaway? Check out our Member Benefits on page 30 for discounts on travel and accommodation.

Have you had colleagues ask why you are a member of the SSTUWA? Are you a new union rep who is looking to have meaningful conversations with your colleagues? Not sure what to say? The Growth Team speaks with early career teachers while in attendance at Graduate Modules and find these 10 reasons (on the opposite page) useful to share with non-members. Try out these ideas the next time you have a recruitment conversation.

REASONS

10 1

Growth Team

Why new educators should be SSTUWA members

New Educator Network The New Educator Network (NEN) provides the advice, support and networking opportunities new educators need at the early stages of their careers.

Support and protection The SSTUWA looks after our members and their rights. If you run into problems at work, your

3

Journey Accident Cover insurance If you have an accident whilst travelling to or from work, which results in your inability to work, you may be entitled to a benefit for any loss of income.

Available to all financial members.

5

School/workplace branch Union membership means you are never alone at your school. When a group of members act and speak together, their employer listens. This is how unions improve workplaces.

7

Enterprise bargaining agreement The SSTUWA collectively negotiates the pay and conditions of all educators in WA public schools and TAFEs. The larger the membership base, the more powerful we are at the bargaining table.

9

Discounted goods and services Members have access to a range of discounted products and services: educational resources, discounted health insurance with Teachers Health, travel bargains, movie tickets and more.

union has got your back.

2

Properly funded, accessible education Promoting the benefits of properly funded and accessible public education for all is a key area of our operations.

Join us in the campaign for fair funding of public schools.

4

Education and Training Centre (ETC) The SSTUWA ETC provides a range of high quality industrial and professional education opportunities, including short courses, conferences and online events, offered during term time and school holidays.

6

Important gains The SSTUWA has secured a number of achievements for members: class size limits, graduate entitlements, paid family and domestic violence leave, various allowances and much more.

8

Tax deductible, pro-rata and casual/ relief rate Your union membership fees are tax deductible, and your fees are dependent on your salary scale and FTE. Casual/relief teachers access a reduced fixed rate.

10

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15

Occupational safety and health

Choosing the right OSH training course

By Joy Barrett OSH organiser

The five-day OSH representative training course is offered by a number of accredited training providers in Western Australia.

The course that is delivered must be accredited by WorkSafe WA. A list of training organisations that deliver accredited OSH representative training can be found on the WorkSafe website: bit.ly/2X09QHR Elected OSH representatives have the right to attend the course of their choice where applicable and reasonable.

Regional OSH representatives will be more limited in choice. There may only be one or two courses close to their workplace.

Where such a course is available, and within a reasonable time frame, the Department of Education (DoE) requires the OSH representative to attend the course closest to their workplace due to budget restrictions and the high cost associated with travel to Perth.

For metropolitan-based OSH representatives there are a wide choice of providers available.

Unity Training Services provides an accredited course specifically tailored for OSH representatives from school which is held at the SSTUWA Education and Training Centre in West Perth.

The course materials are all education specific and utilise the relevant DoE policies and procedures.

All case studies are based on actual situations that have arisen in schools.

For a number of reasons some OSH representatives may choose an alternative 16

Western Teacher June 2019

course. (It may be that the training course dates suit them better or the Unity course is fully booked.)

It is important when selecting a course that you read the details regarding the course on offer and contact the training organisation if their promotional information is not detailed.

Recently an SSTUWA organiser was made aware of two school OSH representatives who attended a course booked for them by a member of their school’s administration.

Unfortunately, they found themselves participating in a course where all the other participants were from the mining sector.

The course delivered was based on the Mines Safety legislation which does vary from the OSH Act for general workplaces.

They had to try and follow the course by referring to the OSH Act on their personal computer equipment.

No specific blame is attributed to the person(s) who made the bookings, as the promotional material on the website did not specify that the course was tailored for the mining industry.

One participant gave up on the course after two days. The school is trying to retrieve the course fee. (Please note that the DoE, not schools, pays the course fee.)

The other participant meanwhile does not feel fully equipped to function as an OSH representative within their workplace.

The SSTUWA has provided education specific OSH materials to those representatives and is looking at ways of supporting them in their role.

The DoE is also being approached to ascertain whether these representatives can attend a two-day education specific refresher course to give their prior training more context.

Queensland student injured by box lid Queensland Workplace Health and Safety has recently issued a warning about the dangers of storage boxes which have lids supported by gas struts when opened.

These storage boxes are quite common where lids are particularly heavy. Gas struts are used to give mechanical assistance to lifting and supporting components such as car bonnets, boots, rear doors and tool box lids.

In March this year a young student was injured where their head became trapped between two adjacent lids on an equipment storage box in the playground.

The child put their head between the lid that was fully open and a lid that was opening, thereby trapping their head.

The pressure applied by the gas struts made it impossible for the child to release themself. A teacher was also injured in an attempt to release the student.

Investigations are continuing, but in the meantime the Queensland Health and Safety Authority has advised that people who should not be using the equipment (eg children) should be prevented from accessing it.

The child clearly should not have been playing with it. Six incidents involving people being injured by storage boxes or other equipment incorporating gas struts have resulted in workers’ compensation claims in Queensland since 2013.

Reconciliation in Action Award nominations open Nominations for the 2019 SSTUWA Reconciliation in Action Award are now open.

The award celebrates the work of our members who are making positive contributions towards reconciliation.

It’s given in recognition of an SSTUWA member who is committed to ensuring that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have the right to receive a high quality public education, and has shown exemplary practice in education with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, while working towards the elimination of racism in public education.

The Reconciliation in Action award is open to any individual or group of financial members of the SSTUWA, who have been a member for at least 12 months. Any public school or TAFE college with a project run

by SSTUWA financial members is also eligible for the award.

The award is presented for: • Exemplary practice in education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students that focuses on promoting cultural competency. And/or

Professional

• Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. And/or

employment prospects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

• Working towards the elimination of racism within public education.

David’s strong links with the Clontarf Foundation, the Wirrapanda Foundation and the local Aboriginal community has led to many successes for his students, while he has assisted Gilmore College in working towards a whole school approach to eliminating racism in the school community.

This may be in one of the four following ways: 1. Through a whole school/TAFE approach.

2. Improving the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

3. Improving the engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents and members of the broader community in school decision-making processes.

4. Developing and implementing an innovative product or program relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.

The 2018 recipient of the inaugural Reconciliation in Action Award was David Smith, the Follow the Dream coordinator at Gilmore College, who has developed and implemented a range of highly innovative, exemplary programs to improve the educational outcomes and

He has sought and won funding for projects that promote reconciliation in the local school and community.

Nominations forms for the 2019 Reconciliation in Action Award are available in the Aboriginal and TSI section of the My Groups tab at sstuwa.org.au Applications are due by 4pm Friday 30 August.

The recipient for the 2019 Reconciliation in Action Award will be announced at the SSTUWA State Council conference and will automatically be nominated for the national AEU Arthur Hamilton Award.

For more information contact Colleen Mack: cmack@sstuwa.org.au | 9210 6000.

Benefit from strong demand for early childhood specialists.

Help create a world where every child reaches their full potential.

Add early childhood to your primary teaching qualifications with just one year of part-time study by enrolling in UWA’s new Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care.

study.uwa.edu.au/d/early-child-edu-care

CRICOS Provider Code: 00126G DCS 353211565

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17

Issues

Working towards a shared future

NAIDOC Week runs 7-14 July 2019. The National NAIDOC theme for 2019 is: Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let’s work together for a shared future.

Voice, treaty and truth are three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people declare what they want from constitutional reform.

Australia is one of the few liberal democracies around the world which still does not have a treaty, or treaties, or some other kind of formal acknowledgement or arrangement with its Indigenous minorities.

A substantive treaty has always been the primary aspiration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander movement.

The Uluru Statement has built on generations of consultation and discussions among Indigenous people on a range of issues and grievances.

It specifically has sequenced a set of reforms: first, a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution and second, a Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty processes and truthtelling.

According to the NAIDOC Week website: “Makarrata is a word from the language of the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land. The Yolngu concept of Makarrata captures the idea of two parties coming together after a struggle, healing the divisions of the past.

It is about acknowledging that something has been done wrong, and it seeks to make things right.”

The website goes on to state: “Lasting and effective agreement cannot be achieved unless we have a shared, truthful understanding of the nature of the dispute, of the history, of how we got to where we stand.

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Western Teacher June 2019

“The true story of colonisation must be told, must be heard, must be acknowledged.

“But hearing this history is necessary before we can come to some true reconciliation, some genuine healing for both sides.

“And of course, this is not just the history of our First Peoples – it is the history of all of us, of all of Australia, and we need to own it.

“Then we can move forward together.”

There are great teacher resources and ideas for NAIDOC Week at the SBS Learn website, www.sbs.com.au/learn/naidoc and at www.naidoc.org.au/resources/ teaching-guides The NAIDOC Committee’s education resources have been released following a popular uptake of their 2018 resources.

The new suite of online education resources will help tell the story of Australia’s Indigenous history in classrooms around the country, bringing to life the culture and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The resources have been developed by Dr Lynette Riley, a Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi woman, who is a NAIDOC Committee member and also senior lecturer at the

Sydney School of Education and Social Work at University of Sydney.

Dr Riley has developed these resources with two purposes in mind; to enable all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures, and to support young Indigenous children to build self-esteem through seeing their identity, culture and history reflected in the classroom.

“Education is central to all we do in ensuring truth telling and making sure all people have the real facts about Aboriginal people’s cultures and histories of contact in Australia,” Dr Riley said.

NAIDOC Committee co-chairs John Paul Janke and Patricia Thompson noted the importance of the teaching guides stating: “The resources build on the enormous interest in learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, lifestyles and history.”

The SBS’s education resources will be available to schools nationally as printed resources and accompanied by an online suite of materials via the SBS Learn website. These resources also feature the 2019 NAIDOC poster “Awaken” by artist Charmaine Mumbulla.

You can also see NAIDOC events that are close to you by visiting www.naidoc.org.au/ get-involved/naidoc-week-events

07-14 JULY 2019

Let’s work together for a shared future.

naidoc.org.au

NAIDOC Week 2019 NAIDOC Week 2019 invites you to walk in a movement for a better future. For generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have sought recognition of our unique place in Australian history and society today as the oldest continuing culture on the planet.

Early dawn light rises over Uluru, symbolising our continued spiritual and unbroken connection to the land. Our message, developed through generations, is echoed throughout the land: hear our voice and recognise our truth.

Artwork: Awaken by Charmaine Mumbulla

#NAIDOC2019 #VoiceTreatyTruth

facebook.com/NAIDOC

@naidocweek

@naidocweek

Issues

School choice increases educational segregation and inequity

By Trevor Cobbold Convenor, Save our Schools Australia

A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Balancing School Choice and Equity (bit.ly/2WhpaLy), shows that school choice policies have increased social and academic segregation between schools which, in turn, has reduced equity in education.

Australia is a prime example of the impact of choice on social segregation in schools.

School choice has been at the centre of education policy for the past 20 or more years.

Australia now has one of the most socially and academically segregated school systems in the OECD and has highly inequitable education outcomes.

The OECD report looks at changes in school enrolments in countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and examines the extent to which school-choice policies have impacted on the social and academic segregation of students and on equity in education outcomes.

It concludes that school choice can benefit some students but, overall, it increases social segregation of students as choice is mostly used by middle-class and wealthy families: “Empirical results in this volume suggest that weakening the link between place of residence and school allocation is related to a higher level of school segregation by social status. Some resilient disadvantaged students may have access to schools that would otherwise be inaccessible if a strict residence-based 20

Western Teacher June 2019

policy were applied. But that, in itself, does not offset the social-sorting effects that result when it is mostly middle- or upper-class families that take advantage of school-choice policies” (p. 11-12).

This social segregation is associated with increased inequity in education outcomes for disadvantaged students: “Panel estimates in this report show that an increase in the isolation of high achievers from other students is associated with lower scores in PISA amongst socio-economically disadvantaged students, without any significant impact on advantaged students” (p. 12).

Extent of school choice The report considers school choice in terms of changes in the proportion of

students in private schools and the extent to which students are allocated to schools according to residence.

It also considers the degree of local school competition as perceived by school principals and the extent to which parents are actually able to exercise some form of school choice in systems where schools select students based on socio-economic status or academic ability.

According to PISA data, an average of 18 per cent of 15-year-old students across OECD countries were enrolled in a private school in 2015 (see Chart 1 top right on page 21).

This compares with 44 per cent in Australia. Australia has one of the highest proportions in the OECD and is only exceeded in Chile, Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK).

Issues The report found little change in the proportion in most OECD countries between PISA 2000 and PISA 2015.

However, the proportion in Australia increased by three percentage points between 2009 and 2015 which was one of the largest increases in OECD countries, exceeded only in Chile, the Czech Republic and the UK. In almost all school systems, students are assigned to schools based, at least partly, on their home address.

In Australia, 48 per cent of students are enrolled in schools where residence is considered for admission.

This is larger than the average of 40 per cent across OECD countries but far lower than in many countries such as Canada (69 per cent), Finland (67 per cent), Norway (70 per cent) and the United States (66 per cent).

In the majority of OECD countries that participated in PISA 2000 and PISA 2015, the proportion of students attending schools that consider residence for admissions fell, but there was no statistically significant change in Australia.

Despite a relatively high proportion of Australian students enrolled in schools where residence is a factor in admissions, there is also a very high degree of competition between schools.

The report shows that Australia has the highest percentage of students in schools that compete with at least one other local school of all OECD countries except Belgium.

Some 94 per cent of students in Australia are enrolled in such schools compared to the OECD average of 77 per cent and just 35 per cent in Norway (see Chart 2 on right).

However, local competition does not always translate into more choice for parents. Choice may be restricted by several factors such as tuition fees in private schools, access to transport and using prior student achievement as part of admission criteria.

As the report notes: “Because of local competition, schools may be tempted to skim off the most affluent or highestachieving students. Restricting enrolment to the most able students makes it

easier for a school to rank high in public evaluations, thus maintaining its attractiveness to parents…Low-achieving students may have little opportunity to choose schools if schools base their admissions on prior academic performance” (p. 34).

In Australia in 2015, 34 per cent of students were enrolled in secondary schools in which academic performance is always considered for admission.

This was slightly lower than the average for the OECD of 39 per cent. In Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway, Spain and Sweden less than 10 per cent of students were enrolled in selective schools. The rates are similar for public and private

schools in Australia – 34 per cent and 35 per cent respectively – whereas it is much more common in private schools in most OECD countries.

In 2015, selection of students on academic criteria was used more by private schools (56 per cent) than public schools (39 per cent) on average in OECD countries.

There was a large increase in the proportion of secondary schools in Australia using academic performance in admissions since 2009 when the percentage was 24 per cent.

In the case of lower secondary schools, the proportion doubled in Australia from 16 per cent to 33 per cent. The report (Continued on page 22.)

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21

Issues (Continued from page 21.) notes that selectivity in admissions increased in many OECD countries over this period.

schools to select their students thus gives these schools an incentive to compete on the basis of exclusiveness rather than on their intrinsic quality” (p. 82).

Thus, choice and competition between schools in Australia appears to have increased over the PISA cycles, certainly since 2009.

The OECD report uses a dissimilarity index to measure the extent of academic and social segregation between schools. This index ranges from zero (no segregation) to one (full segregation). A high dissimilarity index means that the distribution of disadvantaged students across schools is different from that of students who are not considered to be disadvantaged.

A higher proportion of students are enrolled in private schools and a very high proportion are enrolled in schools facing competition from other schools in the local area.

Concurrently, selectivity in enrolments by all schools, public and private, has increased significantly.

Choice and segregation A major issue about increased school choice is the impact on the segregation of students by ability or socio-economic status.

The evidence presented in the OECD report suggests that choice increases segregation because it is mostly middle or upper-class families that take advantage of school-choice policies: “Empirical evidence from systems with country or state-wide school-choice policies, such as Chile, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States, suggests that providing more opportunities may increase school stratification based on students’ ability, socio-economic status and ethnicity” (p. 20).

In addition, choice means a greater likelihood that the schools most in demand will screen (“cream skim”) for the most promising students – resulting in greater sorting of students by academic results.

Evidence shows that selective admissions are a source of greater inequality and stratification within a school system: “The international evidence suggests that schools that are selective in their admissions tend to attract students with greater ability and higher socio-economic status, regardless of the quality of the education they provide. Given that highability students can be less costly to educate and their presence can make a school more attractive to parents, schools that can control their intake wind up with a competitive advantage. Allowing private 22

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Social segregation of disadvantaged students in Australia is extremely high compared to most other OECD countries.

Australia has the fourth highest degree of social segregation amongst 35 OECD countries (see Chart 3 below). Only Mexico, Chile and Hungary have greater social segregation of disadvantaged students than Australia.

The report also uses two other measures of social segregation between schools – the isolation index and the no-diversity index.

Australia has a high degree of social segregation on both measures. It has the fifth highest degree of social segregation as measured by the isolation index for disadvantaged students and equal fourth highest as measured by the no-diversity index.

The no-diversity index allows for decomposition of sources of segregation.

It shows that social segregation between

public and private schools and social segregation between private schools is high compared to most other OECD countries while social segregation between public schools is less than the OECD average.

Segregation and equity in education The report notes that there is widespread evidence that the social composition of a school impacts on the academic performance of its students.

It says that a clear consensus has emerged from research studies on the detrimental impact of attending schools with many low achievers and the benefits of having high-achieving schoolmates: “…this evidence suggests that sorting students into schools by ability or social status may adversely affect both the efficiency and equity of the school system…social and academic segregation in schools may create additional barriers to success for disadvantaged children and reduce equity in education” (p. 20).

Moreover: “School stratification may also have long-term negative consequences for social mobility. Disadvantaged students may develop biased education and career aspirations because of the absence of inspiring role models that are usually found in schools with a greater social mix. More generally, social stratification amongst schools may threaten social cohesion, as children are not accustomed to social or ethnic diversity” (p.21).

Issues

The report found added evidence of these effects from PISA 2015. It found that countries where schools were more socially segregated also had lessequitable education systems.

Increasing social segregation amongst schools tends to widen the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students: “In 2015, countries where schools were less socially diverse also had lessequitable education systems” (p. 67).

And: “Empirical evidence suggests that social segregation across schools is negatively correlated with equity in education” (p. 68).

Australia is one of those countries. It has high levels of choice, high competition between schools, high social segregation between schools and high inequity in education.

Balancing choice and equity Choice of school is highly desired by many families. There can be no going back to totally residence-based admissions to schools.

It would also mark a return to segregation in schools based on housing segregation.

The issue is how to reduce social segregation and inequity in the presence of choice.

The report considers how school systems can combine sufficient flexibility to fulfil the aspirations of many parents to choose a school for their children and provide enough incentives for schools to improve the performance of all students without reducing equity in education.

It says that governments should provide checks and balances to prevent choice from leading to more segregation of students.

One option is to design school catchment areas to ensure the equitable distribution of students between schools. This can be done by combining districts with different socio-demographic characteristics within a single catchment area.

Another option is to introduce specific criteria for the allocation of students across local schools. The criteria used by oversubscribed schools to select their incoming students should be monitored and regulated to prevent “cream skimming”.

Different forms of “controlled choice” have been used to reduce high levels of student segregation, for example, by reserving a given number or share of places in oversubscribed schools to students from different socio-demographic backgrounds to maintain a balanced distribution of students.

The use of lottery systems to assign places in oversubscribed schools or formulae aimed to maintain a diverse student composition can also be considered.

Incentives can also be provided to schools to select disadvantaged students, such as weighted student-funding schemes that fund schools according to the socio-economic profile of their student populations.

Many governments around the world have adopted such schemes. The Gonski funding model in Australia is one.

The report also suggests that in order to avoid unfair competition between public and private schools, all publicly funded schools should face the same regulations regarding tuition and admissions policies: “The conditions under which private schools are eligible for public subsidies influence the ways in which school-choice

programs affect the accessibility, quality and equity of the school system. Risk to equity can be mitigated if all publicly funded providers are required to adhere to the same regulations regarding tuition and admissions policies, and compliance with these regulations is monitored.

Adequate accountability and transparency requirements are also important to ensure that subsidised private schools serve the public interest in providing high-quality education, and to provide parents with the information they need to evaluate different schools’ processes and outcomes” (p. 84).

Governments in Australia should consider how to minimise/reduce the impact of choice on social segregation and equity in education. Some key changes to consider are: • Tighten registration requirements for private schools.

• Eliminate over-funding of private schools.

• Increase funding loadings for disadvantaged students.

• Investigate controlled choice models for public schools.

• Review admission policies for high demand public schools.

• Contain the growth of selective public schools.

• Use urban planning and housing policy to develop more socially integrated neighbourhoods.

This is an edited version of an article first published on the Save our Schools Australia website.

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Seen around

Seen around the SSTUWA The SSTUWA recently hosted a conference for about 80 Instructional Intelligence Facilitators. The aim of the event was to bring together previously trained facilitators to collaborate, build on new knowledge and for peer-to-peer learning and celebration.

Professor Barrie Bennett was the keynote speaker for the day and spoke on cooperative learning, critical thinking and the instructional repertoire of educators.

Over 15 facilitators also volunteered to present workshops to their colleagues

as part of the conference. A range of diverse topics such as framing questions and checking for understanding; graphic organisers; lesson design; the use of team games tournaments as an instructional strategy; concept attainment; scaffolding concepts and effective group work were on offer.

The conference complements the Instructional Intelligence Facilitator Course, a joint project between Professor Bennett and the SSTUWA, which sees participants receive 60 hours of professional learning on how to build instructional intelligence.

There were also round table discussions in the afternoon organised by year level groups. This provided facilitators with the opportunity to share experiences and to build new connections in a relaxed round table sharing environment.

The next course starts in September this year. Interested members can contact SSTUWA Education and Training Centre coordinator Kevlynn Annandale at kannandale@sstuwa.org.au or by phoning 9210 6035.

Instructional intelligence: Katie Cuerden, Charlotte Thurlow, Barrie Bennett, Lisa Richards and Suzanne Dillon.

Instructional intelligence: Bree Chester, Elise Gaglio, Karen Hart, Tony Bird, Trianda Hyde and Ritihia Lillywhite.

Instructional intelligence: Rebecca Jeffery, Stella Thompson and Marion Drysdale.

Instructional intelligence: Professor Barrie Bennett makes a point.

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Western Teacher    June 2019

Seen around

Instructional intelligence: Heather Ferreri, Alicia Holliday and Lisa De Ponte.

Instructional intelligence: Workshop presenter David Bass speaks on concept attainment.

Instructional intelligence: Presenter Andrew Smyth co-leads a workshop on instructional strategy – teams game tournament.

Instructional intelligence: Workshop presenter Sharnelle Pratt discusses checking for understanding and framing questions.

Instructional intelligence: Presenter Erin Cartledge shares some knowledge in the instructional strategy – teams game tournament workshop.

Instructional intelligence: Workshop presenter Inga McQueen.

Instructional intelligence: Professor Barrie Bennett emphasises a principle about cooperative learning.

Western Teacher June 2019

25

National education and union news

National education and union news Morrison’s wage crisis slows GDP Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has slowed to 0.4 per cent for the quarter and 1.8 per cent for the year on the back of low consumer spending and negative retail sales figures caused by the wage growth crisis, according to new ABS figures.

The wage crisis has caused a collapse in consumer spending, which has resulted in negative retail sales figures. The entire economy is being impacted by the Morrison Government inaction.

Working people are at the coal face of this crisis. This is being driven by the

fact that millions of workers are barely earning enough to keep their heads above water and have nothing left to spend on discretionary items.

ACTU Assistant Secretary Liam O’Brien said the current federal government promised economic strength at every opportunity but had delivered six years of near record low wage growth, which was now slowing the entire economy.

“We needed action on the wages crisis years ago. Working people have been bearing the brunt of an avoidable crisis because this government believes that

everything can be solved by throwing billions at billionaires,” he said.

“The Morrison Government has no answer for this. They will try more corporate tax cuts, which we know don’t work, and in a few weeks they will cut penalty rates again, which have been shown not to generate a single new job.

“We need action now to give working people the power to fight for and win pay rises which will boost consumer spending and re-ignite growth.”

Almost half of regional businesses not complying with workplace laws A new report from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has revealed that 43 per cent of all businesses and 55 per cent of those in hospitality surveyed in Shepparton, the Latrobe Valley, Gippsland, the Southern Highlands, Shoalhaven, Ipswich and Wide Bay are not complying with workplace laws.

The report reveals that 28 per cent of all businesses (more than 300 in total) were not paying workers correctly, engaging in wage theft or other forms of under payment and theft.

The plurality of all breaches were for basic wage theft (41 per cent).

The trial investigation by the FWO resulted in businesses paying back more than half a million dollars in stolen wages.

“Working people need a government

ACTU Assistant Secretary Scott Connolly said wage theft was a systemic, nationwide issue.

representatives.

“Entire sectors of the economy are stealing wages, super and leave entitlements from working people,” he said.

of working people by conservative

“Every single investigation, no matter where it looks or which sector it targets, finds the same thing. Employers are stealing huge amounts of money from working people.

which will act to prevent wage theft, not attack working people and their “The wage theft crisis is the result of decades of erosion of the rights governments.

“We need immediate action to implement meaningful penalties for wage theft and ensure that all working people have fast, effective and affordable recourse when they have wages stolen.”

Funding gap between public and private schools revealed The deep funding inequality facing public schools has been revealed in the latest ACARA My School data, which shows that independent schools nationally have 40 per cent more net recurrent income than public schools, while Catholic schools have four per cent more income.

26

Western Teacher June 2019

This is despite the fact that public schools educate the vast majority of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

federal government funding per student than public schools by 2020 if its recent rate of funding growth is maintained.

The inequality is even more pronounced in Victoria where the Catholic school system is projected to receive more state and

In five key Victorian electorates – Chisholm, Corangamite, Dunkley, Deakin and La Trobe – Catholic schools receive

National education and union news more state and federal government funding than public schools.

The current gap in state and federal government funding between Catholic and public schools is largest in La Trobe at over $1,300 per student (13.1 per cent).

In Dunkley, the gap is $654 per student. In Chisholm, it is $567 per student.

The data also shows that, in Victoria: • Public schools remain by far the lowest funded in the country.

• Private schools had 70 per cent more recurrent income to spend per student than public schools – the largest gap in the nation.

• Private schools are spending three and a half times more on capital works than public schools.

According to the latest My School figures, national net recurrent funding for

government schools in 2017 was $14,198 per student, for Catholic schools was $14,764 and for independent schools was $19,966.

These figures show the urgent need for fairer funding arrangements for public schools, highlighting the growing resource gaps between public and private schools.

Net recurrent income per student is the best measure of the total resources schools have to spend on the day-to-day education of students, as it includes all sources of funding, including school fees.

“When Catholic schools are getting more state and federal government funding than public schools you know how unfair the system has become,” AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said.

“These figures don’t even take into account the $4.6 billion Mr Morrison handed to private schools last year.

“Public schools educate the vast majority of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and yet they are operating in many states with thousands of dollars less per student than private schools.

“Public schools are also the fastest growing schools and yet the Commonwealth has stopped providing any funding for capital works. The Morrison Government has been caught out diverting millions in capital funding to wealthy private schools for dance studios, fitness areas and cafés while giving nothing to public schools to cope with rising enrolments.

“We know this situation is only going to get worse. We’ve had six years of the Federal Coalition fixated on cutting public school funding. The Morrison Government’s record of favouring private schools over public schools is a clear guide to what we will see for another three years.”

Technical faults must prompt full NAPLAN review The Australian Education Union in Victoria says this year’s online NAPLAN testing technical difficulties show the federal government must review the test.

Victorian schools were expected to re-administer NAPLAN tests despite a raft of unresolved problems with the standardised test and technical problems with NAPLAN online.

AEU Victoria has repeatedly called on the federal education minister Dan Tehan to conduct a thorough review of NAPLAN. Standardised tests like NAPLAN undermine the quality of student learning and cause significant and unnecessary disruption to schools.

“NAPLAN online is a debacle. Schools have raised a raft of problems in practice tests over recent weeks,” said AEU Victorian Branch President Meredith Peace.

“NAPLAN online has been fraught with technical difficulties. Schools are having trouble logging on to the online NAPLAN system and then difficulties with system drop-outs and internet bandwidth.

“Parents won’t be able to trust the 2019 NAPLAN results and their confidence in their school will be undermined.

“Schools are left to deal with significant workload issues associated with administering the test.

“The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority has consistently failed to identify and act on critical errors.

Underfunded public schools also do not have the IT infrastructure and support to administer the tests smoothly.

“The most effective way to assess students is the informed judgement of a teacher. A point in time standardised test cannot capture the abilities and progress of a diverse student population.

“We call on the Morrison Government to conduct an urgent review of NAPLAN, rather than proceeding blindly with a flawed testing system.”

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27

Education and Training Centre

Education & Training Centre What’s on in Term 3 Industrial Training Events Title

Date

Women’s Contact Officer: Level One – Schools and TAFE

Monday - Tuesday 29-30 July

Union Representatives: Level One – Schools

Monday - Tuesday 19-20 August

Violence at Work: Skilled Up and Safe

Thursday - Friday 22-23 August

Know Your Rights: New General Agreement 2017 – TAFE Part A

Friday 30 August

Assertiveness for Women in the Workplace – Schools

Tuesday 3 September

Know Your Rights: New General Agreement 2017 – TAFE Part B

Friday 6 September

TAFE Union Representatives and Committee Delegates

Thursday - Friday 12-13 September

Union Representatives: Level One – Schools

Thursday - Friday 12-13 September

Union Delegate Training: Level Two – Schools

Tuesday - Wednesday 17-18 September

Know Your Rights: Your New General Agreement – Schools

Friday 20 September

OSH Training Title

Date

Education Specific Five-Day Introductory Course for OSH Reps

Monday - Friday 5-9 August

Online Learning Events Title

Date

Building a Professional Learning Community

Tuesday 23 July

The Top 10 Tips to Save Time on Assessment

Wednesday 31 July

Literacy in the Secondary Classroom: Strategies for Reading

Tuesday 23 July

Working with Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Tuesday 20 August

The Top 10 Tips for Managing Off-Task Behaviour

Wednesday 28 August

Influence a Secondary School Culture with Restorative Practice

Tuesday 3 September

The Top 10 Tips on Differentiation

Wednesday 11 September

28

Western Teacher June 2019

Education and Training Centre

Providing high quality learning for members Professional Events Title

Date

Writing Competitive Job Applications for Teaching Positions

Saturday 24 August

Applying for Level 3 Classroom Teacher – Stage Two

Saturday 7 September

Conferences and Forums Title

Date

2019 Early Childhood Educator Conference

Monday 12 August

School Leader Forum

Friday 23 August

Instructional Intelligence Facilitator Course – Cohort 4

Monday - Thursday 9-12 September

July Holiday Events: Monday 8 July – Friday 19 July Join us for some outstanding professional learning opportunities during the Term 2 break Date

Event Title

Time

Tuesday 9 July

Working with Students with Dyslexia in Years 3-6

9am – 1pm

Wednesday 10 July

Best Practice Strategies for Students with Autism in the Primary Years

9.30am – 2.30pm

Thursday 11 July

Teaching Phonological Awareness and Graphophonic Knowledge in K-2

9am – 12.30pm

Friday 12 July

Understanding Trauma and Anxiety in Students

9am – 3pm

Monday 15 July

Transitioning from Provisional to Full Registration at TRBWA

9am – noon

Tuesday 16 July

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions to Behaviour Engagement

9am – 12.30pm

Wednesday 17 July

Writing Competitive Job Applications for Teaching Positions

9am – 12.30pm

Thursday 18 July

Writing Job Applications and Interview Skills for Promotional Positions

9am – 3pm

Western Teacher June 2019

29

Member benefits

Member benefits Accountants and Financial Advisers Aston Accountants

10% discount on personal income tax returns for members.

sstuwa.org.au/aston

Industry Fund Services

Specialist financial products for union members.

sstuwa.org.au/ifs

LIFE Financial Planners

$1,200 off your statement of advice fee plus a free financial health check for members.

sstuwa.org.au/lifefinancial

Teacher Tax

$99 tax returns for members.

sstuwa.org.au/teachertax

TIPS Financial Services

$1,100 discount on your TIPS Transition to Retirement strategy or Retirement plan.

Exclusive to members.

sstuwa.org.au/tipsfs

Banking ME Bank

Special offers throughout the year for members. A bank built by, and for, union members.

sstuwa.org.au/mebank

Mortgages, Money and Me

Complimentary advice, property reports, finance tools and more for SSTUWA members.

sstuwa.org.au/mmme

OFX Money Transfers

When it matters, OFX it. Save with the experts in international money transfers.

sstuwa.org.au/ofx

Teachers Mutual Bank

Banking exclusively for the education community.

AutoBahn

Mechanical and electrical services.

Members receive $20 off any service or 5% off any repair.

sstuwa.org.au/autobahn

Bayswater Mazda

Exclusive offer including $500 fuel card, 4 years free service and more.

sstuwa.org.au/bayswatermazda

Bob Jane T-Marts

National fleet pricing on a range of products and services.

sstuwa.org.au/bobjane

easifleet

Bose headphones or Bluetooth speaker, or a year’s worth of Magic Hand car washes with any easifleet procured novated lease.

sstuwa.org.au/easifleet

Fleet Network

Package your next car and save on tax.

Bonus Samsung 8” tablet or Dash Cam with vehicle delivery.

sstuwa.org.au/fleetnetwork

Hertz

5-10% discount on vehicle hire in Australia, NZ, USA and Canada.

sstuwa.org.au/hertz

Motor Market by Union Shopper

You choose the car, then we find you the lowest price.

sstuwa.org.au/motormarket

Thrifty Car and Truck Rental

10% discount on vehicle hire in Australia.

sstuwa.org.au/thrifty

tyresales.com.au

10% discount on tyres.

sstuwa.org.au/tyresales

Western Motor Vehicle Consultants

We’ll find a car you’ll love. Save time and money when sourcing your next vehicle.

sstuwa.org.au/westernmotors

Computers Altronics

HP

Save up to 15% off selected items.

sstuwa.org.au/hp

Lenovo

Save up to 15% off selected items.

sstuwa.org.au/lenovo

Longroad Website Development

Discounted website development and hosting.

sstuwa.org.au/longroad

PLE Computers

Save on your IT with access to the PLE Computers academic portal.

sstuwa.org.au/ple

Educational Resources Abacus Educational Supplies

10% discount, in store and online.

sstuwa.org.au/abacus

Beyond Monet

The Artful Science of Instructional Leadership.

By Barrie Bennett and Carol Rolheiser.

sstuwa.org.au/beyondmonet

Classroom Management

A Thinking and Caring Approach. By Barrie Bennett and Peter Smilanich.

sstuwa.org.au/classroommgmt

Effective Group Work

Beyond Cooperative Learning. By Barrie Bennett.

sstuwa.org.au/effectivegroupwork

Graphic Intelligence

Possibilities for Assessment and Instruction. By Barrie Bennett.

sstuwa.org.au/graphicintelligence

Instructional Intelligence

Building Instructional Expertise for the Classroom. An SSTUWA project in collaboration with Barrie Bennett.

sstuwa.org.au/instructionalintelligence

Teacher Superstore

5-10% discount, in store and online.

sstuwa.org.au/teachersuperstore

Entertainment

sstuwa.org.au/tmbank

Build it yourself electronics centre. VIP trade discount in store and online.

Cars

Apple on Campus

Save up to $14.50 on Adventure World tickets with Westclub.

sstuwa.org.au/apple

Movie tickets

Allwest Fleet

Vehicle salary packaging – save time, money and tax. Receive a $300 gift card with your new car.

sstuwa.org.au/allwestfleet

30

Massive discounts on products and services for SSTUWA members

Western Teacher June 2019

sstuwa.org.au/altronics For details visit:

Dell

Save up to 15% off selected items.

sstuwa.org.au/dell

Adventure World

sstuwa.org.au/adventureworld

Discounts on physical tickets (greater savings) and instant digital tickets.

sstuwa.org.au/movietickets

Member benefits *Terms & conditions apply.

Please visit our website for full details.

For more information visit sstuwa.org.au/benefits and the benefits tab of the SSTUWA App Rockface

SSTUWA Legal Services

sstuwa.org.au/rockface

sstuwa.org.au/legal

Indoor rock climbing in Northbridge. $14 all day climbing pass with harness hire.

Food and Wine Campbells

Complimentary day pass to access wholesale prices on groceries and other goods.

sstuwa.org.au/campbells

Cellar d’Or

Best value winery tour in the Margaret RIver Region. 10% discount for members.

sstuwa.org.au/cellardor

Cracka Wines

Access to quality legal services for both work-related and personal matters.

Teachers Health Fund

Join the thousands of teachers who have already made the switch.

sstuwa.org.au/teachershealth

STA Travel Insurance

Comfort Hotel Perth City

$20 discount for members.

sstuwa.org.au/statravelinsurance

Abacus Educational Supplies

Swan Valley “Speed Grazing” – 20% discount. Good Food, Wine & Cider (am) or Good Food, Wine & Beer (pm).

sstuwa.org.au/abacus

Health and Wellbeing

sstuwa.org.au/electricalbuying

Electrical buying

Let Union Shopper find the best deal on your electrical purchases.

St John

isubscribe

sstuwa.org.au/stjohn

sstuwa.org.au/isubscribe

20% discount on spectacle frames and lenses. Perth and East Perth.

sstuwa.org.au/waopticians

Housing Houspect

Buy, build and invest with confidence. $50 discount on building inspections.

sstuwa.org.au/houspect

Johns Building Supplies

Trade prices on paint and painters’ hardware. Builders prices on all other hardware lines.

sstuwa.org.au/jbs

SkylightsWA

Up to an extra 10% off any print and digital magazine subscription; over 4,000 titles.

Save 10% on over 3,000 experiences across Oz + NZ.

sstuwa.org.au/experienceoz

Inn the Tuarts Guest Lodge

Forest retreat, 4-star, with indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and BBQ. Adults (12 years+) only. Five minutes to Busselton.

Studios and rooms. 22.5% off rack rate or best available rate.

sstuwa.org.au/jacksons

Petals Flowers & Gifts

20% off flowers and gifts. World-wide delivery available.

sstuwa.org.au/petals

Discounts on flights, restaurants, movies, shopping, groceries and more. $5 off ITIC for members.

sstuwa.org.au/itic

Retravision

Jarrah Grove Forest Retreat

sstuwa.org.au/retravision

sstuwa.org.au/jarrahgrove

Cost plus 5% on all products. Osborne Park location only; in store or via phone.

Nation-wide delivery available.

Luxurious, self-contained accommodation in Margaret River.

Discounted rates for members.

Teacher Superstore

Mandurah Houseboats

5-10% discount, in store and online.

sstuwa.org.au/thegoodguys

sstuwa.org.au/isinsured

Experience Oz

International Teacher Identity Card (ITIC)

Insurance and Legal Insurance for union members. Home, contents, car, landlords.

sstuwa.org.au/comfortperth

sstuwa.org.au/innthetuarts

10% discount in Jackson’s 12 shops and online.

sstuwa.org.au/teachersuperstore

ISinsured

Rooms from $145 per night including Light Start Breakfast for two. Located near the WACA in East Perth.

Jackson’s Drawing Supplies

Specialising in skylights and roof ventilation, servicing all regions of WA. 7% discount off selected products.

sstuwa.org.au/skylightswa

Choice Hotels

sstuwa.org.au/choicehotels

10% discount, in store and online.

WA Opticians

sstuwa.org.au/accorhotels

sstuwa.org.au/travelinsurance

Taste Bud Tours

First aid saves lives. Discounted first aid courses and kits for members.

Great savings for teachers at Accor Hotels in the Asia Pacific region.

10% discount on travel insurance.

Shopping

sstuwa.org.au/tastebudtours

Accor Hotels

Choice Hotels welcomes SSTUWA members with exclusive rates at locations in Australia and NZ.

Teachers Health – Travel

7.5% off online wine orders.

sstuwa.org.au/cracka

Travel and Accommodation

The Good Guys Commercial

Online access to live discounted pricing on The Good Guys’ full range.

Vet Products Direct

10% discount on pet products, plus advice from professionals.

sstuwa.org.au/vetpro

10% discount on houseboat holidays.

sstuwa.org.au/houseboats

Rottnest ferry tickets

Save up to $18 on Rottnest ferry tickets with WestClub.

sstuwa.org.au/rottnest

STA Travel

Exclusive discounts for members.

sstuwa.org.au/statravel

Western Teacher June 2019

31

Classifieds

Classifieds Block for sale: Kalbarri

Large 770sqm block, ready to build on, two streets from the beach. 22m frontage with north facing winter aspect. Walking distance to all facilities. Be quick as seller will negotiate. All offers considered.

0402 349 203

For sale: Cooloongup

3x2 plus large utility room, fully powered workshop set amongst a quiet street and bushland. Large patio area and backyard for entertaining and family time. Offers from $350,000.

EOI: 0401 847 317

Albany (Little Grove)

Silent Grove Cottage. Self-contained two bedroom (queen/two singles) on two hectares of bushland. Undercover parking. Close to yacht club, walking/ bike trails, national park and beaches.

Teachers’ rate: $150 per night. Stay seven, get one free. www.silentgrove.iinet.net.au 9844 4950 | merron@iinet.net

Albany

“Wywurry Holidays” in 2x1 fully furnished cottage. Min 2 nights, max 6 weeks.

Sleeps 4, more with camp beds. Pet friendly. 20 min walk to Middleton Beach. $100/night for 4 people; $10/night per extra person. $550/week. $2,000/month.

Linen fee optional $50 per visit/week.

Sara: 0499 057 647 saralindsay41@gmail.com

Dunsborough (Quindalup)

Large 4x2 holiday home on Geographe Bay Rd. Swimming beach 30m away. Free use of private boat mooring. Room to park boats with boat ramp a minute away. Slow combustion wood heater and reversecycle air-con. Available all year except for leavers’ vacation. No pets.

0419 943 203 | 9448 5527 a_r_moore@bigpond.com

Dwellingup

Après Huit and Dwell Cottage provide luxury self-contained accommodation set in beautifully landscaped gardens. Can be rented separately or together. Après Huit: 2x2, main house. Dwell Cottage: 1x1, furnished in a French theme.

Robert: 0419 954 079 dwellcottage.com.au

Falcon

Shady two bedroom beach cottage 300 metres from surf beach and protected Falcon Bay. Located on a grassy, peppermint gum 1012 sq metre block.

Sleeps eight. Well-equipped including BBQ. Close to Miami Village and all amenities, great for crabbing and fishing.

Less than one hour from Perth’s CBD along Forrest Hwy. $150 per night for Western Teacher readers.

0415 035 390 | richard.wright@iinet.net.au

Kallaroo

Serenity Escape is a 2x1 apartment with full kitchen, offering comfort and convenience. 20 min walk to beach, 5 min drive to train station, walking distance to Whitfords Brewing Co, cinema and shops.

Toiletries, slippers and coffee machine provided. Min 2 nights. Sleeps 4, or 5 with mattress. No pets. $125/night for 3 people; $10/night per extra person.

Molly: 0428 166 559 mollysletters@gmail.com

Mt Lawley/Dianella

3x1 spacious holiday rental. One double, one queen, five singles. 200m from the river and town. Magnificent river views. One large living area, three sided veranda and BBQ. Provide own linen and towels. $150 per night plus $50 cleaning fee. gregrowl@iinet.net.au

Studio B&B. New, stylish single room.

Fridge, kitchenette, TV, aircon in lovely peaceful Floreat house and garden. Linen, tea/coffee, continental/cooked breakfast ingredients supplied. Suit mature person wishing to enjoy quiet accommodation.

Close to city, buses, shops, hospitals and beaches. $85 per night, min two nights.

Weekly and monthly rates available.

SMS: 0422 333 057

Newly built 1x1 self-contained extension, furnished, with laundry, dining, lounge, kitchen and one undercover parking bay.

Aircon, TV, fridge, washing machine and microwave included. Quiet residential area close to city, buses, Galleria Morley, Mt Lawley cafe strip and Northbridge. 10 min walk to Terry Tyzack Aquatic Centre; golf course across the road. $80 per night, min two nights. $50 per night for weekly and monthly rentals.

0439 964 239 | cymbie.burgoyne@gmail.com

Cowaramup (Margaret River Region)

France (South)

Northam

Augusta

Private B&B within newly built home.

Parkland setting. Private queen bedroom, bathroom and breakfast room. Private entry and dedicated parking. 10 mins to Margaret River, Gracetown, central to wineries/breweries and beaches. $120 per night per couple including breakfast.

Lee: 0412 902 932

Denmark

The Rise is a modern, comfortable, 3x2 fully equipped house close to town with elevated views. Located close to Scotsdale and Mt Shadforth drives and their many tourist attractions. Stay for 7 nights and pay for 6 nights.

Bookings.denmark.com.au (property The Rise) (08) 9848 2055, 9am to 5pm

Floreat

3x2 house located in quaint village adjacent to Canal du Midi - noted for having 300 days of sunshine per year and hence lots of vineyards. Spain is 1hr drive; Barcelona is 2hr drive. $700 per week.

0407 368 511 | craigrebecca@bigpond.com

Fremantle

Short term accommodation in central Fremantle. Recently refurbished with all conveniences for modern living.

Townhouse has three queen-sized bedrooms plus provision for two singles.

Enjoy time in the rear garden, complete with BBQ. Secure parking for two cars, access controlled by electric gates.

9430 4458 | 0407 083 174 info@westerley.com.au

Renovated, self-contained 30s-style three bedroom house with beautiful river views.

Short walk across the bridges to town.

Sleeps six-eight.

Kevin: 0414 446 431

Prevelly

One bedroom private spa apartment in quiet Prevelly cul-de-sac. Two minute walk from beach. Suits couples. $165 per night for Western Teacher readers.

Lucy: lcartell@iinet.net.au

Scarborough

Stay on Brighton. Comfortable 3x2 unit is a home away from home with everything you need. Sleeps six adults. Caters for children. Conveniently located near shops and café; 10 minute walk to beach. Western

Email 50 words or fewer to editor@sstuwa.org.au with your phone and union membership numbers. Free for members.

32

Western Teacher June 2019

Classifieds

Classifieds Teacher special: stay six nights and the seventh night is free.

Lisa: 0408 914 090 lisamaree77@hotmail.com

Trigg

Self contained accommodation. Kitchen, laundry, bedroom plus foldout couch. Free WiFi and Netflix. Find us on Facebook.

Kerry: 0409 884 330 | FB: @justriggin 67justriggin@gmail.com

Yallingup

Rammed earth cottage, 2x1, nestled amongst bushland. Well located, short walk to Studio Gallery Bistro, two-minute drive to Caves House. Beaches, galleries, wineries and restaurants close by. Sleeps six. No dogs. stayz.com.au (property 136151) Kirsty: 0419 927 660

Victoria (Jan Juc Beach)

Planning a holiday to Victoria? Stay on the beautiful Surf Coast, in between Torquay and the famous Bells Beach. Sleeps eight comfortably. Walking distance to the beach, golf club, shops and river mouth.

Everything you need is already there. Large entertaining areas. Discount for Western Teacher readers.

0403 803 064

Tranquillity Counselling, Psychotherapy and Career Development

I provide holistic, confidential practical counselling to help you deal with an array of issues, some being: general relationship, mental health, anger issues/management; anxiety; depression; self-harm; grief and trauma; addiction; abuse; palliative care.

Milica Robinson, MCnsig&Psychthpy, GradCertCareerDev, BEd. 0422 358 187

Retirement coach

Are you recently retired or retiring soon?

You probably have a financial plan in place but developing a plan for the non-financial side of retirement can be as important as

preparing financially. I offer support and guidance for the transition from work to retirement, helping you to find purpose and meaning in retirement. Contact me to arrange an obligation free chat. retirementcoaching01@gmail.com

Marriage celebrant

Marriage celebrant with 12 years of experience, working in the Peel, South West and Perth areas. Specialising in creating personalised ceremonies for couples at their chosen wedding location.

I’d love to help you plan your special day!

Meridith: 0400 312 535 meri.lake4@gmail.com

Marriage celebrant

Heart Centered Ceremonies for couples wanting a personalised wedding. Lee will help you design your dream wedding – a memorable occasion. Mention this ad to receive a discount.

Lee: 0404 655 567 leehalligancelebrant.com.au

Marriage celebrant

Experienced professional celebrant available, all areas. Formal or informal, large or small weddings. A Beautiful Ceremony will help you design an unforgettable and uniquely personal ceremony.

Mary: 0418 906 391 maryburke40@hotmail.com

Learn to social dance

Learn jive, waltz, rumba, samba, tango and other dances for social events (ball, wedding, cruise, etc). A fun and easy course with quality instruction. Join with or without a partner. Melville (LeisureFit) Recreation Centre. Mondays 7.30-9pm. $118/8 weeks. Beginners’ course held every term. Term 3 starts 29 July.

Stan: 9330 6737 | stan@stansdancing.com

First aid training for students

St John Ambulance WA offers free first aid training to all school aged students, ranging from Triple 000 Hero for kindergarten students to Road Trauma

First Aid for secondary school students.

Courses are curriculum mapped.

9334 1259 | youth@stjohnambulance.com.au

Actors reading to kids: it’s Storyville!

Storyville is a free literacy initiative run

by Australian performers through the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance.

The program harnesses the talent of performers to encourage children to read and specifically targets primary schools with socio-economic disadvantage or where for a majority of students English is a second language. diane.cameron@equityfoundation.org.au

MAWA

The Mathematical Association of Western Australia offers professional learning opportunities, conferences and consultancy services to teachers and schools and networks. MAWA members receive 10 per cent discount on MAWA shop resources. For more information: mawainc.org.au 9345 0388 | eo@mawainc.org.au

Calling all retired teachers!

Are you a retired teacher with a spirit of adventure and time to spare? Would you like to assist families in remote areas of WA? You may like to join REVISE WA as a tutor. For more info, visit www.revisewa.com.au

Wanted: Teacher resources

Wanted: Your unwanted teacher resources and materials. Declutter and make some extra cash at the same time. If you have unused and unwanted resources cluttering up your classroom or home, call Kris.

Kris: 0401 263 070

Belly Rubs Boarding Kennels

Personalised approach to boarding your canine companion. $25 per dog – mention you’re a teacher to receive a 10 per cent discount. Located in Southern River.

Elisa: 0417 620 766 | bellyrubsboarding.com

Western Teacher June 2019

33

Noticeboard

Noticeboard

Email to editor@sstuwa.org.au

Retired Teachers’ Association The usual quarterly meeting took place on Monday 24 June. It included choir, speaker Lisa Sprlyan on the Orange Sky Van Project, then lunch and literature.

Our new piano accompanist Janine Carter is conducting the choir during the June absence of Keith Davies.

She has multiple talents!

There was no meeting on 26 June because we combined it with our usual choir and literature meeting.

The literature session on 10 June was titled Subject and Theme in Poetry and given by Gerry Brennan. On 24 June we discussed the writing of Robert Drewe, and on 8 July Burt Berry will talk on English writers, mainly poets.

On 22 July, Angela Quinn will talk on Australian writer D’Arcy Niland. In August Clare Gartner will speak on the Bronte family.

Ann Strauss: 9387 2906

Do you enjoy singing?

State Council Conference

If so, Working Voices Choir would like you to join us. We sing songs of social justice, union and environmental songs. No auditions needed.

Members/branches wishing to submit motions for November State Council must do so by 5pm Friday 27 September 2019.

Research and studies Did you know we have an extensive collection of research and studies on our website?

To view these, visit sstuwa.org.au/research

For more information, visit workingvoiceschoir.org.au

Level 3 Classroom Teachers’ Association

2019 meeting dates: Saturdays, 10.30am-noon at the State Library Term 3

Term 4

27 July

19 October

10 August

23 November

14 September

Mon 9 December Celebration event

Venue subject to change. Visit www.l3cta.org.au for venue information and to confirm attendance, or email contact@l3cta.org.au

SSTUWA committee meeting dates:

Early Childhood Educators’ Committee

TAFE Committee

21 August 6 November

International Committee

LGBTIQ Committee

Dates to be confirmed

Dates to be confirmed

Dates to be confirmed

New Educator Committee

Women’s Committee

Psych Services Committee

ATSIE Committee

Time: 4.30pm 27 August 19 November

Time: 4.15pm

Time: 4.45pm 29 August 28 November

Time: 4pm

Time: 4.15pm

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Venue: SSTUWA office | Contact: (08) 9210 6000 or contact@sstuwa.org.au Teleconference facilities are available

Western Teacher June 2019

Time: 5pm

25 June

Time: 4.30pm

Time: 4pm

15 August

31 October

It feels good to be ethical

Globally, 128 companies were named as a 2019 World’s Most Ethical Company1, including 5 banks. And we’re one of them for the 6th year in a row!

Join us^ tmbank.com.au ^Membership is open to citizens or permanent residents of Australia who are current or retired employees of the Australian education sector or family members of members of the Bank. 1 The Ethisphere Institute is a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practice. The World’s Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient (EQ) framework and honours superior achievements in transparency, integrity, ethics and compliance. Worlds Most Ethical Companies and ‘Ethisphere’ names and marks are registered trade marks of Ethisphere LLL. www.ethisphere.com Teachers Mutual Bank Limited ABN 30 087 650 459 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence 238981 | 00711-CSR-0419-WME-A4-WT

Transition to Retirement Specialists

Financial solutions and advice to help you transition

TTR and Tax benefits will continue into 2019 & beyond!

Please see tipsfs.com.au

Are You Retiring or Reducing Hours in 2019?

What you will need to consider …

• • • •

Can I afford to drop a day?

How much will be enough to retire on?

How can I maximize my income & reduce tax?

When is it best to pay off my mortgage?