Dear Colleagues s18

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome back from your well earned break. I trust you all had a chance to relax and recharge. This year will be very interesting given a new federal government and a still relatively new state minister. VASSP will be fighting to ensure that the rhetoric of an “Educational revolution” and “Education is our number one priority” translates into real improvements for the vast majority of students, teachers and Principals who are part of our great public education system.

This VASSP Bites will outline in summary some of the things that have been happening since late last year. More detail will be provided in the eBulletin due out in mid February.

VASSP dates for 2008 We look forward to seeing you at the following VASSP events for 2008. Please put these dates in your diary now.

Special General Meeting: Friday March 7th – Moonee Valley Racecourse Annual Leadership Conference: 18th and 19th August – Melbourne Annual General Meeting: Monday October 20th – Moonee Valley Racecourse

Media Issues You may have noticed media attention around teacher supply and educational resourcing over the break. One of the more challenging tasks that I have is to educate the media on these and other issues. Sometimes it is surprising the limited understanding demonstrated by some media outlets about educational issues, even when there is a genuine desire to report accurately. Although VASSP is often not directly quoted I spend a lot of time background briefing reporters and trying to extend their knowledge and understanding. For example recent stories about teacher supply and demand have been positively influenced by working through the issues with reporters to ensure their articles reflect the reality that schools and Principals are experiencing. At times the balance is a delicate one between highlighting important issues without talking down the system. An effective advocate influences what opinion makers say as well as having their own public voice.

Charter of Rights The Victorian Government has adopted a “Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities” that came into effect from the 1st of January. The Charter’s main purpose is to protect and promote human rights in Victoria. The Ombudsman is able to enquire into administrative breaches of the Charter, but there is no new or additional right to legal action.

2/13-21 Vale Street, North Melbourne, 3051 E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 9320 7100 Fax: 9326 8147 Home Schooling Victoria has reviewed the policy on home schooling as part of the introduction of the new Education Act. The policy has tightened up somewhat on the guidelines for approving home schooling and in the process has allowed partial school enrolment for compulsory aged students. That is, a student may enrol for a single subject at their neighbourhood school and do the rest of their schooling at home. For example this may occur in a technology or PE subject where the facilities are not available at home. The Principal does retain some power of discretion - see the recent memo.

EBA We still do not have an outcome from the EBA negotiations, but given the latest inflation figures the Government’s 3.25% ceiling is starting to look like a pay cut! In the OECD Australia ranks about 18 out of 30 in GDP spending on education (much lower if you take out private spending which we are one of the highest) and Victoria spends the lowest student per capita in the country. Given the drastic situation regarding teacher availability in many Victorian schools the gloss seems rather tarnished on the Premier’s “Education is our number 1 priority” rhetoric.

Executive Meeting VASSP Executive met last week and completed planning for the next two Committee meetings, the upcoming SGM and presenters for the Annual Leadership Conference. There was also discussion around strategic directions for 2008 which will be a major focus of the next Committee meeting.

Education and Training Committee You will recall that this Parliamentary Committee has held two inquiries recently, Uniform and Teacher Professional Development. VASSP put written and verbal submissions to both. The Committee has published the Uniform report but not the other.

I have received an invitation to put a submission to a new inquiry entitled “Geographical Differences in the Rate in which Victorian Students Participate in Higher Education”. Submissions are due on the 18th of March. I am sure many of you will want to contribute to this report so VASSP will organise a Principals’ Pulse in the near future, based on the terms of reference.

Secretaries Meeting Rob Newton, Marion Heale and I met with Peter Dawkins and Darrell Fraser at the death-knell of 2007. We discussed a range of issues including Building Futures, ICT Funding, Implementation of DEECD’s reform agenda, Principal Workload, The Federal agenda, teacher shortage, VET funding and student suspensions. The discussion was quite productive and as you can see, wide-ranging. In the next eBulletin I will report in more detail on each item.

At the next meeting the Minister will be present. Public Private Partnerships, equity in school funding and outcomes and consultation in general are tentatively on the agenda. If you have

2/13-21 Vale Street, North Melbourne, 3051 E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 9320 7100 Fax: 9326 8147 any other issues that you believe should be raised at this level, let Marion or I know over the next week or so.

ASPA ASPA executive developed a comprehensive IT implementation document that has been presented to DEST (federal education department) to influence the roll out of Rudd’s computer for every year 9-12 student. There will be more detail in the eBulletin.

In early February ASPA will publish a national survey of Principals from all sectors around their health and wellbeing. When it is available we will place it on the website and I will summarize its findings in the eBulletin.

Vale Mike Dwyer Many of you will have worked with Mike Dwyer over the years. Mike amongst other things worked with schools on the “Investing in People” program. Mike died suddenly over the break. We would like to express our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Mischief Motivation Attitude Those of you who attended the AGM last year will recall the presentation by Mark McKeon. Mark and his group offer a program designed to refresh and motivate your team by enhancing communication, teamwork and well-being. Their details are attached for those who are interested.

UBS Young Women’s Leadership Academy Details about this program to run at Sydney University from 14 – 18 April, 2008 have been emailed to schools this week. This is a wonderful opportunity for state school students and the UBS program is outstanding.

2008 Science BHP Billiton Awards We have two invitations to attend this award ceremony at the Scienceworks Museum on Tuesday 12 February. If two members would like to represent VASSP and ASPA please advise by return email. This is a very impressive event.

Regards

Brian Burgess President VASSP

2/13-21 Vale Street, North Melbourne, 3051 E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 9320 7100 Fax: 9326 8147