AEU Journal Vol. 40 No. 6 | September 2008

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Official publication of the Australian Education Union (SA Branch)

Vol 40 I No.6

September 2008

AEUJOURNAL SA Dealing a bad hand to Public Education

IN FOCUS

Education Counter-Revolution SSOs: Vital to our Schools

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FPERAT E SUI D RE N ST’S VIEW

AEU JOURNAL

Focus: SSOs play a key role pages 12 – 13 We profile two SSO Public Education Award winners.

Australian Education Union | SA Branch Telephone: 8272 1399 Facsimile: 8373 1254 Email: journal@aeusa.asn.au Editor: Craig Greer Graphic Designer: Jo Frost AEU Journal is published seven times annually by the South Australian Branch of the Australian Education Union.

AEU Journal 2008 Dates Deadline Publication date #7 October 17 November 5 Subscriptions: Free for AEU members. Nonmembers may subscribe for $33 per year.

Print Post approved PP 531629/0025 ISSN 1440-2971 Printing: Finsbury Green Printing Cover: Newspix – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard sit with pupils at Gordon Primary School in the Canberra suburb of Gordon for launch of 2008 National Literacy and Numeracy Week. Pic. Ray Strange.

Dealing a bad hand for Public Education

Director tells

Pages 9, 14 and 20 The Rudd/Gillard agenda for Public Education signals a continuation of Howard-era policy.

page 8 Why we need dedicated Early Childhood Leaders.

Advertise in the AEU Journal. Reach over 13,500 members across South Australia.

8272 1399 journal@aeusa.asn.au

L E T T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R

TOP LETTER

*Winner of TOP LETTER!

mation services in schools (2nd edition)” which was jointly published by the Australian School Library Association and the Australian Library & Information Association.

Amendment Urgently Required

These three sectors all have their own specific educational issues. For example, adult re-entry colleges and schools have taken months to provide a position paper dealing with the issue of block status, which is crucial to all adult re-entry schools – only to find that their position on this issue was not accepted. No-one knows why that decision was made.

Education Minister Lomax-Smith, must seek an urgent amendment to the new Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia (Review) Amendment Act 2007.

How can principals and key stakeholders in the public system have input into the decision making process when their research falls on deaf ears.

The new Future SACE Board must have greater representation from the public school system. The urgency stems from the fact that the Public Education sector comprises over 65 percent of public schools across area schools, high schools and senior adult reentry colleges. In fact there are no practicing teachers or principals on the new Board.

Premier Rann states publicly that he “wants South Australia to lead the way in providing the best possible education system for young people, not only for today, but also for future generations”. How can this be achieved at the senior secondary level when key public education groups have no direct say? What a slap in the face for all public school educators in this State.

Greg Manning

School Libraries Will there be super libraries for super schools? On the Education Works website mention of school library provision is sparse.

For Smithfield Plains/Playford North Community there are “facilities to be shared across the campus, such as the library”. Two other school proposals, R-7 at Enfield/Gepps Cross/Northfield Community and Birth to Year 7 at Woodville Gardens/Mansfield Park Community, have no mention of a library. To meet the information and literature needs of their communities, these schools will need libraries that have space, facilities, resources and staffing that are world class.

The Government’s proposed funding model for school staffing would adversely affect Teacher Librarian roles in all schools and make super staffing for super schools very difficult to achieve.

I urge the Department of Education and Children’s Services and the communities involved to ensure that libraries are provided that meet or preferably exceed the standards in “Learning for the future: developing infor-

One of the key legislative functions of the new Board is to attain cooperation and collaboration between the Board and the school sectors. How can this function be achieved when there is such little representation from the biggest sector? If the new Board has a mandate to provide persons with expert knowledge and experience in the provision of secondary education, then why are there so few people representing the public schools sector?

Michael Wohltmann

...continued over page 3

The AEU Journal welcomes all letters. Top letter each issue WINS two bottles of wine.

journal@aeusa.asn.au 3

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. . . L E T T E R S TO T H E E D I TO R ( CO N T I N U E D )

Gillard or Bishop?

When Julia Gillard first put forward this Klein model of gathering “rich information” on schools she referred several times (2GB Radio interview with Chris Smith; ABC Brisbane Radio interview with Madonna King) to the fact that “we have a socioeconomic index of private schools… but we don’t have that sort of information available nationally on state schools”.

In Opposition, however, Gillard was the leading critic of the former Government’s Socio-Economic Status (SES) model, describing it in Parliament as a “flawed index” (20 August 2001), listing “five flaws” and accusing the Howard Government of using it to “create an education market in which the wealthiest have the most choice because they have the ability to buy any of the options on the table” (4 September, 2000).

She also said “research is telling us that, even if you look at cohorts of students who all come from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, there are wide variations in the educational attainment within that cohort, which can be explained in part by the cultural foundation of the family – the way in which that family values education – and in part by the educational attainment of the parents.”

Now, however, she proposes to use the SES model to establish which schools are alike, and then to encourage comparison of their student results!

And as Rudd said in reply to a question at the National Press Club, “if that results in parents voting with their feet, we’re not going to apologise for it!”

Shades of John Howard and Julie Bishop indeed!

Derek Burke, Wynn Vale

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AEU PRESIDENT’S VIEW

AEU President reports on the EB negotiations

Here are 10 reasons why the SA Government deserves its failed EB record

For Info and updates see our EB Blog:

1. Appointment of new IR Minister, Paul Caica. Despite showing some early promise, Minister Caica has fallen for using the same political strategies as his predecessor Michael Wright. In our initial meeting, he told the AEU that “his door was always open”. However, when the AEU requested further meetings with him we discovered that his door is actually firmly shut; he denied our requests.

2. Inexperienced State Government negoti-

www.2008eba.org

ating team. Dealing with middle level bureaucracy has frustrated the bargaining process. The AEU has been informed by Minister Caica that we have decision makers in the room. We are yet to see proof of this.

The Government negotiators are seemingly unable to give a commitment on anything that might cost money.

3. Interim salary request refused twice.

With EB Negotiations dragging on, the AEU requested an interim salary payment for members as a show of “good will” by the State Government as we began mediation.

On Friday 5th September, Minister Caica refused this request as he did not think a salary increase was “appropriate”.

4. Proposed separation of TAFE from schools and preschools. The State Government wants a separate agreement for TAFE staff. With this sector already under attack federally, the AEU has to ask whether there is a hidden agenda behind the Government’s intention to separate TAFE.

6. Wedge politics. In order to fix up the many problems with the SCRFM model, DECS has created a working party with Principal Association representatives. As it is part of the EB negotiations and requires AEU agreement, you would assume that an AEU representative would be included on this working party.

Sadly, we were not invited to participate and people who were nominated by an association were excluded if it was perceived that they had any connection to the AEU. Further, DECS is attempting to manipulate our Principals into believing that SCRFM is the way of the future.

AEU members need to keep an alert eye on chatlines, newsletters and DECS bulletins which sell this particular brand of snake oil.

The AEU will fiercely resist any funding model which disadvantages our schools, overlooks the vast majority of our members and is nothing more than a Treasury cash grab for Public Education funds.

7. Economic Rationalism. AEU members know that a good EB outcome for us translates to a good outcome for our students. We’ve seen a significant shift in thinking with the State Government; they’re no longer putting our students first.

There is an underlying fiscal evil in the implementation of proposals such as SCRFM. Currently, the vast majority of the education budget is protected industrially, which means that Treasury can’t touch our funds. If we lose these industrial protections, then our sites and staff are open to the whims of government. Remember the State Bank disaster?

That debacle cost us 800 teachers and is part of the reason why we had the 170mx Arbitration – to make sure that it couldn’t happen again. Premier Rann was elected on a promise of becoming the Education Premier.

However, his government has lost its way with education. During EB discussions we hear terms such as “inputs”, “outputs”,

“flexibility” and “power”, but rarely the word “student”.

8. Treasury and education “efficiency” cuts.

When Treasury calls the shots and insists that further cuts are made to the education budget, we need to be alert. A government that builds its reputation on providing infrastructure only, overlooks one simple fact: you can have the shiniest buildings in the world but they are useless without the staff and the resources to run them.

9. Forgotten employees. School Service Officers, Aboriginal Education Workers, Early Childhood Workers and preschool and country members are amongst the many groups of employees which have simply been overlooked by the State Government’s Offers.

10. 3.25 percent per annum salary offer.

This offer is less than CPI and will hardly attract, let alone retain, education workers for South Australia.

Mediation AEU Branch Executive recently requested mediation of the Enterprise Bargaining dispute between the AEU and the State Government. Mediation occurs under the guidance of the Industrial Relations Commission and is a voluntary process.

There were a number of reasons why this step was taken. Firstly, there is little chance of a positive resolution whilst talking to the same people that have sat in the EB negotiations for the past eight months. Secondly, the confidentiality of mediation allows parties to explore different options when working towards a settlement. And thirdly, it is the AEU’s belief that with significant issues such as a nationally competitive salary, the proposed funding model for schools, leadership structures and classification structures for TAFE still to be resolved, the assistance of a third party can only be of benefit.

We have engaged in two preliminary meetings to discuss the parameters for mediation.

Further discussion is required to finalise those items, several of which the parties have agreed to “in principle”. Mediation can then focus on the outstanding issues with a view to moving both parties forward. The AEU maintains its strong commitment to the political, community and industrial action that is needed to apply pressure to the State Government. Branch Executive meets regularly to assess the EB progress and members will be advised of any changes.

In solidarity, Correna Haythorpe, AEU President

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www.2008eba.org

South Australia has the second worst record for Industrial Disputes in the nation according to figures from the Bureau of Statistics. They show that the equivalent of 9,800 working days were lost due to industrial disputes in the June quarter. This will come as no surprise to the thousands of education workers who took industrial action in protest at the State Government’s reluctance to deliver fair pay, fair funding and a fair go for Public Education.

5. Intransigence in State Government’s position. Negotiation requires some give and take from both parties. To date, the State Government has stubbornly refused to give ground on the major issues. In particular, we are told it is a package deal and that we must accept SCRFM (Student Centred Resource Funding Model) as it is the centrepiece of the Government’s offer. The AEU has shifted its position considerably on a number of matters in order to move the debate forward but cannot sign up to an agreement which contains SCRFM. To do so would be negligent in our duty as public educators.

“The AEU maintains its strong commitment to the political, community and industrial action that is needed to apply pressure to the State Government.”

For Info and updates see our EB Blog:

Ten reasons for State Government EB failure

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E B 2 0 0 8 C A M PA I G N M AT E R I A L S

ow

Fair Pay Fair Funding

Take action now for the future

Take action now for the future

Australian Education Union

Take action now for the future

...Fair Go! for PUBLIC EDUCATION

Go

Take action now for the future

AEU me mbers feel stron high qu gly abou ality ed t protec ucation ting your fight ag . So mu ainst the child’s ch so tha right to State La t we are way ou a bor Go taking ac r presch vernme tion to ools an nt’s pla d scho n to ch ols are ange the resource d.

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Australian Education Union

a right to child’s ting your tion to t protec taking ac gly abou t we are the feel stron tha ge so an ers ch mb n to ch . So mu AEU me nt’s pla icantly ucation vernme e signif ality ed bor Go s will se high qu ly State La change can on . These ainst the ols and schools fight ag ee scho for our thr l in de mo st one staffing. funding for at lea back on cutting funding by ed uc nts red r stude ntage ou disadva

1 Latest AEU postcard and leaflet Campaign targeting parents and school communities

For copies of our latest campaign materials call the Info Unit on:

n n Unio ucatio lian Ed Austra

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Community campaign: the key to EB success

8272 1399

Some members have asked if the move into mediation spells the end of our community campaign for Public Education – the answer, of course, is No! We must keep the pressure on the Government and we must continue to educate parents and the rest of the community about the need for a muchimproved Enterprise Bargaining Offer from the State Government.

Throughout this campaign the AEU has produced a range of posters, pamphlets, postcards, stickers and other printed items to support the ongoing community campaign – some of these are pictured above. To coincide with our Focus on Learning campaign we have produced a simple pamphlet and postcard which aim to inform parents about the negative impact of the Government’s proposed funding model.

AEU organisers have been at schools in South Australia’s nine most marginal electorates every morning for the past fortnight, working with sub-branch members to distribute pamphlets and to ask parents to sign a postcard addressed to their local member.

SSO focus organiser Irene Tam says the response from parents has been extremely

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positive. “Almost every parent I’ve spoken with has been supportive of our campaign.

Even though many parents have been in a hurry to get to work they have been happy to show their support by stopping to sign a postcard and take a pamphlet.”

AEU New Educator Organiser, Daniel Periera, spent time handing out material with the sub-branch members at Banksia Park Primary School. “Parents are furious about the Government’s funding model. One parent told me she thought the fact that Banksia Park would lose around $50,000 under the model was a disgrace and that the Government should be ashamed of itself.

Some parents weren’t content with signing a postcard. “One of the dad’s said that he was going to arrange to meet his local MP and tell him how angry he is about the Government’s Offer and proposed funding model. He said the MP should be the one handing out the material, not the union!”

There’s no doubt that our campaign must be supported by this kind of activity. AEU President, Correna Haythorpe, says it may make all the difference. “The Enterprise Bargaining dispute in Western Australia

by Craig Greer “Almost every parent... has been happy to show their support by stopping to sign a postcard and take a pamphlet.” lasted over twelve months and according to their officers, it was the community campaign that made the difference. The Government were under a lot of pressure and this helped in reaching an agreement that was much improved on the original Government Offer.”

The AEU has pamphlets and postcards available for schools outside the marginal electorates so don’t hesitate to call the AEU Information Unit to request copies for your site. Many of the sub-branches found the parent engagement activity extremely successful and have undertaken to continue it at their convenience. We encourage all

sub-branches to find ways to engage their school communities and to contact the AEU to arrange materials

to support these activities.

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TA F E – P R O F I L E

ABORIGINAL TRAINING

More questions than answers AEU members concerned about the future of TAFE.

Gilles Plains TAFE lecturer, Anne Marie Godden, began working in the VET sector in 1995, teaching counselling and interviewing skills at TAFENT Centralian College in Alice Springs. For many years, she combined work in her areas of practice with hourly paid work for TAFE in the NT and SA. Five years ago, she was seduced away from her work in counselling and working with families and survivors of sexual abuse to work full time for TAFESA. As the Inaugural Lecturer for Complementary Health in SA, she began a crash course in the systems and language of AQTF, QAGs, DASCs and other essential acronyms for surviving in a government bureaucracy.

In the pursuit of the elusive ‘permanency’, Anne Marie jumped from contract to contract for five years, some as short as three months, and none longer than one year. She worked across three different campuses, and worked hard to secure the Advanced Skills Lecturer 2 standing that truly reflected her work performance.

“I can only speak from my personal perspective, but from lunch time conversations with my peers at Gilles Plains Campus, attendance at QAG and various industry conferences, I know that my issues and concerns regarding the work I do as a TAFE lecturer are not unique,” Anne Marie says.

TAFESA is a unique educational setting.

Lecturers are experts in both industry and education. Anne Marie’s work with students in the classroom is very much informed by the joys, sorrows and down-and-dirty mistakes she has made in the field.

“This is the most important work I do… preparing workers for industry. I know that I have succeeded when industry representatives say to me, “I am telling my network to send their people to your communication course. This is exactly what we need. It’s good to know that the work we’re doing is helping our students succeed,” she says.

But there is enormous stress and tension too. Anne-Marie has worked in sites where middle managers have turned grey and crack-

ed under the pressure of the never-ending changes that have permeated TAFE in recent years. “In one eighteen-month period in one job, I had four different bosses,” she says.

Anne Marie says she knows of nobody that works to the conditions of the TAFE Act as it stands. “No-one can work a 35 hour week and keep up with the workload. We all take marking home. We all plan and design delivery in our non-contact time or after hours missing out on sleep. Slashing of government funding has decimated our team. We have lost lecturers through budget cuts. We have lost Hourly Paid Instructors. We have lost Lecturers Assistants. We must now do their work as well as our own. We are challenged to ‘do it differently’ when we complain. Why do we continue? Because we feel deep, dual responsibilities to industry and education.”

The State Government’s initiative on Work and Life Balance seems to have little relevance at the coalface. “If I am sick at home with a fever there is no-one to take my class.

I worry about class after hours and have less to give my family,” she says.

And on the future for TAFE and its workforce, Anne Marie and her colleagues have a few questions: • What will happen when a lecturer’s goodwill is exhausted?

• What will happen with the massive loss of intellectual capital when mature educators retire? Where is the succession planning? What are we offering new lecturers?

• Will TAFESA invest in IT infrastructure so that we can enrol students on line, have a student management system that works to make life easier for our admin people, and have IT support and resources equivalent to those in the universities?

• Is there any point in attending meetings when the content and planning becomes irrelevant in six months?

• What will happen when the new Productivity Places funding model gives us half the funding for educating workers?

• Will economic rationalism win in dumbing down the unique contribution that industry experts provide through TAFESA in educating the future workers of our community?

While pondering these questions and discussing the possible answers, Anne Marie and her colleagues will collectively live out the reality of working in an underfunded TAFE sector.

1 Anangu Community representatives (from left) Reuben Burton, Marianne Fraser, Lois Fraser, Yanyi Bandicha, Bronwyn Jimmy, Adam Richards, Katrina Tjitayii and Colleen Day from Amata, Kenmore Park, Ernabella and Pipalyatjara with Marg Davidson (DECS), Sandra Ken (Anangu Education Services) and Bill Hignett (AEU) who conducted the panel training conducted at Ernabella on 21 August.

Anangu Panel Training The AEU has been working with the Ethical Standards and Merit Selection Unit in DECS to develop and deliver training programs for representatives in Aboriginal communities.

On 21 August 2008, Bill Hignett from the AEU and Marg Davidson from DECS conducted a training program for community representatives on the APY Lands.

The training program focussed on community representatives’ role on selection panels, how to make selection decisions in accordance with the law and DECS procedures and policies. There was also a lot of helpful tips and advice on these and related matters.

Yanyi Bandicha, was a participant in the training. She is the Chairperson of the Pitjantjatjara Yunkungyatjara Education Committee which has operational and policy control of education on the APY Lands. She commented on how the training is important not only for appointing principals but for other positions in Anangu communities.

She has asked for the AEU and DECS to jointly run further training programs to assist Anangu Education Workers and Anangu Teachers applying for positions in schools on the APY Lands.

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E A R LY C H I L D H O O D

I N T E R V I E W W I T H DAV I D CO U LT E R

The importance of preschool leadership The role of the preschool director plays an important part in the delivery of a quality family-focussed, play-based program that is accessible to all. Preschools tend to be small in size which supports close engagement between children, parents and staff. Within this context the preschool director has a unique opportunity to facilitate the design and implementation of the curriculum that supports children’s development during the time they are in the preschool.

The preschool director role is one of curriculum and site leader as well as hands on educational practitioner. These elements, with the autonomy to manage the site budget and staffing, ensure the site resources are targeted to provide a program that is play based and is responsive to child and family needs. This is important when catering for individual children’s growth and development during the preschool year.

Evidence of the success of this role is the quality of preschool programs with the effective use of both indoor and outdoor learning areas, the integrated approach to curriculum, the close relationships with families and the level of participation at a time of non-compulsory attendance.

The current focus on Early Childhood means the pre-school director must advocate for and implement developmentally appropriate, quality early childhood programs regardless of whether these programs occur in existing sites or in other contexts such as children centres or schools. Without this role there is a risk that early childhood programs which are valued by families may be lost within a larger system.

The merging of preschools with schools has the potential to destroy the autonomy of Early Childhood leaders. As professionals who understand the need for dedicated Early Childhood expertise, we must not let this happen.

CEO of Early Childhood Australia, Pam Cahir, agrees. “Early childhood leadership matters – by that I mean specialist early childhood teachers with degrees – Early Childhood pedagogical leadership is an essential component of a quality children’s service – why should we be surprised? Pedagogical leaderships is what sets a service apart in terms of outcomes for children. The evidence is in on this. You cannot deliver what you do not understand – and you cannot see what you do not know about. Generalists and managers have their place in any service but the leadership has to be clear about what matters for children.”

David Coulter

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1 Preschool staff from Woodend Children’s Centre (from left) David Coulter, Liz Rivers, Annette Rae, and Jennifer LLoyd.

Autonomy is a must for Early Childhood Recently, the AEU Journal spoke with preschool director David Coulter.

Journal: David, how did you decide on preschool as your area of work?

David: It wasn’t necessarily always what I’d planned to do. I grew up in Port Augusta and when it came time to decide on a career, I chose teaching. A friend suggested I should think about Early Childhood, so I went to an open day and made the decision to study in this area. I’ve been working with preschoolage kids ever since and it’s great.

Journal: How long have you been at Woodend Children’s Centre and what roles did you have prior to arriving here?

David: It’s my fifth year at the Woodend Centre. Over the years I spent time working in a stand-alone site in Port Pirie, an integrated site in Port Augusta and a number of other sites before relocating to Adelaide.

Since then, I’ve mostly worked in large centres in the southern suburbs such as The Hub and The Halifax Children’s Centre.

Journal: What are the main differences between integrated and stand-alone sites?

David: The integrated sites obviously have a greater range of ages and it can be more complex for staff to work in those sites – teams tend to be bigger and the planning needs to be more diverse. The most difficult sites I’ve been in are those which have longday care and sessional preschool combined.

You’re dealing with longer hours of operation

and the staff are subject to different working conditions and remuneration, so that can cause some division.

Journal: Many people are concerned that the introduction of Super Schools will mean the end to dedicated Early Childhood leadership. Do have similar concerns on this issue?

David: I do actually. Our experience as Early Childhood leaders means we have been specifically focussed on a particular style of methodology and it is quite distinct from the processes and pedagogy in the schooling sector. We tend to have a different approach in the delivery of educational experiences.

My main concern is that given the competing pressures within the schooling sector in a large combined site that the Early Childhood methodology may not stand out enough to be properly resourced.

Journal: Early Childhood Workers and SSOs play a key role in the running of both preschools and schools. Do you think DECS puts enough value on the work they do?

David: The staff here are excellent and across the centres I’ve worked in the level of competence and skill has increased enormously, to the point where I think ECWs and SSOs should be recognised and paid as paraprofessionals.

Craig Greer

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F E D E R A L P R E S I D E N T ’ S R E PO RT

Let’s keep the focus on what our students need Teacher unions were the first to support Kevin Rudd’s election campaign pitch for an Education Revolution in Australia.

Teachers, better than anyone except parents, know the challenges faced by the majority of Australian children who are educated in public schools. Schools are suffering from over a decade of neglect and underfunding under the Howard Government.

The Education Revolution teachers want is one that delivers what our students need – smaller class sizes, more individual attention for special needs and modern buildings and facilities.

That’s what parents want too – a highquality education for their child, no matter where they go to school or what their background is.

Kevin Rudd’s Education Revolution seems to be about picking a fight with teacher unions. If it’s a revolution, it’s already turned full circle and come back to the Howard Government blame game that helped to undermine morale in an already extraordinarily challenging profession.

Kevin Rudd says teacher unions want blank cheques without any accountability and that we are standing in the way of equity.

Accountability and monitoring are already a feature of every public school.

Parents, students and the public have a right to know that schools and teachers are competent, professional, and engaged in high-quality teaching practices.

They also have a right to know whether governments are fulfilling their obligation to ensure that schools and teachers are properly supported and that all students have access to a public education system of the highest quality.

What kind of Education Revolution would leave communities without schools?

According to his speech earlier this week, Kevin Rudd’s Education Revolution is about more monitoring and more competition between schools, teacher sackings and closing schools where the kids aren’t performing as well as other areas.

There was very little about the need for more investment. This is despite the fact that Australia spends less than nearly every other OECD nation on public education.

There was nothing about equity or creat-

“The McMorrow report calls for an investment of at least $1.5 billion to restore the share of federal funding to 1996 levels in order to ensure equal opportunity for all public school students.” ing an education system that gives every child the opportunity to succeed.

The Australian Education Union released a report this week by education expert Dr. Jim McMorrow. It shows that without new investment public schools could suffer a funding cut in real terms within three years.

This could equate to a loss of around 1000 teachers putting upward pressure on class sizes and the loss of vital education programs.

The analysis shows that the share of Commonwealth funds for public schools declined from 43 percent to 35 percent in the Howard years. This share is projected to fall further to under 34 percent by 2011-12.

This report takes into account all funding, including the Rudd Government’s new programs. The Prime Minister described Dr. McMorrow’s report as dishonest. This is despite the fact that it was based on the Government’s own budget projections – which according to Mr. Rudd, aren’t ‘concrete’ yet.

Unfortunately, without any new detailed investment announcements, public schools have no other information to go on than federal budget figures.

The McMorrow report calls for an investment of at least $1.5 billion to restore the share of federal funding to 1996 levels in order to ensure equal opportunity for all public school students.

This is not an ambit claim for blank cheques nor is it about teachers or teacher unions. It is not about private schools either.

This figure represents the bare minimum that public school students – the majority of Australian children – need to get the education they deserve.

1 Recent AEU advertisement placed in newspapers around the country.

The report acknowledges that this figure falls short of the $2.9 billion needed according to Government research.

With this investment public schools could reduce class sizes and provide more individual attention and special learning programs for those students who need it. They could update old buildings and facilities, or build badly needed new ones. They could offer a greater variety of programs and subjects.

Instead of investment, what we got earlier this week was ‘schools watch’.

Greater data collection that will take years to complete and finesse and cost millions. What will all this information for parents tell them?

That the school their kids go to could do better if only they had the resources? Well, I challenge you to find any public school parent in Australia who couldn’t tell you that right now for free.

All the evidence overseas and a recent OECD report shows that simplistic league tables do not improve educational outcomes, lead to school closures and to kids getting left behind.

Regardless of politics, Australia’s dedicated public school teachers will continue to strive to lift overall student performance and address underachievement.

The drafting of new federal schools funding legislation does provide the opportunity to address years of neglect.

However, unless it includes substantial new investment for public schools there will be no Education Revolution.

Angelo Gavrielatos AEU Federal President

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DECS policy and Procedures:

A E U I N F O R M AT I O N U N I T

E B U P DAT E

Q & A from the Workplace

AEU enters into mediation After eight months of intensive negotiations, the AEU seeks decisions in the Commission.

7 AEU Legal and Information Officer Anne Walker answers your questions.

What qualifications do I need as a beginning teacher to commence on Step 2 of the salary scale?

The criteria for commencing on Step 2 of the salary scale are defined in the Teachers DECS Award – Schedule 1.

A person who holds or has completed a degree for which the prescribed course is four years, Honours or higher degree (other than a Bachelor of Education or a Bachelor of Fine Arts) and a Graduate Diploma in Education should commence on Step 2.

A three-year degree plus a two-year or 18 month post-graduate education degree does not qualify for Step 2.

Q A

I am having problems with a colleague at work. What avenues of redress do I have?

The DECS Complaint Resolution for Employees guides DECS employees through resolving problems and grievances at the local level.

The Policy and Procedures can be accessed on the DECS Website (left).

Q A

Can age be a factor for local selection positions?

Although applicants are required to put their date of birth on their application, it is not accessible to panels. The panel only has access to the relevant parts of information for the selection process.

It is also unlawful to be treated unfairly because of age. [Equal Opportunity Act 1984]

For all your questions contact the

AEU Information Unit Monday to Friday 10:30am - 5pm

8272 1399

10

What is Mediation?

The Fair Work Act 1994 provides for the Industrial Relations Commission to conduct mediation between parties who are involved in an industrial dispute. This process is conducted by a member of the Industrial Relations Commission and in our case the President of the Industrial Commission will oversee the process.

In setting up a mediation process, the parties must agree on a range of protocols and set out the terms of reference. This process enables the parties to enter into discussions with a clear understanding of the directions and rules.

For mediation to work, the parties need to commit to the process. The AEU has given this commitment to the Government and the Industrial relations Commission. We have been heartened by Minister Caica’s comments indicating a similar commitment from government. This augers well for a quick resolution.

The rules of mediation require that representatives must be familiar with the issues at hand or in dispute. This is an important aspect of the process as it ensures that persons with the right expertise are in the room to negotiate.

Further, the rules also state that the parties must have on their team persons with the appropriate authority to make decisions.

This will potentially speed up the mediation process, as decisions can be made quickly and we do not need to wait days or weeks for a response.

Mediation also enables a range of options to be explored in an attempt to reach agreement, as nothing can be used in subsequent actions. This is important as it will enable a more open and frank discussion to occur, without prejudicing either party’s position.

To encourage confidence in this process, the proceedings of the mediation are to be confidential. This does not stop the AEU from talking about the dispute in general to the media, but it does provide restrictions on us and the government from disclosing what was said in mediation. This prevents the mediation from being hijacked by tit for tat comments in the media. Mediation does not negate the AEU’s responsibilities to communicate and consult with our members through our democratic structures. We will continue to keep members informed of progress.

It is hoped that the mediation will lead to an agreed outcome between the parties. The Industrial Commission will not make recommendations or orders as to what should occur. This is important as any offer that comes from the mediation process, will be voted upon by members. This is different to an arbitration process where the Industrial Commission hands down decisions as to what it believes the should be agreement.

An important aspect of mediation is that it does not preclude members from taking industrial action if we believe that is what is needed to continue to put pressure on government and to facilitate a change in government position. Such decisions will continue to be determined by Branch Executive, in consultation with sub-branches.

While the timeframe for mediation is at this stage unclear, we hope that a few weeks of intensive meetings will show clear progress.

However, we must keep in mind that in the Doctors dispute, the conciliation process took five months. As such, members are encouraged to keep up the community and political pressure, as it is through member action that we will ultimately achieve our goals.

www.2008eba.org

[Source: Superintendent, Site Human Resources]

The AEU has taken this step because it had become clear that we had exhausted all possible options in negotiations with Government. During this time we have reached agreement on 59 matters contained within the AEU Claim and the DECS Offer.

Unfortunately, a number of important items such as workload protections (DECS), lecturer classification (TAFE) and salaries, require further discussions. The mediation process should bring the parties closer together on these important matters within an agreed timeframe.

“Members are encouraged to keep up the community and political pressure, as it is through member action that we will ultimately achieve our goals.”

For EB2008 news and updates at:

www.decs.sa.gov.au/HR1/pages/default/docs

Q A

After eight months of intensive negotiations, the AEU entered into mediation, facilitated by President Judge Hon Peter Hannon of the Industrial Relations Commission. The AEU and the State Government had been involved in preliminary meetings to progress our EB Claim. We are confident that through mediation we will be able to negotiate a new agreement acceptable to members.

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P U B L I C E D U C AT I O N AWA R D S 2 0 0 8 AEU President, Correna Haythorpe (back row right) with 2008 AEU Public Education Awards recipients. 3

The high quality of training provided by public educators was on show at Regency TAFE Graduates Restaurant recently where the AEU celebrated its Public Education Awards night. Staff at the hospitality centre provided fantastic service, wine and food as around seventeen awards were presented to AEU members who have shown outstanding commitment to Public Education through union activism and the delivery of high quality programmes at their worksites.

Along with award recipients and AEU Officers, the dinner was attended by DECS CE, Chris Robinson and DFEEST CE, Ray Garrand. Guest speaker, AEU Federal Research Officer, Jenni Devereaux delivered a fine speech on the National Public Education climate in which we are working.

Public Education Awards On August 21 the AEU held its third annual Public Education Awards Dinner at Graduates Restaurant, Regency Park TAFE.

2008 Award Winners Phyllis Mitchell

Larry Higgins

Wendy Scott

C.a.F.E. Enfield Children’s Centre

Country DO, Whyalla

TAFE, Whyalla Campus

• Active member of AEU since 1983

Margie Goodwin

• Member of the Early Childhood Consultative Committee

Malcolm Gransden

Christies Downs Kindergarten

TAFE, Port Augusta Campus

• Promotes and influences high quality Early Childhood Education.

Carmel Watson

Di Cocks

Largs Bay Primary School

TAFE, Adelaide City Campus

• Passionate about Early Childhood Education and the rights of young children to quality care and learning.

Ian Kent

Murray Bridge High School

Stuart High School

(received by) Goran Yakas

Mick Braham

Penola High School

Cleve Area School

(on behalf of ) Tam Evans

Di Barnard

Adelaide Secondary School of English (received by)

Retired

Greg Janzow

Elizabeth Nicholas Sexton

Retired

Stradbroke Schools

Kerry Bertram Regency Park School

Brett Ferriss Naracoorte High School • Active member of the AEU and the New Educators Network • Heavily involved in Sub-branch activity.

• Engaged members in worksites throughout the Naracoorte Area in the 2008 EBA campaign.

Leanne Nielsen Regency Park School

(received by) Tina Antenucci

New Educators Network (received by) Lesley Lindsay-Taylor

Jan Lee Thebarton Senior College

“We need to take every opportunity – such as tonight – to celebrate the determination and commitment of Public Education advocates.”

Guest Speaker, Jenni Devereaux | AEU Federal Research Officer

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F O C U S : SC H O O L S E R V I CE S O F F I CE R S

SS O CO LU M N

Funding model leaves SSOs high and dry DECS has done a lot to promote the advantages of the Student Centred Resource Funding Model that they hope to introduce by 2010. Below are some observations, from an SSO point of view, on the impact that this model will have on our conditions and workload.

Reclassification With the Ancillary Staffing Allocation gone, it’s hard to see where the resources for SSO reclassifications will come from under the proposed funding model. At the moment, if an SSO is granted a reclassification, from SSO2 to SSO3 for example, the site is given extra funding; their SEA allocation profile of SSOs is reconfigured to update funding by way of the RES.

SSOs

The SSO Consultative Committee is greatly concerned that under the proposed model, it is quite likely that SSO’s will not be supported or encouraged by site principals to gain higher classification as it will cost the site more money.

1 (from left) Kerry Bertram, Sylvia Flato (Principal) and Leanne Nielsen at the recent Public Education Awards night.

SSOs play a key role in Public Education Regency School SSOs at the top of their game

Contract Increase

The proposed funding model will see an end to schools declaring permanent ancillary vacancies; there won’t be money to fund these positions. Currently, schools are encouraged by the PAC and HR to fill the ancillary allocation with permanent staff.

DECS Human Resource actually monitor this.

With no staffing allocation in place, schools do not need to abide by this anymore, hence, term by term contracts are likely to be more commonplace. This will make the SSO career path unattractive.

Some other downsides of the proposed model are: • If on a term by term contract – no leave entitlements (sick leave)

• Loss of job stability

• No incentive to seek higher classification or increase Training and Development due to instability of employment • No continuity of a stable skill base. IT SSOs positions will be tenuous. SSOs with these skills will seek more stable (and higher paid) work in the private sector • No chance of permanency in the future for contract SSOs as sites will not declare permanent vacancies

...continued 333

12

If you happen to visit Regency School and see two women running around the place in their pyjamas, don’t be surprised, pyjama days are just one of the many fun activities School Service Officers (SSOs) Kerry Bertram and Leanne Nielsen (pictured) get dressed up for. And if you start to feel a bit selfconscious because you left your wheels in the car park, don’t worry, you’ll get used to the stigma. In fact, you’ll have to get used to being a bit abnormal at Regency School where about sixty students with severe and multiple disabilities rule the roost.

Kerry and Leanne recently received an AEU Public Education Award for the fantastic work they are doing at Regency School, which caters for students from Junior Primary through to Year 12. Leanne says the school runs a lot of theme-based activities, making it a fun and lively place to work, however, the workload is considerable when supporting students who require such a high level of care. “We work in the classroom to provide support to the teachers, we organise students for meals and do all the personal care tasks – there’s a lot of lifting, which is physically very tiring. It can also be mentally draining.

You get quite attached to the students and their problems or challenges can impact on your emotions from time to time.”

As you would expect, there is a big focus on building the students’ life skills. Kerry is

“The school has a shortfall of in excess of 300 SSO hours per week that the school has to buy... we’re often told the money isn’t available for the equipment we need.” heavily involved in providing programs to complement the senior years where a modified curriculum is delivered, enabling all students to eventually enter the world as a successful student. “Every student leaves with their SACE in hand and in the last year, students are taken out of the school for ten days where they visit different day options and work sites. This helps them transition into the world outside of the school” says Kerry.

Leanne, Kerry and a couple of other SSOs – there are more of them than teachers at the site – run an SSO orientation program at the school. “Before any of our relief SSOs can work at Regency, they volunteer for three days and we take them through an induction process. We’ve been lucky lately,

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SS O CO LU M N

as a lot of the Certificate IV students from TAFE have come here on work placements and at the same time do their SSO induction,” says Kerry.

Although Kerry and Leanne don’t have teaching qualifications – Leanne is studying for her degree at the moment – their intimate understanding of the students and their development means they play a significant role when it comes to reporting at the end of each semester. “We do a lot of photographic documentation for the reports, especially when the students are engaged in practical activities such as cooking. This can be timeconsuming when added to the rest of your daily duties, but we love the work and we get the job done.”

The school has direct access to a swimming pool – in fact it’s right opposite the school office – and swimming is a core part of the school curriculum. However, at the moment there are students who aren’t able to swim because the school cannot get a lifter that’s safe enough for the staff to use with some of the students. All students are involved in swimming on a weekly basis, so the $15,000 required for the lifter doesn’t seem like a lot to ask.

With the decrease in funding for SSOs will come an increase in workload for existing staff. In order to keep classes to a manageable size, schools will need to make savings in other areas. The concern that schools will be forced to replace SSOs with parent volunteers.

1 Regency School Sub-branch Secretary Leanne Nielsen working with one of her students. that we can get them into their chair or onto a bed properly.”

“We can see beautiful catalogues from Europe with lot’s of great equipment but we just can’t get our hands on it,” says Leanne.

“We spend too much time messing around with out-of-date equipment and this means that students miss out on some of the curriculum. It’s just not fair on these kids who are already extremely disadvantaged.”

Despite some of these issues, Kerry, Leanne and their colleagues at Regency School have made the most out of what they have and are lucky enough to have the support of a fantastic leadership team. “Our Principal, Sylvia, is brilliant and the teamwork of the staff here is incredible. It’s what gets you through the difficult days.”

Both Kerry and Leanne have also invested time helping SSOs from other sites. They are regular participants at AEU SSO Conferences and for the last few years they have run workshops for other SSOs who work with disabled students.

And their commitment doesn’t end there.

“We’ve also tried to set up an SSO outreach program and although it hasn’t taken off, we haven’t given up on this idea. We’ve been lucky enough to have support from the top down, and thankfully, the leadership are active in the union. We want to be able to give advice and support to SSOs who don’t have the same level of leadership support or the expertise to work effectively with disabled students. Many SSOs are mums who can’t be expected to know how to deal with specialneeds students,” says Leanne, who is also the site’s Sub-branch Secretary.

It’s this kind of commitment and hard work that the AEU rewarded when it recognised members at the recent awards night. Kerry and Leanne are not alone in their achievements. Throughout South Australia there are people working in schools who often go unrecognised for their wonderful contribution to Public Education. Behind every good school there are some great SSOs. Isn’t that how the saying goes?

The DECS representative at the presentation I attended talked about SSOs “having more of a say on the PAC when it comes to workload,” but as I understand it, this committee is to have diminished responsibility or power as a decision making body. The PAC is not run correctly or fairly in a lot of schools now; SSOs are, by and large, not being represented or considered.

There has been some mention from DECS of workload panels to address SSO workload issues. This is something of a concern as there would seem to be no need for such a thing as things currently stand. The staffing entitlement allocation at least gave staff some guarantee of ‘base’ employment. One might assume that the mention of these ‘workload panels’ indicates that DECS is all too aware of the workload issues that will arise from the implementation of this new funding model.

Julie Masters, SSO Consultative Committee

SSO Reclassification Review process As you may know, the SSO Reclassification Review process was recently finalised and agreed to by DECS and the AEU. A review panel will now be formed to provide advice on the appropriate classification level of a position if an unsuccessful reclassification application is reviewed. The review panel consist of three people: • Manager Employee Relations and Conduct (or nominee) • Site Human Resources nominee • AEU/PSA nominee The Manager Employee Relations and Conduct will chair the panel and is responsible for identifying a representative from Site HR. If the appellant is an AEU member, one of the three AEU nominees will make up the third person on the panel.

The three AEU nominees appointed by AEU Branch Executive for three years are: Fran Millard | Norwood Morialta High School

7 Kerry Bertram working with students at

Mark Hill | Salisbury High School

Regency School.

Anne Nutt | Centre District School

13

www.2008eba.org

Kerry says the school is in the dark ages when it comes to some of the equipment.

“We can’t get funding for new lifters. The new type will go down to the floor so we don’t have to pick the students up from the floor. It will make them easier to reach so

Workload Increase

For EB 2008 news and updates go to:

For Kerry and Leanne, working at Regency is clearly more than just a job – they are passionate about the school and the students and sometimes this leads to frustration at the lack of support from Government. “The school has a shortfall of in excess of 300 SSO hours per week that the school has to buy,” says Leanne. “We’re often told the money isn’t available for the equipment we need. This means the school has to regularly apply for grants or rely on donations from community groups like Variety Club.”

SSOs

continued 333

“Behind every good school there are some great SSOs. Isn’t that how the saying goes?”

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V I CE PR E NLTESO V RE S PO NESSEI D TO NI EBW IGNELL

F E D E R A L E D U C AT I O N AG E N DA

Holidays or Breaks?

From time to time, we hear from the media and community members how easy teachers have it because of their holidays. Leon Bignell, State Labor member for Mawson, espoused a simplistic idea that we ought to work 48 weeks per year in return for a nationally competitive wage. Firstly and foremost, Mr Bignell, we shouldn’t have to trade anything off for a nationally competitive wage.

The concept of a 48 week working year for teachers must be challenged. It assumes a standard 37.5 hour working week. Anything over this is over-time. To illustrate what this might look like, consider a teacher who works on average, 50 hours per week. There’s 12.5 hours over-time per week so every three weeks a full working week of over-time has been accrued. Over the course of the year, this means teachers would work for 36 weeks, have 12 weeks off in lieu plus the four weeks of Annual Leave.

Consider working for 75 hours on average per week which is the norm for our school leaders. Over the course of the year, you could expect to work for 24 weeks, have 24 weeks time off in lieu and four weeks annual leave.

Oh, and I have neglected to mention public holidays. The reality is, term time and end of year breaks are a necessity to sustain the teaching workforce in such an intense and complex profession.

Marcus Knill AEU Vice President

ATTENTION TEACHERS! Renewal of Teacher Registration If your registration expires in January 2009 you must lodge your application to renew your registration by 31 December 2008.

An application to renew your registration will be posted to you in mid-October 2008. Please contact the Teachers Registration Board if you have not received your application to renew your registration by early November. Non receipt of your application is not an excuse for failing to renew your registration by the due date.

Change of Name and/or Address Remember to notify the Board in writing of any change of name or address.

Level 6, 70 Pirie Street, Adelaide SA 5000 Tel: (08) 8226 2666 Fax: (08) 8226 2667 Email: info@trb.sa.edu.au Website: www.trb.sa.edu.au

14

Is it Howard in disguise?

Kevin Rudd’s “education revolution” is looking more and more like a step back in time.

I didn’t vote for John Howard in a Tin Tin mask, but that’s what I got when Kevin Rudd addressed the National Press Club on Wednesday.

When asked by a reporter “What is the difference between what you’ve just said and John Howard’s policies?” Rudd lamely replied, “The difference is that we do it. We don’t just talk about it”.

Rudd is perfectly happy to keep in place a federal school funding system that grossly advantages elite private schools and has the unmitigated gall to bag the efforts of those teachers who are busting their guts in challenging underfunded working-class schools.

Only a hollow man would choose to talk tough on education as a diversion from his inability to take tough measures to save our dying River Murray system.

We don’t shy away from performance pay, in fact, we demanded and obtained a system that rewards “advanced skills teachers” long before Howard and Rudd jumped on the bandwagon. There’s always room for improvement, however, our teachers are among the best in the world and are highly sought after internationally.

However, the funding regimes imposed

by Howard and supported by Rudd are grossly inequitable. They have resulted in a whole sector of education that has been underfunded and marginalised.

Rudd’s answer follows the example of Teach for America and the UK’s Teach First programs: entice a handful of altruistic future stockbrokers and accountants to

spend a couple of years teaching in challenged schools before getting on with their real careers.

Or it follows the New York model of constructing so-called “rich information” out of data like ethnic diversity, parental income and student test scores to allow “like school” comparisons. At least the real estate agents will have a ready reckoner for housing prices.

We are not arguing against improving public schools by learning from advanced international experience. But why import suspect models from the United States or the United Kingdom? We have consistently been ahead of them in the international triennial testing of 15 year-olds conducted by the OECD. For 2006, the US was placed 25th (out of 30 countries) in Maths and 21st in Science.

(The reading tests for that year were scrapped in the US after mistakes were found in the paper).

The UK fared slightly better at 24th for Maths (down from 8th in 2003) and 17th for reading. Only six countries have consistently made it to the top ten: Finland, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

Rudd’s “education revolution” has, to date, been neither educated nor revolutionary.

“Ignorant” and “conservative” are words that better match his model.

Our report card? “Little Kevin has yet to develop a capacity for independent judgement and is too reliant on copying the work of older, failed students.”

Andrew Gohl, Hallett Cove R-12

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I N D U ST R I A L

17-year deep freeze is a professional insult.

“In light of the refusal of G8 universities to address the underpayment of teachers undertaking practice teaching supervision and coordination that AEU Branches and Associated Bodies will inform members and request that they not offer to participate in unprofessional Decision 5, Darwin meeting, 13 August employment arrangements.”

Other universities represented by the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association have agreed that the position is unsatisfactory and have agreed to meet with the AEU to address the issues, including by jointly approaching the Federal Government.

Another review of teacher education is under way at present under a National Partnerships Agreements of the Council of Australian Governments. This can again be expected to find the position unsatisfactory as the last Senate Enquiry found in 2006 but nothing came of it.

Only school teachers, who in the end are the only people who really care about the teaching profession and its future, can change the situation. We need to stand together to improve the situation for student teachers and for our colleagues who undertake the work of supervising and coordinating the practicum.

For further information about this issue contact the AEU Information Unit (right).

Rob Durbridge AEU Federal Industrial Officer

Keeping you up-to-date

Online

we need your preferred

email address Email to: membership@aeusa.asn.au or call Rhonda on: 8272 1399

15

8272 1399

that, yet the rates for supervision and coordination have remained the same, save for a national-wage adjustment of 30 cents back in 1992. Salaries for academics and other university employees have also increased, but not the payments to school teachers.

This is a professional insult to those who undertake this important work. The Howard laws still in place mean that the AEU cannot apply for an increase to the Industrial Relations Commission despite having notified a bargaining period. Perhaps the law of supply and demand provides the only recourse, as it did in Tasmania.

The Go8 universities have told the AEU that it has no right to seek an agreement or represent its members, effectively challenging the union to undertake expensive and time-wasting litigation. They argue that the responsibility lies with the state departments.

However in some states the department, or in Victoria the school, is merely the conduit for payments which come from the university and the Federal Government.

The universities which have denied responsibility are Monash University, University of

Monday to Friday 10.30 – 5.00pm. Phone:

AEU members supervising student teachers for the University of Tasmania have won a 20% increase in payments. In an agreement with the AEU the university has also agreed to a schedule specifying the numbers of paid days. Following a Commission order to lift an AEU ban, members simply declined to undertake the work, supported by Catholic school colleagues. This caused a big problem for University of Tasmania… some 13 students had to be sent to Vanuatu for experience!

Agreement to pay a 20% increase was the result, accepted by the AEU as a step in the right direction.

Attempts by the teacher unions to raise the rate of payment have been met by an avoidance strategy...deflecting responsibility from universities to the state departments and the Federal Government. Now the Go8 universities are refusing to acknowledge that the unions have any right to claim increases.

Members should ask themselves whether they want to offer for supervising work for these universities when they are being treated with so little professional respect.

As the Federal Minister launches yet another enquiry into teacher education, it’s time her government recognised its responsibility to fund the practicum properly so that student teachers get the best supervision to prepare them to enter the profession of teaching.

The Practice Teaching Supervision Award covers universities and the AEU and IEU. When it was created in 1991, most top-of-scale teachers were earning the benchmark salary rate of $38,000. Now the top rate is double

AEU Information Unit:

Practicum payments must be addressed

Melbourne, University of Adelaide and the University of Western Australia, all members of the “Go8” group. Sydney University and University of NSW are also members of this group, whose silence amounts to the same thing. In Queensland there is a separate state agreement which includes the same insulting rates as the rest of Australia, which includes the Go8 member University of Queensland.

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STUDENT CENTRED RESOURCE FUNDING MODEL

Proposed funding model puts Teacher Librarians under threat writes Craig Greer outcomes,” says David, who graduated as a Teacher Librarian in Western Australia in the early 1980s.

The delivery of Resource Based Learning, digital literacy and information research instruction is clearly an important part of the curriculum in our schools. It’s hard to see how it can be properly delivered if the school’s only Teacher librarian is standing in front of a class full of students.

And it’s not just the AEU and its members who are concerned about the Government’s proposed funding model. Wendy Rutten of The School Library Association of South Australia (SLASA) has voiced her organisation’s opposition to the Government’s proposed funding model.

If implemented, the State Government’s proposed Student Centred Resource Funding Model will take up to $250,000 out of at least one third of all school budgets each year. Factored into these ‘savings’ for the Government is an increase in face-to-face teaching time for Teacher Librarians (TLs).

This increase in face-to-face teaching time will force Teacher Librarians out of the library and into the classroom. Schools will presumably be staffed by trained librarians without teaching credentials or the library will be closed when the TL is in the classroom – removing an incredibly valuable resource from our public schools.

“It’s as if the Government has asked themselves ‘where can we save some money’ and without giving any thought to the vital role played by Teacher Librarians in delivering resource based learning, digital literacy and other curricula associated with the school library, they’ve decided that we should be in classrooms. It makes no sense,” says David Strempel, Teacher Librarian at Marryatville High School (pictured above).

Teacher Librarians are responsible for delivering a wide range of curriculum. They assist teachers and students to search out their information needs, to critically evaluate the materials they locate and to synthesise their findings into new knowledge. They are highly skilled in providing nurturing environments in the library which increase students’ satisfaction and achievement.

Perhaps Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, who seem obsessed with student ‘achievement’

16

“It’s as if the Government has asked themselves ‘where can we save some money’... without giving any thought to the vital role played by Teacher Librarians.”

and ‘results’ and are clearly infatuated with North American education systems, should have a word in the State Government’s ear.

According to research conducted in the U.S, secondary schools with a full-time Teacher Librarian are almost twice as likely to score above-average results on California Achievement Tests (CAT5). The research also shows that the more often students receive library/ information instruction from library media specialists, the higher the test scores.

“Teacher Librarian’s have a greater understanding of what goes on in classes than non-teaching Librarians. We have the ability to manage student behaviour and we know how to make sure a student’s time in the library is well utilised. As a teacher I have knowledge of the SACSA framework strands and key competencies. My work in the library and in the area of digital literacy – Teacher Librarians are often the school expert in this area – contributes to achieving the desired

“Penny pinching by using Teacher Librarian time to fill in the stop-gap measure of reducing class sizes and staffing numbers will mean that staff will have less support to implement exciting programs. These programs are producing students with life long learning skills that make them valuable members of the wider community.”

According to an article produced by SLASA on the role of Teacher Librarians and the impact of the state Government’s funding model, the Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians states that: “Teacher Librarians support and implement the vision of their school communities through advocating and building effective library and information services and programs that contribute to the development of lifelong learners. They engage and challenge learners within a supportive, information rich learning environment. They evaluate student learning and library programs and services to inform professional practice. The Teacher Librarian demonstrates leadership within school and professional communities and actively participates in education and library professional networks.”

David Strempel and his Teacher Librarian colleagues in South Australia work hard to meet these standards and deliver fantastic learning experiences to our students. There’s no doubt that our schools and students will suffer greatly if the Government’s plan for increased face-to-face teaching time materialises.

In the next issue of the AEU Journal we speak with Student Counsellors. Their working conditions are also under attack through the changes proposed in the Government’s Student Centred Resource Funding Model.

Stay tuned.

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2 0 0 8 R E G I O N A L N E W E D U C ATO R S CO N F E R E N CE

New Educators in Clare

7 (left) Lynette Virgona presenting her workshop. (above)1 AEU President, Correna Haythorpe explaining to a group of new educators at Sevenhill Winery.

Regional conference well worth the many miles travelled.

“Go to your line manager, talk to experienced teachers in your school, come to the New Educator Conferences run by the AEU and do what you can to support each other.

Take it slowly, don’t be too hard on yourself, teaching is a really complex and difficult skill to master.” That was the message to New Educators from Lynette Virgona as she delivered an excellent workshop on behaviour management at the New Educators Regional Conference held in Clare recently.

Saturday’s program kicked off with Lynette’s workshop, which focussed on providing new educators with strategies they can employ to deal with common behaviour issues that arise in schools on a day-to-day basis. And the response from participants was extremely positive.

RUTH WRIGHT Leigh Creek Area School “Apart from the isolation and the fact that I’m the only new teacher up there, behaviour management is the biggest challenge.

After the workshop, conference participants dug into a hearty lunch before setting out on an AEU fact finding mission – taking in some of the local landmarks along the way.

Members decoded clues and made their way to various locations around the town.

Members were greeted by AEU SA President Correna Haythorpe at Sevenhill Winery (above right), where they learnt the latest on the current EB dispute.

Members also gained valuable information on the union-preferred health fund when they found Tony Johnston from Teachers Federation Health waiting for their arrival.

KELLY HANCOCK Woomera Area School “I think listening to Lynette was the highlight of the conference for me. She really gave us practical scenarios to help understand things i.e. this is what is happening with your kids and this is what to do etc.

This is something we really didn’t get at Uni, I never saw it on prac so that was the best part for me. Now that I can categorise the behaviours and what to do at what level – I often wondered whether I was over-reacting to a situation or not being hard enough in a situation – I can now think of it in terms of levels of behaviour and the appropriate response. This is something I’ve never had clear answers on and Lynette’s workshop

Saturday’s activities were preceded by an opening night dinner on the Friday where MARTY and NATHANIEL (above) from Port Augusta gave some valuable insight into their experiences as New Educators.

Conference organiser Sam Lisle-Menzel thinks the conference was a great success.

“We had participants from right around the region which was great. New contacts and friendships were formed and everyone got really involved in the activities. Most importantly, it was a relaxed, fun and informative event.”

17

www.2008eba.org

Lynette Virgona is a Teacher Consultant with the Classroom Management Strategies Program in Western Australia and has visited our State on numerous occasions to share her knowledge with new educators.

Lynette’s workshop today was absolutely brilliant. I’ve learnt a lot and it’s made me feel heaps better about it. The things she brought up like the winning over of the students and the use of non-verbal strategies made me realise that you really have to focus on those things and stay on top of the poor behaviour so you don’t have to respond to it too often.”

made more sense to me than anything.”

AEU Blog:

As most teachers will know, behaviour management is one of the big challenges when starting out in the profession and new educators often feel that they need extra support to overcome what can be a huge barrier to the delivery of effective instruction.

“We had participants from right around the region which was great. New contacts and friendships were formed.”

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WOMEN’S FOCUS

Women’s Focus:

www.aeusa.asn.au

We have all heard the expression, ‘Voting with your feet’. It is a universal given, that if people don’t like something – a restaurant, a movie, a place – they vote by not frequenting or attending.

Many a venture has failed because potential patrons decide not to support it by staying away in droves.

the streets of Adelaide on 17 June was an uplifting sight and showed again that Educators are not going to sit on their hands and take this ridiculous offer by the government lightly but rather, will show with their feet how distasteful the current offer is. It was very inspiring to again see so many members getting out in their red gear, waving their flags and chanting their slogans at the recent rolling stoppages. Caica, Caica, put out the fire! 1, 2, 3, 4 Foley we know you’re not poor.

5, 6, 7, 8 why don’t you negotiate. Hey hey, Ho ho, J Lo’s got to go!!

The issues of education need to be an ongoing priority for the Government. The fact that women, who make up a large percentage of the workers in education, are

Voting with our feet AEU Women’s Officer Tish Champion reports.

Contrary to this practice, however, has been the amazing member attendance at all AEU industrial action that has taken place since May – action which was taken due to the insulting Enterprise Offer from the Government for all sectors of Public Education. This is perhaps one of the rare occasions that people show their dislike, disappointment and disgust in something by actually turning up. The first rally on the steps of Parliament House on 16 May saw an amazing crowd of 3,500 turn up in freezing cold, bitter conditions. The full day strike and march through

predominantly located in the lowest paid, lowest classified jobs, are most likely to be in casualised, part-time positions, and are most likely to also be responsible for personal primary caring roles, is an understanding that must be at the centre of any future Government Enterprise Offer. While it is obvious to us that a key challenge for the Government is to develop an offer which delivers suitable attraction and retention incentives and a funding model which does not see a large percentage of schools suffer, it is also vital that they address the ongoing

“We will not allow this Government to undermine Public Education and those who work in it. Education is the key to the future success of South Australia and it’s time the State Government realises it.” issues of women. Women in Education make up a large percentage of the workforce and have very specific needs regarding successfully balancing their work + life responsibilities, while being able to realistically achieve career goals and satisfaction.

Women, in the main, are the primary care givers, the child bearers, the taxi drivers, the nurses and the cooks. If the Government hopes to be an employer of choice, they will certainly need to sit up and listen to the thousands of dedicated, strong and collectively powerful women who have taken to the streets in protest. Women who are, quite frankly, the back bone of education in South Australia.

We will not allow this Government to undermine Public Education and those who work in it. Education workers, students and parents, demand and deserve a better offer.

Education is the key to the future success of South Australia and it’s time the State Government realises it.

Contact us @ the AEU! Did you know that the Shorter School Year Professional Development Scheme DISCRIMINATES on grounds of gender and pregnancy?

The policy states: “Where eligible staff are on leave for less than a year but including term four, they should apply to the Assistant Director Staffing for reinstatement of any entitlement they have accrued up until the last week of term 4”.

Unfortunately the DECS policy for paid maternity or adoption leave clearly states that week 10 term 4 does not extend the maternity leave. Women on paid maternity leave during term 4 who have completed the required T & D hours will not have those hours reimbursed or be able to bank them.

This is discriminatory on the grounds of gender and pregnancy.

Paid Maternity Leave and Casual Employees Just because DECS tells you that you have casual employment does not mean that this is the case. Many casual employees work on a regular and systemic basis which may actually not fit the definition of casual employment at all. Therefore, if you are a casual employee, you may actually be eligible for paid maternity leave.

Casual Employees - Paid maternity leave and your contract date.

Unbelievably, women who take paid maternity leave towards the end of their contract date, run the risk of not being paid their entire Paid Maternity Leave entitlement. Women who are expecting their child towards the end of a casual employment contract need to be aware that paid

maternity leave will not be paid beyond the date of their contract.

“Teachers employed on limited tenure and contract teachers are eligible for maternity leave within the life of their current contract.”

Pregnant contract teachers therefore, must carefully calculate when they need to begin their maternity leave in order to receive their entire entitlement. If a contract teacher receives a new contract for the start of the following school year/term, the remainder of the paid maternity leave can and will be paid out. If no new contract is offered, the teacher forfeits the remaining unpaid maternity leave. We feel that this policy is outdated and discriminatory.

We are looking to pursue these matters through the Equal Opportunity Commission. If any of the above issues affect you, please contact: Tish Champion T: 8272 1399 E: tchampion@aeusa.asn.au 18

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Free tools to help business audit and analyse pay issues:

E Q U A L PAY DAY

VICE PRESIDENT’S OPINION

Women shortchanged

Time to work with the profession

The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) named 27 August, Equal Pay Day and called on employers to conduct a pay audit in their workplace.

I found it amusing when recently the Prime Minister stated that teacher unions needed to get into the 21st Century, when it has become apparent that it is a Labor Government under his leadership that looks set to continue the education vision of the Howard Government. Regressive education policies that will take us back to the 1920s.

www.eowa.gov.au

To match the average wage a man earns in 12 months or the financial year working full-time ordinary hours, a woman has to work an extra 54 days, or a total of 14 months to earn the same.

The education community is justifiably outraged by our Federal Government insisting that developing league tables will raise the quality of our schools. Other regressive education policies continue to emerge from the Federal Government who look set to use the same bullying tactics of the Howard Government by withdrawing funding from the States if they don’t agree.

Anna McPhee, Director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency says “Women already have less hourly pay, less weekly pay, less annual pay and less total superannuation savings”.

Rudd’s vision for improving the quality of teaching is to emulate programs from the US and UK who are well below Australia in OECD education measures, by targeting academic University graduates, provide an “accelerated

With women earning just 84 cents in the male dollar, women effectively have to work longer to earn the same money as a man.

Despite being granted equal pay for equal work more than 30 years ago in the 1972 Equal Pay Case, pay equity has not been achieved.

“Pay equity is not just about equal pay for equal work. The 15.6% gender wage gap reveals the systemic discrimination in the under-valuation of women’s work”, said Anna McPhee.

The impact of pay inequity in our society is costly not only to women, but also to families, government and the community.

Women’s life time earnings are low, leaving many women in poverty after the significant contribution to society of raising children.

Most families are forced to assume traditional roles of male bread winner and female carer, rather than equally sharing the load of both paid and unpaid work.

August 27 was the focus of an ongoing campaign for the EOWA to educate the community about the causes and solutions of pay equity. This campaign includes working with over 7,000 Australian businesses each year on their workplace programs, research and resource development and an ongoing awareness campaign.

EOWA has also developed a tool to help business audit and analyse issues of pay which is available free (see website left).

EOWA is a Federal Government statutory authority which administers the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act (1999). Employers of 100 people or more are required to report to the agency on the initiatives they take within their organisations to advance women in the workplace. EOWA works with employers to improve equal opportunity outcomes for women in Australian workplaces.

pathway into teaching, placed in the most challenging school environments and paid at a higher rate” (Kevin Rudd, National Press Club, 27 August 2008). In an interview with Kerry O’Brien on the ABC 7.30 Report (28 August 2008), he labeled the teacher education under this scheme as a “bridging course”.

Is this what our Prime Minister has to offer to raise the quality of teaching? By targeting academics, providing a bridging course in education, teaching in the most difficult and hard to staff areas and paying them more than their colleagues with appropriate education qualifications and experience?

The Prime Minister’s leadership and reputation are on the line with his “education revolution”. He needs to start listening to and acting on the views of the teaching profession otherwise it will be akin to Hawke’s pledge of no child living in poverty by the Year 1990.

Marcus Knill AEU Vice President

Australian Education Union ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER VACANCIES The term of office of the positions is from 1 February 2009 to 31 January 2012.

Industrial Officer The Officer plans and implements industrial strategies and advocates AEU claims in appropriate tribunals.

Organiser (School Leaders Focus), 0.6 time Organiser (School Services Officer Focus) The Officers will be responsible for developing member activism and providing advice and assistance to members on work related issues.

Job and person specifications and details of the selection process for these positions are available from:

Karen Bishop on 8272 1399 (email: aeusa@aeusa.asn.au) Applicants must address the requirements of the job and person specification in their application.

Leave without pay may be negotiated for AEU members whose employer is a State Government agency.

Applications must reach the Branch

Secretary, AEU (SA Branch), 163 Greenhill Road, Parkside, SA 5063 by Friday 17 October 2008.

These positions will be filled by appointment at Branch Council on 22 November 2008.

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Gillard gives teachers the Big Apple!

Why can’t they stop importing failed models from overseas?

“I met when I was in New York with Joel Klein. What he said that so impressed me was the era of transparency that he has brought to schooling, people know everything there is to know about schools in New York.”

Julia Gillard, ABC Insiders, 10/08/08 Gillard has become the willing captive of those who wish to push a reactionary agenda in school education.

In 2002 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg eliminated the Board of Education and brought schools under the city’s direct political control. By way of a Special Waiver, Bloomberg appointed Joel Klein Chancellor of Education.

As Chancellor, one of Klein’s first regressive acts was to change the city policy that allowed students to be promoted to the next grade even if they flunk standardised math and reading exams. Klein announced that the new policy would apply initially to thirdgraders halfway through their 2003-04 school year. Parents were not consulted: “Our position is ‘no’ on retention. It’s punitive and unfair,” said Robin Brown, head of the United Parents Association of New York City. “There’s been no consultation with parents, teachers, principals or experts.”

With as many as 15,000 students held back, Klein built in an appeals system under which teachers were required to build and review an extensive portfolio of student work. A 48-page manual for teachers was distributed, imposing “impossible deadlines at an extremely busy time” according to unions representing teachers and principals.

The situation compounded the following year when fourth graders were held to the new promotions and testing regime: 23,163

20

“In New York, the best schools are rewarded with more funding. Poor schools, if they don’t improve, are allowed to fail.” fourth graders or 30.1 percent, received letters mid-term warning that they could be held back if their performance did not improve.

Assigning pass or fail grades to students is one thing. Assigning pass or fail grades to whole schools and rewarding them or closing them accordingly, is quite another.

In 2006, Klein and Bloomberg appointed death penalty litigation expert James S. Liebman to oversee the introduction of a schools grading system. Based on student improvement data and like schools demographic information, schools are awarded a grade between A to D or F. The grades are published by Klein and distributed at parentteacher meetings. Referring to the fifty schools that copped an F in the first round, Liebman drew on his professional expertise to remark “It’s not a death sentence for the school, and it’s certainly not a death sentence for the kids who attend it”.

Parents were not at all convinced. Many were “perplexed by the way the grades were calculated. Others dismissed them as meaningless... I find the methodology to be confusing, problematic and flawed,” said (parent) Emily Horowitz.

And despite the assurances from Liebman that an F grade would not be a death sentence for schools, 13 schools in areas like the Bronx

and Brooklyn were identified for closure, some with D grades. For some working class and black communities this represented a loss of a community facility. For others it meant standing in the shade of the wings of vultures as privately-operated Charter School companies hovered over the pickings, opening privately-operated public schools in the same buildings as newly closed schools. As one Australian parent who had children in New York schools observed: “In New York, the best schools are rewarded with more funding.

Poor schools, if they don’t improve, are allowed to fail. The school closes, the teachers lose their jobs and the next year another school replaces it, using the same buildings.”

Gillard promotes this by saying that parents in New York City are “given everything there is to know about schools.” Last December Liebman was “repeatedly interrupted by boos and hisses from dozens of parents” at a hearing before the City Council’s Education Committee whose members blasted his school grading system as “unfair, reductive and a maze of statistics”.

On June 19, 2006 a group of fifteen parents and parent leaders from Los Angeles, who had spent a week investigating the New York system said “We are back from the front lines of mayoral takeover of school... If we have seen the future, then it don’t work.”

One LA PTA President said “In New York City under Mayoral Control there is no parental involvement or engagement in the process and direction of reform; parents have been marginalised, disenfranchised and disempowered! In the vernacular of the Big Apple: Parents have been ‘kicked to the curb!’…

Parents in the NYC system have no voice.”

In Rudd, Gillard and Co we have politicians who use the electoral support of working families to get into office so as to better and more efficiently pursue the policies of the corporate elite that really governs the country. Gillard’s embrace of Klein’s agenda for closing poor schools, punishing poor neighbourhoods and privatising public education can’t be hidden behind a smokescreen of “like schools comparison” and “rich information”.

Mike Williss AEU Research Officer

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E N V I R O N M E N TA L AC T I V I ST S ’ CO N F E R E N CE

S E CO N D E D T E AC H E R S

Climate Emergency!

Frustrated but fighting on

No more business as usual The Conference will be held @ the AEU, Parkside on Saturday 11 October.

The Environmental Activists’ Conference Climate Emergency - No More Business as Usual will be held on Saturday 11 October at the AEU, Parkside, following a Public Forum on Friday evening 10 October in the Basil Hetzel Auditorium at University of SA City East campus. The conference is designed to provide an open forum for education, ideas, solidarity and campaigning perspectives on how to avert the global warming threat. It aims to initiate wide-ranging discussion that will include exchanges between climate scientists and educators, activists and community organisations, environmental groups and concerned individuals.

Existing climate change policy has lagged behind the emergency the world faces.

Vested interests stand in the way of climate sustainability, and have to be confronted. To effect change, the broadest possible alliance for social justice and climate sustainability must be formed. The Environmental Activists’ Conference will consider practical alternatives to the now-lethal “business as usual” approach.

We invite all interested AEU members and community groups to participate.

The conference will include plenary sessions by eminent speakers such as Dr Mark Diesendorf, University of NSW, Professor Barry Brook, Adelaide University and David Spratt, co-author of Climate Code Red and workshops addressing the topic “This is an Emergency - An Introduction to the Real Science of Global Warming.”

Teachers, academics, community and environmental groups are invited to provide 100200 word descriptors of proposed workshops addressing any of the workshop sub-themes.

1. “Why not business as usual?”

• • • •

Implications and effects of the science Challenging vested interests and barriers The politics of education (with a focus on the environment) Students as maintainers of the status quo or agents of change?

2. “Let’s get active! What can we do locally, nationally, globally?”

• • • •

Developing school students as environmental activists How do we organise/educate for change?

What are we actually doing now? – stories from teachers and community groups Political activism and campaigning

Please include details of space, layout and equipment needs. Workshops should be educative and interactive, and where possible should share resources and stories of successful teaching practice and/or local action and campaigns.

Educators, community groups and organisations are invited to support the conference by circulating the conference information through their networks and encouraging attendance at both the Friday night public forum and the Saturday conference.

To submit a proposal for a workshop, please email:

lhall@aeusa.asn.au To register online for this conference visit the AEU website:

www.aeusa.asn.au/events/5297.html

Seconded Teacher members from Head Office recently met with AEU officers to be updated on EB negotiations so far. AEU VicePresident Anne Crawford explained the current state of negotiations, the AEU claims and the stumbling blocks. AEU Officers were not surprised to hear that these members who are experts in their fields and have significant school-based experience, are not consulted about government proposals and negotiations. This includes the Government’s proposed new funding model.

Seconded Teachers have been attacked constantly by the Labor State Government. $153 million in cuts have left them frustrated and angry, less and less able to work directly with schools developing programs and policies to improve student learning. Innovative projects that have previously come from our Seconded Teachers are drying up.

After hearing about the impasse in negotiations, members were angry and wanted to know if the Government is simply trying to stall negotiations just to save money. They were insulted by the Government’s wage offer, feeling this Government simply doesn’t value their work or the work of their colleagues in schools and preschools. The consensus among the group is that Government is sending SA to the bottom of the class in Public Education with an offer that guarantees teachers in this State will be the worst paid in the nation.

Anne described the difficulty the AEU had experienced in dealing with Government negotiators who have little knowledge or experience of educational issues or how schools and preschools operate. Although some progress has been made in areas such as maternity leave and the use of special leave, two major stumbling blocks remain: the need for a fair and reasonable salary increase and the Government’s funding proposal which would impose significant cuts to at least one third of schools.

Members want the Government to bargain in good faith and they support the union in continuing to take the fight to the MPs’ offices and the community about the Government’s intransigence and its devaluing of South Australian Public Education.

Funding issues impact on all of our members. In the case of seconded teachers, they have a major influence on workload and the ability to provide essential services to schools and preschools.

Since the meeting the AEU has successfully sought and gained a mediation process supported by members keen to see an independent chair assist to break the government imposed impasse.

Ken Case, AEU Organiser

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N OT I CE B OA R D

Members’ Market VICTOR HARBOR Holiday Hse: Enjoy a Break at ‘Southern Escape’! A beautifully renovated 3BR house within walking distance of the beach, skate park, shops, restaurants and the city centre. A ‘Home away from Home’ with all facilities. Large yard, great for relaxing and enjoying a BBQ and wine under the Pergola. T: 0413 920 554

FOR RENT: Week(s) accommodation in resorts in Australia, NZ, Asia, South Africa for $400 to $700pw, sleeps 2, 4 or 6. Ideal for family.

Contact John: T: (08) 8295 3181 email: sterzlej@iprimus.com.au

FRANCE-South: Lovely Village House. $700 pw. www.hermes.net.au/villeneuve Contact Julie on: 0403 314 928

HOLIDAY RENTAL: Yorke Peninsula: Brand new up-market esplanade beach house ‘Manyana’ at Wool Bay (near Edithburgh). Features inc. spa bath, plasma TV, DVD, stereo,

dishwasher. Tastefully furnished & quality equipment, 3BR, sleeps up to 7. Enjoy panoramic sea views, beach walks, walk to jetty, good fishing etc. Available school holidays, long weekends, weekends etc.

Further info & bookings: www.juliesholidaysrentals.net/ T: 0417 619 457

HOLIDAY GETAWAYS VICTOR HARBOR: All Seasons Lakefront Getaway: Stunning self-contained luxury colonial home in the picturesque surrounds of Encounter Lakes, Victor Harbor. Private secluded sandy beach and lake at your back door! 4BRs. Sleeps 8. 2 spacious living areas. 2nd bathroom, 3 toilets & laundry. Large alfresco undercover entertaining area. Huge lawned backyard which leads to secluded sandy beach and lake.

Lakeside Getaway: Stunning modern villa at Encounter Lakes, Victor Harbor. Only 100m to clean, sandy beach and lovely reserve.

5-min. walk to scenic Esplanade, walking and bike trail, cafes, restaurants and general store.

3BRs. Sleeps 6. Spacious Lounge/ Family/Dining room. 2 way bathroom, separate toilet & laundry.

Enquiries and bookings: www.victorharborholidayhomes. spaces.live.com T: 8344 7921 M: 0419 868 143 E: foumakis@hotmail.com

HOLIDAY GETAWAY MARION BAY: Well furnished, near new house.

Gateway to Innes National Park.

Sleeps 8, 3BRs, large living area, TV and DVD. Spacious balcony with outdoor setting and BBQ. Only 5 mins to Willyama Beach and 5km to Innes National Park.

Further info & bookings: E: kireland15@gmail.com

HOLIDAY HOUSE CARRICKALINGA: Recently completed rebuild. A stunning architecturally designed beach house at North Bay. 1 hour from the city. 2 mins to beach.

‘Crow's nest’ views to sea, beach and hills. Extensive decking, 4BRs, 3 brand new bathrms and brand new quality kitchen. 2 living areas.

Fully landscaped grounds with play areas/equipment for kids.

Sleeps up to 10. Winter rate $500 weekend including cleaning.

Available school hols.

T: 0403 015 964

ABSOLUTE SEAFRONT HOUSE Lacepede House on Sea STUNNING SUMMER BEACH Seafood - Wine - Dolphins House 4th night free Or Balcony Suite. $80 plus, dble 6th & 7th night free. Discount meals. Conds off-peak. Kingston near Robe.

T: 8338 2316 Messages: 0402 922 445 a/h

FOR RENT: Yorke Peninsula, right on the beach – hard to beat!

Sleeps up to 8, all mod. cons. including R/C heating & cooling.

Available also for school holidays & L/weekends. Reasonable rates.

Min. rental 3 nights.

M: 0428 780684 or T: (o8) 8449 8626 ROOM FOR RENT: Share 3BR house with 2 others in Gawler. $70 per week plus expenses.

T: 0409 679 902

FOR RENT: f.f. private apartment in Glenelg for Xmas holiday or weekend rental. Heated pool, spa, steam-room, sauna, gym

SAIT Conveyancers We offer AEU members: • Free advice on real estate queries.

• 25% off the Statutory or Land Brokers Society recommended fee structure.

20 & 21 October 2008 Royal on the Park, Cnr Alice/Albert Streets, Brisbane

• Expert and experienced professional work

The focus at this year's National Conference in Brisbane will be on building bridges between parents, schools and their community.

with Mortgages, Transfers, Strata Plan and Plan of Division Lodgments, Caveats, Discharges of Mortgages – indeed, all facets of conveyancing work.

The Conference will explore aspects of effective and productive partnerships, and provide advice and workshops on how to make it all happen in the context of each school community.

If you are buying or selling or are involved in any real estate matter, either through a land agent or privately, consult us.

Discussion will address questions like: what do parents students and teachers want from our schools? Do our curricula meet those needs? How do our shared community values align with those outcomes?

This annual event will again bring together key education administrators, principals, teachers and parents – from both public and private sectors – with researchers, psychologists, media and business.

This year we will present and discuss new research, provide advice and workable ideas that busy parents and teachers can jointly put into action in their own school community.

Contact Anne Walker or Simon Willcox

For more details and registration:

Phone: (08) 8410 6788 Fax: (08) 8410 6799 Located at SATISFAC •151 South Terrace • Adelaide SA 5000

http://www.acsso.org.au

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N OT I CE B OA R D etc. Plasma TV, 100m to beach.

T: 8376 3747 or 0403 606 052

WANTED TO BUY: short wheel

RESOURCES NEEDED: Unwanted literacy and numeracy resources for use in small village R- 9 schools in Bougainville.

E: ir211057@bigpond.net.au

CANVAS Manufacture and Repairs: A–Grade Canvas: All canvas and general repairs.

For a free measure and quote contact: M: 0413 738 008

is currently paving the sandpit and stage area.

Old scholars and former teachers are invited to purchase an engraved brick for $25.00 Orders will be accepted until end of September.

For further information, please contact:

Stirling North PS – T:

8643 6020

Port Adelaide Girls Technical High School

REUNION 2008

base recumbent bicycle.

T: 8296 9364 or 0404 896 407 FOR SALE: Mercedes Benz Motorhome, shower, toilet, SAT TV, aircon,m/wave,stove, sleeps 5, diesel, fridge, 240/12v, couch, wooden floors, bed over cabin, towbar, lots of other features.

Contact: Philip Altmann E: mgb@chariot.net.au FOR SALE: Certified organic cosmetics & personal products. www.bodytune.mionegroup.com WORKSHOP: Stress management, personal development and learning difficulties: Brain Gym- an introductory workshop.

Movements to ‘switch on’ the brain. T/fax: 08 8768 2537 E: gibbons@seol.net.au

Stirling North Primary School

A reunion of all former Students and Staff of Port Adelaide Girls Technical High School and associated names (from its inception in 1925 to its close in 1995)

When: Where:

Saturday 1 November 2008 Port Adelaide Football Club Function Centre

Championship Round!

South Lakes Golf Club Monday, 29 Sept 2008 Registration: 8:30am Shotgun Start: 9:00am

Cost: $25.00 (includes a light meal) Bookings: www.sateachersgolf.com Kym Briggs: Sheidow Park School Phone: (08) 8381 8911 Email: ksbriggs@tpg.com.au • Please return all perpetual trophies

The last official PAGTHS reunion was held in 1995 when the school closed its doors for the last time.

To Register: www.pagths.org

Invitations will be sent to those on the data base (sorry, no registrations on the day). We have a great range of names on the data base from all decades.

It will be a great day reminiscing about the school.

For further information contact Angy on:

Phone:

0424 418 970

Advertise in Members’ Market for FREE! Rent, sell, buy or offer goods and services. Send ads to:

journal@aeusa.asn.au

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