NSWSPC Annual State Conference 2008

Program

 

Keynote speakers will address the conference on major issues of:

• environment,
• public education sustainability,
• professional well being.

 

Multiple workshops on a wide range of educational issues, mostly related to the theme of the conference:  “CREATE, CARE, SUSTAIN”. See below for details of the workshops.

Tuesday 10th June 2008

9:00 am	Registration	Aerial View of Tweed Heads
11:00 am	Conference Welcome
11:25 am	Keynote Speaker 1
12:30 PM	Lunch
1:30 PM	Sponsor's session
1.40 PM	Keynote Speaker 2
2:40 PM	President's Welcome
3.00 PM	DDG
3:10 PM	Afternoon tea
3:40 PM	Workshop session (see below for choices)
4.40 PM	Sponsor's Stands
5:00 PM	Close
6:00 PM	Pre dinner drinks At own cost - various locations Welcome to the New Principals with SPC President
7:00 PM	Formal Conference Dinner Welcome by Regional Director and SPC Presentations Formal dinner -  a good excuse to get dressed up in your finest! If you know your table of 10 for the formal dinner you can email names to Karen Connell up until 28th May.

 

Wednesday 11th June 2008

8:30 am	Welcome to Country
8:45 am	Keynote Speaker 3
9:45 am	SPC AGM & National Perspectives
10:30 am	Morning Tea
11:00 am	Student Performances
11.15 am	DG
11:45 am	Workshop session
12:45 PM	Lunch
1:35 PM	Sponsor's Session
1.45 PM	SPC Workshop
3:00 PM	Well Being workshops Don’t forget your joggers and, for the very hardy, your swimmers. There is a WIDE range of activities to do during this time. Please click here to see a list of these activities. Once you have decided on your activity, please save the choices form to your computer, fill it in and send it to keith.larsson@det.nsw.edu.au by 2nd MAY. Keep a copy for your reference. Sponsor's Stands - please visit our Sponsors sometime during the conference.
6:30 PM	Drinks and Finger Food Informal Reception –Wednesday - is LOUD SHIRT night. Join in the fun.

Thursday 12th June 2008

8:30 am	Workshop session 3
9:45 am	DG/Minister
10:30 am	Student Performances
10.40 am	2009 Conference
10.50 am	SPC Summary Reports
11:10 am	Morning Tea
11:40 am	Keynote Speaker 4
12:40 PM	Sponsors Prize giving
1:00 PM	Close

Keynote Speakers

Nick Klomp PROFESSOR NICHOLAS KLOMP “Environmental Leadership is all in your Head” Nicholas Klomp has taught and conducted research at four different universities in Australia and overseas prior to joining Charles Sturt University. He was a recipient of a Commonwealth Scholarship (CSFP), obtaining his PhD from the University of Glasgow in 1991. At CSU, he is the Head of the School of Environmental and Information Sciences and the Director of the Johnstone Centre – Research in Natural Resources and Society. Professor Klomp is the Science Correspondent for ABC Radio. He was presented the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 1997 and was nominated for the Eureka Prize for the Promotion of Science in 1999 and 2003. Professor Klomp has successfully supervised ten postgraduate research students and has attracted grants and consultancies to the value of around $1.2million. He is an editor and referee for national and international journals, he has been invited to chair symposia at international conferences, and is a regular invitee at workshops and conferences around Australia. He has published widely on various topics in ecology, although his major research interests are in the areas of marine ornithology, environmental management, population dynamics, conservation, behavioural ecology and tertiary education.	Nick Klomp (source: website)
Paul Timms PAUL TIMMS “Looking after yourself as a Leader” Paul Timms is an international fitness presenter based in Brisbane, Australia. He commenced his career delivering group fitness programs in Central Queensland after stepping foot into his first aerobics class in 1992. After being named Queensland Fitness Professional of the Year (2007), Paul now stands as a leading figure in the fitness industry contributing to the community and the fitness industry on a regular basis through his workshops and training programs. As a personal trainer, Paul specializes in teaching his clients how to empower themselves to achieve lifelong fitness. Paul is an exciting presenter and dynamic professional willing to go to great lengths to promote his cause. This is exemplified by the occasional appearances as alter ego “Captain Energiser”. Paul’s current role in the industry is as Chief Executive Officer for the Australian Institute of Personal Trainers.	Paul Timms (source: website)
Mark Treadwell MARK TREADWELL “Whatever? The conceptual Era & the Evolution of School v2.0 Mark, International Consultant, has been lecturing, providing teacher seminars, workshops and speaking at national and international conferences for over fifteen years and has consistently predicted many of the education trends that school systems experiencing now. Mark travels widely and is renowned for his humour, passionate style and depth of knowledge across all aspects of teaching and learning Mark also sits on the New Zealand, Ministry of Education (MoE) Curriculum Review Group and is one of the four Curriculum Commentators appointed by the MoE on the new curriculum. Mark addressed the Irish Secondary Schools Conference in October 2007 and has released the first of two substantial works in February this year entitled “Whatever! The conceptual Era & the Evolution of School v2.0”. The book is a synthesis of all the education issues within one overarching theoretical and practical framework. In an era of exponential knowledge growth which values innovation and creativity we need a new comprehension of school.	Mark Treadwell (source: website)
PATRICIA CAMERON-HILL (Ba.App.Sc) and, SHAYNE YATES (M.B.B.S.) “Leading through Laughter” Patricia & Shayne are world experts on Stress and Humour. Patricia’s career as a nurse and Shayne’s career as a doctor give them a special understanding of stress, it’s consequences and it’s cure. In 1984 Patricia & Shayne changed their career directions, to establish their own seminar and video business that is based in Melbourne. Their sound knowledge base and creative presenting style combine to make learning beneficial and memorable. They take their work very seriously. It is reflected in their funny, up-beat and entertaining presentations. They have presented seminars and keynotes throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Untied States. In 1992 Patricia’s skills were recognized by the National Speaker’s Association of Australia and the U.S.A. She was awarded the Certified Professional Speaker status, the highest award made in public speaking. They balance the funny side of stress with the serious side by including strategies for resisting and reducing stress.	Patricia Cameron-Hill and Shayne Yates (Source: website)

WORKSHOP  1 Tuesday 3.40 - 4.40

GAVIN GRIFT has worked extensively as a classroom teacher, assistant principal and educational consultant. Gavin was the Professional Learning Leader for the Mulberry Hill Cluster (Mornington Peninsula) from 2005-2007. Gavin is currently working with the Australian National Schools Network in the area of Curriculum Development, Instructional Design and Cognitive Coaching SM. He has facilitated the learning for 20 schools in the development of a more authentically learner centred curriculum. He has presented at conferences in Australia, Sweden and USA.

Assessing the Whole Child workshop provides a user friendly, practical guide for principals and teachers to support their students’ journeys from portfolios to student lead interviews. You will go through a step by step approach to understand the context, content and the results of the use of portfolios. The use of meta cognition in the classroom to enable students to take genuine responsibility for their learning is the underlying principle to this process. Within the workshop we will draw parallels between the development of classroom portfolios and the current educational climate for authentic assessment. The presentation includes video footage, power point, some actual portfolios, student reflection and parent feedback.


MARK TREADWELL is also a keynote speaker. His workshop “Whatever,” will be a follow on from his keynote speech. You can find out more about Mark and his workshop topic in the Keynote Speakers section of the program.

DAVE WASSON is the Director of the Educational Measurement and School Accountability Directorate (EMSAD). He has the responsibility for supporting school improvement initiatives and ensuring school accountability in the areas of school reviews, annual school reporting, implementation of state wide testing programs and supervising student selection and placement in selective high schools and opportunity classes. He began teaching in 1975, working in a number of secondary schools as a teacher and later as a Deputy Principal and Principal in schools. He held various Chief Executive Officer positions that related to Quality assurance, corporate performance, school reporting and school reviews.

Educational Measurement and School Accountability – Overview & Update of NAPLAN, SMART, AID, and the Future of Testing. This workshop will allow Principals to update their knowledge of the many exciting projects currently underway in EMSAD. Principals will hear the latest on the National Assessment Program tests held on 13-15 May. There will be an opportunity to learn of current developments in School Measurement, Assessment and Reporting Toolkit software package and the Assessment Item Databank and what is proposed for 2009 and beyond. Dave will also share his vision for the future for state wide, national and international testing.

GARTH FATNOWNA is a Consultant in the North Coast Regional Office in Indigenous Engagement and Quality Teaching. Garth has led workshops in several secondary schools on school development days and at regional conferences.

Building a Learning Environment to Improve Outcomes for Aboriginal Students will focus on the Quality Teaching Framework. The workshop will provide principals with ideas to improve engagement, literacy and numeracy learning, attendance and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

DR WAYNE WILSON BSc(Hons) Dip Aud PhD MAudSA CCP is a Lecturer in Audiology at the School of Health and rehabilitation Sciences , The University of Queensland. His areas of special interest include the assessment of hearing and central auditory processing, and the rehabilitation of central auditory processing disorder in the classroom. He has secured 14 competitive research grants and has authored over 30 publications in scientific journals and has presented over 125 papers at national and international conferences, workshops and seminars.

Hearing and Learning Connection – Improving Literacy and Learning by Managing the Classroom Listening Environment. He will explain how students learn more if the sounds of voices, computers etc are captured and broadcast properly in the classroom. While describing the conclusions of Australian and international research, Dr Wilson will offer practical advice on how to better manage classroom listening environment and improve learning outcomes and the welfare of students and teachers.

TREVOR FLETCHER is in his fourth year as Deputy Director General, Schools in NSW. He has held a number of high level positions in the educational system in three states. His career in education began in 1975 as a classroom teacher. In 1991, he became principal of one of the largest primary schools in Victoria. Trevor gained valuable insights into education on a global scale as an International Teaching Fellow in the United Kingdom during 1988 and in 1999 he was selected to attend the prestigious Senior Managers in Government program at Harvard University. With clear attention to the particular needs of students, Trevor is leading the move towards learning communities and focussing on student learning, staff capacity and morale and on building the support of the community for public education.

Challenges and Opportunities. This interactive session will explore the challenges and opportunities for education for 2008 to 2012. Trevor will examine the four priority areas of leadership and development programs; learning communities; where to from here with engagement and retention; and HSC English and other key curriculum matters. A key focus of the session will be how our leadership alliance can be further developed and strengthened so that, through this partnership, the Department can continue to lead a strong response to these challenges and opportunities.

SANDRA WALDEN PEARSON began her professional life as an English teacher and taught at school, TAFE and prison before joining the social profit sector. As Manager of Burnside’s South West Sydney Educational Programs, Sandra’s responsibilities included a school for students challenged by primary to high school transition; after school study centres; tutoring for students in foster care; and leadership of her large staff. Her company BESTMe 4 Consulting specialises in assisting school leaders to optimise school performance through a process of motivation and engagement, that aligns with teachers’ professional aspirations with their practice.

BESTMe 4 Teachers workshop overviews the revolutionary BESTMe process that assists principals to optimise school performance through increased teacher motivation and engagement; increased capacity to attract, develop and retain talented teachers; enhanced teacher-teacher, teacher-student, and teacher-parent relationships; improved student learning outcomes; reduced levels of teacher stress and sick leave; and increased opportunities for discretionary spending due to savings in staff costs. The workshop is suited to principals seeking 21st century teacher professional development that optimises school, teacher and student outcomes.



WORKSHOP 2
Wednesday 11th June 11.45 am to 12.45am

GAVIN GRIFT is repeating his presentation in Workshop 1. See above for information.

ROBERT CORDAIY is Manager of the Assessment, Analysis and Reporting Systems area of EMSAD. He commenced teaching in 1980 and has taught in both primary and high schools in NSW and NT. In 1991, he was seconded to work on the OASIS system and then in 1993 to support the development and implementation of the Basic Skills Test. He developed Data on Disk software for NSW schools as Leader, Basic Skills Testing. In 2004 he was appointed CEO, Contracts Development and Test Administration and in 2007 he started in his current position overseeing the implementation of NAPLAN into SMART and the redevelopment of SMART to be web-based from 2009.

SMART – What can I really do with SMART? This workshop is for new and experienced Principals who would like to learn more about the capabilities of the School Measurement, Assessment and Reporting Toolkit software package. He will show you the features that exist in SMART and the school can use SMART to unpack the results from NAPLAN in 2008. The workshop will show principals how to put together summary report based on the results from SMART. The report will be in the form of a power point presentation that can be used to initiate discussion and inform staff on areas of strength and areas for closer attention. The workshop will look at what is planned for 2009.

CHRIS PRESLAND is currently working as Principal Liaison Officer with NSWDET. He was Principal of Airds High School from 2001 for five years. He is a member of the executive of the NSWSPC, the executive member of the NSWSPC Leadership Reference Group, Convenor of the NSW Branch of the Australian Principals’ Associations Professional Development Council (APAPDC), and a NSW Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders. Some of his awards include Director General’s Award for Excellence Service to Public Education (2003), listed in the “Australia’s Smart 100” by The Bulletin and Microsoft (2004), received the Macarthur Outstanding Educator Award from the Australian College of Educators (2005) and a “National Outstanding Achievement by a Principal” award from the Australian Institute for teaching and School Leadership (2006).

“Why did we do that!” How do we build professional learning and leadership development support for thousands of different leaders, in widely varying contexts, with a minimum of resourcing and in a constantly shifting political environment? There’s no simple formula, but one of the imperatives is to be constantly reading and interpreting the landscape. If we can do that we can maintain our own moral imperatives and position what we do in a way which benefits as many leaders as possible. This session explores the Professional Learning and Leadership Development Directorate’s current implementation of that landscape and provides an outline of the range of support material available to assist school leaders to improve the teacher and leader capabilities. It includes the latest developments from the NSW Institute of Teachers and an update from a national perspective. Why is all this important? Because the more effective we are at teaching and leading, the better equipped we are to provide the best possible learning outcomes for the students in our care.

WARWICK CHIPMAN and KERRI-LEIGH GORDON. Warwick Chipman has been SPC Professional Officer since 2003. He was a Principal for 13 years. His teaching experience has included city, country, England and Canada. He also occupied a number of part time roles within various DET directorates. Before retirement he served SPC as a Management Committee member, policy writer and Reference Group Leader in both Communications and International Students. He has been a workshop leader and presenter at previous Annual Conferences.
Kerri Leigh-Gordon was a Principal for 8 years and then became a School Education Director for 2 years. Following retirement from that position in 2006 Kerri assisted principals in a casual capacity at the Aboriginal Education Directorate through the SIP, TSI and TASS programs. In 2008 she joined the Office of Schools team in the Principal Liaison Officer position, providing diverse support to principals.

Managing Conduct Issues – A Principal’s Guide to Wellbeing. The workshop will firstly focus on discussion of the distributed document “Managing Conduct Issues In Schools- Advice to Principals.” It will also compare and contrast the roles of the Council’s Professional Officer and the DET Principal Liaison Officer. The personal well being of Principals will be central to the workshop. Warwick and Kerri will conclude with an important Q&A segment for participants.

JANE CARO co-authored “The Stupid Country - How Australia is dismantling Public Education” with Chris Bonnor and “The F Word: How We learned to Swear by Feminism,” with Catherine Fox (Deputy Editor AFR Boss Magazine) to be published in June. She has written columns on public education in all mainstream media. She has also been a national and international award winning advertising writer for almost 30 years, winning Cannes, One Show, Kinsale, ATV, Asia Pacific, London International, Mobius, Caxton. She is now a part time lecturer in School of Communication Arts at UWS. She was a regular commentator on advertising and marketing on Sunrise (2004-2006), semi regular on Richard Glover’s Drive on ABC 702, and a semi regular panellist on ABC TV’s new show about advertising launched 28 May 2008.

Sustaining Public Education. This workshop helps individual schools market themselves more effectively. Her workshop is based on her experience in a wide variety of forums on public education, women’s issues, advertising, marketing and parenting. She will be looking at the “Parents Journey” as they try to choose a school for their child. She will look at the benefits and sacrifices of choosing a public or private school, and the she will take the audience through the four basic rules of marketing your schools.

PROFESSOR GEORGE EARL Ph.D., Master Applied Science in Project Management, Post Graduate Diploma in Property Development and Diploma in Quantity Surveying. He is Deputy Dean, Associate Dean Academic, Head School of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Business, Technology and Sustainable Development at Bond University. He has received over $3.6 million for research in a wide range of areas related to property development. He has been a fulltime university academic for 14 years.

Environmental Sustainability in the School Context. This workshop will inform principals about strategic asset management of public schools. His experience in risk management and analysis, and project management will provide a valuable insight into environmentally sustainable development and management.

GAIL TAYLOR and BETH GODWIN. Gail Taylor is the principal of James Meehan High School. She has had extensive involvement with Mind Matters on a national level including presenting workshops. She has led the school through significant issues including school invasions and helping a community in crisis. Gail is also known as an author of history texts and developmental literacy resources. One day Gail hopes to be a travel consultant.
Beth Godwin is the principal of Cabramatta High School. She has developed a number of interactive workshops on the topics such as Learning Support Teams, Differentiating the Curriculum and Dealing with Aggressive People. Beth is also know as an author of Mathematics texts, History texts and developmental literacy resources. One day Beth hopes to be a global photographer.

Getting Through the Tough Days is an interactive workshop with take away strategies that principals can use in their schools with staff and for themselves. This workshop highlights the need for humour, balance, focusing on the positive, crisis management processes and debriefing. Be prepared to share, laugh and get involved.



WORKSHOP 3
Thursday 12th June 8.30am – 9.30am

AMANDA ATKINSON began teaching in 1980, working in a number of secondary schools across northern Sydney and Western Sydney. Since 2001, Amanda has been seconded to Educational Measurement and School Accountability Directorate (EMSAD), working with the Secondary Numeracy Assessment Program Team, specialising in developing test questions, extended numeracy tasks and the development of marking criteria for external numeracy tasks. In 2006, Amanda was appointed Special Project Officer, providing support and advice to the Director and the Directorate in implementation of policies and procedures relating to educational measurement, analysing and evaluating existing research to inform Directorate planning and liaising with Directorate officers to ensure all correspondence and requests were accurately researched and answered on time.

Assessment Item Databank – How will this tool help me and my school? What if you could access all those questions in the ELLA and SNAP tests and incorporate them into a school based test, then look your students’ result and compare them to the state wide results? This session demonstrates a pilot of the Assessment Item Databank, the latest project from the EMSAD, designed to support teaching and learning process in schools.

JANE CARO is repeating her presentation in Workshop 2.

MIKE WALSH began his career as a high school Mathematics teacher in Melbourne’s western suburbs. He has taught and acted in many capacities, including principal, for over 24 years. His commitment to seeing all children being provided with every opportunity to grow and his ability to consistently “hit the spot” with students, parents and teachers in a variety of issues is impressive. In 2008, Mick’s contribution to extending education into the community and building cohesive relationships and partnerships were recognised by him receiving the prestigious Australia Day Awards of Citizen of the Year for Kyabram town and the Shire of Campaspe. He has written a series of education planners called the Learning Curve for students which provide an informative and supportive platform on which to build strong home-school learning, organisational and communication partnerships.

The Ingredients to Create, Care, Sustain. In this workshop Mick will take you through a dynamic and meaningful journey to help you make your school’s best better for students, staff and parents. His workshop will be delivered with enthusiasm, vigour and honest manner. His experience in whole school relationship building, whole school pedagogy and creating strategies to achieve the school’s vision will drive his workshop presentation.

CARMEL McKENNA is a Rehabilitation Consultant and Registered Psychologist and is currently employed by Working Well Australia. Carmel’s current role involves providing rehabilitation counselling and vocational rehabilitation assistance to people in a variety of government and insurance related domains. Carmel’s employment history includes working for two decades in the public sector, with the last five years as a Rehabilitation Case manager in a large Commonwealth Organisation. Carmel has also lectured at university on a part time basis in the areas on interpersonal communication, training and staff development and applied counselling. She has a particular interest in interpersonal communication and relations.


Who cares for the carers? – surviving as a carer. The workshop will talk about and explore some of the practical ways that you can identify, moderate and successfully manage the negative emotions and outcomes associated with being a principal, especially in our caring profession. As the title suggests – who cares for the carers. It’s important for anyone working in the caring field to take particular care of themselves, to avoid compassion fatigue and professional burnout. By the end of the session, it is hoped that participants will have a better understanding of what contributes to these negative emotions and develop an awareness of some simple techniques that assist in well being management.

LYN ALDER B.Sc., Dip.Teaching, Grad.Dip.Spec.Ed. She has been teaching for 27 years in NSW, South Australia, USA, Canada, Special Schools and comprehensive K-12 schools. She has taught PD/H/PE, Geography and Learning Support. Lyn is currently STLA at Orara High School and seconded part time to North Coast Regional Office to lead professional learning in the Quicksmart numeracy program. Lyn has been leading workshops in schools to train staff in the successful implementation of Quicksmart. She led the implementation of Quicksmart at Orara High. By 2007, the Quicksmart program had grown and the improvement in SNAP results from Yr 7 to Yr 8 had been the school’s best in its 37 year history. In 2007, the school’s Yr 8 SNAP results demonstrated an Effect Size of 5.1 or 4.4 percentile points in Value Added Growth from Yr 7 on the SNAP test. This result prompted the NSWDET to include Quicksmart as one of its Numeracy Programs.

Quicksmart – Implementation of a Middle School Numeracy Program at Orara High School. The Quicksmart program allows students to undertake higher order mental processing by providing a learning environment to improve their information retrieval times. It caters for students who need intensive support to bring them up to speed in basic skills such as reading fluency and the recall of number facts. The program addresses both literacy and numeracy outcomes for educationally disadvantaged students. It is a program of tuition and support to students who are currently experiencing difficulties in these areas, within a motivational learning environment. Based on an analysis of the diagnostic information obtained from each participating student, instructional interventions are designed to strengthen student’s problematic skills. These interventions are based on substantial body of research. Lyn will outline how the program is successfully operating in her school.

CHRIS BONNOR is a public education consultant and advocate. He is the co-author (with Jane Caro) of “The Stupid Country – How Australia is dismantling Public Education” published by UNSW Press in 2007. He has served as principal of two schools and until 2006 was President of the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council. He is especially known in the education community and occasionally to the wider public through published articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph, various online publications and through media commentary on education issues. He can be contacted through the website www.thestupidcountry.com

What future for public education in the stupid country? This is an urgent question to ask in the light of a new Federal Government and mounting evidence that our framework of public and private schools doesn’t work. This workshop will include a stocktake of why we have public education and what is its current shape and form. It will include the challenges to public education and how these are being met, with the implications for each school. In particular, the workshop will look at the context of public education – a view over time and space; shifts and trends in public and media commentary on education in 2008; behind-the-scene moves which might change the shape of public education in the future; shifting priorities and themes in public education advocacy; the options available to public education schools and systems; policy options for governments to accommodate both public and private education; and how principals of secondary schools might prepare for the future.

LINDY TAYLOR and CHRIS SIMMONS. Lindy Taylor was principal of South Sydney High School from 1997 to 2005. She participated in the SPC coaching trial in 2004 and was one of the principals sponsored by the SPC in 2005 to be trained as coaches by the Institute of Behavioural Coaching. Lindy has formally coached a number of school leaders. Lindy worked with Greg Dickinson and the Coaching Reference Group to develop the SPC course Coaching for Success, which is now being rolled out by the Professional Learning and Leadership Development Directorate (PLLD). This course was trialled with primary and secondary principals from Northern Sydney Region. Lindy is a Life Member of the SPC and is currently working with the PLLDD.
Chris Simmons has had extensive experience in education and training as a secondary school principal, leading teacher, head teacher, tertiary lecturer, adult educator and researcher. She has always had a passion for improving classroom practice. Her current interests include leadership development and implementing effective workbased learning strategies including action learning, coaching and mentoring. Her work combines the latest research with practical implementation strategies. She is currently the Principal Liaison Officer in the School Leadership and Executive Learning Unit of NSW DET.

Coaching Update. This workshop, for principals with some coaching training (SPC, PLLDD or other), will give a brief overview of SPC and PLLDD coaching programs. Participants will consider some recent research into coaching and share some coaching issues. The majority of time in the workshop will be coaching practice and observation. A practical opportunity to recharge your coaching batteries!



Please register and pay by - Friday 2nd May – using the Conference Registration form


To print this version of the program, click here.