6 December: School Education Minister Peter Garrett today met with principals involved in the NSW Government’s school autonomy pilot, ‘Increased School-based Decision Making’ to discuss the benefits of the Gillard Government’s Empowering Local Schools plan. Mr Garrett and the NSW Minister for Education and Communities, Adrian Piccoli, visited Loftus Public School in Sydney to discuss the successful pilot recently completed in 47 schools across the state. The pilots were made possible through the Gillard Government’s $550 million Teacher Quality National Partnership.

Principals in the schools that took part in the pilot were given a greater say on staffing mix, budgets and other areas.  “Today we heard from these principals about the positive benefits for their students, including improved results, behaviour and attendance,” Mr Garrett said. Click here to download the complete media release.

6 December: The Hedley Beare Oration in Darwin argues that the major features of the national education agenda won't deliver equity, despite the fact that these policies have been developed in its name. Click here to download the Oration.

6 December: Emeritus Professor Paul Hughes will chair a group of Indigenous education experts who will advise the Gillard Government on the best ways to close the gap in educational outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and other students. Click here to download the media release.

7 December: A paper on School Autonomy prepared by Dr. Steffan Silcox, Headmaster, Ballajura Community College and Dr. Neil MacNeill, Principal, Ellenbrook Primary School. Click here to download the paper.

7 December: The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) has released the Australian vocational education and training statistics: Student Outcomes 2011. Student Outcomes 2011 includes information about the employment outcomes for students who completed their training during 2010 and their satisfaction with VET. Information about the level and type of training students undertook, further study patterns and reasons for not continuing with training (where applicable) is also included. To download a copy of this publication, please visit www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2442.html  - please note that you will have to log in to NCVER’s website to access a copy.

If you haven’t registered for NCVER’s website, we invite you to do so. Registration is free, quick, and enables you full access to reports, statistical publications, data, online resources and podcasts. You can also subscribe to receive free email alerts for all or a selection of NCVER releases. Click here to register.

7 December: The preliminary report for the Australian Principals Health and Wellbeing Survey will be available on our website early in 2012. Please go to www.principalhealth.org to access the report.

8 December: It has been another big year for the Parenting Research Centre, and we want to share it with you through our online annual report. Throughout 2010-11 we have been building parenting knowledge through our research, and turning scientific knowledge into practical action to support parents. Visit our Annual Report: www.annualreport.parentingrc.org.au.

9 December: The Chair of the Review of Funding for Schooling, David Gonski, will deliver the review report to Government by the end of this year. The Government will release the Review Panel’s report early in 2012 after the beginning of the school year. When it is released, the Government will set out the next steps in the process, including consultation with stakeholders and the community. The Government has committed to any new funding arrangements commencing from January 2014. 

9 December: Malachi Pancoast, The Breakthrough Coach is coming to Hobart in May 2012. Click here for more information.

In the September 2011 issue of the ASPA Newsletter, mention was made of a paper by Dr Joanne Robinson from the Ontario Principals Council, Canada, about coaching and mentoring of school leaders. That paper is now available - click here to download it.

The paper is a report on the program conducted by the OPC. Part of the conclusion reads: "Reflective practice, active listening, thought-provoking questioning and deliberate humility were the competencies that participants highlighted and believed accounted for the positive influence of the program."

The December 2011 edition of your ASPA Newsletter is now available - click here to download it.

Topics in this issue include:

• The areas of national policy and practice in which ASPA has been influential in 2011.
• ASPA governance.
• Partnerships.
• Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.
• Principals Australia Council.
• Key messages and themes.

ASPA President, Sheree Vertigan, concludes the newsletter with this message:

"Have a good break, and on behalf of the ASPA Executive and myself, thank you for your support and your commitment to this profession."

ASPA has released two Position Papers:

• Empowering Local Schools

• Rewarding Great Teachers

These papers have been developed in response to initiatives by the Australian Government.

Click on the links above to download and read the Position Papers. They can also be found on the Policies page of the website.

23-25 January 2012 - Canberra

Teachers are invited to participate in this special conference hosted by the National Gallery of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery.

Registrations are now open - click here to go to their website.

Click on the picture to the right to view a larger version.

Revisions to the Reward Payments for Great Teachers Scheme

The Australian Secondary Principals’ Association (ASPA) welcomes Minister Garrett’s revisions to Reward Payments for Great Teachers initiative. ASPA understands the significance of great teaching and acknowledges that high performance and professional consistency through the use of national standards will raise the quality of the whole profession.

Click here to read the complete media release..

ASPA President, Sheree Vertigan said, “While there is much political wisdom in building the capacity of teachers and communities, high performing schools are collaborative workplaces, not places where teachers compete. It is essential that teacher evaluations are based on a robust set of procedures and principles.”All appraisals must be based on a nationally consistent application of the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) and accompanied by high quality professional learning based around these Standards. The changes announced to the Reward Payments for Great Teachers initiative linking it to the NPST are a welcome recognition of the dangers of relying on narrow national test results.

ASPA is pleased that the advice it provided has been considered by the government during their work on this initiative, however there is still work to be done to ensure successful implementation.

On ABC Radio national this morning, Sheree Vertigan, ASPA President, was part of a panel talking about autonomy for school principals.

Click here to go to the ABC website where you can listen to the audio recording of the panel session.

Introduction from the ABC website: "As the Federal education minister Peter Garrett told us yesterday, the government will roll out its Empowering Local Schools Program next year. It aims to give principals and school boards more power to hire teachers and shape their schools. But some states, such as the ACT and WA, already have programs which give their schools a high degree of autonomy. And, while there is some support for the initiative among teachers and principals, others question whether it will make any difference to education outcomes."