Australia celebrates National Volunteer Week from the 14-20 May 2012.

How do you plan to celebrate your volunteers in 2012?

Across Australia, hundreds of thousands of hours are donated to causes, community groups, schools clubs etc and it is hoped that during the 14th – 20th May all organsiations will recognise their volunteers.

This is the week for all organsiations who value volunteers to celebrate and thank their valued contributors to their causes. Volunteering is such a powerful show of coming together to help and was celebrated so outstandingly well in the last 2 years with natural disasters all over Australia.

If you’ve volunteers in any part of your life, thank them next week, you’ll see the joy in their face.

Volunteering Australia

State Budget 2012-13: Building the State

Portfolio: Premier, Education

New and redeveloped facilities for WA’s largest public secondary school
Rapidly increasing student population putting pressure on current facilities
School features regularly in top 20 table, based on academic achievement

Premier Colin Barnett and Education Minister Liz Constable today announced a major redevelopment of one of Western Australia’s biggest and best performing secondary schools.

Willetton Senior High School, which was named WA Secondary School of the Year in the WA Education Awards 2011, will receive $32.5million worth of new and redeveloped facilities in the State Budget 2012-13 for the first stage of works, expected to be completed in 2015, and the commencement of a second stage from 2016.

Mr Barnett said the State Government was looking at a long-term plan for the school which could see up to $80million spent to provide a 21st century learning environment to better meet the needs of some of WA’s most able students.

“This school, built in the 1970s, has been growing rapidly, with 1,736 students enrolled in semester one this year, making it the biggest public secondary school in WA,” he said.

“Significant areas of the school need refreshing, so that the increasing number of students learning here can benefit from contemporary learning facilities.”

Willetton Senior High School, which became an Independent Public School in 2011, is one of WA’s very best performing public schools and features regularly in the annual list of the top 20 schools based on results in WA Certificate of Education (WACE) courses.

“Stage one will provide for the construction of a new science block suited to the high standard of science education at the school, complete with the most up-to-date science and technology equipment, more laboratories and a dedicated planning area for staff,” the Premier said.

“It will also provide permanent classrooms to maintain and enhance student learning programs, and gifted and talented facilities, relieving the need for transportable classrooms.

“From 2015 we will begin to look at stage two facilities with a view to redeveloping the current library, mathematics and administration buildings.

“While we are looking to invest up to $80million in this school, full costs are indicative at this stage to enable the Department of Education to undertake further planning work with the school and community.”

Dr Constable praised principal Chris Booth and his staff for forging an outstanding reputation for Willetton Senior High School, based on consistently high student achievement in both academic and vocational education.

“Last year, 11 public school students won General Exhibitions from the Curriculum Council, which are awarded to the top 40 WACE students, and incredibly, five of them came from Willetton Senior High School,” Dr Constable said.

“The number of students achieving a Vocational Education Training qualification has also risen from 35 to 173 in just four years.

“Teachers and students have been doing a wonderful job in these ageing facilities. It is essential all students have the best possible environment in which to learn.

“This is particularly important because in 2015, year 7 will become the first year of secondary education, with students benefiting from the specialist expertise of teaching staff and the outstanding facilities and technology available in our secondary schools.

“However, we are very conscious that any building program in a working school must consider the interests of current staff and students, so the redevelopment program will be planned with the school community, to ensure that we keep any disruption to teaching and learning to an absolute minimum.

“Construction will begin next year, and an architect will be appointed shortly to begin detailed design and planning work in consultation with the school community.”

Fact File

The State Govt spent $3.978billion on educating WA students this financial year
About $850million was provided for education asset investment this year

Premier’s office – 08 6552 5000

Education Minister’s office – 08 6552 5700

Where are we headed as a society? Today’s call by Queensland teachers for help to deal with rising child mental health and behavioural issues is just another in a series of calls for more assistance in the raising of our children. But the calls are becoming disparing for those who care about our children and their futures.

Once again the question has raised such comments as

Where are their parents?
Why do teachers have to teach basic life skills?

The formative years of learning happen before kids reach school. Basic manners, life expectations, communication skills, respect and attutude to others are all a reflection of home. We are a product of our breeding, we’re reflections of our parents and our surroundings. Just compare the recent MY School data that directly correlates the ICSEA rating of the Socio Econmonic Ranking of a school to the student outcomes.

The problem for our schools and particularly State Schools who take all children in difference to the private system is that while some parents try their best to instill basic skills in their kids, other parents couldn’t give a ….

It’s the parents who drop off the kids at 7.30am when school starts at 9am instead of networking with other parents or pick up the kids in some cases younger than 10 years old, at 4.30 a full 90 minutes after school has finished from a main road. Haven’t these parents heard of the tragic story of Daniel Morcombe.

Teachers and Principals will all tell you of the parents with whom they just can’t connect. No attendance at the Parent Teacher interview, won’t answer notes home or even take a call, no lunch, no socks, shoes with holes in them and so the list goes on. How many schools provide breakfast services for students who arrive early or just dont have food at home?

It’s then those children who want to learn and the teachers who have the best intentions to impart their knowledge who are disrupted and miss out.

There are some great parents, really engaged and schools equally who do amazing things with the resources and parent/community support they have. We should applaud them and hold them up as beacons as to how we can really do it well, any ideas on how we can do that?

As a society we have to make a decision about what we want for our kids and ourselves. Do we need full employment, kick single parents off support payments when their kids turn 8 or should we ask them to instead involve themselves in their children’s schools thus providing much needed teacher aide assistance or just flat out volunteering in our community.

The fabric of society is being ripped apart by the desire for more wealth and more possessions. Europeans and Americans will tell you at the moment that the house or car doesn’t support them when they dont have enough money for food. It’s friends and family who have been there.

We need to engage in more human interaction. Get rid of the second, third or fourth TV or the Xbox or close down the laptops and TALK.

While your family may not be as large as the Waltons, next time you sit for a meal, talk, engage, turn the TV off and ask your friend, son or daughter how their day was.

It’s no wonder teachers bleat about wanting to be paid more when they may be trying to do your job and theirs.

Reference Article Courier Mail

Woolworths today launches its Earn and Learn Program for 2012.

Here’s what Woolies have to say about the program….

Simply start collecting stickers at the checkout of your local Woolworths supermarket (self-service too) until July 22nd to place on your child’s sticker card. There’ll be one sticker for every $10 spent, excluding purchases of liquor, smoking/tobacco products and gift cards. Once completed, simply drop the sticker card into a collection box, either at your school or at your local Woolworths.

If you don’t have any children at school, you can still help support a local school simply by dropping your stickers into one of the collection boxes found at the front of the store.

We can’t wait to help your school earn valuable learning resources – just by shopping at Woolworths. Last year we gave away over $4.5 million worth of resources to more than 6,900 schools that participated across Australia.

Read more here at www.woolworths.com.au

Australia’s big chance to get the funding it so vitally needed may have gone wanting with last nights Federal Budget. While the government has continued to fund several small projects, it has cut funding to the School Improvement Scheme and allocated nothing to the implementation of The Gonski Review.

Only two weeks ago, the Federal Education Minister Peter Garrett said that he intended for the government to have the legislation to enact the Gonski Review in place before the end of the year. Highly commendable this may be but without any allocation in the budget and funds may well be committed in the next budget but they may never see the light of day due to an impending Federal Election in 2013. According to Christopher Pine, Opposition Education spokesman, The Gonski Review has too many flaws to be implemented and the Opposition doesn’t support the funding proposal which is the basis of Gonski.

Australia’s education system is at a tipping point. Too many reviews without significant action have lead to nothing. The National Curriculum is a start, teacher improvement and teacher standards, NAPLAN, all these are just the start of building a great education system. We need to engage the whole Austrlian community in improving our education system.

An interesting aside from a conversation with the Minister at which it was pointed out that Australians don’t rank education as highly as it should be. Often we’re told that a House is the biggest investment you’ll ever make follwed by a car. That may be so but really our Children should be first and their health and their education, with out them we have no future and their education is the one we’ll all live by into the future.

It’s little like the saying, Be nice to your kids. They’ll choose your nursing home.

Portfolio: Community Services

WA parents can take part in a new online parenting trial

Western Australian parents are being invited to test a new online parenting program, the first of its kind in WA.

Community Services Minister Robyn McSweeney said an online version of the internationally renowned Triple-P Positive Parenting Program had been developed in partnership with the State Government’s Parenting WA service and the University of Queensland.

This new online program offered parents ideas on how to build positive relationships with children aged two to nine years of age and manage misbehaviour. It is targeted at parents who might not be able to attend parenting programs because of time, distance or cost constraints and other commitments.

Mrs McSweeney urged parents to take part in the program.

“Online parenting programs offer yet another option for parents, who might find doing a course at home in their own time more convenient,” she said.

“If the trial is successful, the online parenting program will be another resource offered by the Government to support parents and carers through the different stages of parenting.”

The Triple-P online parenting course consists of eight modules to be completed over eight weeks.

Another parenting program on offer to WA parents is Triple-P@Home which is available to those wanting to undertake a step-by-step parenting course supported by weekly phone consultations with Parenting WA consultants.

Fact File

Parents interested in the Triple-P online trial or the Triple-P@Home program should call 1800 654 432
Further information on the trial is available at http://www.communities.wa.gov.au
WA parents can also access a free 24/7 Parenting WA line, a Parenting WA library and group or individual family support from parenting co-ordinators throughout the State. Phone 1800 654 432

Minister’s office – 08 6552 6500

The Hon Peter Garrett MP

Minister for School Education
Minister for Early Childhood and Youth

This week more than 7500 government and non-government schools across Australia will start taking part in the world’s most comprehensive collection of information about the development of Australia’s children.

Minister for Early Childhood and School Education Peter Garrett today visited the Mount Rogers Early Links to Learning Playgroup in Canberra to launch the second data collection for the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI).

“Australia is the first country in the world to have collected comprehensive and population based data on young children across the entire nation,” Mr Garrett said.

“The second national AEDI data collection is ground breaking because, for the first time, governments and communities will be able to track progress in their work to improve the health, education, social competence and emotional development of children across Australia.

“It’s a vital tool for educators, Governments and the community, as it helps us understand the importance of early intervention and provides information about the support children and families need.

“It’s time to get the basics of early learning right, because we know that by supporting children in the years before school we greatly increase their chance of a successful transition to school as well as being happy and productive in their later years,” Mr Garrett said.

The AEDI measures five key areas of young children’s development: physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge.

Mr Garrett said the Gillard Government made an important investment with the first national implementation of the AEDI in 2009 and has committed to collecting this data every three years with an investment of $28 million for each cycle.

“We’re already seeing some incredible programs being delivered across Australia as a direct response to the 2009 results, including the Early Links to Learning playgroup in Canberra, which offers literacy and numeracy support to children before primary school at no cost to parents,” Mr Garrett said.

“The AEDI is just one part of the Gillard Government’s national reforms to early childhood; from our commitment to giving all children access to 15 hours of early childhood education and care for 40 weeks a year by a university-trained teacher by 2013, to improving staff to child ratios in child care and the qualifications of those staff.”

The 2012 AEDI data collection will occur from May to 31 July 2012, during which time teachers in schools across Australia will complete the AEDI Checklist for all children in their first year of full-time school. Results of the data collection are expected in 2013.

For more information on the AEDI go to www.aedi.org.au.

If your organisation is looking to secure funds through the writing of grant applications, this course will provide you with key skills to “Write Winning Grant” applications

Issues covered during the day will be

• Introduction to Grant Writing
• Finding the right people
• Overview of your Organisations Profile
• Identity the need for your project
• Source quotes from suppliers and trades
• Prepare a project timeline, budget and cashflow
• Source Supporting Documentation / Referees
• Identify grant funding provider
• Complete application form and lodge
• Complete project, sign off and acquit

Please find information here about this course and make your booking today

All successful organisations plan and in todays current climate, your organisation needs structire, goals, vision and plans to execute to your members benefit.

Learn how to

• How to prepare your organisation for the planning process
• How to ensure the executive committee, ordinary members and wider community are involved in the planning process
• How to design and develop the planning process to ensure that it is both strategic and operational
• How to implement the planning process and execute of executive committees as well as people interested in taking a role at this level of their non profit or community group.

Please find information here about this course and make your booking today

Course Flyer

This course is must for all current members of executive committees as well as people interested in taking a role at this level of their non profit or community group.

Please find information here about this course and make your booking today

Course Flyer