TA TALK

Issue 38

December 2018

2018 has been a great year for us. Apart from delivering a massive amount of professional development, we have realised a few of our ATA 'dreams', including a national week of celebrations for teacher aides and a national award that recognises education support excellence.

This year we published 20 new webinars, and added two more programs to the very popular eTAPS series. Our amazing community partners contributed their time and expertise to present some really inspiring topics from mental health and resilience, to mathematics. All these programs are available to members in our Professional Development library.

In September, we launched Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week, and initiated the first national award to recognise the valuable contribution of teacher aides to the education and well being of students. 

Earlier this month, we travelled to Clare State School, a small Queensland school south of Townsville, to present Lyn Corradi, Winner - 2018 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year, with her award. You can read more below.

 

As 2018 draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to schools, training organisations, teacher aides and student members for your enthusiasm, participation and encouragement throughout the year. Your commitment to membership enables us to continue providing quality professional development to teacher aides in schools.

 

Last, but not least, we have an early Christmas gift for you. You will need to be quick as the offer has less than 24 hours to go! More details below.

 

We wish you a very Happy Christmas and a fabulous New Year. We hope you are able to spend your well deserved holidays with the people who matter most, and doing the things that you enjoy.

 

We will be taking a short break to reenergise and will be back on deck, Monday 7th January.

 

In the meantime, stay safe :)

 

Warm regards,

Stella and Mandy

Special thanks to our valued website team at Aspedia - Lynne, Mike and Yurii - for their ongoing support and service to Australian Teacher Aide. The Aspedia team provide us an exceptional service and enable us to provide you, our members and subscribers, a seamless professional development experience everyday.

A very special thank you to our Community Webinar presenters this year

Samantha Taylor, Andrell Education

Big Write and VCOP for the Middle Years

Di Homer, C&K
Starting School – Transition Strategies to Meet the Needs of Every Child

 

Sue Suchocki, Applied Techniques Training
ASD and ADHD – The Game Plan

 

Rebecca Glynn, Reading Centre (Department of Education and Training, QLD)  
Strategies to Support Reading - Before, During and After

Judy Hartnett, Making Maths Reasonable
Supporting Students with Mental Computation Strategies

Marion McMahon - SPELD QLD
Working with Students with Learning Differences

Cheryl White, Clontarf Beach State School

Teacher Aides – Making a Difference

 

Pav Cosmatos, Teacher & Behaviour Management Specialist
Surviving Power Struggles at School

 

Lydia Meem, Autism Understanding

Understanding Mental Health in Students with Autism

 

Dr Paula Barrett, FRIENDS Resilience

Building Resilience in School Communities

 

Last week, we travelled to North Queensland to attend the Clare State School Graduation and Awards evening to present our 2018 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year, Lyn Corradi, with her award. We were warmly welcomed by principal, Mr Troy Patti, the Clare State School staff and the community.

 

Lyn was nominated by Troy Patti and it was evident in his nomination that he placed a very high value on her contribution to the school, not only to student learning but to many other facets of school life. In his nomination, Troy talked about Lyn's positive impact on student wellbeing, her passion for continuous improvement and her collaborative approach to school planning. Lyn clearly shines in the creative domain but is also very capable when IT issues arise. What really caught our attention in the nomination, was her initiative to implement an inquiry cycle into the teaching of writing, resulting in a change in teaching practices and great improvement in NAPLAN results.

 

Congratulations, Troy, for formally acknowledging Lyn for her exceptional dedication to students, staff and the wider school community and thank you for your hospitality last Tuesday night. 

 

What an impressive team you have there at Clare State School!

Merry Christmas to You!

Early Christmas gift alert! Australian Teacher Aide has been working with Karen Clarke, author of the book 'From Bullied to Brilliant', to create a coaching program for educators on managing bullying behaviours in schools. The program will be available in the first part of next year. We are so looking forward to bringing it to you. Meanwhile, grab your free copy of Karen's book to get an insight into our new program which is designed to help break the bully-victim cycle in schools. Merry Christmas!

Be the energy you want to attract

11,845 views

730 reactions, comments and shares

 

This video clip just makes you feel good! How lucky are the students of Mrs Spark's class? Many of you were enthused to introduce a similar start to the school day. But did you? :)

ADHD? Or just too young to meet unrealistic academic and behavioural expectations?

10,809 views
343 reactions, comments and shares

 

This article was widely read by our followers. It discusses what happens when kids are required to learn academic content at an age that may be well above their developmental capability. Interesting, indeed.

WELCOME TO ATA!

Aspect Vern Barnett School, NSW

Brisbane School of Distance Education, QLD

Clare State School, QLD

Coonabarabran High School, NSW

Haileybury Rendall School, NT

Harrisville State School, QLD

Kyneton Secondary College, VIC

Loreto College,VIC

Mary MacKillop Catholic Community Primary School, WA

Minimbah State School, QLD

North Balga Primary School, WA

North Coast Community College, NSW

North Metro TAFE, WA

Robina State High School, QLD

Skipton Primary School, VIC

St Vincent de Paul Primary School, VIC

Sunshine Christian School, VIC

Wodonga Senior Secondary College, VIC