TA TALK
Issue 47
September 2019
Welcome to the September edition of TA Talk.
We hope that all the hard-working teacher aides in schools around Australia felt valued during Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week. We heard about so many wonderful ways schools celebrated and have shared what one school did in this edition.
As part of the Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week celebrations, we announced this year's Australian Teacher Aide of the Year. Once again, our panelists had a massive job on their hands, shortlisting the many applications and then deciding who would hold the 2019 crown!
Big congratulations to Jacque Mengel, from Maribyrnong Primary School in the ACT, who is the 2019 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year.
Both Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week, and the Awards are our way of highlighting the valuable contribution of teacher aides to student learning and well-being. As we want to share the amazing work teacher aides do, we will start recording a series of interviews with our award winners, next term. We’ll be sure to let you know when they are published!
As you know, we hold a live web event for members each month, and upload the recordings to our professional development library. We also publish a preview of each event, and you can now get a sneak peak here at our complete literacy series from Semester one.
For those of you who are already on school holidays, and for those who are eagerly anticipating a well-deserved break after a very hectic Term III, we wish you a safe and relaxing holiday. We are aware from speaking with many of our regional member schools that these holidays will be tough for many as the drought continues. Please spare a thought for our farmers.
Warm regards
Stella and Mandy
2019 AUSTRALIAN TEACHER AIDE OF THE YEAR
CONGRATULATIONS Jacque Mengel of Maribyrnong Primary School, ACT
Jacque has worked with students with disability at Maribyrnong Primary School for over 15 years, and seen more than 238 students graduate.
Jacque was both humbled and delighted to learn about her win, and it was clear from speaking with her that she strives to make every day special for the students she supports. She told us, “Every day is a fresh start. I believe in giving the students many moments of happiness each day to remember, to help them get through the tough times.”
Our thanks to Anna Thorpe, the Disability Education Coordinator, for nominating Jacque for the awards.
AUSTRALIAN TEACHER AIDE APPRECIATION WEEK
How did your school celebrate?
We received lots of feedback from schools about how they celebrated Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week (2 - 6 September). Typically, it included lots of food (of course!), special presentations at assemblies, handwritten notes from students and colleagues, special mentions
in newsletters and on school Facebook pages, as well as a number of after-school meetings (aka 'drinks'). A big thank you to Mary McKillop Catholic Community Primary School for sending in these pics showing how they celebrated their teacher aides. Awesome work!
What is Computational Thinking?
In this tutorial we explore the skills students need to solve problems in a digital world.
You will learn about:
- Computational thinking
- 4 key concepts used to solve problems
- Unplugged activities that encourage computational thinking
MEMBER WEBINAR: What is Executive Functioning?
- Tuesday 8th October 2019 @ 4:15pm AEST
In this tutorial, we will explore the life skills students need in a digital world to think flexibly, and manage their thoughts, actions and emotions.
We hope you can join us!
Member Webinar Challenge
Congratulations to Shawn Adams who is the winner of September's Member Webinar Challenge. Shawn won a monogrammed ATA polo shirt for correctly matching a number of rather cryptic illustrations to the 4 computational thinking processes. Well done, Shawn!
WHAT'S TRENDING ON THE ATA FACEBOOK PAGE
Teacher aides ... the heartbeat of our school
38,583 views
2,894 reactions, comments and shares
During the month of August, we read LOTS of nominations for Australian Teacher Aide of the Year 2019! and it was incredibly insightful. Nominators boasted shamelessly about their teacher aides and the undeniably positive contribution they make to student learning and wellbeing. During Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week, we shared a phrase or quote from these applications, each day, that epitomise the value of paraprofessionals in schools. This was one of them ... and it was the most popular post for the month of September!
23,794 views 1,294 reactions, comments and shares
"When a student throws something, hits a kid or yells at a teacher, I start with, 'I bet it felt pretty bad to lose control.' They always say it felt awful. Then I ask, 'Can we work together on ways to prevent that from happening again?' 100% of the time, their answer is 'YES.'"
Some agreed with this, some didn't and others sat quietly on the fence. What is your experience?
WELCOME TO OUR NEW SCHOOLS AND TRAINING ORGANISATIONS
WELCOME TO ATA!
Coombabah State High School, QLD St Xavier's Primary School Gunnedah, NSW Upper Coomera State College, QLD Christian Brothers' High School Lewisham, NSW Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School Wanguri, NT Brisbane State High School, QLD Gympie State High School, QLD St John's Anglican College, QLD St Joseph's Catholic PS Collingwood, QLD Highview College, VIC Bellarine Secondary College, VIC Surfers Paradise State School, QLD Macleay Island State School, QLD Realtime Education and Training Services, VIC North Regional TAFE, WA
Evandale Primary School, TAS Westerway Primary School, TAS Kin Kora State School, QLD Giru State School, QLD Hagley Farm School, TAS Tullawong State School, QLD Seven Hills High School, NSW Back Plains State School, QLD Clinton State School, QLD Tagai State College, QLD Ipswich State High School, QLD Bowen State School, QLD Knox Grammar Preparatory School, NSW
Bethania Lutheran School, QLD
TERM 4 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Nothing planned? Need some help?
We have resources across many topic areas including Additional Needs, Behaviour, Disability, Digital Technology, Effective Teacher Aide Practices in Schools (eTAPS), Inclusive Education, Learning and Wellbeing, Literacy, Numeracy and more.
Why use ATA professional development?
- It's online, so it's accessible no matter where you are in Australia
- It's designed specifically for the education support role
- You get access to interactive live web events every month, and
- 24/7 access to over 80 comprehensive video tutorials for 12 months from date of joining
PLUS, you can link an unlimited number of staff to your school membership account.
Not sure if our professional development options are right for your team? Easy! If, within the first 30 days of school membership, you decide that our professional development does not meet your needs, send us your feedback and we will give you a full refund.
Leaders in Professional Learning for Teacher Aides
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