Welcome to the November 2020 edition of TA Talk.
This year has brought unprecedented challenges, along with new ways of teaching and learning. It has highlighted that online learning is an important option that makes both synchronous and asynchronous learning accessible to most.
In 2021, our focus is on whole school improvement and building the expertise of teaching teams, and we are really looking forward to hosting an exciting line-up of live member events.
Our guest presenters, who are predominantly school leaders and educators from across Australia, will be presenting a wide variety of topics such as how to maximise student outcomes, coach teams to provide explicit reading support, and build school capability to support students with hearing loss.
Please visit our events page to see the professional learning available for your staff development, next year.
Also, in this issue, we are excited to showcase another of our Professional Learning Champion schools, Beerburrum State School. You can read more about their 5 year milestone below.
As the holidays are fast approaching, we will be issuing our December newsletter early next month. We'll save the Christmasy bits for then. Meanwhile, stay safe and well.
Warm regards
Stella and Mandy
BEERBURRUM STATE SCHOOL CELEBRATES PROFESSIONAL LEARNING MILESTONE!
Beerburrum State School, a small regional school in Queensland with only ninety students, was one of the first schools in Australia to take up membership with Australian Teacher Aide.
Their professional learning journey with ATA began 5 years ago when Tina Davidson represented the school at ATA’s inaugural event in October 2015, Thinking to the Future - Building the Capacity of Teacher Aides in Schools.
REGISTER NOW FOR OUR 2021 LIVE EVENTS
Non-members, take advantage of our early-bird registration
We are excited to announce that most of our 2021 member events are now available for registration. We have some amazing educators lined up to share how they build the expertise of their support staff, and how students benefit.
Members have 12 months unlimited access to all these live events and our online professional development library.
Non-members can join these events too, however places are limited. We urge you to take advantage of our early bird registration, available until 31st January.
My Aboriginal Learning Journey in the Kimberley
What does best practice look like when you are working with Aboriginal children and Aboriginal communities?
In 2019, this was the question that led Maureen Toyn, Education Support Teacher at North Metropolitan TAFE Perth, to visit remote Western Australian communities to learn firsthand about Aboriginal education. In this webinar, you will hear about Maureen's amazing learning journey to remote communities in the Kimberley region.
EFFECTIVE TEACHER AIDE PRACTICES FOR SCHOOLS (eTAPS)
Effective Teacher Aide Practices for Schools (eTAPS) is a suite of professional development resources designed to prepare teacher aides for their role in the classroom.
The four-part online learning program explicitly coaches participants through each module, progressively building their knowledge and understanding of how to effectively support student learning.
eTAPS can be used as part of a whole school improvement agenda to build expert teaching teams. The step-by-step facilitator’s guide as well as a set of comprehensive workbooks for each module, makes this program an excellent choice for staff development days.
OUR 5th BIRTHDAY COMPETITION WINNERS ARE ...
Recently we celebrated Australian Teacher Aide's 5th birthday. As part of our celebrations, we hosted a competition and asked members to write, in 50 words or less, what they loved about being an ATA member.
We would like to thank everyone for such enthusiastic participation in this competition. We had so many great entries to choose from! Janine, Nicolle, Jean, Angela and Katie have each won an ATA monogrammed polo shirt. Below are their winning words.
I love having access to support from an amazing team of people across the country, who are so knowledgeable and passionate about our children and the work TAs do! It is amazing that I am able to access all this and more at anytime I need to! – Janine, VIC
I am a new member living in a rural area. I love that I have finally found training that we can do as teacher aides that is relevant and we don't have to travel hundreds of kilometres to attend.
– Nicolle, NSW
Since joining ATA our teacher aides have embraced the professional, relevant resources available at our fingertips. Our TAs value our school membership and appreciate the variety of topics available to us.
– Jean, QLD
Being a member of ATA not only provides me with amazing educational PD, it allows me to stay connected with relevant links and up-to-date webinars. My fellow TAs and I meet each week and discuss modules to work through, then train as a group.
– Angela, QLD
ATA provide current webinars that cover a range of topics which I find extremely educational due to everyone sharing their knowledge and experiences which can strengthen the professionalism of teacher aides, now and in the future. I have gained such valuable learning, resources, and tools for my profession.
– Katie, QLD
Special thanks to Tracey Hallink from Coast Imagewear, our long-term supplier of monogrammed shirts, for generously sponsoring this competition.
WHAT'S TRENDING ON THE ATA FACEBOOK PAGE
Teacher aides are an important part of the teaching team. Does your school provide access to the professional development TAs need to continuously improve?
19,894 views 1,420 reactions, comments and shares
We had many and varied responses to this post. Some followers said their schools worked hard to ensure education support staff are included in whole school professional development plans, however others from regional areas said they missed out due to the expense of travel and time, whilst a few said they were never even considered. With the flexibility and range of professional development resources available through membership with ATA, we can't understand why any teacher aide has to miss out ever again!! :)
Leaders in Professional Learning for Schools
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