DIRECTORS' MESSAGE

Welcome to the December edition of TA Talk.

After another somewhat turbulent year, we hope you will join us this season by choosing to be grateful for all the good in our lives, as we truly believe this is where our focus needs to be during challenging times.

At ATA, we are grateful for:

our professional learning community, whose membership enables us to pursue our mission to empower educators to help students succeed
our guest webinar presenters who have shared their expertise each month with teacher aides and other educators, nationally
the dedicated and inspiring educators across Australia who help us with our awards program, and the development of the professional standards for teacher aides
our wonderful team who make an exceptional contribution to our workplace, and keep us motivated and inspired to do better every day, and
our families for their ongoing support and encouragement behind the scenes

Recently, we were buoyed by the safe arrival of twin baby boys to the ATA family. Claire and Jun Rey Raip are part of our remote team, and we are enjoying watching them navigate the joys and sheer delight of becoming parents to Liam and Luka.

As we sign off for the year, we would like to acknowledge the essential work performed by school staff, and sincerely thank each and every one of you for your dedication throughout 2021 despite ongoing challenges.

The ATA team will be enjoying a 3 week break from 24 December 2021 until 14 January 2022.

We wish you a happy and safe Christmas, and a well-earned holiday. Stay connected, and we will see you in the New Year!

Warm regards

Mandy and Stella

ARE YOU 'PD READY' FOR 2022?

Don't wait until January next year to start planning your education support staff professional development needs. Get it sorted now and then relax during your holidays knowing you are ready to go in 2022. What a great feeling that would be :)

Not sure if ATA is right for your school? Use the link below to download our resources list, also known as our Professional Development Planner for Schools.

Download the PD Planner NOW

2022 LIVE WEB EVENTS

You can now register for many of our live web events in 2022

15 February

Using Peer Review for Performance Development and Planning - Ben Pollard, Beaudesert State High School

8 March

Strategies to Support Students with Intellectual Disability – Jane Wenlock, Kolbe Catholic College

12 April

Understanding the Impact of Adversity and Trauma on Behaviour in Schools - Michelle Murray, Life Without Barriers

10 May

Strategies To Support Students Who Have Experienced Adversity and Trauma - Michelle Murray, Life Without Barriers

14 June

A Strengths-Based Approach to Help Students Thrive - Jo Opie, PosAbilities - Strong Minds, Strong Futures

12 July

How to Support the Cultural Identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students - Clea North, Life Without Barriers

9 August

Strategies to Build the Cultural Capacity at your School - Clea North, Life Without Barriers

13 September

Have Your Say: Australian Standards for Paraprofessional Educators in Schools - Australian Teacher Aide

11 October

Building Stronger Teaching Teams – Observations of Teaching Assistants in Action - Leanne Hillman, Bolster Education

8 November

Strategies to Support Students with ADHD - ADHD Foundation

All web events are held at 3.30pm AEST

FIRST WEBINAR FOR 2022

Using Peer Review for Performance Development and Planning

Tuesday 15th February 2022 @ 3:30pm AEST

Planning professional development can sometimes be time consuming and have a shot-in-the-dark approach. Ben Pollard, Business Manager at Beaudesert State High School, believes that for PD to be effective, it needs to be focused and continual.

In this webinar, Ben will look at how to involve teacher aides in the planning of their own professional development through peer observation. This method enables all teacher aides to identify their areas for development, and set goals that match PD activities to improve performance. Ben will also look at how to leverage the existing strengths of teams and recognise the wealth of knowledge that teacher aides already have.

IN THE SPIRIT OF GIVING

WE ARE A BUSINESS FOR GOOD

Australian Teacher Aide is a business for good. This means that every time, you or your school or training organisation purchase or renew a membership, we will donate to a group of chosen charities that support the education and health and wellbeing needs of students, both in Australia and globally.

We are so excited to be making an impact in an area that is close to our hearts, and we can't wait to tell you more in 2022.

THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING US ON FACEBOOK

What a thriving community we have on Facebook!

We are grateful for your attention, you are always ready to share your thoughts (and our posts), give a perspective and answer our polls and questions. We continue to learn so much from you. Thank you for belonging :)

Join 21,573 other happy ATA Facebook followers