TA TALK

Issue 54

April 2020

Despite all that is happening around us, it is inspiring to hear how schools are embracing change, in order to continue to bring quality education to our students, no matter how different that looks at the moment. We have observed schools around Australia redesign delivery models almost overnight to keep staff, students and families safe. You are all doing an awesome job under trying circumstances and we applaud each one of you.

 

Given the COVID-19 chaos, we deliberated over the launch of an important event on the education calendar, however we have decided to go forth in an attempt to bring some perspective and 'light' to the year of 2020.

 

Today we are excited to announce the opening of nominations for the 2020 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year, an award we initiated two years ago, to recognise and acknowledge the important role of teacher aides in schools. We thought this to be an apt time for school leaders and teachers to have the opportunity to acknowledge the essential support role of teacher aides who, based on 1000+ comments in our recent Facebook poll, are working harder, and more diversely, than ever before!

 

Lastly, we are pleased to advise that we have recently updated our exclusive school member program, Effective Teacher Aide Practices for Schools (eTAPS). Apart from fine-tuning the 4 modules, we now have a more comprehensive facilitator's guide which is a fabulous tool for school leaders to facilitate the delivery of the eTAPS modules to teacher aide teams.

 

It's been a busy and demanding month for all. Don't forget to find some time each day to reset; it's going to be a marathon, not a sprint!

 

Warm regards

 

Stella and Mandy

Nominations are now OPEN!

It's that time again!

 

Is there a teacher aide at your school whom you would like to recognise for their:

• Positive impact on student learning and wellbeing
• Collaboration with colleagues and the community
• Continuous improvement through professional development and training

 

This is your opportunity to acknowledge the important role teacher aides play in your school by nominating them for Australian Teacher Aide of the Year.

 

We received over 100 nominations last year, and the winner was Jacque  Mengel, from Maribyrnong Primary School in the ACT.

 

Will your school have the winning nomination this year?

LIVE WEB EVENT: More Assistive Technology for Students with Disability

 

Tuesday 12th May 2020 @3:30pm AEST

Jeff Souter, Statewide Advisory Visiting Teacher, Assistive Technologies, DET, returns to explore more assistive and inclusive technologies being used in schools to help students engage with the curriculum.  In this webinar you will learn to use a range of technologies to effectively support learning for students with disability and additional needs. Jeff presents in an easy to understand, and hands on approach, and his events book out quickly. Places are already limited, so hurry to secure a spot! 

Top Tips to Turn Your Fear About COVID-19 into a Fierce Focus 

Beth Berghan, a Personal, Business and Executive Success Coach explains how to understand your fears about COVID -19, and what drives them, and shares strategies to manage your fears and help you get through these challenging times.

Achieving Long Term Success Working with Students with a Trauma Background

Achieving Long Term Success Working with Students with a Trauma Background is the third webinar in our 3-part series on trauma. In this webinar, presented by Alexina Baldini, psychologist and trauma specialist, you will learn how to communicate effectively, and work collaboratively with support teams, to ensure the success of children exposed to trauma, and the importance of ongoing support and training.

Make sure your team know how to use the CPD Diary in My Portal to track and report on professional development  

 

Whether your team is completing professional development remotely, or at school, this useful tool enables teacher aides to:

• Record the name, and date of all professional development completed
• Upload supporting worksheets, as evidence of learning
• Allocate 1 CPD point per completed PD, which is equivalent to one hour of PD
• Download and email a report to supervisors
• Request a certificate

 

Please share these instructions with your team.

We update the PD Planner monthly

We know that schools are using the PD Planner to find the right professional development for their teacher aides. We just wanted to remind you that the planner is updated monthly, as new resources are uploaded to our PD library. So, if you have a printed copy of the planner, we suggest you also keep a pdf copy in your files, and update it from time to time. 

Poll Question re TA Work Arrangements

9,397 views

1,302 reactions, comments and shares

 

A few days ago, we asked about TA's work arrangements. So far, we have had over 1,000 responses. We have included some of the comments below, which indicate how differently TAs are working at the moment.

 

Working from home, I work for a secondary college, we run 5 sessions a day, so I’m joining classes on teams I have been timetabled to, checking in on the students I have been appointed to, via email or helping them live on teams when they are having trouble accessing their work on compass etc, having team meetings, lots of online learning that is relevant to our role. Pretty busy days really, also have my 5 year old at home, so it’s definitely challenging - Deb

 

Working from school, in a double classroom with 24 kids. All Grade 9s. Not kids I normally work with. I'm loving getting to know them and watching them help each other and problem solve together - Janet

 

Doing my usual 20 hours a week, but from home. Four hours everyday online in Google Meets. It’s exhausting, but lots of 1:1 with my treasures has been amazing, just wish it was in person - Sarah

 

Working at school, have at least 21 kids each day that’s just my grade 1’s (2 classes) co-joined in the library. I have been “supervising” these children by doing the same online learning as the kids at home. Not allowed to give any guidance or help; just instruct what to do and they have to independently work on it. It’s been tough ... - Kasey