It’s almost that time of year again!

On 29th of April, nominations for the 2021 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year Awards will open, and we hope you will take this opportunity to recognise the work of outstanding teacher aides at your school.

This year we have partnered with school leaders from around Australia to present a series of live web events on building the capability of their education support teams. Registration to these live events are free, and places are filling fast.

We launched the first event this month, when Jo Opie, Head Teacher of the Jamberoo Centre at Oak Flats High School, presented a webinar on Maximising Student Outcomes.

In our April webinar, Greg Clement, Principal at Clayton South Primary School, will unpack The Science of Reading, and share how he has successfully coached the education support team to use this explicit approach to reading instruction.

Greg’s presentation will be streamed live during the school holidays, and as this time will not suit everyone, you will be able to access the recording in our professional development library, provided you are an ATA member.  

If you subscribe to the Education Matters magazine (Secondary Schools), look out for a 2 page editorial about how some of our member schools are using ATA professional learning to successfully build the capability of their education support teams. The story is in the April - September 2021 edition which is being distributed this week.

With the end of Term 1 drawing close, and school holidays just around the corner, we are reflecting on this same time last year, as COVID-19 dramatically changed the education landscape.

The impact of the pandemic was tough on many students, and we acknowledge that Term I has been a challenge for educators, as you strive to get students’ academic learning, as well as their social and emotional wellbeing, back on track.  

Lastly, our thoughts go out to the hundreds of schools that have been impacted by the catastrophic floods over the past week. We hope you are safe, and well.

Warm regards

Mandy and Stella

We want you to have a successful professional learning experience with ATA, which is why we provide personalised onboarding for every new school. During the onboarding orientation, we ensure you and your team know how to link to the school membership, where to find resources, how to register for live events and how to most effectively engage in, and record details of professional learning completed.

If your school has paid for a membership but there are no staff linked, in most cases, this means that no one knows about the  membership, and your investment in professional learning for your support staff is going to waste.

If you missed the opportunity to meet with us, it's not too late! School leaders can use this link to make a time to meet with us. Alternatively, staff can view our New Member Orientation video anytime. 

The Science of Reading - How Clayton South Primary School provide evidence based reading support

Tuesday 6th April 2021 @ 3:30pm AEST

In this webinar, you will discover how Greg Clement, Principal at Clayton South Primary School, has successfully led a change in practice using the science of reading, a research-based approach to reading instruction.

Greg will share how he coaches the education support team at his school to provide personalised literacy intervention using a systematic synthetic phonics approach.

Maximising student outcomes at Oak Flats High School

Jo Opie, Head Teacher of the Jamberoo Centre at Oak Flats High School, in NSW, has created an inclusive team culture, where the role of their teacher aides is considered vital to maximising student outcomes.

In this fast paced webinar, Jo explains how she has built the capacity of their SLSO team to successfully support the learning and wellbeing of young people with Autism and behavioural difficulties. 

Understanding Learning Difficulties

We have updated the popular video, Understanding Learning Difficulties, which is designed for teacher aides who support students experiencing difficulties with learning. This version provides a higher quality viewing experience, and has new interactive activities in the workbook. 

Nominations open 29th April

It's almost that time of year again! Soon we will be opening nominations for the 2021 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year. We know many of you are waiting eagerly to nominate your TAs and we promise to notify you in our regular Thursday communications when nomination details become available on our website. Stay posted!

CONGRATULATIONS! to the following schools on 5 continuous years of membership with ATA. These schools now join our growing ranks of Professional Learning Champions.

• Gin Gin State School
• Kinross Wolaroi School
• Kioma State School
• Peachester State School
• Toukley Public School

Positions Vacant

St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney has a position vacant for a Specialised Learning Support Assistant (SLSA)

Looking for staff?

Schools with ATA membership can advertise positions vacant for education support staff on our Job Board.

Looking for work? 

Individual ATA members can advertise positions wanted. 

What word mispronounced drives you crazy?

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574 reactions, comments and shares

Oh my goodness! This post highlighted the number of words mispronounced  and misused regularly. Popular ones were 'somethink' instead of something, 'arks' instead of asks, 'vunerable' instead of vulnerable, 'pacific' instead of specific and 'impordan' instead of important. And the list went on. Probably a little bit therapeutic for some as they vented their annoyance, and a little bit 'educational' for us all!