ASEPA National Bulletin
Linking Leaders - A publication of the ASEPA
Australian Special Education Principals Association LTD
Email: Fiona.Forbes@education.wa.edu.au
Website: www.asepa.asn.au
Location: Laguardia Loop, Port Kennedy, WA, Australia
Phone: 08 9593 9030
Twitter: @asepaonline
ASEPA Newsletter Dec 2015
This year we have made some major structural changes with our governance structures and now fully operate as a Not for Profit Company Limited by Guarantee. We have a fully operational Board of Directors and several committees that assist the Board with our work. It has been a very highly productive 12 months. It is the right time at the end of the year to thank the Board and the Management Committee for all of their work and dedication to special education through the work of ASEPA. We are in a very good place moving forward and 2016 looks to be another positive year.
ASEPA New Look Board
The board were elected by the state and territory bodies that form ASEPA in April of this year and took over the Governance from July 1st 2016. The board composition is
Fiona Forbes – Chair, Lorraine Hodgson – Secretary, Frank Fogliati – Business Manager, with Directors Roselynne Anderson, Sylvia Flato, Diane Robertson, Craig Woodfall, and John Mooney.
The Board have had two face-to-face meetings this year and one video-conference. The Board have spent time setting the strategic direction for ASEPA for the next 2 years.
New Patrons
ASEPA are delighted to announce two inaugural patrons of our organisation. We welcome our National Patron Professor Brian Caldwell and our International Patron Dame Pat Collarbone. Brian and Pat have accepted a two-year commitment to supporting our association and through their collective wisdom of school and system leadership ASEPA are well place as we move into a new era of operations. Our Patrons will be working with our Board and Management Committee in the New Year.
New Website and Communication strategy
ASEPA are wanting to connect more fully with members and in order to do that we have formed a small committee to develop a communication strategy. The first meeting of this group happened last week and Frank Fogliati, Fiona Forbes, Tracey Chappell and Craig Woodfall worked hard to come up with some exciting new innovations for 2016 so watch this space and connect up with your national voice.
ASEPA have been funded by the Federal Government to develop two new resources to support the learning of students with disability (SWD) in Australian Schools. There are two components to Leading Learning 4 All (LL4A)
LL4A – Resource and LL4A – Practice. Both are professional learning tools that promote SWD as learners in Australian schools.
LL4A – Resource is a leadership tool to bring about meaningful change in schools, their, staff, students and their families. The resource consists of a set of support cards with strategies and knowledge to support SWD in classrooms and schools, a professional learning journal that provides the user with real opportunity to reflect on their practice and change their attitudes and values. There is a leaders book that supports a leader to make real meaningful change of a school culture that can in-turn enable SWD as learners in Australian schools. Finally there is a set of journey cards that step out for leaders and their teams how to create meaningful professional learning communities within their school and communities to foster LL4A in an authentic way. There will also be some vignettes of leaders journey stories to support this resource.
LL4A – Practice is a web-based tool that will house illustrations of practice of the Disability Standards in Education. The web resource will have three platforms - Illustrations of Practice- videos of schools with commentary; resources and ideas; research and next practice.
Modelled on the Behaviour 4 Learning website now Behaviour 2 Learn website, we have enlisted the expertise of the designer of that concept Professor Philip Garner to be the technical advisor of this project.
These tools will undergo trialling in the first half of 2016.
Both LL4A – Resource and LL4A – Practice will be available on the ASEPA website later in 2016.
International Confederation of Principals (ICP) News
ASEPA has been a member of ICP for the past 5 years. National President and Board Chair Fiona Forbes has attended ICP council meetings and conventions in Toronto, South Africa, Australia and Finland. She has been on the executive council for the past two years.
The Helsinki Convention was held in August 2015 and was well attended by over 1200 educators from across the globe. The conference program had the best Finland could offer with keynotes from Pasi Sahlberg, Andre Noel Chaker, Alf Rehn and Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti to name a few. It was an excellent 4 days of professional learning, networking and collegiality. Prior to the convention ICP held their annual Council Meeting. Prof Phil Reily spoke on Principal Health and Wellbeing and Prof Philip Garner on Violence in our Schools. ICP are looking to work collaboratively on these two topics into the future.
During the Council meeting our National President won the election for ICP President Elect. Fiona will take up her role in 2016 as well as continuing her National President role until Dec 31st 2016. She will become the ICP President on January 1st 2017. This is a fabulous accolade for special education globally.
Unique Professional Learning Opportunity 2016
Dame Pat Collarbone will be in Sydney March 7 – 9th to run a 3-day highly valuable Change2 program. Change is the number one constant in schools. Successful change can transform a school from good to great. If you are interested in investing in your school and are interested in being trained by one of the global leaders in School leadership and Change then this is an opportunity too good to miss. Limited to 20 places only and costing $3000 per person or $2500 if you bring more than one from your school.
ASEPA needs your commitment to attend in order to host the course. Please email Fiona.Forbes@education.wa.edu.au asap if you can commit to this incredible opportunity. We need to have your commitment as soon as possible otherwise we will need to forfeit this fantastic opportunity.
If this is successful we will hope to repeat the course in September in Brisbane.
Save the Date – ASEPA Conference 2017
It has been awhile since we have had a conference for various reasons, however 2017 will be our 20th anniversary and we are going back to the place where it all started - Adelaide.
This will be a special conference and a joint ASEPA/SEPANZ conference hosted by SASEPLA.
So we are just in the process of deciding on the date and we will send it out as soon as we know, but save 2017 as the year you all go to Adelaide and help us celebrate 20 years of incredible advocacy for special education leadership in Australasia.
It will be informative and a whole lot of fun!!!