Watch our 2020 in review!

Despite everything, there's much to celebrate

Hello!

With only a short time left in Term 4, 2020, many will be breathing a sigh of relief that the school’s year is coming to a close.  

This end of school year is looking quite different - many of the celebrations with presentation days on Zoom, Facebook Live or other such platforms, incursions instead of excursions and concerts being either to small audiences or viewed online.  Still we have much to celebrate!

We are grateful for you

I want to start by thanking all our parents and carers for your fantastic support over the last year.  I am particularly grateful for everything that you have done to support your children with learning from home.  I know how difficult it is to juggle working from home with supporting your own children with their schooling, and this is of course in addition to dealing with all of the normal challenges of family life.  

ACSSO has also received a number of messages of thanks and support for the information provided on our Australian Families at Home web page; these messages of thanks are gratefully received.  Thank you.

Vulnerable children's education hit hardest

The COVID-19 pandemic, as we are well aware, is not stopped at national borders. It affects everyone regardless of nationality, level of education, income, or gender. But it does not affect everyone equally, and its its consequences have hit the most vulnerable families hardest.

Education is no exception. A common theme in ACSSO’s COVID-19 family survey was the expression of ongoing inequity in our school communities, particularly in terms of computing devices and connectivity during remote learning.

Students from privileged backgrounds, supported by their families, could find their way past closed school doors to alternative learning opportunities. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds often remained shut out when their schools shut down.

Put your mask on first

Unfortunately, the true effect on disadvantaged students and families may not be fully realised for many years to come.

As mentioned in my November message, mental health in schools is taking a higher priority with governments at the moment, as well it should.

As parents, carers and school staff, we need to remember the adage from airplane safety to put on our own oxygen masks first so we can help those around us. Our mental health affects the children in our care, sometimes in hard to detect but still devastating ways. 

Rather than trying to recreate the usual busy-ness of a typical festive season, I urge you to take advantage of the external limits on gatherings and events and slow down as much as you can. Replenish your mental health: put your own mask on first!

Supporting families with information when you need it

Last week we held the first of a series of family information webinars with the CEO of ACARA, David de Carvalho.  We thank the team at ACARA for their support in partnering with us. The session was extremely well attended, and participants gained an insight into NAPLAN and My School straight from the CEO himself.  Questions were answered frankly, and a lot of ground was covered in the hour.  

We intend to hold more of these family-friendly evening sessions next year and we’d be keen to know what topics would interest you. Please take a moment to email our office on contact@acsso.org.au and request a topic or suggest a webinar guest speaker.

Time to join your community's voice with others?

Your school community's voice counts and your perspective matters to ACSSO.  Please make 2021 the year you become part of our network of parents and carers, sparking conversations on how knowledge and learning can shape our future.

Your input - whether as an individual, network or organisation - informs the work of ACSSO and helps shape the Australian education conversation.

Email our office or get in touch with our friendly team through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram to find out more.

Supporting young adults with new resources 

In any year's end, many young school leavers feel anxious about future pathways. This year has created even greater angst.

ACSSO has had the opportunity to work with the National Careers Institute, which has produced some amazing resources and is keen to conduct webinars early in the new year to assist with questions and decisions.

There is more information further on in this newsletter about what’s available and accessible – and please keep an eye on ACSSO’s social media for any January events.

A special word for school community volunteers

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Gandhi

Volunteers are worth their weight in gold. They share their time and talents without any expectation of compensation. This year has been hard on volunteers who were unable to pursue long-planned and important activities such as fetes, working bees, or even to staff their tuckshops.

We applaud the creative ways many volunteers have found to continue their contribution to school communities. To all those volunteers in our schools, on local parent, regional, state or national committees, your selfless gifts of time and energy are of some of the greatest assets in our society.

You have generously dedicated your time and labour to support the education of our children. Volunteers like you help make the world a better place with your time and efforts.

Thank you!

And finally...

When you look back at 2020 what will you remember?

For many of us, it was a year of transition and unexpected trials. While it was not an easy task, throughout 2020 as a nation I believe that we did not lose sight of our core strengths.

So, whether it’s in-person or online, it’s time to celebrate what you found to be most important this year - family, friendship, and the achievements leading to a bright future.

Sharron Healy
Chair
Australian Council of State School Organisations

December 2020

New career resources

The School Leavers Information Kit and the School Leavers Information Service help young people understand their education, training and work pathways as they prepare to leave school. 

Funded through the Australian Government’s Enhanced Support for School Leavers measures, these personally tailored initiatives will be supported until 30 June 2022. 

School Leavers Information Kit 

The kit, Your Career: What’s next for you? gives young people information about education, training and work options to help them navigate the changing landscape of the labour market.

Key sections include help each participant to: 

• build a portfolio of interesting further education and training and industries across Australia
• identify current skills, undertaking short-term education and training, and options to pursue different opportunities like work experience or volunteering
• pursue goals for financial assistance, starting a first/new job and gaining local careers information. 

Download the kit from yourcareer.gov.au, powered by the National Skills Commission’s world-leading labour market intelligence system.

School Leavers Information Service

The School Leavers Information Service gives school leavers two levels of careers support: 

• how to navigate the School Leavers Information Kit, access and use the Your Career website or be referred to relevant government programs or support services. 

• a personalised career guidance session with a qualified career practitioner for up to 45 minutes. 

Young people can access the service by: 

• calling 1800 CAREER (1800 227 337)
• texting SLIS2020 to 0429 009 435
• emailing schoolleavers.nci@dese.gov.au.

Research reading: Learning Creates

Provided by Learning Creates Australia

Earlier this year, Learning Creates Australia launched a National Social Lab to design and prototype new ways to recognise learning.

The focus is on learning that is trusted and understood by the community, has social and economic currency, and allows all 15-19 year olds to demonstrate their levels of confidence and creativity, knowledge and know-how.

Recognition of learning success for all is a new paper from Learning Create’s research partners, the University of Melbourne, that contributes to the evidence base for our ongoing work. The research team gathered input from people across education, government, business and philanthropy - including young people - to address the misalignment between what we measure as educational success and the learning goals we aspire to.

While Australia has many examples of positive incremental change and aspects of our education system have served many young people well, how we define and measure success in learning is limiting young people’s ability to prepare for their future – regardless of their background, abilities or efforts.

Too many young Australians still complete their formal school education without the knowledge, skills, attitudes and dispositions they need to navigate the transition from school to further education, training, or employment.

Recognition of learning success for all makes the case that a better recognition system in Australia would assess and represent the degree to which a learner has attained the full range of learning they need to thrive. The paper evidences that it is possible to build, test and prototype a new and broader conception of success within a common standards-based recognition system that has trust and utility for recruiters and selectors, employers and young people. And new learning pathways can reflect young people’s skills, knowledge and experiences - gained from learning inside and outside of formal schooling.

While this project was conceptualised before Australia was impacted by COVID-19, its relevance has only grown as education and online learning has been significantly disrupted here and around the world. It has highlighted inequities and demonstrated that new solutions are now crucial as we transform, modify, adapt, re-invent and hold onto the great things that will move us towards lifelong learning in Australia.

Kids learn about holiday money

Provided by The Wealth Academy:

The holiday season is the most important time in the year for children to learn about the value of money.

At this time of the year, children are watching their parents make financial decisions daily. At the same time, children also see constant advertising to spend, spend and spend some more.

It is very difficult for parents to balance their own financial guidance of their children, when their children are seeing hundreds of messages a day to spend via television, radio, phone and social media.

This challenge is also an opportunity. Because it is the peak time for many family financial decisions relating to holiday activities, the giving and receiving of gifts etc, it can also be an opportune time to talk about  the bias of advertisers, concepts of budgeting, credit, debt, warranties etc and the management and use of money more broadly.

Your children may not like this conversation, but it is one they should regularly have!

USQ study on family separation

ACSSO is supporting research by the University of Southern QLD Research: Parent School Engagement during Family Separation or Divorce.

If you are a parent of school-aged children and have experienced separation or divorce more than 12 months ago we would like to invite you to participate in this research project.

What is the research project about?

Family separation and divorce present many challenges for families. Schools can play an important role in working with parents to support children’s learning and wellbeing during these situations.

Parent-school engagement can be particularly complex during such times, however, and our study is interested in parents’ experiences of interacting with their child’s school during separation or divorce.

Findings from the study will be used to help schools improve their support for children and families going through similar circumstances.

 What will I be asked to do?

Take part in a telephone interview that will take approximately 60 minutes. How can I find out more?

Click here or contact:

Dr Eseta Tualaulelei - Eseta.Tualaulelei@usq.edu.au - 07 3470 4087

Dr Kay Ayre - k.ayre@ecu.edu.au - 08 6304 5253

 Professor Sue Saltmarsh ssaltmarsh@eduhk.hk.

ARIA award for school music teacher

Congratulations to Sarah Donnelly, a teacher at Wilcannia Central School, for winning the national ARIA music teacher award for 2020.

Even lockdown learning didn't stop Sarah integrating music into her classroom and the class version of Paul Kelly's famous song, From Little Things Big Things Grow was a collaborative effort and deeply moving.

All children and many family members were involved in a music video for the song. See Sarah's winning speech for the ARIA awards here.

We love to hear your stories of schools and communities doing great things. 

Send your #caughtyoubeinggreat stories to comms@acsso.org.au and use the hashtag on Facebook to find other wonderful stories.

November 2020:

ACSSO Survey Summary

Last month's most clicked newsletter link led to ACSSO's Australian Family Survey about learning during the pandemic. 

Find the summary here if you missed it!

Term 1, 2021, around Australia

Compiled from the information available from state and territory Departments of Education in December 2020 and subject to change – please confirm with your local school:

Australian Capital Territory 

New students start school Monday, 1 February, 2021

Continuing students return to school on Tuesday, 2 February, 2021

New South Wales

Students return Friday, 29 January, 2021 (Eastern division)

Students return Friday, 5 February, 2021 (Western Division)

Northern Territory

Non-remote schools return Monday, 1 February, 2021

Remote schools (except Gumbalanya) start Tuesday, 2 February, 2021

Queensland

Wednesday, 27 January, 2021

South Australia

Wednesday, 27 January, 2021

Tasmania

Schools and colleges, Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

Victoria

Students start in government schools, Thursday, 28 January, 2021

Western Australia

Monday, 1 February, 2021