AEU News Issue 1 2010

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2010: The year ahead | The truth about working in disability

The fight againstleague tables

AEU

NEWS

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contactseditorial enquiries Nic Barnard tel (03) 9418 4841 fax (03) 9415 8975 email [email protected]

advertising enquiries Lyn Baird tel (03) 9418 4879 fax (03) 9415 8975 email [email protected]

AEU News is produced by the AEU Publications Unit: editor Nic Barnard | designers Lyn Baird, Peter Lambropoulos, Kim Flemingjournalists Rachel Power, Anna Kelsey-Sugg | editorial assistant Helen PrytherchPrintPost Approved: 349181/00616 ISSN: 1442—1321. Printed in Australia by Total Print on Re Art Matt 100% Recycled Paper. Free to AEU members. Subscription rate: $60 per annum. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the AEU News are those of the authors/members and are not necessarily the official policy of the AEU (Victorian Branch). Contents © AEU Victorian Branch. Contributed articles, photographs and illustrations are © their respective authors. No reproduction without permission.

Contentscover story

AEU Victorian BranchBranch president: Mary BluettBranch secretary: Brian Henderson

AEU VIC head office address 112 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford, 3067 postal address PO Box 363, Abbotsford, 3067 tel (03) 9417 2822, 1800 013 379 fax 1300 658 078 web www.aeuvic.asn.au email [email protected]

country offices Ballarat (03) 5331 1155 | Benalla (03) 5762 2714 Bendigo (03) 5442 2666 | Gippsland (03) 5134 8844 Geelong (03) 5222 6633

COVER IMAGE: Noel Butcher

AEU

NEWS

The year aheadFrom preschools to TAFE, education support to disability, our four-page special serves up the issues and campaigns facing members in 2010.

The battle for hearts and mindsRachel Power reports from AEU Federal Conference — setting the agenda for a year of campaigning.

Against the oddsUganda’s fast growing teachers’ union is playing a key role in advocating for education for all and tackling HIV.

Wine talkingPaddy Kendler, former teacher and a wine writer for over 30 years, offers AEU members tips on the best drops around in our new column.

3 president’s report 27 safety matters

18 profile 28 classifieds

23 women’s focus 29 christina adams

24 AEU training 30 culture

25 on the phones 31 giveaways

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League tablesNews, analysis and the story of one school already feeling the impact of newspapers “naming and shaming”.

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AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION UNION VICTORIAN BRANCHELECTION NOTICE

Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009Nominations are called for the following offices: DELEGATES TO BRANCH CONFERENCE (806)To be elected by and from members of the Early Childhood Sector; Primary Sector; Secondary Sector and the TAFE and Adult Provision Sector — A full list of offices to be filled may be obtained from your Sub-Branch Secretary, the Branch office of the Union or from my office.

ELECTION OF WOMEN TO BRANCH CONFERENCE The rules of the Branch provide that the minimum number of women to be elected shall be 50 per cent of the number of persons to be elected from each region. If the number of persons to be elected is an odd number, the minimum number of women to be elected shall be determined by reducing the total number of persons to be elected by one and taking 50 per cent of that number.

If the number of women candidates is less than the number of women to be elected, the remaining position or positions in question will be filled by a male candidate or candidates.

NOMINATIONS, which must be in writing and comply with the Rules of the Union, may be made anytime from 8 February 2010. They must reach my office or postal address not later than 12:00 noon on Tuesday, 9 March 2010. Nominations cannot be withdrawn after this time.

NOMINATION FORMS are available, on request, from me or the Branch office of the Union.

ELECTORAL MATERIAL supplied by candidates for distribution with ballot papers shall be restricted to a maximum of 200 words per candidate and may include a passport size photograph. The material may include an indication of preference provided all candidates are shown in the order they appear on the ballot paper and there is a preference allocated to each candidate. Electoral Material may be emailed to [email protected] but must reach my office or postal address not later than 12:00 noon on Tuesday, 16 March 2010.

ADDRESS FOR LODGING NOMINATIONSBy Post: Australian Electoral Commission, GPO Box 4382, Melbourne VIC 3001By Hand: Australian Electoral Commission, Level 8, 2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 By Fax: (03) 9285 7149

BALLOT: The ballot, if required, will open on 12 April 2010 and close at 9:00am on Tuesday, 27 April 2010.

Changed Address? Advise the Union now.NOTE: A copy of the AEC’s election report can be obtained from the organisation or from me after the completion of the election.

Tony KingReturning Officer 8 February 2010Tel: (03) 9285 7146

2 aeu news | february 2010

mailto:[email protected]


SEMINARS FOR TERM 1RV will hold the following seminars at the AEU Building (112 Trenerry Cres, Abbotsford) on the following dates: Retirement Seminar: Saturday 6 March 2010 at 10am Retirement Seminar: Tuesday 30 March 2010 at 10am Aged Care Seminar: Saturday 20 March 2010 at 10am* Bookings: Call Rhonda Webley on (03) 9418 4844*RV is assisting an increasing number of members with financial strategies for parents, relatives and friends who have entered or are about to enter an aged care facility. The issues are complex but we can provide help. This seminar will be devoted to aged care planning including social security/DVA issues, family home matters, taxation, accommodation bonds, daily care fees, etc.

AEU Vic branch president

WHAT a hectic start to the year! School members returned

to work amid a media frenzy surrounding Julia Gillard’s My School website, while TAFE teachers have a new minister, and early childhood members can look forward to a pay rise with nine months’ back pay following Fair Work Australia’s approval of their new agreements.

With state and federal elections due this year, 2010 will be another campaigning year for AEU members.

My SchoolThe Federal Government launched My School on January 28 with Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard saying it would “shine a light” on Australia’s 10,000 schools and provide “hungry” parents with the information they crave.

She says the most powerful tool on the website is the comparison between similar schools which will “tell you whether yours is doing as well as other schools with students from similar backgrounds.”

But this comparison should come with a “buyer-beware” message to parents.

One major metropolitan private school, Haileybury College (3,083 students, Year 12 fees of $22,000), is compared to government primary schools such as Welton PS in Torrumbarry (31km west of Echuca) with 43 students — including just four in Year 3 and six in Year 5 — and the similarly tiny Whorouly PS in the Ovens Valley near Shepparton.

Ivanhoe Grammar (1,762 students, Year 12 fees $19,445) is compared to Yinnar South PS in Gippsland which has only 14 students — and only one in Year 3.

Camberwell High’s “similar schools” includes Camberwell Grammar School as well as nine primary schools across the nation. One of those is Dargo PS in the Victorian Alps, which had one student last year.

Gillard believes these comparisons will expose under-performing schools, and has called on parents to demand explanations from principals and

teachers and challenge them on what they intend to improve.

But the real issue is that the website will be used to unfairly condemn schools while failing to give parents the full picture.

It took less than 24 hours for the Herald Sun to publish NAPLAN results for all schools and identify the “top” and “bottom” five schools across the NAPLAN spectrum.

Gillard has said that she opposes “simplistic league tables” but her website is being used to generate them. AEU federal conference unanimously endorsed a resolution calling on the minister to prevent the ranking of schools, and to not conduct NAPLAN tests if she fails to do so (see pages 20–21).

All Gillard has to do is listen not only to the AEU, but to school council and parent organisations, principals and education experts (including Brian Caldwell and Kevin Donnelly!).

State and federal electionsThe state election will be held on

November 27 and the federal election is also likely sometime this year.

The union will again be campaigning to get a better deal for public education.

Both current governments claim education as their number one priority. We will challenge them to deliver (see pages 12–13).

TAFE 4 AllWhile Bronwyn Pike is the new TAFE minister (in addition to her school education portfolio), the State Government’s changes to TAFE funding remain in place. These changes continue to increase the cost of TAFE and put courses out of reach for many.

A review is due this year and we will seek major changes to reduce the cost of TAFE, particularly for our most disadvantaged students. However, our TAFE 4 All campaign continues. ◆

Parents beware false comparisonsOnly in the world of My School is a $22,000-a-year elite private college like a tiny rural state primary. But our fight against league tables will be merely the first battle of a campaigning 2010.

Alan Cooper, Geoff Allen & Staff

Level 3/432 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004

Visit us at www.retirevic.com.au

Retirement Victoria is the AEU’s preferred provider of financial and retirement planning services to members.

Retirement Victoria Pty Ltd is an authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Ltd AFSL 244252.

AEU PREFERRED PROVIDERS

APPOINTMENTS (03) 9820 8088

Alan Cooper, Geoff Allen & Staff

Level 3/432 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004

Visit us at www.retirevic.com.au

AEU PREFERRED PROVIDERS

TO RETIRE SUCCESSFULLY YOU NEED THE BEST ADVICE

APPOINTMENTS (03) 9820 8088Retirement Victoria is the AEU’s preferred provider of financial and retirement planning services to members.

Retirement Victoria Pty Ltd is an authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Lts AFSL 244252

www.aeuvic.asn.au 3

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We’re not a super fund for all Victorians. We’re a fund for you.

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ESSSuper is proud to be an exclusive fund that’s not available to everyone.* It means we can focus on developing specialised products and services tailored to the needs of teachers, before and after retirement.

While you are working, we keep you informed and empowered with one-on-one member appointments and seminars to optimise your super planning. Then there’s our range of products, such as our Accumulation Plan, that can supplement our defined benefit schemes, help maximise your super nest egg and allow you to stay with us throughout retirement. And if you want to make a gradual transition into retirement, our Working Income Stream can help you ease into it by providing you with additional income while you work part-time. Then when you decide to retire permanently, you can continue to enjoy a regular income by using our Retirement Income Stream.

At ESSSuper, we know as well as you do that you’ve worked hard for your future. And we’re here to make your super work harder for you.

Find out more about all that we can offer you

Call 1300 655 476 to find out about your options or to make a free appointment with one of our Member Education Consultants.

*Members include teachers who commenced employment prior to 1994. If you are not already an ESSSuper member you are not eligible to join.

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We’re there for the AMWU

Helping AEU MembersCall the Holding Redlich advice line service for free legal advice on all personal injury claims:• work injuries• road accident injuries• medical negligence

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Nic Barnard AEU News

TEACHERS are already being told to teach to the test and target

borderline students as the first effects of league tables and the My School website reverberate through schools.

Advice from Loddon Mallee region instructs teachers and principals to run regular practice NAPLAN tests, and to “privilege the test as an event of significance”, “explicitly teach for NAPLAN”, and “provide additional assistance for students identified capable of making significant improvement”.

The document confirms fears that the Government’s publication of NAPLAN data has turned the tests from a useful diagnostic tool into a high-stakes verdict on school performance.

AEU branch president Mary Bluett said: “This will take vital time and resources away from educating students. The region is proposing a 10-week program — it confirms what we have warned, that high-stakes testing is going to narrow the curriculum.”

The advice to identify students capable of significant improvement sets the stage for schools to focus on “borderline” students at the expense

of those with no hope of reaching the expected standards in the 10 weeks leading to NAPLAN.

Some AEU members have already told the union they will no longer enter students with learning difficulties for the test — something they had done in the past to give those students the same experience as other children.

Schools quickly felt the impact of the launch of the My School site, with papers drawing up lists of the top and bottom schools based on raw results.

The AEU federal conference voted in January not to cooperate with NAPLAN in May if the Government fails to prevent the future misuse of My School data. Executive will meet after April 12, the deadline given for Education Minister Julia Gillard to act.

Ms Gillard has threatened to use the Government’s Fair Work Act — its replacement for WorkChoices — to act against the union and members who refuse to hand out the tests.

One school has already felt the impact of being “named and shamed”. Debney Meadows PS, serving one of Melbourne’s most disadvan-taged communities made up almost exclusively of migrants and refugees, was highlighted in the Moonee Valley Leader in December following the Victorian Government’s launch of

its own data.The Flemington school had

expected 96 students to enrol this year. Instead only 86 enrolled.

Principal Christine Nash, who took over in 2007, said: “They’ve enrolled (elsewhere) without us being given the opportunity to talk to them.

“It’s quite devastating. We’ve made significant improvements, but the data that’s reported doesn’t show that at all, and change takes time.”

The school’s experience belies the Government’s claim that My School will be used by parents to demand answers from principals and teachers who are held to be under-performing.

The My School data was further undermined by question marks over the validity of its comparisons. The census data used to create lists of “like” schools covered all households in an area, not just those with children.

It also fails to give critical informa-tion such as whether a school is selective, student turnover, or how many students do not speak English as their mother tongue. ◆

League tables analysis: p16 Christine Nash profile: p18Federal conference report: p20

TEACH to the test, schools toldFears over the My School website and league tables appear confirmed by new instructions to schools and reports of falling enrolments.

Bushfire school’s anger“A KICK in the guts” was how

principal Sharon Walker described seeing her school branded “under-performing” on the My School website.

Five of Dixons Creek PS’s 23 families lost their homes in the Black Saturday bushfires. Since then, the school has stretched all of its energy and resources to help students feel secure.

Sharon is outraged by the Government’s lack of sensitivity in using a “snapshot” created just four months after the fires to rate her school.

Of the five Year 3 students that sat NAPLAN last May, two had lost their homes, two had endured life-threatening situations, and the other was a new enrolment. ◆

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TRADES HALL & LABOUR COUNCILS

AEU DELEGATES 2010Expressions of interest are invited from financial members interested in being an AEU delegate to the Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) or Regional Labour Councils.The following vacancies have to be filled:VTHC 19 Bendigo 4 Ballarat 4Geelong 7 Gippsland 4 Goulburn Valley 4North East & Border 4 South West 4 Mallee Murray 4

Expressions of interest in writing or via email should be submitted by 4pm Wednesday 17 March 2010 to John Cassidy, AEU Victorian Branch,

PO Box 363, Abbotsford, 3067.

Fax: (03) 9417 6198 Email: [email protected]


THE AEU is taking up the fight for ES members employed by school

councils who are missing out on their full rights to long-term job security.

Only a small percentage of education support staff are employed by school councils — most are employed centrally by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Late last year, the AEU became aware that some school council employees were being denied the full redeployment entitlements of other ES staff — unlike past practice.

The ES Agreement and DEECD policy state that all employees are entitled to redeployment by their employer. Strictly interpreted, that means school councils can only refer staff who are declared in excess into positions within their school council.

Past practice has been to allow these staff to be redeployed into suitable ES positions in other

schools advertised on Recruitment Online (ROL) — just like DEECD ES employees. As of Term 4, the depart-ment has ended that practice.

Now, staff receive the usual 12 weeks redeployment notice but cannot be referred to positions on ROL. Those who cannot find a position in their own school are made redundant.

Kathryn Lewis, ES organiser said: “These employees have been left out in the cold with nowhere to go.”

She added that it wasn’t just ES staff who were losing out. Those who lose their jobs are entitled to a severance package of four weeks’ salary plus two weeks for every year of service up to 10 years — and that has to come from the school budget.

But there is a way out. School councils can move their locally employed staff onto the DEECD payroll. “This only requires a decision by the principal at the school level,” Lewis said.

“This could be one of the simplest yet most financially significant decisions a principal can make in 2010.” ◆

RIGHTS FIGHT for school employees

FIJIAN INSIGHT

THE AEU Victorian Branch was proud to host a delegation from the Fijian Teachers’ Union before Christmas.Around 40 delegates from the FTU spent three days in Melbourne,

attending events at the AEU branch and federal offices and visiting schools to get an insight into teaching practices and facilities in Victoria.

With a professional focus, it was the first exchange between the two unions, which have regular contact through Education International. The FTU is keen to learn about developments in teaching and learning overseas, and the exchange could become part of an ongoing program of pedagogic links. ◆

Aid for HaitiAEU members can help the effort to support the earthquake

victims of Haiti through the union movement’s aid agency, APHEDA.Unions around the world responded quickly to the devastating earthquake

on January 12. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) called for “a major international mobilisation of humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Haiti.”

In Australia, the federal AEU pledged $30,000 to a special emergency fund set up by Education International, the global federation of education unions, while the ACTU established an appeal through APHEDA.

Funds raised by APHEDA will be directed to the relief efforts being under-taken by the Canadian Auto Workers and other Canadian unions.

AEU members are asked to donate by contacting APHEDA on 1800 888 674 or by email to [email protected]. Cheques payable to APHEDA (with a note that it’s for the Haiti appeal) should be sent to APHEDA, Level 3, 377 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

More information at www.apheda.org.au. ◆— Tony Delaney AEU international committee



http://www.apheda.org.au

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Rachel Power, AEU News

IN JUNE 2006 AEU member Jane (not her real name), a secondary teacher in her mid-30s,

suffered a massive asthma attack at work — the first she had experienced since she was 19.

Back at work after a short break, she found her health deteriorating until she wound up in intensive care for three days with life-threatening symptoms. “[The attack] was so violent, so strong, that my body went into shutdown,” she says.

One of the doctor’s first questions was whether she worked in a mouldy or dusty environment. She immediately thought of the classroom she taught in at her school in Melbourne’s south-east.

“I’d noticed the mould for quite some time — the carpet was so rank there were mushrooms growing — but it didn’t occur to me that that was harmful,” she says.

Her doctor refused to give her clearance to return to the school. Since then, ongoing health issues have forced her to substantially change

her lifestyle, move to part-time work and take a significant pay cut.

Spores on her lungs have left her with breathing problems and voice troubles that will probably rule out teaching altogether in the near future.

Help from the AEU enabled Jane to make a WorkCover claim that has resulted in a disability payout recognising 30% impairment. “Without the union I wouldn’t have got a quarter of what I got,” she says.

She claims that damp was a problem throughout the school — “Every roof in that school leaked” — and breathing problems were common among staff and students.

AEU branch president Mary Bluett said the case was part of the legacy of “decades of neglect” by successive governments following the building boom of the 1950s and 60s.

“It’s an indictment of those governments that they deemed it not a priority to provide their employees and students with healthy, modern working and learning environments.

“That is one reason the AEU campaigned at the last state election for a commitment to rebuild or modernise every school in the state.”

AEU OHS officer Janet Marshall said the situation should never have arisen. It is well known that certain substances in workplaces can cause or trigger asthma or allergic reactions.

“Mould growth indoors can have harmful effects on health. Employers must act to protect the health and safety of employees and others and this means eliminating problems at the source as well as main-taining buildings and property in good order.”

Every workplace should have an elected Health and Safety Rep, who has legal powers under the OHS Act 2004 to intervene in such situations.

For Jane, the damage is done. But her concern for students and colleagues remains. She urges others not to wait for something to go wrong, even if the risk seems small.

“Speak up. You can’t turn back time. If you think there’s an unsafe practice at the school, go straight to the union.” ◆

CRIPPLED by damp classroomA mouldy classroom left one teacher with debilitating health problems. Now she urges others to speak out.

AEU member Jane was left disabled by damp and mould.

www.aeuvic.asn.au 7

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Sweatshop label launchCAMPAIGNERS against sweatshop labour plan to survey schools

about barriers to introducing ethically produced school uniforms, ahead of the launch of a new label to identify the garments.

The second half of the year will see the launch of the new Ethical Clothing Australia label (pictured), replacing the old No Sweatshop label in clothes that meet strict employment standards for Australian workers.

Garment workers are among the most vulnerable in Australia, and school wear is a major part of the Australian textiles industry, but schools have been slow to adopt ethical purchasing practices.

Ahead of the new ECA label launch, campaign group FairWear has been commissioned to investigate the barriers that stand in schools’ way. It is conducting a survey as well as visiting schools to discuss the issue with staff, school councils and parents’ groups.

FairWear campaign and education officer and AEU member Mark Riley said: “We hope the increased awareness regarding fair trade and lighter ecological footprints over the past decade will see a shift in community shopping habits.”

Members are encouraged to engage their principals’ and school councils’ support for taking part in the survey or inviting FairWear in to talk. For more information and a survey form, go to www.fairwear.org.au.

A list of suppliers of ethically produced clothing can be found at www.ethicalclothingaustralia.org.au. ◆

— Nic Barnard

Meet the sustainablesStudents at Port Fairy PS have grouped together to monitor energy use and raise awareness — with tree-planting penalties for those who don’t measure up.

Harmony Day — March 21

SCHOOLS and workplaces are invited to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity with events and activities around Harmony Day

on March 21. This year’s theme is Express Yourself.Harmony Day is an initiative of the Department of Immigration

and Citizenship which this year has joined the Australian Red Cross to promote Y Challenge, a resource for teachers and parents to help them to encourage young people to learn the principles of respect and tolerance for other cultures.

Y Challenge is designed for students aged 9–17. The flexible design allows teachers to choose activities and projects which best suit their school. Activities include written and spoken communica-tion, drama, art, storytelling and critical thinking.

Last year, Year 12 students at Victoria’s Roxburgh College won the Y Challenge Humanitarian Award for organising activities to support newly arrived refugee students, including trips to the zoo, a soccer match and school display.

Resources and information along with free posters, button badges, Harmony Day temporary tattoos, stickers and balloons can be found at www.harmony.gov.au. ◆

Students Penny Davey and Jess Hollard

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Rachel Power AEU News

TEACHER Lindy Sharpe says the challenge to become carbon

neutral is not a huge step for Port Fairy Consolidated School.

Since a $4 million energy-efficiency redevelopment completed 18 months ago transformed the primary into a Renewable Energy Education Demonstration Project, it has already cut its greenhouse gas emissions by around seven tonnes a year, saving the school 30% on its energy bills.

The school raised an added $150,000 through various grants to fit out the new building with grid inter-active solar panels and a small wind turbine power system. On days when the school buildings are not in use, the system feeds renewable energy back into the Victorian electricity grid.

Energy use is displayed on a large central screen, so students can monitor the savings and calculate the emissions reductions. Visitors can see at a glance the day-to-day system performance and energy savings.

A group of 14 students calling themselves “The Sustainables” has developed an “earth credit” system for the school, to build awareness of energy use within the school.

Every grade is allocated a number of credits at the start of each week. Credits are then gained and lost in accordance with responsible use of energy.

For example, a class loses credits for leaving its air conditioner on over lunchtime, and gains credits for opening windows or putting on jumpers rather than using the cooling or heating systems.

Monitors in each grade track the class’s use of power, while spot checks are performed by “earth credit specialist students”, who can give bonus points to wise users and offer proactive solutions to wasters.

At the end of each week, points are collated, tallied and presented at assembly to demonstrate the energy efficiency program in use across the school.

Certificates are presented for outstanding achievements and classes that lose all their credits are required to plant a nominated amount of trees to recapture the carbon they used unwisely.

The students now want their credit system to become a regional, state-wide and national program. They have run a few mini-e-conferences using a “kids teaching kids” model to

promote their idea to nearby schools, and are developing an education package complete with Velcro monitoring boards, certificates and evaluation milestones for other schools to use.

Lindy says the renewable energy demonstration project is a really accessible first-hand learning resource for students and teachers at the school and has greatly enhanced the school’s ongoing environmental program, which includes ecology studies and the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Project.

Things aren’t slowing down in 2010 — a new environmental science building and community kitchen are underway. ◆


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http://www.ethicalclothingaustralia.org.au

http://www.harmony.gov.au

STUDENT recordSTUDENT membership of the AEU reached new heights in 2009, topping

2,600 among final-year teaching students for the first time.The year ended with 2,624 final year students in the AEU, up 11% on

2008 and up 50% on 2006. More than half of all final-year students took advantage of free membership.

The biggest increases in recruitment have been at Melbourne University — where nine out of 10 final year students joined the union — and RMIT.

The AEU is committed to giving strong professional and industrial support to the future of the profession. This year’s AEU student teacher conference is on April 9, while other events include Meet the Principals — bringing AEU principals and final-year students together — and our PD in the Pub workshops for student and graduate teachers (see page 24 for more details).

More from AEU graduates organiser Andrew Cassidy on (03) 9417 2822.◆

YOUR union was out in force for the start of the year, holding meetings, sizzling sausages,

addressing conferences and running workshops during January’s three pupil-free days.

More than 100 members were recruited as the union attended dozens of events around the state, including the giant Knox Cluster conference in the eastern metro region.

The almost 500 members who attended were entered into a draw for a $200 Coles-Myer gift voucher, won by teacher Hithaisha Goonetilleke of Scoresby Secondary College.

Hundreds of sausages were flipped at events at Caroline Springs, Kambrya and elsewhere. At Parkwood SC, AEU officers met members from four schools to bring them up to speed on reorganisation

plans to create two new schools.All were good opportunities to connect with

members, catch up with reps, update contact details and answer questions about what is certain to be a busy campaigning year.

AEU staff are available to run training and PD sessions in your school or workplace, specially tailored to your needs, on subjects from legal liability or OHS to creating a local agreement.

Go to www.aeuvic.asn.au/training or call (03) 9417 2822. ◆

NEW year, NEW facesGLENDA Piddington thought she’d swapped

“the chaos and excited preppies” of first week back at school for the comparatively hushed corridors of the AEU’s Abbotsford office. That is, until the phones started ringing.

Previously the business manager and sub-branch rep at Springvale Primary School, Glenda is now taking calls and answering emails as part of the membership services unit. “When you’re dealing with people’s livelihood, you want to get it right,” she says.

She is one of four new faces at the Victorian branch this year, with Jo Fogarty and Mark Hyde taking over as vice president and deputy vice president of TAFE and adult provision, and Andrew Cassidy taking on the role of graduates organiser.

Andrew, raised by rusted-on teacher unionists, is “rapt” about winning the job he has coveted for some time — though he will miss his teaching job at Jells Park Primary.

He is looking forward to meeting the particular needs of graduate teachers, having turned to the union himself as a beginning teacher after being confronted by an abusive parent.

Jo and Mark have hit the ground running, taking over the TAFE leadership at a fraught time for the sector.

“Thrilled and excited” to be elected, Jo says the role was a logical step for her after 20 years of strong involvement in the union. Mark is looking forward to “getting around and engaging” with sub-branch members and ensuring that the AEU is seen as an active part of the sector.

“We will be overseeing the implementation of the new agreement — ensuring consultative committees are up and running, and that it’s adhered to by employers.” ◆

— Rachel Power

AEU hits the roadBranch president Mary Bluett with members from Parkwood SC

Left to right: Glenda Piddington, Mark Hyde, Jo Fogarty and Andrew Cassidy

A huge turnout at the Knox conference AEU intern Julia Collin and Kambrya SC rep Brad O’Dea serve up the sausages

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AFTER a protracted wait, most early childhood AEU members start the new preschool year at

last covered by a new agreement.Some eight months after a Heads of Agreement

was reached in principle by the union, council and community preschool employers and the State Government, Fair Work Australia signed off on two new agreements for the sector.

The Victorian Early Childhood Teachers And Assistants Agreement (VECTAA 2009) for commu-nity-run preschools came into effect on January 27. It followed the Local Government Early Childhood Education Employees Agreement (LGECEEA 2009), approved by FWA in December.

The two agreements have almost identical conditions and pay scales. Members covered by the agreements will now get a substantial pay rise, back pay to last May 3, plus in many cases a one-off payment.

The agreements will also see changes to working hours, including a move from a 40-hour to 38-hour week for teachers, changes to the mix of teaching and prep time, and new time allowances for assist-ants to support teachers in non-teaching duties.

The changes are intended to pave the way for the introduction of the 15 hours’ preschool entitlement for 4-year-olds pledged by the state and federal governments.

VECTAA looked a done deal in June, when it won the backing of 99% of teachers and assistants in a secret

ballot. But the new Fair Work Act saw the agreement knocked back on a technicality, necessitating a new ballot — again supported by 99% of employees.

An AEU Agreement Implementation Guide is now being drafted and detailed advice has already been sent to members at home.

Early years conferencePreschool members and primary members

working in Years P–2 should reserve April 17 for this year’s AEU Early Years Conference.

With a theme Taking the Lead in a Time of Change, it will be held in the city at Rydges on Swanston and is open to teachers, assistants, support staff and principals. More details as they become available at www.aeuvic.asn.au/childhood. ◆

INVEST in quality, invest in TAFE is the theme of the

new national AEU campaign to increase funding and protect the sector against privatisation.

The campaign, launched at the AEU federal conference in January, will run alongside the Victorian campaign against fee hikes, TAFE 4 All. A series of posters (pictured) has been produced and will be distributed to colleges.

The focus for the TAFE 4 All campaign is now on the promised review of the State Government’s skills reforms which have seen fees rise for almost seven out of 10 students, the ending of many concession rates, and the introduction of HECS-style loans.

The AEU has urged the new skills minister, Bronwyn Pike, to engage in genuine, transparent consultation over the changes. The review is expected in May.

Education Minister Pike added the skills portfolio last month in the cabinet reshuffle prompted by transport minister Lynne Kosky’s sudden resignation. Despite the switch, TAFE remains part of the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development.

The AEU has told the Government to listen to the sector after it ignored widespread concerns from unions, employers, students, community and welfare groups and other stakeholders during consultations before the reforms were introduced.

TAFE fees for diplomas have already risen from $887 to $2000 and will rise again in 2012 to $2,500, while those who already have a diploma or higher must now pay full fees — often more than $10,000. Fees for Certificate I-IV courses have also risen dramatically. Despite government claims, only 4% of students are estimated to have seen their fees fall.

More at tafe4all.org.au. ◆— Nic Barnard

Councillors farewelledAEU branch council has said goodbye to three stalwart councillors with

more than 70 years of service between them.Jean Cooke, Jenny Cassidy and Barbra Norris were among those who

retired from council in December.Jean, with 31 years on council under her belt, is a former AEU primary

deputy vice president and held leadership positions in the AEU’s predeces-sors, the VTU and FTUV. A VIT councillor, she has also served on the state board of education among many outside roles.

She said the highpoint of her time was seeing the teacher unions win the right to seven years’ family leave in 1984. “That changed the lives of our women members, and many men have availed themselves of that as well.”

Jenny spent 25 years on the councils of the VTU, FTUV and the AEU and has been involved at all levels of the union from sub-branch to federal. A teacher for 19 years at Gladesville Primary, she said the highpoint of her union career was “getting rid of Jeff Kennett and then getting rid of John Howard”.

Barb joined the council the year Kennett came to power — 1992 — after being inspired by two weeks with the Anna Stewart Memorial Project. Her highlight was seeing the AEU created out of its predecessors in 1996 and having a ringside seat to see the union develop and grow.

She continues to be seen at the AEU as one of our elected ESSSuper and VicSuper board directors, giving members advice and support with super issues. ◆

PRESCHOOLS celebrate at last

TAFE CAMPAIGN goes national

Jean Cooke farewells the AEU


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New South WalesSYDNEY’S Daily Telegraph ran a story on January 20, “Principal benefit in school league tables”, despite the fact that neither of the principals quoted actually support the publica-tion of league tables.

The story claimed: “A decision to boycott national literacy and numeracy tests was not supported by all school principals, with some yesterday backing the Rudd Government's decision to publish school performance data.”

Quotes from NSW Teachers Federation members Judy Kelly, principal of Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus, and Chad Bliss, principal of Nyngan High School, were used out of context, and both have since publicly stated their opposition.

The Telegraph failed to publish a letter to the editor from Judy Kelly, in which she said: “Let me say from the outset — I have never said that I support league tables — and I do not. Your headline stating that principals back school league tables is simply wrong.”

TasmaniaThe union’s Tasmanian branch is celebrating Premier David Bartlett’s decision to act on the AEU’s concerns about the leadership structure of the state’s vocational training institute, the Polytechnic.

Bartlett said that he had been “listening” to the AEU, its members and other stakeholders, and that the Polytechnic will this year shift to local campus leadership, making more staff available to assist students and teachers.

AEU Tasmania president Leanne Wright said it was a vital step to addressing members’ concerns about student absenteeism and the need for greater student support. ◆

With no sign of water restrictions lifting and vehicles getting dirtier by the day, AEU members should head over to a new car wash run by a Melbourne disability service.

Talkin’ bout the car wash


NORTHERN Support Services has opened BuffWorx — a car wash

service in Northcote giving on-the-job training to people with a disability.

Operating in partnership with Ozi Car Wash, participants are trained in car detailing — from buffing and waxing to engine cleaning and scratch removal — while gaining customer relations and business skills.

It’s also a green operation, using filtered bore and tank water.

BuffWorx is part of NSS’s TrainingWorx program which offers practical placements to students and industry-based training for clients who need support with a transition to work.

NSS employment consultant Anil Gunder said BuffWorx would help up to 20 clients a week develop sound work habits and transferable skills, before helping them secure jobs in the auto-motive and related industries.

Many of his referrals come from schools and TAFEs concerned about students leaving the system

without being work-ready, he said. Most people with disabilities need structured activities, and to see the immediate results of their efforts, to boost their self-esteem.

AEU member and TrainingWorx program manager Jean Mason described NSS as a non-profit community organisation created by people with a disability and their families in the 1940s.

It is a progressive organisation with a low turnover of staff, who see themselves not only as carers but as community activists for people with a disability.

“Clients are given one-on-one support on the job until they are

proficient, as well as long-term support into the future,” she says. “Strong partnerships with local busi-nesses and community groups are a central ingredient.”

BuffWorx was officially launched by local federal MP Martin Ferguson. He said projects like these couldn’t solve all the problems, but could provide a best practice model for similar initiatives.

“Today is a great example of employers being able to look beyond traditional needs and … embrace a very special part of our community.”

BuffWorx is located at the corner of Arthurton Road and Goldsmith Grove in Northcote. ◆

Australia Day gong for coachROBERT Klemm, AEU member and assistant principal

at Maidstone’s Rosamond Special School, has been honoured for his outstanding public service as an educator and mentor for young people with a disability.

He received a Public Service Medal in the Australia Day honours for his volunteer work coaching local footy and basketball teams for people with intellectual disabilities

“It’s a terrific honour. But it’s not why you do stuff,” he said. Watching a kid get their first touch of the footy or their first goal was the real inspiration.

“Lots of young people with a disability have goals to play footy but it’s difficult for them to participate in mainstream clubs. Also, it’s a terrific extracurricular activity because it gives us a lot of engagement and contact with the kids, so they know us both inside and outside the school.”

AEU branch president Mary Bluett said she was delighted to hear of the honour. “I and the whole AEU will want to join in congratulating Robert.

“In a way, this is also a tribute to the many like him whose commitment to students goes well beyond the school gates.”Kate Christensen, principal at Rosamond Special School — and also Robert’s new wife — said that while person-

ally proud and excited for him, an “award that recognises the achievements of teachers working in the Western suburbs amidst significant disadvantage is particularly precious.” ◆

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JULIA Gillard and her disastrous league tables, non-government schools

greedily reaping 70% of federal funding for teaching 30% of students, the National Curriculum and National Partnership Agreements, a federal election ... There’s plenty on for AEU members in 2010.

And that’s just the national agenda.In Victoria, our campaign to reverse the huge

fee increases for TAFE students and moves towards privatisation will continue. The Education Department will start rolling out the long-awaited Ultranet and trial its performance pay models.

In the second half of the year, members will draw up a “log of claims” to negotiate the next teacher and ES staff agreements.

Oh and there’s the minor matter of a Victorian election in November. Our goal will be to ensure that increased funding for public education is the number one issue for all parties.

With continued belligerence, Julia Gillard’s failure to heed calls from educators and parents to prevent the publication of school league tables has outraged AEU members and led delegates at this year’s AEU Federal Conference to resolve to boycott the NAPLAN tests planned for May unless measures to prevent them are agreed.

While Ms Gillard says she does not support league tables, she is happy to turn a blind eye. It’s a case of “hear no evil, see no evil”. But in averting her eyes to the damaging effects she will have teachers nationwide on her back in the lead up to the federal election.

A NAPLAN boycott will mean the raw data used to construct league tables will not be available. No NAPLAN, no league tables.

The AEU federal executive will meet in April to consider the Government’s response to our proposed boycott and determine whether the action will go ahead. Keep an eye out for updates through bulletins and newsletters and take a look at the Federal AEU campaign website on League Tables at www.aeufederal.org.au/LT/index2.html.

As education support staff, teachers and princi-pals we cannot stand by and see our communities

damaged for short-term political gain by the Rudd Government. To do nothing to stop league tables is to further disadvantage those students who can least afford it. It’s time for educators and parents to stand up for our students and children.

Minister Gillard’s refusal to act is born of her

infatuation with botched education policy from the US and UK and will make schools the scapegoat for the failure of successive governments to provide adequate funding to government schools.

She doesn’t need league tables to know which schools need greater support; her Government simply needs to allocate additional funds.

And she should start by redressing the flawed schools funding model that delivers approximately 70% of federal funds to the 30% of students who attend non-government schools — an outra-geous situation that fails Prime Minster Rudd’s own commitment to adequately and appropriately fund public schools.

During the 2007 federal election campaign, in a gutless attempt to placate the non-government school lobby, the ALP committed itself to John Howard’s inequitable funding regime until 2013.

The good news is, a funding review will be launched during 2010. This review is of critical importance as it is the mechanism to deliver a new schools funding model and ensure that public school funding is based on the percentage of students they enrol.

The AEU has developed a national strategy to influence the outcome of the review and in Victoria we will be targeting the marginal Labor seats of Deakin, Corangamite and Latrobe, as well as parts

Justin Mullaly vice president, secondary

AFTER significant delays, but in line with the State Government’s looming political deadline of a

November election, all government schools will soon have access to the new electronic learning and school administration package, the Ultranet.

The initial rollout will be in May this year. The first tranche available to schools includes home pages for individual students and teachers, and a range of applications such as blogs, wikis, a calendar, direct access to Google, and a document library.

Home pages can be customised, and will be designed and configured differently for Years P–2, 3–6 and 7–12.

A range of other virtual spaces will be available

to enable electronic collaboration between staff, parents and students so they can post messages, maintain records, develop portfolios, set up video and audio conferencing — the list goes on.

Online communities can be created for groups such as school councils, class groups — and the AEU sub-branch.

Local teaching and learning resources can be stored and there will be direct access to Education Department resources currently available online.

The second release in September will add features to track student progress, attendance and reporting. Parents will be able to access information on their own child such as progress, attendance, timetable, learning tasks, reports and homework. Access will be via a centralised log-in system.

The rollout will be staged across each school network, with a number of schools coming online each week. All schools have been advised of their deployment date, with Ultranet coaches currently working on detailed deployment plans.

The AEU successfully lobbied for the provision of an additional pupil free day, on August 9, to support Ultranet implementation. Schools will also be allocated additional funds to support professional development for ICT-related activities.

The AEU is working through some of the significant issues around the Ultranet’s introduction — not least the workload and privacy implications. Keep an eye out for implementation advice over the course of this term. ◆

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Two elections, three campaigns, one new IT system and the start of a new pay round for schools — AEU vice president Justin Mullaly surveys a busy year ahead.

Ultranet

The future is here — almost

All in a YEAR’s work …

❛To do nothing to stop league tables is to further

disadvantage those students who can least afford it.❜


http://www.aeufederal.org.au/LT/index2.html

James Rankin deputy vice president, primary

PUT simply, the Federal Government’s new approach to teacher training lacks vision

and creates a diversion from its responsibility to properly fund pre-service programs.

The first Teach For Australia (TFA) associates are now working in Victoria’s schools. The AEU successfully pressed for a number of safeguards to be built into the program, but we still have some serious concerns.

It has been shown to be a failure in other countries, with poorer student outcomes and low retention rates among the trainees. It is not sensible to place unqualified staff in our schools and in particular in front of some of our most disadvantaged students. And as a means of training new staff it is financially unviable.

In 2010 the program will deliver only 45 trainee teachers and will cost $22 million over four years in federal funding and an undisclosed amount from the State Government. The associates pay nothing for their training and are paid a wage while they study. They will receive significantly more support than other teachers who start work this year. The cost of funding the rest of the 4,500 teachers in Victoria who qualify each year to the same level would be phenomenal.

While the program is poor policy, the associ-ates themselves have chosen the program with the intent of making a difference to the lives of children, just like their fully qualified colleagues. ◆

Pay and career structure

Professional pay not “merit” payErin Aulich deputy vice president, secondary

THIS year will see a new performance pay scheme known as “Teacher Rewards” trialled

in 25 participating schools across the state. The scheme consists of two models, one aimed at individual teachers, the other at all teachers within a school. The whole school model would reward only the 20% best performing schools involved in the trial. The AEU does not support the scheme as it does not meet our national Professional Pay policy.

We need to better reward high-performing classroom teachers and provide them with an enhanced career path. But we reject models that pit teachers against each other. Rewarding the performance of individuals actively undermines the collaborative nature of our work.

The AEU supports a new national career structure for teachers, linked to standards and assessable by an external evaluation process.

AEU policy calls for a salary point beyond the incremental scale, with individual teachers inde-pendently assessed against high-quality teaching standards developed by the profession.

In 2010, the AEU in Victoria and federally will continue to promote and campaign for this aspirational model of professional pay — one that supports an enhanced career structure for teachers and recognises high-quality teaching, knowledge, skills and practice. ◆

Teach For Australia

Simply bad policy

National Curriculum

Trials and consultationsErin Aulich deputy vice president, secondary

THE first phase of the National Curriculum, covering English, mathematics, science and

history, is well under way with a draft due to be completed and released for consultation this month.

The consultation will run from February to May, and include a trial of aspects of the draft curriculum in around 30 schools.

The initial shaping papers for the second phase — which includes geography, languages and the arts — will be open for consulta-tion mid-year, along with the proposed senior curriculum. Other learning areas are currently not under development as part of the National Curriculum and will continue to be the responsi-bility of the state.

The AEU is in discussions with the Victorian Education Department and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) about the implementation of the national curriculum. Teachers and principals will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft curriculum at workshops hosted by VCAA in March and April.

We encourage members to become involved in the consultative process. For more information, please email me at [email protected] or contact your relevant subject association. ◆

of McEwan. We will also be putting the heat on influential Labor politicians, not least Ms Gillard. AEU branches in all other states and territories will be focusing their attention in a similar way.

Our campaign will roll out in several phases. Firstly we will focus on harnessing support from members and the community in the lead up to our National Public Education Forum in March. A key way to ensure a greater slice of the funding pie for government schools is to engage parents in our campaign — campaign materials will be sent to each sub-branch shortly.

The start of the review will coincide with a national television advertising campaign, and a blitz of schools across the country. Our aim is to

have every government school in the country make a submission to the review — we need voices of members to be heard loud and clear in Canberra.

We also need members to become active in the campaign, especially in the targeted seats but also in their own communities. To get involved please email me at [email protected].

November 27 will see the state election, and as it approaches, the AEU will focus the attention of the Government and the Opposition on raising funding across all sectors of public education.

Victoria still lags considerably behind other states on schools funding — $1,096 less than the national average in 2006/07. We will also campaign to ensure the continuation of the Government’s

school rebuilding program and increased support for students with learning and behavioural issues.

Our TAFE 4 All campaign will turn its focus to the review of the Government’s changes to TAFE and VET funding. At the end of 2009 we made it clear to state Labor members in marginal seats that fair access to TAFE will become an election issue unless the Government acts.

Without doubt, 2010 is shaping up to be a critical year for AEU members and supporters of public education. At stake is adequate funding for government schools and the very principal of equity in our community. Indeed true equity can only exist when government schools set the standard for high-quality education. ◆


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Education support

Calm before the stormKathryn Lewis ES organiser

THIS is a hiatus year. We spent 2009 implementing the current ES Agreement and in 2011 we will be negotiating the next one. So 2010 is a time to consoli-

date all that we’ve gained and think about the improvements we still want to see.Last year saw the sharpest increase yet in ES membership and the AEU

centrally and in schools has its job cut out to support our new members. We may need to ensure that they are all welcomed and encouraged to attend

sub-branch meetings and raise their concerns and share their views. All long-standing members have a responsibility to take our new members under their wing and encourage their involvement.

We have much greater ES representation on AEU branch council because of the growth in membership, with four new ES councillors taking their seats this month — and we have some vacancies in the primary sector, so if you are interested in being more involved in the union let us know.

A big challenge in 2010 will be in relation to school council employees. There has been a significant change in Education Department attitudes on school council or locally employed ES staff (as we report on page 6).

The best way to give these staff security and allow them to access the full entitlements enjoyed by other ES staff is for them to be employed by the department, not the school council. This is often in the power of principals and is something we shall be campaigning on.

Last but not least, we have some surprises in store for August — which will remain secret until then, so keep a eye on your AEU News! ◆

AEU Principals

Prins to back AEU campaignsPeter Hendrickson AEU Principals organiser

FOUR issues will dominate 2010 for AEU principals: league tables and NAPLAN; the impact of the new Equal Opportunities Act on part-time employment;

workload; and the federal review of schools funding.League tables: We have already seen considerable interest in the new

My School website. It uses data of questionable validity and the likelihood of it improving student outcomes is negligible.

The AEU’s annual federal conference voted unanimously not to cooperate in the implementation of the national tests in May, unless the Federal Government acts to prevent the use of the results to create simplistic league tables.

Principals will need to participate actively as this campaign develops.Part-time employment: Requests to work part-time are becoming more

frequent, and recent legislation changes have made them harder to refuse.The Equal Opportunity Amendment (Family Responsibilities) Act 2008 Flexible

Work for Work-Life Balance emphasises the importance of flexible working arrangements for persons with carer responsibilities.

Principals now seem to have an obligation to accommodate the responsibili-ties that an employee may have because of their parental status or status as a carer, unless that accommodation is not reasonable given the circumstances of the case and the needs of the workplace.

This adds a further complexity to the management of schools and in particular to balancing workloads and budgets and participation in whole school programs by an increasing number of part-time staff.

Workload: It is essential that we continue to push this issue because principal workload continues to increase, and has done so since the “Privilege and the Price” survey was done. The Education Department response has been inadequate to the point of being non-existent. In 2006, the department issued 427 memos to principals. In 2008 it issued 501 and last year it issued 620.

Funding review: In a federal election year, it is opportune that the review of the current funding model (developed by the former Howard government) will occur as well. It would be a serious embarrassment for a Labor government to continue to lavish money on already wealthy private schools while many of our government schools struggle for funds.

AEU principals need to ensure that we support the AEU campaign on this issue and articulate in our communities the need for increased funding for government schools — especially if they are going to be compared on the My School website. Members should read the report on school funding by Dr Jim McMorrow at tiny.cc/9TEPC. ◆

Women

Flexible work rights strengthenedBarb Jennings, women’s officer

ONE important change this year is the introduction of the new National Employment Standards (NES), which came into effect on January 1.

These 10 standards apply to all workers in Australia and override agreement and award conditions if there is uncertainty. One is the right to request part-time and flexibility of work, to allow people with caring responsibilities to manage these as well as their professional duties.

Its strength lies in that the employer (the principal or manager) has to provide reasons in writing within 21 days of the request if it is refused. There is also an appeal mechanism for staff who are turned down. This should help many members who contact us after returning to work with a young child under school age and being refused part-time work.

Another key NES is the right to request a second year of unpaid parental leave following the birth of a child. This is a definite improvement for many working women, including our members in non-school sectors.

When these provisions are added to the federal paid parental leave scheme which will add 18 weeks’ paid leave to existing entitlements in January 2011, then it should be clear why it is worth working to get a progressive national government (even if they don’t do quite a lot of the things we hoped they would!).

Please join us at our first AEU Women’s meeting at 5.30pm on February 23 at the AEU office in Abbotsford and have a drink, something to eat and help us plan our priorities and activities for 2010. ◆

KEY DATESApril 17 — AEU early years education conference May — Roll out of UltranetMay 4 — State budgetMay 11 — Federal budgetMay 11-13 — NAPLAN testsMay 15 — AEU Women’s conferenceJuly 31 — AEU branch conferenceAugust 6 — ES annual conferenceOctober — Consultation begins on teachers and ES log of claimsNovember — Federal election?November 27 — State election


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Early childhood

Recruitment is key to greater provisionShayne Quinn vice president, early childhood

LAST year’s introduction of the COAG and Victorian Blueprint agendas felt like a tsunami to many members. Even as they reflected the recognition we

fought for in our last campaign, they left members feeling swamped by their demands and concerned about the obvious challenges.

This year is one for some consolidation of 2009’s changes — the national and Victorian frameworks, transition statements and the move toward 15 hours of preschool education.

Educational leadership will be critical to this process. Teachers, in concert with assistants, must embrace that role within their communities and in the sector more broadly, by:

• Working to interpret and implement the frameworks in a meaningful way for colleagues, children and families

• Participating in conversations about and evaluations of the frameworks• Providing constructive feedback on the transition project and, in particular,

the transition statements, to guide government on how better to achieve its desirable objectives in a more sustainable way

• Helping parents, committees, boards etc to examine ways to deliver 15 hours of preschool while protecting quality and preserving the delivery of 3-year-old preschool programs and the like.

This year will see the first steps toward 15 hours for most teachers and assistants, with the implementation of the Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Assistants Agreement 2009 (VECTAA) and the Local Government Early Childhood Education Employees Agreement 2009 (LGECEEA).

The agreements mean changed proportions of teaching and non-teaching time for teachers, a new time component for assistants and, in some centres, increased hours of employment for both, associated with increased hours of delivery.

All this requires vigilance to ensure that the integrity of our teaching qualifications is maintained while supply is increased, and that the demands on assistants to attain Certificate III are managed and supported.

Critical to successful recruitment of early childhood teachers to long day care settings, consistent with the policy of universal access, will be ensuring that their pay and conditions are consistent with our new agreements. Ongoing recruitment in preschools, early intervention and of preschool field officers will be critical to the broader agenda.

As always a key focus will be resources — for facilities, increased fee subsidies, support for children with additional needs, training, professional development and more. ◆

Disability

A new agreement to negotiateJo Fogarty vice president, TAFE and adult provision

AS THE new vice-president for TAFE and adult provision, I extend to all disability members a happy new year and wish you well for 2010. Mark Hyde,

TAP deputy vice-president, and I are looking forward to meeting you and working with you. Over the year we plan to visit as many workplaces as possible.

There are key issues and activities planned for 2010. New agreements need to be negotiated to follow on from expired agreements. The fight to ensure that the sector is adequately funded and that workers receive decent wages will continue.

Last year we successfully held AEU disability committee meetings in a number of regions, metropolitan and regional, and we plan to continue to do this.

Our dates for 2010 are: February 16 March 16 May 11 June 15 July 27 August 31 October 19 November 30

TAFE

Time to invest in TAFEJo Fogarty vice president, TAFE and adult provision

THE theme for our new federal campaign is “Invest in Quality, Invest in TAFE”. With a federal election due this year, it will demand that government

adequately fund the public TAFE system by emphasising its original purpose: VET, further education, second chance opportunities and lifelong learning.

TAFE teacher qualifications are fundamental to our professionalism. This year will see the federal AEU developing a TAFE teacher qualifications policy, in consultation with state branches.

In Victoria the key issues for 2010 will be the TAFE 4 All campaign, and excess hours and casual conversion. On excess hours, teachers need to be vigilant about employers directing them to work longer. Members already report that some employers are asking them to commit to excess hours. Our TAFE Agreement requires consultation and agreement between the employer and employee if such a request is made.

From June 17, some casual staff will become eligible to apply for conversion to more secure employment as long as they meet the requirements specified in the agreement. We will release information about this in the next few months. ◆

Recruitment

Onwards and upwardsBrian Henderson branch secretary

THE AEU starts 2010 with a record 42,729 members and that figure is set to grow with a number of successful recruitment activities in schools

during the first three pupil free days.This will be a big year for the union with action around NAPLAN and

state and federal elections. The AEU will continue its focus on recruit-ment — because the more members we have, the greater our impact on

governments and in turn on public education.We will continue our highly successful program of sending recruiting

teams into workplaces to talk with non-members one-to-one about the benefits of union membership. As always we will be relying on our workplace representatives to assist our recruiters to identify new teachers, ES staff, preschool assistants and non-members for recruitment. ◆


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THE My School website has one clear purpose — a perceived

political advantage for the Rudd Government.

The site was rushed out at 1am on January 28 to coincide with the beginning of the school year, to gain maximum publicity in the media. The Gillard-Rudd team had decided that the media were on their side on this one and the launch would provide an ideal springboard for an election year.

The half-baked nature of the site is a sure sign that the deadlines for its launch were political in origin. Not only were there myriad errors — missing schools, wrong school locations, ludicrous comparisons of large metropolitan private schools with tiny rural state primaries — but the basis of school comparisons, the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA), is dubious, the promised income levels for each did not appear and Rudd and Gillard are now saying that parent survey data needs to be added to future versions of the site.

The crudity of the new website is further evidence of its political purpose. Each school’s page is dominated by NAPLAN test numbers. They are presented in a large font with coloured highlighting to focus attention on this section alone. The comparisons between “statistically similar” schools are also based solely on NAPLAN results.

A parent visiting the site basically gets a school name, a school location, a set of NAPLAN figures and some strange national comparisons. The message of the website is that a school’s quality can be equated with the performance of its students on literacy and numeracy tests held over three days in May.

Predictably the media had a field day. The Australian presented a selection of government school versus private school reading and numeracy results from each state. The Herald Sun, which had made failed attempts under

FOI in the past to obtain school-by-school AIM test results, published an “official results” lift-out listing the NAPLAN test scores of every Victorian school.

It also compiled top five and

bottom five league tables for secondary and primary schools. Surprise, surprise: selective exam-entry government schools and wealthy private schools comprised the top five in secondary. The “named and shamed” bottom five were schools catering for Indigenous, low socio-economic and “at risk” students.

The Year 7 data used to make these judgements came from the results of students who had been in secondary schools for all of three months.

The Age took a more literary approach and, instead of running league tables, it gave two of its political heavyweights, Michelle Grattan and associate editor Shaun Carney, large spaces in its opinion

pages to fulminate against the AEU’s opposition to the My School exercise.

Shaun Carney’s piece read like a press release from Minister Gillard, while Michelle Grattan not only supported teaching to the test but invoked the principle of press freedom to justify the publication of naming and shaming league tables.

This was the same line run by Deputy Prime Minister Gillard, who assured the media that they will be “free” to publish

whatever they want.The political strategy

of the My School website is as cynical as anything implemented under Howard. It associates the Rudd Government with “solutions” to the needs and concerns of parents (voters) and disassociates it from any responsi-bility for creating the problems.

Julia Gillard told parents that if they were unhappy about My School results they should see the principal and teachers at their school. In other words, a school’s test scores were not the product of its particular student population or of government policies on funding and support; they were the result of teachers and prin-cipals not doing their jobs properly.

Bob Ellis, the eminent writer and political commentator, saw things very differently. After taking the Minister to task for “shaming” and “humiliating” teachers, he continued:

“She hasn’t understood how many lives of crime are prevented by a good teacher in a ‘bad’ neighbour-hood and how this, too, is valuable, not just academic statistics on a website.

“She hasn’t understood how good some teachers are at dealing with dyslexia and epilepsy, and low levels of autism, and with pupils whose families have suffered mightily in civil wars and police states, and that defining their schools and pupils as ‘innumerate’ and ‘illiterate’ and the teachers themselves as incompetent is wrong at its heart, and misleading at its heart, and deeply unfair.” ◆

Dodgy comparisons, missing data, and a crashing website were all sure signs that the My School launch was about politics, not education. AEU research officer John Graham follows the fall out.

stupidIT’S


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POLITICS,

These tables will bite you on the bum, Julia

WHILE Australians enjoyed their summer holidays — and before the media deluge surrounding My School hit — shivering Brits were returning to

school against a backdrop of their own league tables.PressWatch was there, as it happened, and pulled itself away from snowball

fights to look at the coverage. What we found might be instructive.If it’s any consolation, league tables don’t get nearly as much attention as

they used to. Many national papers no longer bother to print the results at all and tabloids like The Sun gave the story barely 100 words.

For Julia Gillard, the bad news is that there are no good news stories for the Government. The payback for her short-term gain will be a year-in, year-out pasting from the press.

These headlines were typical: “1 in 10 schools fails to meet minimum standards” (The Independent); “The pupils going backwards on 3Rs” (Daily Mail); “Thousands of pupils ‘missing school at least one day a week’” (The Times).

And this wasn’t just because the Labour government is on the nose. The pattern is well-established: good results mean the tests are getting

easier. Poor results mean the Government has failed to lift standards. And if neither appeals, there’s always a story in the truancy rates.

As for accountability and school improvement, it’s been hard to see any. The schools at the bottom are still those in struggling areas. And there were some very familiar faces among the “super prins” being hailed.

With fewer newspapers to fend off, Gillard and Rudd won’t face quite the same barrage as English education ministers. And for another year or two they can keep blaming the last lot.

But in the long run, if they think there are any good headlines in league tables, they’re crazy. ◆

Special

Trevor Cobbold, convenor, Save Our SchoolsJULIA Gillard gave an absolute guarantee that schools would not be “named and shamed”. Yet, this is precisely what My School does. Schools with the worst results are given a red flag. The red flag signifies danger, don’t go there.

… Most often it is schools serving the most disadvantaged communities in Australia that are given red flags. These are the schools working in the most difficult of circumstances, yet their reward from the Rudd Government is to be pilloried in public.

(more at www.soscanberra.com)

Jane Caro, for New MatildaNO DOUBT the launch of the My School website will be the catalyst for renewed debate about the relative merits of public versus private schools and about the fairness of their funding. Thanks to the complete lack of transparency around our complex funding formulas, both sides will be able to make convincing arguments to support their cases and drag out the sets of figures that most suit them, ignoring any that don’t. As a result, many parents will end up even more anxious and confused than they already are.

And, pardon my cynicism, but this confusion suits our politicians very well. It enables them to take the credit for successes and neatly side-step the blame for any failures. Meanwhile, real teachers in real schools teaching real students will have to struggle on amid a cacophony of self-serving, biased and often ignorant comment and finger-pointing.

(more at tiny.cc/6uwY2)

Peter Garrigan, president Australian Council of State School OrganisationsTEST results are subject to manipula-tion and rorting by schools to improve their ranking. Overseas studies show

that many schools artificially boost their results by selecting high-achieving students; denying entry to, or expelling, low-achieving students; suspending low-achieving students on test days; using special dispensations such as allowing more time for tests; and outright cheating.

Some of this is already happening in Australia.

Richard Teese, Melbourne University, writing in The AgeTHE risk with the Government’s information strategy … appears two-edged. Schools that most need active parents may lose them — as parents will move school rather than try to improve a school — while the parents who most need to become involved will remain disconnected and passive consumers of the local product, and contribute little. Transparency, in short, may only serve to divide parents and split both cultural and professional resources across schools.

(More at tiny.cc/wpRzR)

Justine Ferrari, education writer, The AustralianTHE focus of the My School website is raw test scores that are compiled into a form of league table, precisely what the government and education authorities said they were not going to do.

Even the head of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, Barry McGaw, said yesterday that by grouping schools with statistically similar schools, it essentially created individual league tables for each of the nation’s 9,500-odd schools.

(More at tiny.cc/xUDVV)

Angelo Gavrielatos, AEU federal presidentIT IS a sad day for education in Australia. ◆

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What they saidSome political pundits might have hailed My School a success, but those with a deeper knowledge of education took a dim view of the Government website.

http://www.soscanberra.com

http://tiny.cc/6uwY2

http://tiny.cc/wpRzR

http://tiny.cc/wpRzR

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TWO months before the launch of the Federal Government’s My School

website, one newspaper was already creating headlines out of a local school’s NAPLAN performance.

In December, a photo of a Debney Meadows Primary School classroom appeared on the front page of the Moonee Valley Leader beneath the words “School’s Poor Performance: A Moonee Valley primary school is named among the state’s worst performers.”

For principal Christine Nash, the article was “shattering” and the impact immedi-ately apparent. When the new school year started this month there were 10 fewer pupils than expected — devastating for a school of only 100.

“I think we’re providing a wonderful service to our community and yet it’s been reported in the newspaper that that’s not in fact the case,” Christine says.

“The most distressing thing is that a couple of our students have come in with the newspaper and said, ‘What’s this? It says we’re the worst school [in the state],’ which is heartbreaking.”

The Leader report was based on the State Government’s launch of its Government School Performance Summaries — a pre-emptive Victorian version of My School. Despite being designed to make it harder to create league tables, it still wasn’t difficult for newspapers to pick out the winners and losers.

Debney Meadows PS is a small, inner-city school by the Flemington Housing Estate. With the entire student population from a language background other than English — mostly African — and over 90% on a Health Care Card, Christine says the extreme disadvantage makes it impossible to compare her school to any other in Victoria.

“With the adjustments they’ve made to the data, where they’re doing like-school comparisons, there really is only one school in the state similar to us,” she explains.

“We have an SFO (student family occupational index) of .94, which is one of the highest in the state. Often our families have something like six children in a two-bedroom flat, so there’s very little adult interaction and no exposure to English at home, and a lot of the parents come from traumatised refugee backgrounds — there’s all of those issues.”

The data also fails to recognise that many of the school’s most capable students shift to private Islamic schools. “By the time we’ve got a Year 3 cohort, we’ve lost all of our really strong students, who might have had a positive influence on our data. It’s not reliable data for making comparisons.”

Making a differenceChristine took over at Debney Meadows in 2007 amid a particularly difficult chapter of the school’s life. In the six months prior, it had seen three different principals, and began 2007 with a $400,000 fire resulting in three moves.

It began 2008 with 30 students fewer than expected, creating an excess of teachers and a projected deficit of over $100,000. It was forced to restructure at the end of Term 2, changing from seven classes to six. Since then, the school has developed a strategic plan, introduced a teaching and learning coach, is maximising the time kids have on explicit literacy and numeracy, and is piloting a school-wide positive behaviour support program.

Christine feels committed to giving parents an honest report about where their children stand compared to expected levels and state benchmarks, and holds forums to explain the NAPLAN data. But she says she might now think twice about allowing PSD-funded [Program for Students with Disabilities] children to sit the tests in future, “because I didn’t realise that the data was going to be used in this way”.

“Individual data is useful to inform students and teachers about learning, but when it’s aggregated and presented on such a large scale, it can be misused. It’s such a small sample of students.”

Almost all of the 15 students each in Years 3 and 5 that sat the tests had learning challenges. Then there was the content of the test itself.

“With ESL students, we have to explicitly teach every word in the vocabulary. A lot of the content in the Year 3 NAPLAN was about gardening and the beach. Our students live in flats; they don’t have a yard. Our students don’t get the opportunity to go much further than Highpoint [shopping centre].”

Of the newspaper’s coverage, Christine says: “There was no mention whatsoever of the improve-ments that have been put in place or the resources that go into supporting whole families in order to support the child’s learning.”

The kind of “holistic welfare” the school offers cannot be measured in test results, she says.

She adds: “In the end, making a difference to students is what drives me. I prefer to work with disadvantaged cohorts. I’ve seen time and time again that you can really turn their lives around.” ◆

Principal Christine Nash got a foretaste of the naming and shaming that challenging schools can expect under league tables. She talks to Rachel Power.

EARLY WARNING

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I HAVE worked in disability services for more than 30 years, supporting people

with varying types and degrees of disability in settings from schools to institutions. I’ve trained and mentored colleagues, newcomers, families and carers from all walks of life.

At the end of last year, I finally said goodbye, due to a combination of physical injury and emotional exhaustion.

No matter how much we like to think attitudes have improved, I think we all know that people with disabilities are still treated as second-class citizens, objects of charity. And the people who work with them, disability practitioners, are not treated as professionals.

A senior disability practitioner, working full time and permanent, with maximum training and experi-ence, earns between $9,000 and $13,000 less than a graduate teacher — and gets half the holidays. We’re expected to work hands-on for six out of 7.5 hours per day, five days per week.

To those hours, add 8am and 3pm bus runs, manual handling, workplace violence, assessments, evaluations, parent meetings, networking and supervising student placements (for free).

We provide learning and development in a structured classroom setting, where each person has a different disability and a different mode of learning, meaning at least seven different session plans — and we usually work alone.

Now add emotional support, grief counsel-ling, family and marriage counselling, varying degrees of attendant and medical support depending on the individual. And it’s the norm to pick your clients up and take them home.

Add to this the bureaucracy and paperwork to meet funding requirements, and your own service’s policies and procedures; the quality management systems, assessments, evalu-ations, and out-of-hours service provision (unpaid but with some time-in-lieu if it suits the service). Staff training fits in there somewhere too — because god forbid that professionals should fall behind.

Tell me where the work/life balance comes into play, never mind the networking, marketing and the investigation of services available. Or the training, mentoring and supervision of new staff, students and volun-teers. Or the staff meetings and “all service” meetings for strategic planning and OHS.

Occupational violence (clients on staff) is part and parcel of the job. You’d better know the relevant legislation, standards, state and federal plans and duty of care. And if a person at my level leaves, bingo! A chance for management to save money and employ someone cheaper.

Would you do it? We’re trained to audit too and we are required to complete internal audits at least three times a year per practitioner.

Can you imagine being prohibited by your own management from serving as a member-elected sub-branch rep or councillor, not being allowed to attend union council meetings even though your union pays for backfill and even though the Minister for Disability Services has intervened?

Is it any wonder that disability support employees don’t speak up?

We don’t have the numbers within the AEU nor do we have any energy or time to spare to be loud, only to have it continue to fall on deaf ears.

But disability practitioners, like teachers, believe in and support, develop and educate the individual. Like teachers, we put in the out-of-hours time just to try to keep our heads above water. Like teachers, we take our work home, work weekends and beg our partners and children to understand our commitment.

Unlike teachers, we can only earn a maximum of about $45,000 no matter what, unless we choose to become a manager

— for which, with the added responsibility and to be on call 24/7 — we would earn the princely sum of about $55,000. Would you do it?

As a member of the AEU I urge all of you to support the log of claims that your fellow members in the disability sector are fighting for.

Help us demand that both the state and federal governments take a long, hard look at what’s going on and make some significant changes for both clients and staff by providing realistic funding and realistic remuneration to demonstrate the value of the work we do.

We don’t have the numbers but we have voted for you guys, and supported you to get what you ask for every time. We sure as hell need you to get on board and fight with us now.

The majority of our members are on temporary contracts or are casual and are legitimately scared to speak up.

So get the word out, support the log of claims and the disability organisers with your actions, whatever they may be. Let the public, the politicians and the parents and carers know that treating disability practitioner right means more than telling us “Aren’t you wonderful”. That doesn’t feed the family or pay the bills.

We need AEU voices, strong leadership and active support. With that, maybe we will be able to provide the quality of service we strive for and that everyone with a disability rightly deserves, and maybe we will be recognised and remunerated as the qualified professionals we are.

Even though I’ve moved on, I hope the work that’s been done so far will continue. I hope that both the current and the next generation of disability practitioners will be recognised as valued professionals who are paid appropriately to provide support, development and education for those people who would otherwise not develop to their full potential. ◆

The author of this article has asked to remain anonymous.

What is it really like to work in disability services? After more than 30 years in the job, one AEU member tells it like it is — and urges others in the union to join the fight against low wages,

long hours and dangerous conditions.

❛With strong AEU voices and support maybe we’ll be able to

provide the services that disabled people deserve.❜

Would you do my job ?featu

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DETERMINATION to see the end of league tables and the introduc-

tion of fair funding for Australia’s public school system united the union like never before at this year’s AEU federal conference.

Reasserting the message that a healthy public education system is a cornerstone of democracy, speakers agreed that the success of the union’s campaigns will require winning the hearts and minds of the wider community.

We need to ask what kind of society we will be in years to come if we continue to promote education and schools funding policies which exacerbate rather than ameliorate social divides, federal president Angelo Gavrielatos told delegates.

“Multiculturalism comes alive in the classrooms and the playgrounds of the local … government school,” he said. “Public education … remains the key to a vibrant, socially cohesive and prosperous Australia. It is where students come together and learn to live together side-by-side.”

A campaigning unionGavrielatos described the AEU’s fight against league tables as one of the most important in the history of education in Australia, and for the union.

Conference delegates voted unanimously not to conduct the national (NAPLAN) tests, scheduled for May, unless the Federal Government moves to ban school league tables. The union will put its full resources behind the campaign.

“We are united as a profession like never before, and this extends to parent groups,” he said. A survey by Labor pollster UMR showed 63% of parents want the Government to pass laws preventing the publication of league tables.

Gavrielatos witnessed the devastating impact of “naming and shaming” first hand as union rep

for Mount Druitt High when it was splashed across the front page of the Daily Telegraph in 1997 as the lowest-ranked school in New South Wales.

He described the Government’s inaction, despite its stated opposition to league tables, as “disingenuous and hypocritical”.

“We will not sit by and let our students’ test results become an adult spectactor sport that will lead to ridicule and humiliation.”

Mention of Julia Gillard’s “studied

insult” of those concerned about the Government’s controversial My School website — she accused them of wanting “schools full of happy, illiterate, innumerate children” — inspired cries of “Shame!” among delegates.

Speakers stressed that the campaign is not an opposition to accountability or testing, or to parents’ right to know. Rather, that the complex dynamic of teaching and learning cannot be reduced to a single artificial figure, and that politicians don’t need schools to be publicly ranked to know which ones require help.

“The information must be provided in a way that supports a school’s improvement, not in a way that damages it. NAPLAN was never designed for ranking schools. Its results are diagnostic, at best,” Gavrielatos said.

Among delegates who spoke to the resolution was Meadow Heights Primary School principal Kevin

Pope, who declared that his school was already rich with data, which is published on his website in four different languages.

He said league tables was a particularly potent issue for schools with “difficult profiles” such as his, where 75% of students speak English as a second language.

“We use NAPLAN to assist us as professionals,” he said. His school used the data “to help and protect our kids. It takes years to recover from being named and shamed.”

President AEU SA branch, Corenna Haythorpe, agreed: “We will not allow our students to be harmed or our schools to be named and shamed by the misuse of NAPLAN data. We will not be found derelict in our duty of care to put our students’ interests before bad policy decisions.”

NSW secondary principal Maurie

Mulheron accused Gillard’s so-called transparency agenda of creating an artificial crisis, to mask the Government’s neglect.

“League tables are designed to rank sporting teams; to identify winners and losers. My job as a teacher and principal is to make every student a winner.

“Unless the Government acts, we won’t open the boxes.”

Fair fundingThe first day of conference saw the release of the final report in Dr Jim McMorrow’s schools funding review. Despite a record injection of funds into public schools by the Federal Government, private schools will still receive billions more by the end of the current schools funding agreement, the report shows.

By 2013, private schools will have received $47 billion compared to $35bn for public schools for building works, new equipment and school operation. Although over two-thirds of students attend government schools, their share of federal funding will slip back to 36% in 2012/13.

The McMorrow report places the blame on the “unfair and dysfunc-tional” SES funding system put in place by the Howard Government. An extra investment of $1.5bn a year in public schools would be required to return their share of education funding to the level under the previous federal Labor Government.

Conference acknowledged the Rudd Government’s unprecedented funding — the largest single invest-ment in school education seen in this

The battle for Campaigns dominated this year’s federal AEU conference — but central to their success will be the need to make the case for public education all over again. Rachel Power reports.

Vocational educationNOWHERE is the contradiction between Kevin Rudd’s rhetoric and his policies, or his disregard for evidence, more pronounced than in vocational education and training, federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said.

The ideologically driven rush by both the Howard and Rudd governments to establish a competitive market in the VET sector has seen “the collapse or withdrawal of private provider after private provider, leaving thousands of students on the scrapheap,” he said.

While TAFE provides around 80% of vocational training in Australia, dominating trade skills in critical shortage, it is being undermined by under-funding and increased competition for scarce resources.

Kevin Pope

&mindshearts

❛It takes years to recover from being named and shamed.❜

Maurie Mulheron

❛My job ... is to make every student a winner.❜

PHOTOS: PHILIP MARTIN


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country, with over 70% of infrastruc-ture spending allocated to public schools. But it was overshadowed by the SES funding regime.

Gavrielatos told conference that the outcome of the forthcoming Government review would shape federal education funding for many years to come.

Several speakers noted the “danger” when a government refuses to listen to expert advice, and called

on Ms Gillard to stop importing failed policies from overseas.

In his keynote address, academic Alan Reid described Rudd’s education revolution as a grab-bag of disparate policies that largely continues Howard’s emphasis on education as a commodity.

Despite its rhetoric of equity, its focus on economic productivity ran against the basic principle of an equal education for all, he said. The risk is “public education as a safety net, not a public good”.

Reid also criticised the Government’s Teach for Australia program, saying it ignored the huge body of research about working with students in the most disadvantaged schools and demeaned teachers’ professional knowledge.

At a cost of $22 million to train 45 teachers a year, the Government is currently investing 15 times more on Teach for Australia than on DipEd programs, he said.

While the AEU’s league tables campaign dominated the media coverage coming out of the confer-ence, the push for fair funding remains a key focus in the union’s campaign for a more equal education system.

“A submission from every single public school community in Australia to the school funding review is our minimum target,” Gavrielatos said.

“Paul Keating said … that Kevin Rudd needs a focus group to tell him which side of the bed to get out of in the morning. If this is true, we must ensure that our campaign objectives are reflected in every focus group conducted by the Government.” ◆

ABORIGINAL educator Ian Mackie challenged delegates to adopt a radical approach to

Indigenous education — something that has been lacking for too long.

“A time for radicalism is upon us,” he said. “Now is not a time for incrementalism, and closing the gap is an incremental strategy. Time has come for a leap-frogging of outcomes for our Indigenous kids.”

Mackie, director of Queensland’s Western Cape College and a former AEU vice president, called on the union to help weed out the “insidious racism” of low expectations, which undermines the confidence of Indigenous students.

“If every single child that we expect to attend school in every state in Australia turned up … on the first day back, we wouldn’t have enough schools,” he said. “We are relying on failure!”

Federal president Angelo Gavrielatos supported Mackie’s call, describing low expectations as a “cancer” and a form of institutionalised racism. “That’s not to say we shouldn’t celebrate success, but let’s set the bar high,” he said.

“We’ve done a power of a job in the past 10 years. In a decade or more I’m confident we’ve stamped out the ‘malcontents, misfits and merce-naries’ that used to plague our schools.”

The priority now, he said, was to promote Indigenous education as exclusive work, particu-larly through improving amenities for teachers and secure employment within schools.

AEU federal Aboriginal education officer Wayne Costelloe applauded the fact that most governments around Australia have taken up the AEU’s call for a national action plan for Indigenous education.

It is time for “a new approach and a national strategy”, so that Indigenous students can meet the demands of the global economy, he said.

The curse of low expectations was also the theme for 2009 Australian of the Year Mick Dodson’s conference address. He gave examples from around Australia where “high expectations” strategies were having an enormous impact, despite operating “on the smell of an oily rag”.

Commending the AEU’s work on a national plan, he said: “We’ve started a conversation about this so that we don’t let down another generation of young Aboriginal people.”

Conference passed a resolution in support of bilingual education, respecting the rights of commu-nities to have their local Indigenous language taught in their schools. ◆

Alan Reid

RADICALIndigenous education

Time to getIan Mackie and Mick Dodson

❛The risk is public education as a safety

net, not a public good.❜

International appointmentsAEU federal president Angelo Gavrielatos opened conference by honouring Susan Hopgood on her election as president of the global union federation, Education International, and past AEU president Sharan Burrow’s candidature for general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

“Whilst these achievements represent a great honour for Susan and Sharan respectively,” he said, “they are a source of even greater pride for the Australian union movement and our union in particular.

“These achievements represent an acknowledgment by the international union movement of our history and traditions as an activist campaigning union.”

ES staffTWO Victorian education support staff attended federal conference this year. Sylvia Ganossis and Katrina Tenson used the opportunity to remind members to use inclusive language when talking about issues that affect all staff.

“It is an education union, not just a teaching union,” said Ganossis, while Tenson told conference that in Victoria, ES staff membership has grown to over 4000.

Lifelong membersFORMER Victorian branch deputy president Ann Taylor and vice president primary Peter Steele were awarded life membership of the AEU.

Branch secretary Mary Bluett described Taylor as “the most wonderful and inspiring deputy president I could ever have”, while Taylor said the camaraderie will stay with her the most.

Bluett acknowledged Steele’s strong dedication since joining the union in 1967. He joked about designing a range of merchandise for AEU life members. “I thought about an AEU walking stick, an AEU Zimmer frame…”

Former AEU primary deputy vice president, and long- serving councillor and activist Jean Cooke was also awarded life membership. ◆

Susan Hopgood L-R Katrina Tenson & Sylvia Ganossis Ann Taylor Peter Steele Jean Cooke


feature

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“THE children’s learning conditions are the teachers’ working conditions, so quality

education is a priority for all,” the founding secretary general of Uganda’s teachers’ union, Teopista Birungi Mayanja, (pictured ), told delegates when she spoke as a special guest of the AEU federal conference in January.

In introducing her, AEU federal president Angelo Gavrielatos described Uganda as “one of the success stories of the co-operation and develop-ment work of EI [Education International]”.

Since the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) was formed in 2003, its membership has risen rapidly to 83,000 members.

The union uses its strength in numbers to advocate for improved learning and learning envi-ronments, said Mayanja. But in Uganda, the barriers to quality education are complex, and range from poverty to AIDS to the terror caused by land grabs.

Over half of Ugandan children eat only one meal a day, she reported. “So a teacher can be present and teaching well but because of other factors the child may not be learning well.”

On top of this, the average class size is 72, with

one textbook for every eight students. The current completion rate to Year 7 is 47%, with a particularly high drop-out rate for girls.

The Ugandan Government employs both qualified and unqualified teachers, who are paid around AU$100 per month.

“We cannot be held accountable for things beyond our control, but we do have to play our part,” said Mayanja.

One such issue is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which has led UNATU to support and distribute the Ministry of Education’s workplace policy on HIV and AIDS to schools across the country.

Mayanja said teachers are no more immune to discrimination than other community members and many are wary of the consequences of visiting a health centre.

“We investigated and found that only 18% of teachers knew about the Government’s workplace policy on HIV and AIDS,” said Mayanja. “But in many cases the policy ends up on the principal’s shelf. So even if teachers are aware that it exists, they remain no wiser to the content.”

As a result, UNATU has created a “popular

version” that can appear on noticeboards, so it can be displayed in every classroom, principal’s office and union branch.

“We must have a deeper policy as a union, and this year we are preparing and distributing a document that … will work side by side with the government policy and include advice on practical ways to make the policy have an impact and make sure that it is not relegated to the shelf.”

UNATU has also established a partnership with the Uganda AIDS Commission and the Teacher Anti-AIDS Group so that its members can access on-site testing and counselling and other special support.

Other problems cited by UNATU’s members include delays in the release of funds, missing or late salaries, poor accounting, limited classrooms (many in poor condition), lack of furniture and poor storage facilities.

In some districts, such as Kampala and Oyam, teachers and community members are living in constant fear over the rampant land-grabbing threatening schools. ◆

Only seven years old, Uganda’s fast-growing teachers’ union is playing a key role in advocating for educational equity and tackling HIV. Rachel Power reports.

Against the odds

PHOTOGRAPHER: PHILIP MARTIN

22 aeu news |february 2010

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Women’sFOCUSBarbara Jennings women’s officer

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Low pay, high hopesAn upcoming test case offers hope for low paid AEU members in disability services.

THE Australian Financial Review last month reported that Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was considering “possible industrial relations reforms

ahead of the federal election this year to tackle the gap between male and female earnings”.

The reforms would be a response to last year’s parliamentary inquiry into improving gender pay equity, and hopefully mean very good news for some of our low paid members.

The AEU understands that some Disability Sector employees may be part of a pay equity case, following agreement between the Australian Services Union and the Federal Government.

This union has long argued that much of the work that women tradi-tionally do in the workplace is undervalued. Our view is that if the skills, responsibilities and conditions at work of many women workers were properly assessed and measured, then many would be due for a sizeable pay rise.

This was, in fact, found to be the situation in a recent community services case — and women received pay increases of 18% to 37% as a result. The pay equity case will look at this situation in a national context.

The Federal Government inquiry has already led to amendments to the Fair Work Act to include “equal remuneration”. The AEU Vic branch made submissions to the inquiry and was quoted in the report.

The issue will be a focus for the AEU Vic branch women’s committee this year. Any member interested in more details about this (hopefully) exciting development should email me at [email protected].

Coming up — IWD DinnerThe AEU International Women’s Day Dinner is always a sellout. This year it will be on Wednesday, March 10.

The closing date for bookings is March 2, so get your workplace group sorted out and booked in.

The speaker this year is Monica Dux, a young woman author whose new book asks the questions: “Why is it all so hard? Wasn’t our life meant to get easier and more satisfying? Is feminism to blame?”

Monica Dux has co-authored The Great Feminist Debate, a stimulating book which discusses the relevance of feminism to modern women. Be part of the discussion!

Anna Stewart Memorial ProjectThe Anna Stewart Memorial Project (ASMP) is a highly sought-after two-week professional development opportunity for AEU women members who want to get more involved in the union.

The AEU covers your replacement costs so that you can shadow AEU leadership and staff and take part in formal training at Victorian Trades Hall Council with women from a range of other unions and industries.

The program runs twice a year. The first course is May 3-14 and applica-tions close on March 24. Details are on the AEU Vic website under Women’s Program. ◆

PHOTOGRAPHER: PHILIP MARTIN

Apple offers and free PDTHE new year brings a special deal for Apple

IT products through the AEU website and another raft of free training sessions for members.

AEU members have access to a dedicated AEU Apple online store which gives even greater savings than the usual education discount.

As a back-to-school special, members who buy a qualifying new Mac before March 29 will also get a rebate up to the value of an iPod Touch.

Apple has also cut the prices on its two special MacBook packages for Victorian education staff. Through the AEU, all members can access this package — not just department employees.

March sees the return of the extremely popular free training sessions for AEU members, run by Apple training consultant David Patrao.

A one-day Introduction to Apple course will be held at the AEU office in Abbotsford on Thursday, March 4 and Wednesday, March 17 (10am –3pm) and Saturday, March 20 (10am–2pm).

It will look at getting the most out of your MacBook and give an overview of the major iLife applications with a particular focus on iPhoto and iMovie.

On Saturday, March 27, iMovie and iDVD — The Next Steps will take teachers through the steps of importing and editing video and creating their own DVDs.

Both workshops count as professional development for VIT purposes. To book a place, email [email protected].

More details on all these offers at www.aeuvic.asn.au/membership — click on the Apple tile. It’s password protected — user name is AEUmember; password is AppleAEU08. ◆

Plan your next holidayOK, SO you just got back to work, but if the summer already seems like a

distant memory and you need something to look forward to, the AEU website is the place to go for inspiration.

AEU membership gives you access to a host of travel opportunities, from luxury cruises to weekends away. Go to www.aeuvic.asn.au/membership and start planning.

Allworld International offers members 10% off on tours of some of the world’s most historic destinations, including Egypt, Vietnam, India and Bhutan and Central America — all taking place this year.

It also offers trips to some of the globe’s most famous festivals and events including Oktoberfest in Germany, Nadaam and Anzac Day. Allworld also offers tailor-made packages. Check the AEU website or go to www.allworld.com.au.

For something closer to home, members get a 15% discount at the luxury Shizuka Ryokan retreat and spa in Hepburn Springs. With traditional Japanese rooms and meals, it makes an indulgent weekend getaway.

Metung Holiday Villas in the Gippsland lakes also does great deals for AEU members and is perfect for a family holiday.

Or for more options, locally, interstate and abroad, Tempo Holidays and Presidential Card both offer special discounts for AEU members. Don’t forget you can also save on travel insurance and car hire — details on all these offers are at www.aeuvic.asn.au/membership.

Not long now till Easter! ◆

MemberBENEFITS




http://www.aeuvic.asn.au/membership


http://www.allworld.com.au


AEU TRAINING & PDKim Daly and Rowena Matcott training officers

Putting you in the know It’s time to get active with a training course to help you and your fellow members get the most out of your agreement.WELCOME to AEU Professional Development and Training for 2010.

This year we are concentrating on how to implement the various agree-ments in your workplaces.

Most members have an idea of their entitlements, but many sub-branches need support and realistic strategies to ensure that their particular agreement is put in place in a way that creates the least angst, or the least conflict.

Successful sub-branches are those that listen to their members,

are proactive and work together to improve the working conditions for everyone. Our regular two-day training program, AEU Active Training, is designed to do just that — improve your knowledge of your agreements and give you the confidence and strat-egies to put them into practice.

We run about 30 of these courses statewide for school teachers and ES staff throughout the year, with about 25 participants in each. The AEU covers replacement costs to allow you to attend.

The AEU is committed to training our members and it is vital that all sub-branches have at least two people recently trained. In order not to miss out and to be able to access a nearby course, please book in early by completing the application form at www.aeuvic.asn.au/training.

We also run a series of one-day courses, offer chances to network and listen to speakers at our member forums, and we’re expanding the very popular PD in the Pub sessions.

We’re of course also available

for individual school or sub-branch PD on topics such as Legal Liability, Consultation, Creating Local Agreements, Managing Change, Organisational Wellbeing and many more. All programs can be tailored to the needs of your sub-branch — just give us a call on (03) 9417 2822 or email [email protected].

Below is a calendar of events for Term 1. Please check the website at www.aeuvic.asn.au/training for the full year’s program. ◆

THE Teacher Learning Network has a number of new initiatives for member schools in 2010.And Gladly Teach: A Classroom Handbook

launches our new series of publications from TLN, written by AEU member and Eltham High School teacher Glen Pearsall. Glen is well known as a dynamic PD facilitator, having worked in schools throughout Victoria and across Australia. He has collated some of his most effective strategies into this publication and importantly provided the research behind them to show why they work. The publication is available from TLN for $14.95 plus

postage. Call us on (03) 9418 4992 or email [email protected]. Order forms have also been sent to TLN contacts in member schools. Publication date is March 1.

Thursdays with TLN begin on February 25. Running from 4.30pm to 7pm at the AEU building in Abbotsford, these short, sharp PD sessions are designed to minimise cost and time away from class and still give you the opportunity to refresh your skills, get updates on issues of importance and explore new and innovative ideas.

Go to www.tln.org.au for a full program for

Term 1.Work Right, the curriculum

resource on rights and obligations for young workers, produced by TLN in partnership with the Australian Institute for Employment Rights and the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, is awaiting ministerial approval and should be available by the end of term.

Beginning teachers should look to the Jo Lange programs on classroom and behaviour management in March. Go to www.tln.org.au for a full descrip-tion of these and other TLN programs. ◆

TERM 1 COURSES DATE CONTACTPCA FORUM: Understand Your Agreement February 17, 1pm Mary Denman

ES AEU ACTIVE February 24-25 Rhonda Webley

AEU ACTIVE — Altona February 24–25 Rhonda Webley

AEU ACTIVE March 2–3 Rhonda Webley

ES MEMBER FORUM: Know Your Agreement March 9, 4.30–6pm Rhonda Webley

NEW AEU REPS — one day workshop March 11 Rhonda Webley

MEMBER FORUM: Legal Liability March 11, 4.30–6pm Rhonda Webley

AEU ACTIVE — Dandenong March 16–17 Rhonda Webley

AEU ACTIVE — Leongatha March 17–18 Tracey Rooney

ES REGIONAL CONFERENCE — Geelong March 23 Denise Civelli

REFRESHER COURSE March 24-26 [email protected]

AEU STUDENT TEACHER CONFERENCE April 9 Glenys Van Hooff

AEU TRAINING CALENDARAll events are held at the AEU Office in Abbotsford, and run all day — unless indicated. To book call the person named on (03) 9417 2822 or 1800 013 379.

PD IN THE PUBThis popular series of workshops for graduate and student AEU members returns with a focus on behaviour management. Acclaimed educator and AEU member Glen Pearsall will be touring metro and regional pubs to take you through the best techniques for keeping on top in the classroom.

This event is free, but booking is essential. For details of venues or to book your place, email

[email protected] or call (03) 9417 2822 or 1800 013 379.

March 3 — Croydon March 4 — TraralgonMarch 9 — Warrnambool March 10 — Caroline SpringsMarch 11 — Melbourne March 15 — BendigoMarch 16 — Mildura March 17 — FrankstonMarch 18 — Pakenham March 22 — GeelongMarch 23 — Wodonga March 24 — Morang March 25 — Ballarat

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On the PHONESMembership Services Unit — 1800 013 379

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Do you have an issue you’d like to see covered in

On the Phones?Email [email protected]

or call the MSU on (03) 9417 2822 or 1800 013 379.

David Bunn membership services unit

FOR members covered by the new Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Assistants Agreement

(VECTAA) there are three important things to know.1. Standard weekly full-time hours for teachers

dropped from 40 to 38 hours on January 27, when the agreement came into force. (Assistants already worked a 38-hour standard week.)

Back pay from May 3, 2009 to January 27 is calculated on hourly rates using the old 40-hour week. From January 27, the same annual salary gives a higher hourly rate because it is divided by 38.

2. Also for teachers — you now get non-teaching time of 35 minutes for each hour of teaching time (previously it was 40 minutes). Assistants now have additional paid hours to work with the teacher on non-teaching duties.

3. For all members covered by VECTAA and the new local government agreement (this excludes most childcare centres), the new pay rates are back paid to 3 May 2009, provided you were employed by the same employer at that date, and your

employment continued until at least January 27.

SCHOOL TEACHERS: Check your contractsSCHOOL teachers who are starting a new engage-ment with DEECD (including being newly appointed ongoing) should be given a statement in writing of

the duration of the appointment and of the salary. Check these things:

1. The duration of the appointment must include holidays to which you are entitled. If you teach a full term you must be given the term holidays immedi-ately following. If you teach the full year you must be given all holidays at the end of the year.

2. Ask whether your starting salary has been recalculated in accordance with the rules in our

agreement. In particular, if your salary sub-division is the same as last year’s then you should check.

Calculate how many full-time completed calendar years of teaching you have been paid to do (and which the DEECD has recognised). Round the answer down to the nearest whole number and that is the number of steps above the base pay point you should start on.

SCHOOLS: Moving up the pay scaleEvery Education Department employee working in a school moves one step up the pay ladder on 1 May each year — provided they have met the perform-ance requirements of their role and provided they have worked for the department for at least four of the previous 12 months.

Members who were on leave without pay for all of last year may have difficulty meeting this second requirement unless they can prove that they had approved teaching experience during that period. Members who were Graduate 1 level last year and who advance to Graduate 2 level on 1 May 2010 will receive a payment compensating them for the delay in going up that step. ◆

Three key things about VECTAA

There was a time when you had to close your ESSSuper account when it came time to retire. Not any more. ESSSuper is now the only super fund you need. Whether you are working full-time, making the transition to semi-retirement via part-time work, or you are permanently retired, we can help you make the most of every stage.

Because of our steady growth, ESSSuper is now one of Australia’s largest super funds. Certainly we are the biggest fund for teachers.* And that gives us the scale needed to offer products and services that are specifically tailored to teachers’ needs. Your needs.

ESSSuper now offers you a full suite of products including one-on-one member appointments and education seminars to help you plan your path to the retirement you want. We can also put you in touch with financial planners who don’t charge commissions, which can save you hundreds, or even thousands in fees.

The ESSSuper Accumulation Plan is designed to complement our defined benefit schemes by enabling you to accumulate more funds

What can ESSSuper do for you?and increase your benefits even further. You can do this by consolidating your super: rolling in benefits you have in other super funds, or by making personal or salary sacrifice contributions in addition to those you make in your defined benefit scheme.

Opening an Accumulation Plan account is one thing you can do now, that will make a big difference to your final super payout.

Our range of products also allows you to stay with us throughout your retirement. If you want to make a gradual transition, our Working Income Stream can help you ease into retirement by providing you with additional income while you work part-time. And when you decide to retire permanently you can rollover your ESSSuper defined benefit account into a Retirement Income Stream to enjoy a regular income.

At ESSSuper, we are glad we are a fund that’s not available to everyone. And we are proud to be the fund for teachers. It means we’re here for you. And everything we do is aimed at helping you enjoy the comfort in retirement you deserve.

Find out more about all that we can offer you Call 1300 655 476 to find out about your options or to make a free appointment with one of our Member Education Consultants, or visit our website at www.esssuper.com.au

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Kickstart your yearAndrew Cassidy graduate teacher organiser

Created on 30/12/2009 14:20:00

G:\Trivia\_2010\advertising\AEU\AEU3rdpg_Feb15.doc

Motivating CROSS-CURRICULAR general knowledge class quiz (in teams of four) linked to VELS. ALL MATERIALS SUPPLIED. Each school then invited to have a team from each year level compete in ONLINE semi-final (yrs 3–6) or ONLINE GRAND FINAL (yrs 7–10). GRAND FINAL for Years 3-6 to be held at Monash University. FREE resource kit for use in dealing with epilepsy.

For further information, return this slip to Trivia Challenge EFV, 818 Burke Rd., Camberwell 3124 FAX TO: 9882 7159 CONTACT: Val Bates 9805 9111 [email protected]

NAME ……………………………………………………………………………POSITION………………………………………… SCHOOL………………………………………………………………………………PH………………………FAX…………………… ADDRESS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… EMAIL………………………………………………………………………………………Years 3-6 Years 7-10 Both

AEU

1

THE start of the school year sees many beginning teachers setting up classes for the first time

— and the excitement of starting a new career is likely to be tinged with apprehension.

For provisionally registered teachers, the expectation is that schools will support them with induction and mentoring. Teachers should be trained as mentors to ensure that they understand their role and the Victorian Institute of Teaching

(VIT) requirements for full registration. Training of mentors is a two-day process facili-

tated by the VIT in partnership with the Education Department. It’s interesting how few mentors are aware of the industrial rights of teachers in their first year and the clauses in the current agreement relating to mentors.

These sessions raise the awareness of the needs of provisionally registered teachers and their rights and responsibilities as both professional and employees. Details can be found at tiny.cc/VWFzV.

The VIT also conducts information sessions for provisionally registered teachers, detailing the requirements for applying for full registration and offering resources that help.

Teachers leave these sessions understanding the application process, feeling reassured and saying “I can do that”. An important feature is the presence of members of the AEU who can assist with informa-tion around industrial issues. Details can be found at tiny.cc/5MMWr. ◆

— Rhonda McPhee Victorian Institute of Teaching

WELCOME back to everyone and I sincerely hope that 2010 is a

successful year for all teachers and students.

Firstly, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Andrew Cassidy and I am the new graduate teacher and universities organiser for the AEU Victorian Branch.

I have been teaching for the past seven years and I’m very much

looking forward to performing my new role. I joined the AEU as a student back in 1999 and have been an active member since starting my career in 2003. I have been a primary sector councillor, executive member and the AEU rep at my last school for the past four years.

I would like to thank James Rankin for his incredible work in this role before me. He has done an amazing

job and has organised so many wonderful professional development opportunities for university student teachers and graduate teachers in 2010.

The AEU will hold its Primary and Secondary Graduate Teachers Conferences in April and May. The workshops this year will provide plenty of inspiration for many different lessons and units of work, not just for this year and next, but for many years to come.

PD in the Pub is also back. We’ll be offering PD on different aspects of education including applying for jobs, behaviour management, surviving as a graduate teacher, practical games and — later in the year — a chance to meet a variety of AEU principals. Yes, they will be answering questions and discussing what they look for in a graduate teacher.

So, 2010 is going to be packed with lots of exciting PD opportunities. Keep an eye on the AEU website, keep reading the AEU News and keep your eyes peeled for more details.

And if anyone ever has any issues that they require assistance with, please feel free to ring the Membership Services Unit on (03) 9417 2822 or email me at [email protected]. ◆

Our new graduates organiser sets up a busy year of PD and networking opportunities for new teachers.

Dates and timesFor full details of dates and times for AEU graduate teacher training and PD programs, go to www.aeuvic.asn.au/new_educators.

Beginners start here


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Safety MATTERSJanet Marshall OHS organiser

The art of OHSTicking the boxes is not enough when it comes to creating a culture of safe and healthy working environments.

WHY IS occupational health and safety a source of conflict in some workplaces?

In our visits to workplaces, we at the AEU see a variety of approaches and attitudes, frustrations and successes. Yet for each of these work-places it would be agreed that OHS is a priority.

If it’s a priority (and the law requires employers to provide safe and healthy workplaces and systems of work), why is it that some work-places proactively embrace an OHS culture and others merely tolerate it as a legal requirement that takes away from “real work and precious resources”?

Why is it that in some workplaces the health and safety representa-tive is an integral and valued part of the OHS consultation process yet in others they are seen as a nuisance or a thorn in the side of management?

We call this the positive safety attitude versus the compliance attitude. In the former, OHS is embraced and incorporated into daily practice; it’s proactive and preventative. The latter can be summed up as, “We’ll do it if we have to but it’s a damn nuisance.”

At the AEU we believe that to maximise OHS outcomes and minimise conflict the following factors need to be acknowledged.

Meeting a legal requirement is essential but this is the bare minimum that’s required. It does not necessarily represent best practice or the highest standards, or demonstrate a high regard for staff health, safety and welfare.

To be effective (and reduce conflict), safety needs to be deeply embedded in the culture of the organisation and demonstrated by the organisation’s leaders. They need to walk the talk — not just tick boxes.

The Victorian OHS Act 2004 provides great power and representative function to the health and safety rep. Representation is a form of collec-tive bargaining. As unionists — seeking to protect and improve working conditions — we will always argue for more than mere compliance.

Consultation, participation and engagement are core to good OHS outcomes. Solutions are often not expensive. There are often many ways to solve an issue.

We — and by we, I mean the Government, Worksafe, unions and employers — are turning around attitudes towards workers’ health and safety.

This is an imperative not just for legal reasons — but be aware that visits from Worksafe inspectors will continue to increase throughout 2010. It is also an imperative because best OHS practice demonstrates commitment and respect to staff and colleagues. Healthy, safe and respectful workplaces are good for everyone. ◆

Janet Marshall is an AEU health and safety representative support officer, a role part-funded by WorkSafe. If there are issues you would like to see this column address, please email [email protected] with your suggestions.

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TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL

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FRANCE — LANGUEDOCTwo renovated stone houses in tranquil village near Carcassone, sleep four or eight, from $600 a week. See website at www.frenchrentalhouses.bigpondhosting.com; or phone (02) 4757 1019; 0414 968 397; email [email protected]

FRANCE — PROVENCERestored 17th-century house in mediaeval fortified village of Entrevaux. Spectacular location, close to Côte d’Azur and Italy. Contact owners (03) 5258 2798 or (02) 9948 2980. www.provencehousestay.com.

FRANCE — SOUTH WESTRenov 17thC 2 bdrm apart in elegant Figeac,“centre ville”, or cottage in Lauzerte, 12thC hilltop village. Low cost. www.flickr.com/photos/clermont-figeac/ www.flickr.com/photos/les-chouettes/ Ph teacher owner (03) 9877 7513 or email [email protected] for brochure.

ITALY — FLORENCEBeautiful fully furnished apartment in historic centre. Sleeps 2-6, $1,700 pw, telephone 0419 025 996 or www.convivioapartment.com.

ITALY — UMBRIAApartment. Beautiful sunny 2 bdrm. Historic Centre Citta Di Castello €625pw 2p, €675 3-4p. 0414 562 659 [email protected]

PROVENCE — LANGUEDOCLarge village house. Luxury plus location. Suitable for up to eight adults. (03) 5444 1023 www.houserentalfrance.com.au.

ROMEStudio apartment, Piazza Bologna, beautifully appointed, sleeps 2, opens onto garden courtyard, $1100 pw, telephone 0419 488 865 or www.ninoapartmentrome.com.

SOUTH OF FRANCE — LANGUEDOCTwo charming newly renovated traditional stone houses with outside terraces. Sleeps 4 or 6. Market town, Capital of Minervois, wine growing region, close to lake, Canal Midi, Mediterranean beaches, historic towns. From $460 per week. Visit, Web: www.languedocgites.com Email: [email protected].

SOUTH OF FRANCELovely village house in the "heart of a wine growing region."www.myfrenchhome.com.au Julie 0403 314 928

VILLAS ITALY Villas in vineyards, carefully selected, Italia [email protected]

VILLA TUSCANYThree bdm classic tuscan country house, stone construction, external shutters, terracotta floors, fully equipped kitchen, lge outdoor terrace, panoramic views, complete privacy, 5 mins to shops/services, direct bus service to Florence $1500AUD/week www.italyallover.com [email protected]

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AIREY’S INLET HOLIDAY RENTALHoliday rental, 3 bdrms, 2 living, large decks, 1 acre garden, bbq, woodfire. Phone 0416 234 808.

AIREY’S INLETSATIS BEACH HOUSE

Stylish and comfortable 3 bdrm house for six on the beach side of Great Ocean Road. Paddle our canoe on the inlet, walk to the lighthouse, cliff walk and beaches. Phone (03) 5380 8228 or email [email protected].

HOLIDAY HOUSE PHILLIP ISLAND, VENTNOR

Two bdrm sleeps 6, available weekends and holidays. Jane (03) 9387 9397 or 0431 471 611 or Louise (03) 9343 6030 or 0413 040 237.

LAKE HOUSE HEALESVILLEIs the perfect place to relax and revi-talise. Boutique-styled home, suitable for one or two couples. Nestled in a very quiet location and is blessed with picturesque rural views and overlooks a beautiful lake with abundant birdlife. Contact Joan 0427 960 738www.lakehousehealesville.com

LORNE COTTAGESleeps 4, panoramic views, 5 mins beach and shops. Available December and January. Phone (03) 9387 4329.

OCEAN GROVEA lovely modern 3 bedroom holiday home for six, immaculately furnished and fitted out. Beautiful beaches, pelican landings, boat ramps, one of Ocean Grove’s best views. Handy to shops, golf club, restaurant, coffee shop & 5 minutes walk to surf beach. Stunning location, good proximity to all the Bellarine Peninsula has to offer. Relax on the front verandah soaking in the beauty of the river 50 metres away, enjoy a glass of wine while watching sensational sunsets.Phone (03) 5254 3263 for bookings.

WILSONS PROM/WARATAH BAYCosy 3 bdrm SC cottage. Wood fire; verandas; sunsets; myriad native birds, fauna & flora; scenic walks, beaches. www.promclose.com

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PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR CASUAL RELIEF TEACHERS IN

VICTORIADetailed information for beginners. $24.95 included postage www.vjsales.com.au

RETIREMENT VICTORIAVisit us at www.retirevic.com.au.

RETIRING SOON?Volunteers for Isolated Students’ Education recruits retired teachers to assist families with their Distance Education Program. Travel and accommodation provided in return for six weeks teaching. Register at www.vise.org.au or George Murdoch (03) 9017 5439 Ken Weeks (03) 9876 2680.

VISAS IMMIGRATIONFor the professional advice you need — contact Ray Brown. Phone (03) 5792 4056 or 0409 169 147. Email [email protected] Agents Registration No. 0213358.

AEU VICTORIAN BRANCH

REFUND POLICYIN 2001, AEU branch council adopted the following policy regarding refunds of membership dues when members resign or retire:

1. When a member lodges a resignation or retirement from the union, it will take effect from the date the letter is received or the date specified in the letter, whichever is the later date.

2. Where a member’s resignation or retirement from the union is received but not processed at the time, no disadvantage to the member will be applied when the resignation or retirement is processed.

3. Branch executive is authorised to vary this policy in exceptional circumstances and upon written request.

4. That this policy be highlighted in the AEU News in the first edition each year.

It is imperative that the union receive formal notification in writing when members resign from the union. This can be done by letter or email. All correspondence received is filed electronically so verifying claims of notification of resignation or retirement is a simple matter.

A related matter is other changes that affect membership dues.These include:

• Change in time fraction• Expiration of contract• Leave without pay.

The above policy on resignation or retirement also applies to these situations.

Deadline AEU News

Edition 2 3 MARCH


Bubbles and spikesWINE TALKINGPaddy Kendler

Welcome to the table!AS THE Australian wine glut continues, wine lovers have never had it so good.

There are bargains galore in the mainstream market, and an increasing supply of top value and very competitive imports. This column aims to steer readers towards the best combinations of quality and value available. Cheers!

Retail dominanceWhile there may be some community concern about the increasing retail dominance of the

Coles–Woolworths duopoly, the local wine industry and independent wine retailers have cause to be especially nervous.

Firstly, the glut of vines and wines empowers the big two chains, as pointedly illustrated by the $2 cleanskin phenomenon.

Secondly, one wonders how many of our 2,600 wineries would be viable in the

long term anyway. Hundreds of them are surplus to requirements. And as the big guys increase their home brands and exclusive imports, there will be less shelf space for our wineries.

Some shoppers make what they see as “ethical purchases”, supporting small business butchers, bakers and greengrocers. Should they apply the same approach to wine?

It’s a tough call because both chains offer plenty of wine bargains, arguably much better value than all the other merchandise they stock.

Consider these very consistent vintages:Riparosso Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

($11.50): A versatile Italian red, medium bodied and ho lding good depth of sweet and savoury flavours with fine, dry, gentle tannins. Quaff away! (Dan Murphy’s)

Con Class Verdejo ($12): An instantly appealing and genuinely interesting Spanish varietal dry white, like a blend of sauvignon blanc and verdelho. (Vintage Cellars)

Les Nuages Sauvignon Blanc ($12): Try this Loire Valley white as an alternative to the Kiwis. It’s a more subtle style, a food wine with an engaging bouquet and very pleasant flavour. (Vintage Cellars)

Arrogant Frog ($12.50): There are six table wines under this cheeky banner and all are more than competitive with the locals in the same price bracket. Remarkable value from Southern France (Dan Murphy’s). ◆

Former teacher Paddy Kendler has written about wine for the Herald Sun and other publications for 30 years.

PULLING into the driveway for the first real day back at school is scary. The first “real” day

back obviously refers to the return of students — despite the school running exceedingly well and in quite a stress-free manner for the three days without students, they do have to make an appearance eventually. And here they all are.

There’s Bronwyn from 9B last year, who has clearly added to her collection of facial piercings and will no doubt find herself in the coordinator’s office shortly, discussing skin-coloured plastic keepers rather than the statement fluoro green spikes she is currently sporting.

There’s Dylan who was in my Year 7 form group last year and broke his arm three times throughout the year by falling off his scooter. It looks like he might have been given a new one for Christmas, as he swoops past, almost collecting our new graduate teacher.

There’s a stunned group of Year 7s who hover around acquaintances from primary school and, in the case of some, parents. Desperately trying to be cool and noncha-lant while struggling to carry their books and padlock for their new lockers.

Greg the Principal begins briefing with his usual attempt to excite and motivate for the new school year. Most staff clutch their cups of coffee and try to work out when they might score a private half hour with the photocopier to get themselves organised.

The corridors are chaos.“Hi, Miss.”“Did you have a good break?”“Have we got you again this year?”I arrive at my Year 7 class. Unlike the rest

of the corridor, they stand in relative silence, nervously eyeing their new classmates off and avoiding eye contact with me.

“Good morning, 7B. My name’s Miss Adams. Could I please have two straight lines?”

With machine-like precision, this request is fulfilled. I’m sure this will be a different story by the end of Term 1.

Once the class is settled into the time-honoured first day back task of creating a front page for their folders, I walk quietly around the silent room, praising bubble writing and making suggestions for those who seem to have finished the task in two minutes flat. Then, Bronwyn appears at the door. The fluoro piercings have, indeed, been removed.

“I’ve been put on monitor duty,” she informs me, and hands me a pile of newsletters to distribute.

As she leaves, I hear two girls in the back row whisper to each other. “That’s my neighbour, Bronwyn. She has the best piercings ever. I want

to get heaps of them, too. Just like her.”“Apparently, she even has a big tatt on her

back.”“Really?”“Yeah, it’s of a dragon. She’s so cool.”“Yeah. I can’t wait till I’m her age.”The girls notice me watching them and quickly

return to their front pages, giggling. One has drawn piercings onto her picture. No, those two straight lines definitely won’t make it to the end of term … ◆

Comedian and Melbourne teacher Christina Adams is currently reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.


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“WHEN Saunders and Burgess painted ‘No War’ on the Sydney

Opera House, they created a never-before seen image that penetrated the drooping eyelids of the Publics, even if Joe and Jo Public might have tut-tutted a little,” says The Chaser’s Andrew Hansen.

These are the kind of daring, subversive acts celebrated in AEU member Iain McIntyre’s latest book, How to Make Trouble and Influence People: Pranks, Hoaxes, Graffiti and Political Mischief-Making.

Compiled over a decade — and originally printed as a series of fanzines — the book showcases the

creative tactics used over the years by Australian agitators to humiliate the rich and powerful, and illuminate the rest of us.

McIntyre was struck by the cultural cringe he encountered as a young activist in the late 1980s and early 90s, finding that many protestors knew more about the revolutionary history of Spain or Russia than our own radical culture and traditions.

He scoured old socialist news-papers, radical libraries and the papers of labour historians, as well as gathering anecdotes from activist friends and interviewing famous trou-blemakers, to create his potted history of “seditious political acts”.

The result is a memory bank of

ideas, stories and tactics “to remind us that political activity need not be a predictable and grim slog”, he says.

“The idea was to document and encourage activists to use humorous and creative approaches, doing the unexpected. Campaigns often work best with a multi-pronged approach.”

The book shows how creative stunts can be an effective way of gaining attention for your cause, particularly if you are a small group, says McIntyre, an ESL teacher at Victoria University TAFE. “Ultimately to change society you need numbers. But big campaigns often started with a handful of people doing something wacky.”

With over 300 images,

How to Make Trouble showcases everything from Indigenous guerrilla resistance and convict revolts to anti-uranium blockades and Critical Mass bike rides.

More common strategies, such as strikes, become especially subversive when used by high school students, or in solidarity with the anti-Apartheid movement, McIntyre says.

“Australia’s radical tradition has achieved a lot in making issues known and encouraging people to think outside the square, be imaginative and have a crack,” he says.

He particularly enjoyed inter-viewing John Safran. “Twelve years ago, even the ABC didn’t get it. Now we are seeing popular culture embracing this cheeky pranking with a political edge, with Safran and The Chasers.”

McIntyre’s previous book was Tomorrow Is Today: Australia in the Psychedelic Era, 1966–70. Alongside teaching, he is a community radio broadcaster and runs his own small publishing house, Homebrew Press.◆

How to Make Trouble and Influence People (RRP $29.95) is available in bookshops or from www.breakdownpress.org.

THE DANGER GAME Kalinda AshtonSleepers Publishing260pp, RRP $24.95

IT DOESN’T take long to learn that

The Danger Game’s opening scene, in which three siblings exchange dares, is not an ordinary picture of children at play. Their game is strict, the dares are risky and the scene is unsettling.

When a tragedy separates them, the family members struggle through different danger games, desperately seeking new rules to guide them. Alice is caught up in love and politics; her sister Louise in drugs. The sisters’ relationship is tenuous, but a school merger risking Alice’s job, and the reappearance of their mother, prove they have more in common than they thought.

This debut from a local author is told with all the lucidity of a seasoned pro who flicks effortlessly between three engaging voices, making this book hard to put down.

— AKS

A PROPHETDir: Jacques AudiardRated: TBCSony Pictures

A CANNES Grand Jury prize winner

and nominated for best foreign language Oscar, Audiard’s brutal prison drama has been rightly lavished with praise.

Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is a young French Arab sentenced to six years, forced to work with the Corsican gang that runs the prison. It’s a tale of struggle and survival in a vicious system.

It’s visually powerful — shot grainy and close-up in bruised, washed out colours, often disori-enting, but streaked through with a kind of dirty poetry, nods to Genet and a dreamlike impressionism amid the beatings and violence.

The framing context of racism and segregation informs but isn’t allowed to overpower the tale and despite the small canvas — set almost entirely in the prison — this is an epic. — NB

PHOTOGRAPHER: SEAN SCALMER

Iain McIntyre celebrates Australian activism’s rich history of mischief-making in his new book.

Good TROUBLE

TIME’S LONG RUINStephen OrrWakefield Press432pp, RRP $24.95

Orr is a teacher and author who

explores his interest in social history through writing fiction. This, his third novel, is loosely based on the infamous disappearance of the Beaumont children from Adelaide’s Glenelg beach in 1966.

The result is a gripping story of nine-year-old Henry, a loner with a club-foot, who spends his summer holidays wandering the suburban streets of his home town. When his friend and neighbour Janice asks him to go to the beach with her and her siblings, he declines — a decision that will stay with him forever.

Orr paints a richly evocative picture of 1950s Adelaide — the long, stifling days of summer and its escalation into panic following the children’s disappearance — and an intense portrait of one man’s struggle to move on from loss. — RP

THE DAMNED UNITEDDir: Tom HooperRating: MSony DVD

AFTER Tony Blair and David Frost, writer

Peter Morgan and actor Michael Sheen take on another walking ego — Brian Clough, England’s greatest football manager, in his own head at least.

The Damned United relates Clough’s ill-fated 44-day reign at Leeds United — then the best (but unloved) team in England — in 1974. This adaptation of David Peace’s darker novel reveals Clough’s ambition to turn what he condemned as a bunch of thugs and cheats into a beautiful side, to be an act of sheer hubris and vanity.

Sheen’s Clough bristles with charisma and bravado but is ultimately a hollow man unable to back up his boasts. It’s a glorious period piece, all rain, mud, rusting stadiums, flying tackles and hideous wallpaper, and richly comic with it. Great stuff. — NB

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culture

WIN teaching resourcesSIGN UP TO THE AEU E-NEWSLETTER AT www.aeuvic.asn.au FOR THE CHANCE TO

WIN MORE GIVEAWAYS!AEU NEWS is giving members the opportunity to win a variety of Australian resources for their school libraries from our good friends at ABC Books, black dog books, Pan Macmillan and Text Publishing.To enter, simply email us at [email protected] by 10am Wednesday, February 24. Include your name and school or workplace. Write “Win Teaching Resources” in the subject line.Prizes will be sent directly to the winner’s school or workplace with a special inscription recognising the winner. Good luck!

Congratulations to our winners from AEU News issue 8: Who’s on the Money?, My Canberra Project, Stuck on History — Julie Beaton, Doveton Primary School; The Twelve Days of Christmas,A Wiggly Holiday – A Fun Wiggly Activity Book, A Bush Christmas — Julie Kennedy, Exford Primary School; The Wrong Grave; Crime Time - Australians behaving badly — Kyle Peters, Lyndhurst Secondary College.

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Play School: AlphabetCome and PlayFor more than 40 years Play School has encouraged children to wonder, to feel and to imagine.

From a for apple to z for zipper... Come and play with the letters of the alphabet in this sturdy board book!ABC Books, RRP $12.95

Battle Boy: Destroy Troy by Charlie CarterDo you like battles, adventure, history, time travel, great stories and gadgets? Then you’ll love Battle Boy.

Destination: Troy, 1158BC Mission objective: obtain irrefutable proof that the Trojan Horse was real.

Keep your head down Battle Boy. You’ve arrived in the middle of a fierce battle between the Greeks and the Trojans. Pan Macmillan, RRP $9.99.

The Cursed by Michael PanckridgeLewis Watt thinks he is just an ordinary schoolboy until his mother mysteriously disappears, leaving him a letter which changes his life forever. Lewis discovers that his life is connected with an invisible tribe hidden deep in the Brazilian rainforest.

He is also linked to a group of secret crusaders who are determined to rid the world of evil. This extraordinary story tells how he meets both forces head on. black dog books, RRP $16.95.

Murderer’s Thumb by Beth MontgomeryAdam discovers a body buried in a silage pit. Is it one of the teenage girls who went missing from Falcon Ridge six years ago? And where is the author of the diary he finds in the old farmhouse? Some locals are willing to do anything to get their hands on the missing pages.

Murderer’s Thumb is a novel about what happens when outsiders uncover secrets that have been hidden for too long. Text Publishing, RRP $19.95.


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When you take up the 12% discount,

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AEU News Issue 1 2010

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