WHY I LEFT THE JOB I LOVE | RESPECT DUE FOR ES STAFF | ALP RULES OUT MERIT PAY

AEU News MAGAZINE OF THE VICTORIAN BRANCH OF THE AEU VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

HOW THE LIBERALS ABANDONED STUDENT SUPPORT

2 AEU NEWSÂVOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

Contents

COVER STORY16 TheabandoningofKoorieeducation

Wannik promised a new future for Koorie education. Instead the Napthine Government has let programs lapse, educators lose their jobs and students miss out.

FEATURES 12 Theneedsnotmet

With a state government refusing to provide adequate support for Victoria’s vulnerable students, principals and teachers are struggling to meet their needs.

15 RespectdueforsupportstaffEducation support staff are the grease that keeps the wheels of a school turning. But they can be first in line when cuts bite.

19 TheunlikelyactivistFrom arranging flowers to lobbying Canberra politicians on school funding, teacher Tanya Burton’s life has taken an unexpected route.

21 WhyIleftthejobIlovedBureaucracy and overwork are driving teachers out of preschools just when they are needed most.

REGULARS3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

4 LETTERS

5 EDUCATION & UNION NEWS

22 INSIDE THE AEU

27 ON THE PHONES

28 CLASSIFIEDS

30 CULTURE

AEU Victorian Branch

Branch presidentMeredith Peace

Branch secretaryGillian Robertson

AEU VIC head office 112 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford, 3067 PO Box 363, Abbotsford, 3067 tel (03) 9417 2822, 1800 013 379 fax 1300 658 078 www.aeuvic.asn.au melbourne@aeuvic.asn.au

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Editorial enquiriesNic Barnard tel (03) 9418 4841 fax (03) 9415 8975 email nic.barnard@aeuvic.asn.au

Advertising enquiries Lyn Baird tel (03) 9418 4879 fax (03) 9415 8975 email lyn.baird@aeuvic.asn.au

Editor Nic Barnard

Editorial assistant Helen Prytherch

Designers Lyn Baird, Kim Fleming, Peter Lambropoulos, Susan Miller

JournalistsRachel Power, Suzanne Taylor

EnvironmentISO 14001

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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.

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Cover: Koorie educator Guy Neaves from

Thornbury HighPhoto: Darren

Tindale

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

Retirement Victoria Pty Ltd (ABN 11 132 109 114) is a corporate authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Ltd AFSL 244252

THE VALUE OF A PERSONAL APPOINTMENTClients referred to Retirement Victoria recently mentioned how worthwhile a personal appointment had been compared to their attendance at a seminar run by a large financial institution. The seminar was general in nature with an overwhelming stream of information delivered by way of a power point presentation. It was slick and glossy but could not focus on personal needs and circumstances. By contrast, at the end of a one-hour appointment we had designed a tailored financial model that addressed super, social security and related taxation issues. The diagram on the whiteboard provided a visual model of a strategy that would satisfy our clients’ retirement needs. It was a positive, productive outcome followed up later with a detailed financial plan. Seminars have their place, we have run them successfully for years, but a personal appointment with an experienced RV adviser is a great way to prepare for retirement.

Needed: more than bricks and mortarAny party that aspires to form government on November 29 must tell us what it will do for Victorian education — and a few new buildings won’t be enough.

WITH BARELY 100 days to the November election, the AEU is focused on obtaining commitments from all major parties to better invest in public education across every sector.

Witnessing the virtual train-wreck that is state education under the Coalition, Victorians justifiably want to know what Labor is going to do to remedy the situation should it take government come election day, and the AEU will play an important role in pinning it down.

It isn’t enough for political parties from either side to make grand announcements about funding boosts for individual schools in marginal electorates. We need a govern-ment willing to invest at every level — from buildings and maintenance to classroom programs and support that really meet the needs of every student in every school.

Victoria invests $1,881 less per student than any other state or territory. The lack of resources for learning is having an insidious effect on the education of our students and, most disturbingly, those most in need.

Sadly, the Napthine Government has not only failed to commit to public education; it has displayed a reckless propensity for cuts. Funding cuts to VCAL, to the apprentice trade bonus and especially to TAFE have damaged student options and pathways.

Our primary and secondary schools

are suffering with cuts to reading recovery specialists, literacy and numeracy coaches, cuts to Koorie support and to EMA payments for disadvantaged families.

Our regional schools have been left out to dry with the condensing of nine major regional support offices to four, resulting in reduced support for school communities from regional offices based in Melbourne.

Recent polling and our conversations on doorsteps both reveal a community that is very concerned about the situation in TAFE. Support for this sector will be a critical issue on November 29.

The AEU and its members are approaching every candidate in the state, asking them to sign a pledge that they “recognise and value the important role TAFE plays in our society” and, among other things, will work to reverse the TAFE cuts and ensure fair access for every Victorian.

We will be holding them to their promises come election day and beyond.

We will also work to ensure that 15 hours of preschool for four-year-olds be maintained, should the Federal Government fail to cough up its share as part of a partnership agreement with the state. With mounting evidence underlining the importance of early years education to outcomes for these students, we

can’t afford to let the Abbott Government walk away from its commitment to preschool education — and neither can state political leaders.

And with agreement negotiations currently stalled in the sector, ensuring that we continue to attract university-qualified early childhood teachers to deliver our kindergarten programs will become a growing issue for the State Government.

Imagine what our schools, TAFEs and preschools could do if our political parties committed to funding them properly. It’s time we had a government that showed some dedica-tion to giving all our children the best possible educational opportunities. That is what the AEU is campaigning for this state election. •

Meredith Peace

JOIN ME ON TWITTER! Follow @meredithpeace and @aeuvictoria

President’s report

4 AEU NEWSÂVOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

LettersLetters from members are welcome.

One professionI READ “The sociable network” (CRT Scene, AEU News, June) with great interest.

I am a CRT and the coordinator for the Werribee network for the VIT. I volunteer my time to ensure my CRT colleagues have access to local, cheap (sometimes free) and relevant PD to ensure that when they enter the room they have up-to-date skills and knowledge.

The last three PDs I organised were booked out, which is no surprise to me as I know CRTs are eager to attend PD and to keep their skills and knowledge up to date. I encourage all CRTs to get involved in their local network. A complete list of networks can be found on the VIT website (search for CRT networks).

Accessing PD is a huge issue for CRTs, but equally important is combating the isolation of working casually. Sharing practice with colleagues at schools, or having a discussion about practice in a staff room at lunch time is really useful for us so I also encourage all teachers to include us CRTs in those discussions at schools. Ann Threlfall Werribee CRT network coordinator

Only yourselves to blameI AM tired of teachers’ complaints about excessive workloads (“We’re all drowning”, AEU News, June

2014), not because they are not justified, but because they are the results of decisions made by teachers themselves over the last 20 years.

I was the timetabler in my first school, Waterdale High School. I timetabled an average regular teaching load of 15.5 hours a week way back in 1980. The school had a strong VSTA branch.

I was also the timetabler in my last school, Hampton Park Secondary College. I timetabled an average load of 15.75 hours a week in 2004. The school had a strong AEU branch, which took advantage of the 2000 EBA. The school was unable to continue with those conditions because teachers voted for an inferior EBA in 2004.

The Gonski review was an opportunity to reach a long-term settlement for decent teaching conditions in the whole country, but it required the AEU to move out of its 1950s obsession with private schools and argue for a funding formula based on an explicit staffing formula; the AEU was unable to do so.

Having left teaching seven years ago, I have reached the limit of speaking up for people who do not support industrial action, who do not reject inferior EBAs, who do not even use the provisions of their EBAs but who are certain that the conditions they keep voting for are not good enough.Chris Curtis Hurstbridge

How we should campaignTHE AEU’S state election campaign needs to ensure the Coalition and Labor are explicit in their plans for public education before the 29 November election.

The union understandably highlights the deficiencies in the Coalition Government’s performance since 2010. However there has been little analysis of Labor’s 11 years in power to 2010. Their record on significant issues was poor. For example:• Core per capita funding

of our schools: currently a massive $1,881 per student below the national average, the worsening trend continued under Labor

• The flawed funding model from the Kennett era retained, despite it being inequitable and discrimina-tory for schools with more higher salaried staff

• Excessive contract employ-ment and casualisation that shamefully remained unchanged

• The VIT, including its regres-sive annual registration fee. First-year teachers on the lowest salaries with the largest HECs debts pay the highest VIT fees.

• Salaries, workload and other EBA components. The 2008 EBA negotiated with Labor was accepted with minimal change by the current Coalition Government.

• Funding of TAFE and tendering out to private providers.

The union needs to clearly identify and prioritise its demands and get responses from all political parties well before the election. This will

maximise the potency of our Put Education 1st campaign and ensure it resonates statewide.Tony Delaney, CRT member

AEU president Meredith Peace replies: The AEU has clearly identified and publi-cised its demands and will continue to lobby and hold all political parties to account.

A pome for KevinI WROTE this summary of Kevin Donnelly’s views. It sums up his feelings, it’s shorter than what he comes up with, and it rhymes. His tripe needs to be laughed at rather than item-by-item responded to. A Message To The School Children Of AustraliaBe the best that you can be. Climb higher up the learning tree. Have your special needs assessed, Savour the pleasures of success. Grab the skills to reach your dream, Mutual respect feeds self-esteem. But if your manners you’re forgettin’,You’re gunna cop a belting, cretin.Peter Collins Mordialloc College

SEND LETTERS TOaeunews@aeuvic.asn.au. Letters should be no more than 200 words and include name, workplace and contact details. Letters may be edited for space and clarity. Next deadline: 27 August 2014

I encourage all CRTs

to get involved in

their local network.

5www.aeuvic.asn.au

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REP OF THE MONTHAlison Withers, Brauer College

WITH A dozen members in excess at a school with declining enrolments and a budget in serious deficit, sub-branch president Alison Withers has had her work cut out.

Organiser Rosemary Crowe says Alison has had to fight every inch to ensure proper processes are followed at Brauer College.

But the rep has also been an emotional rock to those members going through upheaval, Crowe says.

“Alison is one of the hardest working reps I know, in an extraordinarily difficult school. She’s not scared of the good fight but she always does it constructively and graciously.”

While some have left, eight staff remain in excess almost two years after the process began.

“It’s been devastating for them,” Alison says. “Nothing is ever cut and dried and people just don’t know where they are. Teaching has been their career and their chances of getting another job in the region are pretty remote.”

NOMINATE YOUR REPEmail aeunews@aeuvic.asn.au telling us who you’re nominating and why. Each month’s rep receives a limited edition AEU leather briefcase.

LABOR RULES OUT PERFORMANCE PAYDaniel Andrews pledges good faith bargaining but offers few promises on funding.

Nic Barnard AEU News

A LABOR government will not introduce performance pay in schools, Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews pledged at the AEU’s branch conference.

The party would also seek to close the funding gap that sees Victoria spend $1,881 less per student than the national average, Andrews said — though he would not say how or how quickly the gap would be closed.

Andrews joined Greens spokeswoman Sue Pennicuik at the annual conference. Liberal leader Denis Napthine and Education Minister Martin Dixon declined invitations.

Andrews was light on promises or details but strong on acknowledging the profession. “You will not get from us this belligerent … dog whistling to the community that you don’t work hard, that our educationalists aren’t the best anywhere,” he said.

AEU president Meredith Peace said she was content with Andrews’ message — for now. “He clearly understands the work our members do and the importance of public education, and he’s identified many of the key issues. The question now is what he’s prepared to do about them.”

Andrews said Coalition cuts had left a system running on “goodwill”. “These cuts

across the system hold all of us back.”On funding reform, he said Labor would

“never give up on Gonski” — but warned members to be “realistic” when the Coalition in Canberra refused to honour the final two years of the deal and two-thirds of the money.

With a similar caveat, he also affirmed Labor’s commitment to the Coalition-threatened 15 hours’ preschool.

On TAFE, Andrews flatly refused to recognise a link between the training market Labor had created and the destruc-tion subsequently wrought by the Napthine Government. That earned a sharp rebuke from TAFE vice president Greg Barclay: “I’m sorry, Labor — competition is at the core of this disaster.”

But Andrews’ main message to members was industrial: “Improving the system and rewarding our teachers are in many respects one and the same.” The Coalition was ideo-logically committed to performance pay, he said, “pitting one teacher against another with a limited pool of funds”.

“Measuring performance through some formula that amounts to nothing more than a tick or a cross, increment or no increment, is wrong and it’s not supported by Labor.” •

Education & union news

6 AEU NEWSÂVOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

No succour for Deakin MP over GonskiSCHOOL GATE visits and morning teas marked the latest round in the campaign to pressure the Abbott Government to honour the full six years of Gonski funding.

Members in the marginal Deakin electorate highlighted the impact that the Federal Government’s decision to scrap the final two years of the six-year Gonski reforms would have on students.

They were among hundreds of schools that held events across Australia to mark National Gonski Week.

Victoria’s focus on Deakin keeps the pressure on its 32-year-old Liberal MP, Michael Sukkar, who in June rebuffed teachers and parents when I Give A Gonski campaigners travelled to Canberra to lobby their local MPs.

Coalition MPs failed to rise to the occasion. One tried to cancel her appointment, another sent a young aide instead, while Sukkar flatly refused a request from his delegation to take up the issue with Education Minister Christopher Pyne and Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Whitehorse Primary School teacher Tanya Burton, a member of the delegation, said: “He’s our federally elected member, he’s supposed to represent us. We flew interstate to meet him — and he told us we should go and meet Abbot and Pyne ourselves.”

Tanya had described to the MP the reality of an unsustain-able system where high-needs children depended on support from volunteers. She was unimpressed with Sukkar’s claim that he couldn’t answer every call for funding.

“It’s his job to prioritise where that funding goes — and education and health should be at the top of the list.”

Two years earlier, it was a different story. Tanya and her colleagues travelled to Canberra to lobby for Gonski under the Gillard government, and felt on the cusp of one of the most exciting and progressive education reforms the country had seen.

But although the recent meetings were disheartening, Tanya was energised by connecting with other campaigners. “Don’t ever think you’re the only one — lots of people believe in it.”

Get involved in the campaign at igiveagonski.com.au. •

REVERSE THE TAFE CUTS, CANDIDATES TOLDPoliticians will be held to account over pledges to invest in TAFE.

Nic Barnard AEU News

ELECTION CANDIDATES will be asked to pledge their support for TAFE and to work towards reversing the cuts.

Labor MP Maree Edwards and Macedon Greens candidate Neil Barker (pictured above) were among the first to sign up as the TAFE4ALL campaign travelled to Bendigo to kick off the drive.

Candidates will be presented with a giant pledge to sign, which they can display in their offices. The AEU and its members aim to approach every candidate from the main political parties, and union vice president Greg Barclay warned: “We will hold them to their pledge if elected.”

The pledge affirms that candidates “recognise and value the important role TAFE plays”, and that if elected will work towards reversing the cuts, ensuring fair fees and fair access, and long-term investment in high-quality provision.

The drive comes as figures reveal the profits being made by private providers as they grab a growing share of the vocational education and training market.

The Age reported that total government funding to the VET sector nation-ally has increased by more than 8% a year over the past five years and now stands at about $7 billion. In Victoria, it increased from $136m in 2009 to $804m in 2012. Shares in one private provider have doubled.

TAFE activists will aim for face-to-face meetings with candidates. Maree Edwards, MP for Bendigo West, met local TAFE member Sue Kirby, AEU TAFE and adult provision VP Barclay and campaign organiser Meaghan Flack.

Also signing at the meeting was Bendigo East MP Jacinta Allan — a familiar name to TAFE members for her role as former skills minister in introducing the first wave of TAFE reforms, and a sign that the political impact of TAFE cuts is being felt.

Flack said the delegation used the meeting to drive home the personal cost of the TAFE cuts. “Fee increases have hit student wellbeing, their options have narrowed as courses close and some courses are priced out of reach, and we’ve seen attrition rates increase.”

Staff face continued uncertainty. Bendigo recently merged with Kangan TAFE which has just undergone a further round of redundancies. •

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SCHOOLS SEED BIG IDEASYou can grow more than just pumpkins from pumpkin seeds, says TV gardener Costa Georgiadis.

Rachel Power AEU News

COSTA IS a big believer in the “ripple effect” — the idea that one small sustainable act can have consequences far beyond the original intention.

Host of ABC’s Gardening Australia program, Costa Georgiadis is a landscape architect with an all-consuming passion for plants and people and a unique ability to bring out the best in each. Both were on display in his keynote speech at the AEU/IEU Green Schools Conference.

The ripple effect is what allows you to take the simple act of “growing two bloody pumpkins” and layer on multiple educational themes. “You can get two pumpkins — one you’ve grown and one you’ve brought in — and from there you can value-add an entire story,” Costa told AEU News.

“So the front story’s going to be, ‘OK, let’s cut the pumpkin, let’s see how many seeds are

in there, let’s dry them, let’s store them, and then let’s see how and when they should be grown for next year.

“Then you talk about how the next pumpkin will be more local than the one you brought in. And then the following year’s will be super local, and then the next year they’ll be super-tough street fighters that will totally handle the space.”

All that schools need is “10 square metres sitting somewhere” to set up a vegie patch.

“You could plant four pumpkins and from there you could end up with three-quarters of a ton of pumpkin from the seeds. That’s enough to feed the whole school!

“But on the other hand, if you don’t have a garden and you can’t have pumpkins, then go to the local growers’ market and meet the farmer. Ask him where did he grow them, when did he grow them, take some pictures…

“Then, of course, cook the pumpkin soup. Get the kids to bring in their own cup and talk about the sustainability of not creating waste: ‘wash against waste’…”

All this from two pumpkins.Costa joined comedian Rod Quantock,

sustainable education group and conference sponsor Cool Australia and members from government and private schools in sharing tips, good practice and successful projects.

He says that while many sustainability projects initially rely on one or two fired-up teachers, they can grow from there.

“Yesterday, while I was giving a talk at my local school, I had two more teachers come up to talk about the possibility of chickens and another about worms, so their interest is building and that’s what it’s about.” •Costa Georgiadis’s website is costasworld.org.

Far left: Costa GeorgiadisLeft: Costa with fellow speakers at the Green Schools conference including Rod Quantock (right) and Jason Kimberly of Cool Australia

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8 AEU NEWSÂVOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

Now online: our training videosOUR FIRST training webinars are now available to view online in a new service for members.

The AEU last month launched its new series of webinars on consultation and tips for new reps. The first sessions saw members logging on from Portland to Sale.

Members can catch up at www.aeuvic. asn.au/training_videos. You can watch the presentation, follow the onscreen chat and download the training materials. The videos are members-only, so have your login and password handy.

The series on consultation is timely — principals and sub-branches must agree on

structures and processes for the coming year by September 1.

The webinars come in response to demand from members who said they found it hard to travel to training after school. Find out how to log on at www.aeuvic.asn.au/webinars. Upcoming session include:

Consultation: September 1: Workforce planning; October 14: Long term planning document abd your SRP; October 28: How to negotiate.

New reps: August 18: Running effective meetings; September 8: Agreement basics.•

NAPTHINE PUTS TUNNEL OVER SCHOOLSCan our public schools afford the East-West link?

Nic Barnard AEU News

THE NAPTHINE Government’s controver-sial East-West link could suck funding from much-needed education infrastructure, the AEU has warned.

AEU branch president Meredith Peace said members would judge the merits of the planned highway for themselves, but the scale of the project — and the urgency with which the Coalition is attempting to drive it through — would have a huge impact on Government finances for years to come.

The road and tunnel are projected to cost up to $17 billion, with the first stage costed at between $6bn and $8bn.

That contrasts with the Coalition’s dismal record on school spending over its four-year term. The Napthine Government — elected on a promise to match Labor’s infrastruc-ture plans — has spent barely half of the $1.9bn budgeted by Labor in its final term, despite an election-year budget that tripled the number of school building projects, with announcements totalling $500 million, the majority of which will be spent after 2014.

Budget papers show more than 90 new projects in 2014–15 compared to 30 last year. More than half are in marginal electorates, with a heavy focus on Melbourne’s east.

Much of the plans remain to be confirmed.School maintenance has also fallen away

over the past four years. The Victorian Auditor General last year found that an extra $420m was required to bring schools up to standard. The Coalition has promised only an extra $8.5m for maintenance in the 2014–15 budget.

AEU branch president Meredith Peace said: “The question the Napthine Government has to answer on the East-West Link is this: can Victoria afford it when the building and educational needs of its public schools are so great?

“The Coalition has spent four years letting the schools in its charge fall apart and failing to meet the desperate need for new schools in growth corridors. Yet it’s able to find billions for a road whose business case is at best unproven.”

Opponents have begun court action to prevent the Coalition signing contracts to begin work before election day. Labor opposes the project but says it will not tear up contracts that have already been signed.

Economists argue that spending on education provides a much greater economic stimulus than spending on roads.•

Bentleigh gets a visitBENTLEIGH IS one of the most marginal seats in Victoria, so union and community members have been out in force, knocking on doors to make sure voters understand the issues at November’s state election.

The numbers are impressive — on one Saturday, 126 volunteers, including firefighters, nurses, paramedics, and educators, knocked on 12,380 doors and had conversations with 3,270 people.

The margin to switch Bentleigh is fewer than 300 votes and as AEU members will remember from last year’s EBA campaign, sitting Liberal MP Elizabeth Miller is no friend of public education. Changing Bentleigh means changing the government.

The AEU contingent on the doorsteps included members and staff from receptionist Jenni Woods to president Meredith Peace.

Campaign organiser Meaghan Flack said Bentleigh voters were getting used to being canvassed but were receptive to a visit from union members. “We had some great conver-sations. People understand education issues.”

The weekly doorknocks are organised by We Are Union, the Victorian Trades Hall election campaign, to urge voters to cast their ballots in support of public services. Campaign stalls and leafleting in shopping malls add to the days’ activities.

AEU campaigners secured several hundred signatures to our TAFE4ALL and Put Education 1st campaigns.

With the election barely 100 days away, now is the time to join us on the doorstep. To volunteer, contact AEU campaign organisers Kate Aitken and Meaghan Flack on 1800 013 379.•

AEU volunteer Jenni Woods with Bentleigh local

9www.aeuvic.asn.au

Schools “ideally placed” to host election forumsIN THE lead-up to the Victorian election, one proactive Ballarat primary school hosted a public forum to bring politicians face-to-face with constituents — and shore up education as a number one election priority.

Delacombe Primary School principal Nadia Bettio was inspired to galvanise the community when she heard Pasi Sahlberg speak at the AEU on Finland’s approach to equity and education. “I just thought — this needs to be the corner-stone of any government election,” she says.

Ms Bettio invited Labor candidate Sharon Knight and Liberal Craig Coltman to front the community and answer questions spanning school infrastructure funding, the loss of the Education Maintenance Allowance, Gonski reform, class sizes and school governance.

She was delighted with the turnout and believes that schools are well-placed to be a nexus for political debate. “It’s not about supporting one candidate over another, it’s an upfront and level playing field,” Ms Bettio says.

“It meant we could ask directly: what would your government do, if elected, to ensure that state education is funded adequately?”

The students were a vital part of the process and asked questions too. “It is so important to involve them,” says Ms Bettio. “They need to learn to be active participants in shaping the future of their school and their community.”•If your school is planning an election forum, let us know at melbourne@aeuvic.asn.au.

INSULT TO INJURY: WORKCOVER FAILINGS EXPOSEDInjured teachers are being failed by the workers compensation system, but supportive colleagues and their union can help, a new report finds.

Suzanne Taylor AEU News

A NEW study of Victorian teachers and other workers’ dealings with WorkCover reveals systemic failures in a dehumanising process that can have a serious impact on claimants’ mental health.

The study, prepared for Creative Ministries Network and unveiled at the AEU’s OHS Conference, raises serious concerns about injured workers’ interactions with WorkCover personnel and with managers and colleagues in their own workplaces.

Nine of the 15 participants in the study were AEU Victoria members who had sustained serious injuries at work. The report paints a picture of an unjust, inefficient system driven by an adversarial process focused more on disproving the nature of an injury than on supporting recovery.

“It dehumanises you,” said one inter-viewee. “You’re a non-person … a nuisance policy number.”

Workers identified procedural and administrative issues, exacerbated by poor communication from WorkCover personnel. High staff turnover led to little or no conti-nuity in case management and frequent mistakes.

Injured workers chronicled their experi-ences of having their integrity repeatedly questioned by the system, compounded by the pervasive stigma surrounding being on WorkCover — a sting that the majority of interviewees felt from within their own workplaces.

John Bottomley, CMN founder, said: “Nobody ever says sorry that you’re injured. There’s a deep cultural problem here … injured people often end up being isolated and scapegoated.”

He summarised the trajectory from injury to mental illness as “a collapse of identity, hope and community”. Bottomley has worked for three decades with injured workers and has

studied links between workplace factors and suicide.

“Many of the workers we interviewed once felt highly valued at work, and like they had the trust of their colleagues,” he said. “But once people start to lose that sense of hope and of not being trusted, they become aware of being outsiders in society.”

Researcher Sarah Pollock said that for many workers, the biggest shock was that they had expected justice. “Workers return to work thinking they’ll get a fair outcome, but they’re often expected to return to the same job where nothing has changed, including the situation that caused their injury in the first place,” she said.

Of the 15 people interviewed, only one described her interactions with the workers compensation system as positive.

“We can learn a lot from that teacher and how she was treated,” Pollock said. “She felt her story was believed, her colleagues at the school stayed in touch with her, her principal organised for her to return to work in a way she felt was fair and safe, she felt fully supported by the AEU — and she had a great GP.”

The case highlighted that despite the high-level systemic issues, colleagues on the ground could still make a positive difference.

“At the heart of what the injured workers wanted was to be acknowledged as good workers who were injured, so those human interactions are extremely powerful in people’s recovery,” Pollock said. •An abridged version of Mental health impacts on workers involved in the Victorian WorkCover system by Sarah Pollock will be available at dro.deakin.edu.au from August 18.

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Enrol your students to voteTHE VICTORIAN Electoral Commission has free resources for schools to use to teach students about civics and citizenship and encourage them to enrol to vote in the state election on November 29.

The deadline for enrolling is November 11; 17-year-olds can enrol now and can vote if they turn 18 on or before election day. VEC officers also visit schools. Find out more about the Passport to Democracy program and student enrolments at www.vec.vic.gov.au.•

L-R: John Bottomley and Sarah Pollock

10 AEU NEWSÂVOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

FUNDING DOUBTS PUT TWO-THIRDS OF NEW TEACHERS ON CONTRACTNew teachers’ work is affected by the need to constantly reapply for their jobs.

Nic Barnard AEU News

“TRY BEFORE you buy” has become endemic in Victorian schools, with 65% of teachers in their first five years employed on contract.

The AEU’s Beginning Teachers Survey found that half of new educators do not see themselves teaching for more than 10 years, with many citing job insecurity as the factor driving them out of the profession.

AEU president Meredith Peace said: “Our schools are forced to offer contract positions because the State Government does not provide enough funding certainty for princi-pals to make long-term, informed decisions.

“Victorian students are currently funded $1881 less than the national average and this is impacting on the decisions principals are making on employment of staff and programs and support for students.”

Teachers fear the impact of job insecu-rity is being felt in the classroom. The need to reapply for positions often comes during planning and report writing seasons. Seven out of 10 new teachers said their work was affected by the need to reapply. “Reapplying for your job is incredibly stressful,” one said.

Meanwhile teachers reported spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars out of their own pockets on classroom resources.

The survey also found that a quarter of

new teachers were required to teach outside their specialism.

Workload and levels of support continue to be major issues for new teachers. Only 57% of those in their first year of teaching were sure they had received the agreed 5% cut in workload; a quarter did not have a mentor, and of those that did, half did not have enough time to meet properly.

In comments, teachers highlighted the difficulty in finding work and the huge hours they needed to put in as major concerns. “There is a lot of pressure put on young teachers and not much support,” one said. “I’ve often felt out of my depth.”

“I can’t remember having a weekend without planning or marking, since I started teaching,” another wrote.

Others felt under-prepared by their teacher education course. Starting work “Felt like being dumped in the deep end of the pool and not being shown how to swim,” one said.

The AEU is calling on parties to commit to reducing the number of beginning teachers on contract. Peace said: “These teachers are the future of our profession and should not be treated with such disregard. The Government must give them better support and job security.”•

Tell your preschool story

TEACHERS AND parents are asked to tell their story of what preschool education means to them and their children as the campaign to preserve 15 hours of kindergarten steps up a gear.

An announcement on funding is imminent after the Federal Government completed a review of the national reforms that have given every 4-year-old the right to 15 hours’ preschool a week.

Until last year, many 4-year-olds received only 10 hours’ preschool a week and many parents and educators say they have seen the difference in their children’s improved socialisa-tion, vocabulary and readiness for school.

Supporters of the 15 hours campaign are asked to email senior federal and state politi-cians through the AEU campaign website to say what difference they have seen the extra hours make.

The 15 hours provision is jointly funded by state and federal governments. The Commonwealth could continue or abandon its funding, or roll funding over for a year — an option floated in the May budget.

Tell your story at www.aeuvic.asn.au/preschool. •

Principals “must do more with less”PRINCIPALS ARE being forced to do more with less as the Napthine Government devolves yet more powers to school leaders in the name of “autonomy”.

A further 30 school management powers have been handed to principals despite warnings that they are buckling under the pressure following the axing of departmental support when the Government merged its nine regional education offices into four and slashed

public sector jobs.“Our principals simply don’t have sufficient

resources to take on this additional workload, and increasingly feel they have virtually been left on their own,” AEU president Meredith Peace said.

“Over 90% of principals have told us that support from their regional office has deterio-rated in the past 12 months. Regional offices are critical for principals. At the very least,

restoring staffing levels is vital to ensuring that principals and schools get the support they need.”

Workload and stress topped the list of prin-cipals’ concerns in the AEU’s most recent state of our schools survey.

“If the Napthine Government is serious about improving outcomes for our schools and students, they must commit to a well-resourced, high quality public school sector. •

11www.aeuvic.asn.au

AEU SEEKS LAPTOP PAYBACKDepartment tells court teachers “don’t need laptops”.

Rachel Power AEU News

JUSTICE MORDECAI Bromberg is now considering the AEU’s landmark laptop case after five days of evidence in the Federal Court.

The AEU argues that teachers and principals should be supplied with laptops free of charge as an essential tool of their trade. The union is suing the Education Department for “loss and damages”, and seeks repayment of the fort-nightly deductions of up to $17 made from teachers’ salaries, plus interest, since July 2009.

Acting for the AEU, Richard Niall QC argued that the Government had exploited the good will of teachers in making them pay for necessary equipment, and that the deductions were not authorised under the Fair Work Act, the Schools Agreement or any law.

The Department claims that laptops are not needed by Victorian teachers to perform their duties. That claim was described as “rubbish” by AEU member Nick Weir of Kingsville Primary School. “There is no way to write a school report if you don’t have a laptop.”

Witnesses for the AEU emphasised the increased use of ICT as an essential aspect of their work both inside and outside of the classroom.

Erin O’Grady, teacher and VCAL sub-school manager at Hume Valley Special School, said there was “a big increase in online learning this year for all staff” at her school.

The laptop enabled her to do many of the creative aspects of her job outside hours, particularly undertaking training and devising units of work and PD programs for staff, she told the court.

“I didn’t license a laptop due to benefits,” O’Grady said, “but because I need it to do my job.”

The department also argues that teachers benefit from the increased flex-ibility to work from home and to use the leased notebooks privately, while the deductions from teachers’ pre-tax salary are a personal and financial benefit akin to “salary-packaging”.

The notebook arrangements were initially introduced in 1999. Over 85% of government school teachers currently lease a notebook from the department.

A decision in the case is expected later this year. •AMES talks breakthroughAMES members have pulled back from industrial action after progress in agreement negotiations with management.

As AEU News went to press, the union and negotiators from the Adult Multicultural Education Service were due to meet to redraft clauses.

AMES members in June voted unanimously to seek a ballot for industrial action following the breakdown in negotiations as management sought to increase teaching loads.

A sticking point remains as the Napthine Government demands that AMES seek a clause that would require both parties to consent to arbitration in the event of a dispute. The AEU opposes such clauses and no such provision was included in the Schools Agreement last year. •

NEWS IN BRIEF

Gillespie gets on boardELAINE GILLESPIE was unanimously voted in as AEU deputy vice president for TAFE and adult provision at the August 1 TAP council meeting.

A senior educator at the Centre for Collaborative Teaching and Learning at Victoria University TAFE, Elaine said she was inspired to stand by her week on the Anna Stewart Memorial Project which involved sitting in on AMES negotiations; she’s also been part of EBA negotiations at VU.

The sector faces major challenges. Elaine said she was looking forward to getting to grips with TAFE EBA negotations, and learning more about issues in the adult disability services sector. “I’m very aware of the impact the National Disability Insurance Scheme is having,” she said.

She has seen first hand the damaging impact of the TAFE cuts. Redundancies drip-fed over two years amount to hundreds of jobs lost, while students are unable to complete qualifications because of soaring fees or take the next step because pathway courses have been axed.

August brings schools payriseTEACHERS, PRINCIPALS and ES will have received the latest pay rise under the Victorian Government Schools

Agreement last week.The agreement delivered

pay rises each February and August, as well as increments in May for those still climbing the pay scale.

Wear It Purple in AugustFRIDAY AUGUST 29 is Wear It Purple Day, celebrating the sexuality and gender diversity of students to work towards creating safe and inclusive schools. Wear It Purple is a youth-led organisation that supports and empowers rainbow — sexuality and gender diverse — young people. The day has a simple message: everyone has a right to be proud of who they are.

Schools can encourage staff to wear purple, run a purple-themed plain-clothes day, or allow students to add purple to their uniform. Wear it Purple wristbands are available. For a range of resources and more informa-tion on how to get involved, go to wearitpurple.org.

Anti-Poverty Week 2014IT’S NEVER too soon to start planning activities for Anti-Poverty Week which this year runs from October 12–18. The AEU has resources available at www.aeufederal.org.au — look under “Current campaigns”. Members are encouraged to include APW in lessons and partici-pate in activities. Order or download posters, postcards and booklet Social Inclusion at School: How to Help Low-income Families, at www.antipovertyweek.org.au.•

With a state government refusing to provide adequate support for Victoria’s most

vulnerable students, principals, teachers and support staff are struggling to meet

their needs. GEOFF MASLEN reports.

The needs not met

IT IS late in the evening when I call the principal at home. He heads a rural primary school in a far-flung corner of

the state and, perhaps because it’s the end of a long, hard day, he sounds worried and exhausted.

“We’ve just had an end-of-term review looking at the children who need help. Out of our nearly 400 kids, 85 have been classed as having special needs and that includes four in preps who are autistic,” he says. “But we get funding for only 15, including one of the autistic children — the other three were rated by the psychologist as having IQs too high to be eligible for special assistance.

“The money is just not there and we’re really struggling to cope. Many of our children are from low socio-economic backgrounds and although we get equity funding, we have to use a lot of that to support the special needs kids by providing additional support for the classroom teachers.”

The school receives grants to help the one in six Koorie children and that likewise means greater support for teachers in the early grades. But then the principal adds: “Getting them to school, though, is a real challenge. When you have a school with a highly diverse group of pupils and not enough support to provide them all with the help they need, it makes things very difficult.”

To avoid adverse reactions from prospec-tive teacher applicants and potential new parents, the school and principal are not being named. Yet for the past eight years, he has put in 10 hours every day with a dedicated team of teachers to create a happy, well-run school even though the job gets harder every year.

Our Action PlanThis is the third in a series of features on the AEU’s action plan for schools in the state election.

REDUCING CLASS SIZES1in upper primary and secondary years, to give all kids the individual attention they need

PROVIDING A CURRICULUM2that meets students' individual needs, talents and interests

MORE SUPPORT FOR ALL KIDS3ensuring that all kids get the support they need to thrive, at all levels of learning and development

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING CLASSROOMS

4

because all students deserve to be educated in up-to-date facilities, regardless of their school's location

ONGOING SUPPORT ANDDEVELOPMENT

5

making our school communities stronger through adequate support and development for our school leaders and staff

OUR ACTION PLAN TO GIVE EVERY CHILD EVERY CHANCE:

12 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

This is Victoria in the 21st century, where thousands of state school students are denied the assistance they should be getting to overcome socio-economic disadvantages, trying to learn with English their second or third language, speech disorders, intellectual and physical disabilities, problems with literacy and numeracy, or lack of adequate preparation to join the workforce.

This is the state, says AEU Victoria president Meredith Peace, where the Victorian Government spends $1,881 less per student each year than the Australian national average — a gap that increased by $400 over the previous 12 months “and is the widest it has ever been”.

Peace says the dire financial situation confronting state schools has been compounded by government cuts to programs that were supporting children with learning needs or disabilities, along with literacy and numeracy coaches, Koorie support and VCAL coordinators. The school portion of the education maintenance allowance was removed in 2013 and the parents’ share will be gone completely by next year.

“We know the achievement gap between children from low-SES families and those from high-SES backgrounds is widening,” she says. “For a country such as Australia to allow children from disadvantaged backgrounds to fall further and further behind is inexcusable.

“Any party that expects to be taken seriously as a party of government must say what it plans to do to close this gap.”

In Geelong, Oberon Primary School council president Jessica O’Brien has firsthand

experience of the lack of support available to a special needs child. She says being council president has given her an insight into the varying issues that arise in schools and a better understanding of the difficulties principals face.

But that was little comfort when her son went into prep grade and she had to wait 18 months to receive an assessment for his speech

impediment — and another six months before they first met a speech pathologist.

“We finally had one term of fortnightly, half-hour meetings with the pathologist. That was all, and was barely useful because speech pathology is something that can go on for years,” Ms O’Brien says.

“Parents are expected to do a lot at home to help the child but with speech pathology there is no bandaid solution; it can’t be fixed quickly. The therapist gives you directions as to the homework you should do at night but it’s frustrating when a child needs extra help and doesn’t get it.”

With a limited number of speech thera-pists available, children with impediments go on a waiting list but even if they are assessed and seen, it will be for only a term. So the O’Brien family has to pay to get help in the

private sector “which puts another stress on the family budget”.

“I can speak up and source outside help, but what happens to parents who don’t know what to do, who don’t receive the resources they need within the school?” Ms O’Brien says.

“Our communities are less connected than they used to be and school, the place where children spend a large part of their time, is where we should provide the services they

need so kids are not going to fall through the cracks.”

At the other end of the state, Vern Hilditch is principal of Wodonga Senior Secondary College and also has problems finding speech therapists and other

support specialists. Hilditch has charge of nearly 1000

students and 120 teachers and non-teaching staff — while also coordinating support for a 66-strong network of schools across the northern region.

“Finding the support staff to work for us up here has been enormously difficult,” Hilditch says, “so we’ve had to outsource support services and buy in private providers — often the specialists who used to work in the department.

“We have about half the support staffing component we require and the other half we have to buy in. With funding of about $1.4 million a year, we distribute $800,000 to the schools to pay for their own services and about $550,000 to cover the salaries of the department’s support staff employees.”

1 CLASS SIZES 2 CURRICULUM 3 STUDENT SUPPORT 4 FACILITIES 5 STAFF

SUPPORT

Parents are expected to do a lot at home to help the child but with speech pathology there is no bandaid solution; it can’t be fixed quickly. Jessica O’Brien and son Alec.

We have about half the support staffing component we require and the other half we have to buy in.

13www.aeuvic.asn.au

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But the $800,000 allocation to schools amounts to only $29 per student across the region, compared with $49 per student available to schools in the southern region. Mr Hilditch says this arrangement was based on some past apportioning that now bears no relationship to the actual demands for support staff.

“When I asked the department about this, I was told that no-one was prepared to change the system. Yet in some parts of this region the challenges are enormous, although some of Melbourne’s fast-growing outer areas are probably worse off than I am.”

Following the Coalition Government’s decision in 2012 to convert Victoria’s former nine education regions into four huge conglomerates and eliminate 25% of the regional workforce, networks of principals were created, each with a coordinator who has assumed the role former regional officials had.

With his network schools stretching from Corryong to Harrietville and down to

Yarrawonga, Mr Hilditch says some principals face a two-hour trip to get to meetings held in Wangaratta.

“These long distances affect the whole issue of transport. I have four support staff officers who work out of Wodonga and they share one departmental car. So they have to use their own vehicles and it becomes more and more difficult managing the cost of transport.

“But I’m not yet prepared to tell schools we can’t provide student support because we don’t have the transport.”

Hilditch points to what he calls the “differential” between metropolitan and rural schools: most of the 66 in his network are small rural schools with fewer than 100 students. Yet many of these have greater needs than bigger schools and “the small amount of dollars to meet those needs doesn’t go far enough”.

Back in Melbourne, Karen Money is principal of the northern suburbs’ William Ruthven Secondary College, where nearly two-thirds of the 475 students are from low-SES, non-English-speaking homes. Ms Money and her staff have focused on boosting

the students’ literacy and numeracy levels with leading teachers acting as coaches.

“We had national partnership money for the literacy and numeracy program before it ended,” she says. “We used the school’s leading teachers as mentors for subject teachers and as coaches with groups of students to increase the capacity of our higher performing students and to build scaffolding support for kids needing extension.”

The partnership program started in 2012 and over two years resulted in marked student improvements across years 7 to 9 while also boosting the performance of last year’s VCE students, Ms Money says.

“But now I have to hive off funds from more basic sources to try to keep these programs going,” she says. “Although they are still running, without the partnership funds it means my role as VCAL coordinator of other schools has had to drop off the table.”

The AEU budget submission earlier this year highlighted the impact of government cuts to education spending on support for students with special needs. The submission noted that the loss of at least 400 positions from central and regional departmental staff had diminished the department’s capacity to assist schools in providing instructional and welfare support for vulnerable students.

“Schools have been hit by the disappear-ance of literacy and numeracy support officers, Koorie support officers, Reading Recovery tutors and regional network leaders. The union’s State of Our Schools survey in 2013 found that over 90% of principals reported that regional support for schools had deterio-rated over the past year,” the submission said.

“Greater support for instruction and student welfare has to be provided by the department, and the resource level reductions which occurred through the restructure of the regional office system must be properly compensated for and reversed.”

The submission noted that government cuts to VCAL, the VET in schools program and the education maintenance allowance fell disproportionately on students from low-SES backgrounds “as do cuts to TAFE funding”.

“The Napthine Government needs to show that it recognises the longstanding and fundamental role of governments in Australia in assisting those who are vulnerable and ‘doing it tough’ by using public resources to ameliorate rather than worsen their situation.”•Geoff Maslen blogs at geoffmaslen.edublogs.org.

William Ruthven Secondary College

principal Karen Money with

students

14 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

WHAT does an ES do? On any given day, Michelle Gillin can be found in her prep classroom at Warragul and District Special School, creating

communication devices for non-verbal students, or helping her charges to shop for a meal which they’ll cook and eat together.

Or she might be found clomping around her farm, teaching kids about animals, gardening and the delicate art of collecting eggs from the chook pen. “I just love this job — you get to use all the life skills you’ve acquired over the years and pass them on.”

Then there’s the pastoral aspect — Michelle jokes she’s “part-psychologist” because of the need to be attuned to students’ wellbeing.

Across Port Phillip Bay, Debra Windon’s day at Cobden Technical School might begin with running an intensive literacy support group, and end assisting students in motor mechanics, music, psychology or science. “Tomorrow I’ve got a Small Engines class so it’s all about pistons and camshafts,” she says. “We have to be a jack of all trades.”

ES staff can be integration aides, admin officers, library staff, lab assistants, groundskeepers, tutors. Nola Sedgwick of Geelong High School started out as an integration aide but now works in education administration, on data entry and filing, supporting staff with risk assessments, answering phones, circulating briefing notes. She loves feeling she’s part of a team making things happen.

“If you have goals and work together, you can achieve so much more — whether that’s setting up a new program ... or coordinating an overseas trip. All those special things take a team of people to make them happen, not just the classroom teacher.”

Many ES go above and beyond for their students. When she’s not helping them to master everything from welding to leatherwork, Debra Windon works on building their confi-dence through extra-curricular activities like dirt-bike racing and clay pigeon shooting.

Her rationale is clear: “If students don’t have confidence in themselves, they’re not likely to succeed at school or stick with it.”

ES have a front row view of the impact of underfunding. Integration aides often end up working with more children than they are officially funded to assist, thanks to the parsi-monious system of assessing and funding students with special needs.

Respect due for support staff

Top: Cobden Technical School ES Debra Windon

Middle: Michelle Gillin from Warragul and District Special School.

Bottom: “Respect” cupcakes enjoyed at an ES Recognition Month morning tea

Education support staff keep the wheels of our schools

turning. But they can be first in line when cuts bite.

SUZANNE TAYLOR reports.

“The kids who are borderline miss out on the funding,” says Debra. “It’s common to have four students in one class who really need extra help, and only one has been officially funded to receive it.”

She recalls one Year 9 student who struggled with short-term memory problems and very basic literacy and numeracy, but didn’t qualify for assistance because he was assessed as one point over the cut-off score of 70.

“You’re behind the eight ball to start off with, having to get around to all those extra students with needs, without distracting the other class members. We get some tough and difficult kids but we just battle our way through it.”

Cathy Wong, an integration aide at Shepparton High School, says cuts to ES staff mean “more disruptions in class. This will put more pressure on classroom teachers.” Nola agrees: “If the ES staff member is taken out of a class, there’s not another pair of eyes to help. It puts the teacher at heightened risk and creates more anxiety for them too, having to cater for the higher needs students.”

And despite their integral role, job security is a huge issue — 45% of ES staff are on temporary contracts.

“I never know from one year to the next what hours I’m going to get,” says Debra. “When December comes around, you’re starting to wonder financially if you’re going to have the dollars for the next year. It leaves you up in the air over Christmas.” •As part of ES Recognition Month, the AEU is running social events across Victoria to bring ES staff together, meet AEU organisers and discuss current ES issues. Details at www.aeuvic.asn.au/esmonth.

15www.aeuvic.asn.au

The abandoning of Koorie education

Left: Julie Griffin-Hunter with her

son, Matt Ladiges

Wannik promised a new future for Koorie education. Instead the

Napthine Government has let programs lapse, educators lose their

jobs and students miss out. ANNA MCALISTER reports.

JULIA Griffin-Hunter was flabbergasted when Thornbury High School announced they’d let their four Koorie-education

tutors go. “I thought it was a joke at first, it’s just that stupid,” she says.

Her son, Matt Ladiges, is in Year 10. At primary school Matt was cheeky and fond of fighting. In Year 7 he was terrified of maths tests but with regular tutoring at Thornbury he’s been earning credits, distinctions and HDs.

Indigenous project officer Guy Neaves’ job is also under threat. “Guy helps me a lot because he’s different to the other teachers,” says Matt. “I can talk to him.”

When Matt had a brush with the law Neaves organised all the legal requirements. When Matt broke his leg badly earlier this year, Neaves and the tutors made a back-to-school plan so he could attend part-time. They offered to reduce his workload but he chose to do all his exams and assignments — plaster, crutches and all.

If you’re at a school with a high Indigenous population, chances are you’re in a frustrating limbo, waiting for the Napthine Government’s review into Koorie education.

The review is months overdue and, while schools wait, program funding is lapsing and Koorie ed staff are losing their jobs. Attendance rates are dropping. Programs that had turned around the performance of many Indigenous children have stalled.

Thornbury principal Peter Egeberg resorted to private philanthropy and a 40-day crowdfunding campaign (through chuffed.org) to try to restore the school’s Indigenous programs. His four Koorie-ed tutors were let PH

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16 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

Left: Guy Neaves with students from Thornbury HS Below: Shepparton High School assistant principal Ashley Robinson and Linda Miller, Koorie educator

go at the end of last term; Neaves is paid from the school’s budget — for now — and says governments don’t understand the level of need. “Programs don’t just fix everything after a year or two, they need to be ongoing and they need time to grow.”

“The fact that Thornbury has to get funding from the public is absolutely outra-geous,” says the AEU’s Erin Aulich, who takes the lead on Koorie education for the union.

Egeberg says that, until now, Neaves and the tutors formed a two-pronged approach. “We need someone who can get the kids

to school in the first place. Then we have to make sure that we engage them in the classroom, which is where the tutors come in,” he says.

“We used to get about $50,000 to employ tutors, who were qualified teachers working with Indigenous students in the classrooms. The program is working and we’ve noticed a change in attitude from our most at-risk kids, so it’s worth fighting for. It’s certainly very much supported by the Koorie community. This year we have our largest number ever of Indigenous students doing Year 12.”

Neaves says Koorie students quickly responded to the introduction of Indigenous

tutors. “The relationships got a lot stronger with not just students but parents, families and tutors. It’s all come together. We’ve made great progress in the last year. We’ve brought a lot of kids back to school and created a great system and environment for them.”

Julia left school in Year 9. She’s on a disability pension and has a psychiatric illness. “I don’t feel that confident to walk into the school coordinator’s office,” she says. “I felt better when I could just lob over to the Koorie office, fit in, speak the way I speak. They understood me.”

Matt’s father died when he was a baby. “Guy is a good example for Matty of how a proud Aboriginal man should be, how he should carry himself,” says Julia. “He has a wife and he’s a foster parent, which shows the school kids how a man should look after his family. That’s the sort of man I want my son to be.”

Julia fears that without his tutors Matt won’t pass Years 11 and 12, let alone achieve the professional career she’d like for him. She says Thornbury’s Indigenous education program is about breaking a cycle of disad-vantage. “Their education is not a privilege. It’s being made to feel like a privilege at the

moment but it really is their right.”Thornbury needs $52,000 to bring

back the tutors plus $30,000 to pay Neaves for the rest of the year. Even if it succeeds, crowdfunding and philanthropy are hardly long-term solutions. Egeberg is also planning a protest rally for Thornbury’s Indigenous students outside Parliament House.

Victorian Labor’s Wannik funding model for Koorie education, launched in 2008, revo-lutionised Indigenous education at Thornbury and many other schools. But it ran out at the end of 2013.

Meanwhile, the Gonski funding reforms were intended to provide dedicated funding for Indigenous students; but delivery of Gonski money in Victoria has been marked by a complete lack of transparency. With the Abbott Government slashing the two final, most lucrative, years of the Gonski model, schools educating a large number of Indigenous students are getting desperate.

Three out of four government schools have an Aboriginal student, and 7% have more than 20 Koorie students. That means resources cannot be targeted at one officer in one school — every teacher needs to be account-able and trained for all students. But that requires funding and time for PD, says AEU vice president Aulich.

It’s important that there’s also funding and resourcing for a dedicated Koorie workforce to support those staff and work with Koorie students with complex needs. “Whatever the review concludes, there has to be the money and resources to support its outcomes,” Aulich says. “We’ve already seen what happens when you take money out. What is happening at

Programs don’t just fix everything after a year or two — they need to be ongoing and they need time to grow. Guy Neaves

17www.aeuvic.asn.au

Thornbury High and elsewhere is a direct result of the Napthine Government letting programs lapse and cutting funding. The needs are huge and ongoing but there is no money to meet them. Schools are trying to meet those needs from their own budgets, which only means cuts elsewhere.”

ASHLEY Robinson, assistant principal at Shepparton High School, just wants

some predictable resourcing so he can plan Koorie-education programs in advance.

Shepparton has 73 Indigenous students — almost 10% of the student population. In 2012 it received $73,000 for Indigenous students; this year it got just $9000 in Gonski funding for Indigenous support, English as an addi-tional language support, low-socio-economic and disability support combined. The school budget pays its one full-time Koorie-education staff member, Linda Miller.

“With Wannik we got a number of tutors for educational and mentoring roles and they had a massive effect on our Indigenous kids’ engagement,” says Robinson. Without these staff, many of Shepparton’s at-risk Indigenous students have stopped coming to school.

“The students would meet with our Koorie educator in the morning, then catch up with their tutor and the tutor would get them into class. It’s that personal touch, that welcoming feeling. It’s hard to measure that in numbers but it’s something you see every single day, how much these kids feel at home at the school. And that’s been missing over the last 12 months.”

State public service cuts have also hurt. Wannik provided Koorie-education support officers (KESOs) employed by DEECD. “The KESOs are fantastic, really proactive,” says Robinson. But with regions cut from nine to four across Victoria, Shepparton now shares one KESO with over a dozen other schools.

Shepparton’s teachers were working with the KESOs to shape their pedagogy around Indigenous students’ needs and raise cultural awareness among staff. But they can no longer afford to release teachers for this essential professional development.

“We were closing the gap,” says Robinson. “Our Indigenous and non-Indigenous students were remarkably similar in NAPLAN and VELS levels. And now we’ve got massive concerns that it’s going to drop back where it was before Wannik.”

Mildura Primary School has 130 Indigenous students — a third of its student body. It is in a very low socio-economic area and has historically received significant funding for low-SES and Indigenous children. The school has a KESO three days a week..

Assistant principal Sue McGinty says there’s a crucial focus on prep students and their parents, which demands resourcing. “Our biggest issue is that we get Indigenous students starting school with a very low oral language base, and to grow a child from a two-and-a-half-year-old to a six-year-old at the end of Prep is very difficult,” she says.

Mildura’s Koorie-education funding pays for experienced teachers to deliver literacy and numeracy acceleration to small groups every day. The school also hires a speech pathologist one day per week to boost preps’ verbal skills.

McGinty’s biggest fear is losing the school’s liaison with parents. “We run an extensive prep orientation program and our two community liaison people are vital in going to homes and getting parents along to orientation. They can engage the parents, make them feel comfortable about being in the school and understanding the importance of the early years.

“If students are more successful in the early years they develop lifelong patterns of attending and they understand the value of school.” •

Why we need Koorie supportMANY INDIGENOUS children are only the second or third genera-tion in their family to have had equal access to formal education. Often families suffer significant stress, and parents — having struggled themselves at school — need support to understand their role as the parent of a school student.

“Indigenous families need support around engagement with school and cultural sensitivity,” says Shepparton High’s Ashley Robinson. “It’s become a genera-tional issue. We talk to grandparents and great grandparents who’ve had really negative interactions at school. They’ve felt that they haven’t belonged.”

Language is often a barrier for Indigenous students: many improve their performance immensely with a tutor to explain the schoolwork. At Mildura Primary, some preps start with a vocabu-lary of just 800 words — the oral language ability of a two-and-a-half year old.

Right: Ashley Robinson and

Koorie educator Linda Miller

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18 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

PROFILE

The unlikely activistFrom arranging flowers to lobbying Canberra politicians

on school funding, teacher Tanya Burton’s life has taken an

unexpected route. SUZANNE TAYLOR meets her.

FOR 20 years, Tanya Burton worked as a corporate florist for lavish events like the Melbourne Cup. She never

imagined that one day she would find herself in back-to-back meetings with federal politi-cians, lobbying for education reform.

Tanya fell in love with teaching after a stint lecturing in floristry at TAFE. “Seeing students come in at the start and barely be able to wrap a bunch of flowers, only to leave at the end with all this extra confidence, as well as the ability to make beautiful wedding bouquets — I loved that feeling.”

Eleven years ago, she left her job as a florist and retrained as a primary teacher. “The thing I didn’t expect about teaching was — it sounds ridiculous — but the extent to which you grow to really care about all the kids in your grade. Even the ones who drive you a bit mad sometimes!” she says.

Tanya’s involvement with the Gonski campaign started in 2011 when she was invited by the AEU to write a submission on behalf of Whitehorse Primary School. Attending an information session on the needs-based funding model turned out to be a game-changer. “It just really resonated for me. The more I learned, the more it made sense,” she recalls.

Tanya could see how passing education reform like Gonski could lead to very real and immediate changes in her own classroom.

There was the child whose minor speech impediment was hindering his writing, reading and socialisation. He only required a small amount of assistance, but he missed out

because the speech therapist was only allotted to the school for one day a fortnight and the more severe cases were prioritised.

“Typically, if that child’s parents didn’t have the money to pay for a private consult, the problem would go untreated — and that precious window of early intervention would be missed,” Tanya says.

“It’s the same for children who need a bit of counselling and psychological help — if the parents can’t afford it, they tend to miss out and I think that’s incredibly unfair.”

Tanya recalls a child with a severe physical disability who required a full-time carer but received a funded aide only three days a week. Family members covered the remaining two days voluntarily, to keep the student in school.

These were some of the anecdotes that Tanya shared with politicians at Parliament House on June 19 as part of a national AEU delegation of teachers, principals and school council representatives who congregated on Capital Hill to lobby MPs to commit to funding the full six years of Gonski.

Tanya is adamant that everybody can play a powerful role in lobbying for Gonski, whether on social media or at their local school sports meet. “It’s about keeping the message going.

“It’s ridiculous that we’re now fighting to keep the final two years of funding. We should be fighting to take the model from six years into something that’s indefinite. That’s the fight we should be having.” •To get involved, visit igiveagonski.com.au.

SHOW & TELLThe most important things I take into the classroom every day are … A decent coffee, a sense of humour and the belief that every child can achieve.

My best trick for coping with staff meetings is … Taking a moment to think before you speak. Although my colleagues would probably say I speak too much.

The best advice I ever received was … Before I started teaching, I was on holidays with a girlfriend who is also a teacher. Her advice is still with me today and that is: work hard all week, even through lunch if needed, but most importantly spend weekends and holidays with family and friends.

The most inspirational figure in my life is… My husband. He is the most patient man I have ever met and he deserves a medal for putting up with me.

In my other life I’m… A mum.

My favourite teachers at school were… Mrs Sargent, my prep teacher, who was kind and gentle. My Year 12 human development teacher Barbara Durmanic looked after me during a particularly tough time. We still get together for lunch a couple of times a year.

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STUDY

Back on the hamster wheelTeacher education is being reviewed … again. Twice. JOHN GRAHAM reports on the political

motivation behind the latest inquiries.

THERE has probably been a review of teacher education somewhere in Australia every year for the past 30

years, with most of them coming up with roughly the same set of recommendations.

In 2014 there are two — one from the Commonwealth and one from the Victorian Government. Both have the same starting point: that something is wrong with the quality of our teachers that can be traced to the quality of pre-service teacher education.

The common “evidence” is on one hand the decline in performance of Australian students in international testing, and on the other, the decrease in the average ATAR score of students entering undergraduate teacher education courses.

The Victorian review recently went to tender, with a report due about the time the election caretaker period begins. It looks a lot like another policy tick-off measure.

The Commonwealth review was set up by Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne, a long-term critic of pre-service teacher education who made his position clear at its launch: “There is evidence that our teacher education system is not up to scratch. We are not attracting the top students into teacher courses as we once did, courses are too theoretical, ideological and faddish, not based on the evidence of what works in teaching important subjects such as literacy. Standards are too low at some education institutions — everyone passes.”

As with most of Pyne’s comments about education, such statements are 20% fact, 80% ideology and driven by political opportunism.

Having said that, there is a problem with average ATAR entry scores for undergraduate teacher education courses. Out of 10 fields of higher education study, teacher education has more entrants with ATAR scores of 50 or less and fewer with 90 or more. Its ATAR profile is roughly similar to nursing and a long way behind that of medicine.

Average ATAR scores for undergraduate teacher education courses in Victoria have declined from 75.26 in 2004 to 61.9 in 2014. In the longer term, lower entrance scores damage the prestige of the profession.

However, only 28% of initial teacher education students actually enter courses based on their ATAR scores. The rest are postgradu-ates, mature-aged students and international students. ATAR scores get the focus because there is no equivalent data for other entry standards.

While Pyne cites ATAR scores as one reason for his review, he has rejected the idea of a cap on entry scores and appointed as the review’s chair the vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, which has some of the lowest ATAR entry scores in the country. Greg Craven believes a cap would be inconsistent with a demand-driven system and may disadvantage low-SES and rural students.

In 2011, state, territory and federal ministers for education took their first steps towards a mandated entry standard by endorsing a requirement that students be “in the top 30% of the population” for literacy and numeracy achievement.

Institutions may still admit students who do not meet this standard so long as they

attain it by graduation. A national test is being developed for implementation next year.

The other significant decision they made was that teacher education graduates must have two years of professional studies in education in their degrees. This would rule out the one-year Diploma of Education pathway taken by many existing teachers.

The developing consensus among universities is to move from undergraduate to postgraduate Masters degrees in line with the successful Finnish model. This recognises the increasing complexity of the teacher’s role and the demand for it to become more research-based. The South Australian Government has already indicated that it will require all teachers to complete a Masters from 2020, moving entry into teaching from four to five years of tertiary study.

As for Pyne, he has shown more interest in an irrelevant side issue. While his govern-ment wants to severely cut funding to higher education and burden students with large debts, he has opened his purse strings to continue the costly Teach for Australia (TFA) program.

The recent ACER evaluation of TFA estimated that each graduate cost more than four times that of a mainstream teacher education graduate, with a significantly lower retention rate; TFA’s 175 participants in its first four years compares to Victoria’s 5000 final-year teacher education students per annum.

Despite the spin that TFA attracts high-flyers into teaching, ACER concluded that high-quality existing programs attracted appli-cants of a similar quality and ability. •

20 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

AFTER more than 30 years spent teaching and nurturing pint-sized charges, Jenni Gridley has called it

quits. Not because she disliked her workplace or was ready for retirement, but because she literally couldn’t keep doing it.

“I was spending so much time working after hours, it started to affect my marriage,” she says. “I saw other kindergarten teachers’ marriages break down, with the demands of the job being a factor in each case, and I just thought: I’m getting out before that happens to me.”

The workload took a toll on her health as well. “It got to the point where I considered going to a psychologist but I couldn’t even find the time for an hour-long appointment each week.”

The turning point came last November when the AEU asked preschool members to complete a survey on levels of unpaid overtime. She started to keep a diary and was astonished at how the figures stacked up. “I realised that I was paid for 28 hours per week, but I was averaging 13 hours’ unpaid overtime, every single week,” she says.

“A nurse friend of mine is horrified if she has to put in one extra hour of unpaid overtime.”

The issue was not just the volume of work, but its nature. “The teaching part, the face-to-face time with the children, became the part that took the least time,” Jenni says.

Her experience is typical. A key finding from the 2013 AEU survey was that an early childhood teacher works an average 28 paid hours per week and averages 14 hours, 20 minutes unpaid overtime on top of that. Workload has become a key sticking point in negotiations for a new agreement.

Jenni says that burgeoning expectations of

documentation were a significant factor in her overwork.

“The time I enjoyed most was when I’d be walking through the playroom and I’d have a quick chat with a child who was not in my group. Because I didn’t have to take a photo or make notes on it, I could just take pleasure in the interaction.”

The new requirements to “make the learning visible” and to educate parents on their own children’s development created a

constant tension between documentation and education. “It got to the point where I thought — the time I spend taking photos for portfolios is time I’m away from interacting with the children.”

Supporting the preschool’s committee on a range of administrative matters added to the burden. “The teacher is the hinge for everything that goes on around the place,” says Jenni, “and all of it takes a lot of time.”

Much of the overtime she worked was to keep up with the bare minimum requirements of the role, including responding to the many one-off tasks that cropped up daily.

“The job is like a 3D game of Tetris — you have to fit everything in at the bottom while all the time there is more and more coming. It’s relentless.”

Cutting corners in her preparation would have diminished outcomes for students as well as eroded her own satisfaction in the job. Finally Jenni made the “agonising” decision to leave the profession for good.

The current issues facing the sector, of poor attraction and retention rates, are inextricably linked to the reality of an unsustainable workload and pay disparity. They come at a time when the majority of early childhood teachers are, like Jenni, within five-to-10 years of retirement.

These issues form the backbone of the AEU’s current

early childhood EBA negotiations. To those ends, the AEU has pursued an

industrial action ballot of members to be covered by the successor to the community- run preschools VECTAA agreement. Voting had just opened as AEU News went to press, but irrespective of the outcome, a strong campaign for salary parity and fairer workloads will continue to roll out. •

The job is like a 3D game of Tetris — you have to fit everything in while all the time there’s more and more coming. It’s relentless.

Why I left the job I lovedBureaucracy and overwork are driving teachers out of preschools just when they are

needed most. SUZANNE TAYLOR meets one member who said “Enough.”

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21www.aeuvic.asn.au

22 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 201422

WOMEN’S FOCUS

Barb Jennings women’s officer

Pregnant truth of discrimination

ONE IN two women who are pregnant experience discrimination. This is the shocking reality uncovered in a year-long inquiry by the Australian Human Rights Commission and set out in its new report, Pregnancy and the Return to Work.

The inquiry is only the second globally. The AEU made a submission, attended consultations and provided witnesses. In all, 450 submis-sions were made and 430 individuals presented.

Discrimination was found to be pervasive and wide-spread — from all sectors of the workforce and throughout the hierarchy of employment.

It ranged from derisive remarks to jobs lost. Pregnant women reported being told to “choose between a job and a baby”, or that they were “no longer” a good fit with the organisation. One in five were made redundant, restruc-tured, dismissed or did not have their contracts renewed — and one in five of these left the labour market entirely.

Many women reported feeling “powerless, vulner-able and fearful”. Nearly three-quarters of those expe-riencing discrimination said

that their mental health was affected. The figures are even more shocking because 91% of mums who experienced discrimination did nothing about it and did not speak up.

The AEU receives many calls from pregnant members who have been refused part-time work, antenatal leave (to attend medical appointments) or a contract renewal. The strain is terrible at what should be a happy and proud time.

Even more depressingly, the findings are very similar to those of a 1999 report into workplace discrimination. It’s 35 years since Australian mums won unpaid maternity leave and 30 years since the Sex Discrimination Act, yet many employers still report being “confused” about their responsibilities. Why?

One thing that would assist is an appeal mechanism in the Fair Work Act under the National Employment Standards. Currently the rights to request flexible work or an extension to unpaid parental leave are the only two without an appeal mechanism.•KOORIE NEWS

Erin Aulich vice president, secondary

Time to connect

THE AEU Victorian branch has some important opportuni-ties for Aboriginal and Torres

Inside the AEU

McCarthy era endsTHE AEU has said goodbye to accounts officer Jeanette McCarthy as she retired after 41 years at the union.

Jeanette joined the Victorian Secondary Teachers’ Association — one of the AEU’s predecessors — as a “naïve” 23-year-old in 1973 when she moved to Melbourne from Pyramid Hill. Starting as an offset printer operator, she moved through the membership unit to her place as warden of the union’s finances.

Among the figures past and present giving her a fond farewell were past AEU secretaries Rob Glare and Brian Henderson. Henderson recalled: “Many of us trembled whenever you appeared in the door to tell us we hadn’t put in a claim form for several months.”

He noted: “Jeanette always enforced the [union financial] rules without fear or favour. She always treated the members’ money as precious. She’s been a rock to all of us here.”

Jeanette says her only plan now is to “make plans” — which may or may not involve buying a caravan.

“It’s been a fantastic journey,” she said. “It’s been good to be part of the history of the education industrial system.”

Also farewelling the AEU has been TAFE and adult provision deputy vice president Jen Walsh, who stepped down after the term break.

Joining the AEU are finance manager Jeff Monks and journalist Suzanne Taylor.

Jeff arrives from the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, where he was also finance manager, to oversee the AEU’s $24 million annual budget. The passionate Hawks fan’s career has seen him work across the private and public sectors.

Suzi joins the AEU from the ABC, where she worked as an online journalist and docu-mentary film producer. In a previous life, she taught in Victoria and the Northern Territory at primary, secondary and TAFE levels.

Jeanette (centre) celebrates with

finance unit colleagues

Deb McGuire (left) and

Sally Glynn

23www.aeuvic.asn.au

Strait Islander members. The AEU’s 2014 federal

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Conference in Sydney on October 18–19 will be our first for Indigenous members only. Its theme is “Connect, communicate and campaign for our mob”.

We are looking for expres-sions of interest from up to three members. For informa-tion about the conference or to raise your hand, please contact me at erin.aulich@aeuvic.asn.au.

Long Walk women’s lunchFriday October 17 sees the 10th anniversary Long Walk women’s lunch at Flem-ington Racecourse. It’s an inspiring event for Indigenous members and their students to attend, with motivating speakers.

We have spaces for two teachers with three students each and will cover travel and replacement costs. Again, send expressions of interest to erin.aulich@aeuvic.asn.au. •NEW EDUCATORS NETWORK

Adam Surmacz graduates organiser

Five things to know when reapplying for your jobAS PLANNING starts for 2015, many early-career teachers will be preparing to reapply

for a contract position — something that 45% of new teachers say affects their teaching. If you are in this position, here are five things you need to know:

1. What type of contract are you on? You may be replacing someone on family leave, or on a 12-month contract or appointed with temporary funding. Each can have different entitlements. You also need to know the start and end date. Ask your principal or business manager for a copy of your letter of offer if you’re unsure.

2. The Victorian Govern-ment Schools Agreement 2013 has a provision known as translation to ongoing — and you are eligible if you have been employed continu-ously for more than a school year (in positions that were

properly advertised). The school must have an ongoing position available, something that should be decided by staff through school-based consultation. This will lead to the development of a workforce plan, which should be released to all staff by the last week of November.

3. VGSA 2013 also allows for a teacher on a contract to be rolled over onto another contract. This is an option if you were appointed to your current contract through a merit-based process for an advertised position. The new contract cannot be longer than the original one and you can only be rolled over once.

4. Knowledge is power and the more you know about your rights and entitlements, about the VGSA and the processes in your school, the

24 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

more you can be involved in them. A great place to start is a chat with your sub-branch rep or school organiser about the consultative arrangements at your school.

5. Contract employment is an issue for early-career teachers statewide. By becoming more involved in your union you can work with others to improve future agreements to further reduce the issue. Apply for our next New Educators Activists Program or email me.

If you have no option but to reapply for your position, the AEU offers PD sessions on applying for jobs in govern-ment schools. They’ll give your application writing and interview techniques a kick-start. Good luck. •

CRT SCENE

Marino D’Ortenzio deputy vice president, secondary

CRTs get active

FOR THREE days in June, casual relief teachers Krystyna Edwards, Chloe Page, Maurie Richardson and Fady Salibaspent time at the AEU as participants in the New Educator Activist Program (NEAP). This is their report.

We came from varying back-grounds — from graduate to

semi-retired former principal; from different regions of Victoria; being paid on local payroll and through agencies; and with experiences ranging from early childhood to adult education.

We arrived with varying thoughts of what the program would entail, as we were the first CRT-specific NEAP cohort. We worked alongside the many divisions of the union, gathering a better perspective of what it is that they do for us.

We learnt about the daily interactions with members and the typical concerns that come through; as well as the union’s involvement with the wider community and governing bodies.

We had a chance to participate in the “Bust the Budget” rally — an experi-ence we will never forget. The rally and march united unions over a common cause and is an example of the fine work they do. In a different

environment we were warmly welcomed by councillors of the different sectors of the AEU state council and observed the passing of a resolution condemning the state and federal budgets.

We were tasked with forming a plan to improve the conditions that CRTs face daily. This consisted of brain-storming ideas that would ultimately form the basis of campaigns that target CRT issues. Our contribution was our perspective and we gave advice about what we thought CRTs would respond to.

Part of our brief was to design a campaign specifically targeting CRT issues. We felt that grade splitting was one of the most important issues CRTs face. We also looked at ways to increase the CRT membership in the AEU.This experience has cemented in our minds the important work that our union does for the overall benefit of public education.

AEU Federal Women’s Conference

Expressions of interest are invited from women members of the AEU Victorian Branch for five (5) delegates to attend the AEU Federal Women’s Conference to be held in Melbourne on Saturday October 4 and Sunday October 5, 2014.

The delegates will include at least one representative from each of the four sectors of the union.

Expressions of interest in writing should be mailed, hand-delivered, faxed or emailed to me by Thursday, September 4.

Background material to support your nomination may also be submitted. Branch Council will determine the delegation if necessary at its September meeting.

John Cassidy, returning officer, AEU Victorian Branch, PO Box 363, 112 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford VIC 3067 Fax: 1300 658 078; Email: john.cassidy@aeuvic.asn.au

25www.aeuvic.asn.au

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SAFETY MATTERS

Janet Marshall OHS organiser

Trust, respect and OHS

OUR BIANNUAL OHS confer-ence took place on July 25 and covered a diverse range of current workplace issues and sparked dynamic discus-sions amongst participants.

Keynote speaker Lisa Heap, executive director of the Australian Institute of Employment Rights, set the tone by asking the question: Does your school nourish relationships and provide conditions for each individual to flourish?

She encouraged members to consider the importance of human dignity at work and argued strongly for the causal link between workplace culture and preventative health.

Lisa emphasised the critical role principals play in creating a positive workplace culture and outlined the power of discussing and defining shared values as a team, and of a stronger focus on nourishing relationships underpinned by mutual trust and respect.

Seminars covered asbestos management, voice care, the impact of climate change on OHS, and strat-egies to build a positive performance and develop-ment culture within schools.

The seminar on occupa-tional violence, presented by representatives of the Victorian WorkCover Authority, revealed that rates of workplace violence in 2013–14 were at an all-time high for special education teachers and education aides. It prompted many members to share personal stories about challenging behaviours in their work-places and frustrations around time-consuming reporting procedures and ambiguous protocols.

Participants heard a chilling report on the experi-ences of education staff with long-term injuries, specifi-cally in their dealings with the Victorian WorkCover system. The research, funded by Creative Ministries Network, recommended ways the system could be improved to achieve better health outcomes for injured workers.

In sum, the conference provided a call-to-action for principals, teachers and education support staff to work together to switch on the protections of the OHS Act.

It drew attention to the need to put in place proactive strategies to maximise safety and wellbeing of staff and students, along with the need to take better care of those staff who are injured and who are engaging with the Victorian WorkCover system.

It also highlighted the ongoing need for more adequate funding and resourcing of the education sector as a whole, in order to support the OHS reforms needed. •

26 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

AEU BRANCH CONFERENCE

Rallying cries

Suzanne Taylor AEU News

Conservatives in Canberra and Victoria may try to block progress for public education, but the annual conference showed an appetite to fight back.

“FIGHT, FIGHT, fight, fight!” urged AEU federal president Angelo Gavrielatos, in his closing statement to confer-ence delegates. It was a call to action that encapsulated the determination, commit-ment and outrage felt by every delegate, member and organiser in the room.

This conference was a stark reminder of the enormity of the hostility unions are facing — but also of our strength and capacity to effect change.

AEU branch president Meredith Peace gave a précis of the past 12 months in politics, noting that Pyne and Abbott had done “more backflips on education than our Australian divers at the Commonwealth Games” — the greatest being their attempt to walk away from their “unity ticket” commit-ment to the needs-based Gonski reforms.

The AEU campaigned strongly and the ensuing public backlash forced the Government to neutralise its position and commit to the first four years of funding. The task now is two-fold: to convince Abbott to fund the final two years, which represents two-thirds of the total funding allocated, and

to pressure the Napthine Government to appropri-ately spend the Gonski funds they’ve received — but which the Victorian education minister has told Parliament he simply cannot find.

Of the $180 million Victoria received, only $30m has been accounted for. “Napthine is sitting on $150m this year that’s not his,” said Gavrielatos. “While New South Wales is enjoying the Gonski investment in the schools, with evidence of results already, the kids in Victoria are being denied what’s rightfully theirs.”

Conference speakers also discussed the AEU’s campaign to retain 15 hours per week of funded early childhood education, bolstered by a recent Productivity Commission report that cites extensive evidence of the links between preschool education and improved outcomes. The Abbott Government refuses to confirm it will continue a national partnership that has increased preschool from 10 to 15 hours a week — creating profound uncertainty for families and job insecurity for educators.

The AEU is also lobbying the State Government for salary parity and fairer workload for early childhood educators. In his address, AEU deputy president Justin Mullaly argued for more investment in facilities, wages and conditions, to ensure that the 15 hours is sustainable.

TAFE was an issue for every speaker, with Meredith Peace laying out the stark

figures: $300m pulled from TAFE per year over four years, resulting in up to 3000 job losses. AEU vice president for TAFE Greg Barclay shared an anecdote that went to the heart of the human cost of these cuts: “It has been brought to my attention that in the past few months in Victoria, two TAFE lecturers who had lost their jobs went on to take their own lives.”

Greens member Sue Pennicuik argued stridently against market contestability, citing “fly-by-night companies rorting the system” as respon-sible for hundreds of course cuts, fee hikes and incon-sistent standards in quality. She supports the AEU’s call for an urgent review into TAFE. “I object to so much taxpayer money flowing to the private sector,” she said.

Pennicuik was one of several speakers who pointed out that the Brumby govern-ment’s deregulation of TAFE sowed the seeds for the current situation — a link vehemently rejected by Labor leader Daniel Andrews when a delegate suggested that Labor take responsibility for its role.

The conference also heard impassioned arguments on the full gamut of unprec-edented state budget cuts to schools, which can be mapped against the five key priorities of the AEU’s current Put Education 1st campaign. These include: reducing class sizes, providing a curriculum that meets individual needs, providing more support for all kids, including those with

special needs, building and maintenance of classrooms and ongoing support and PD for teachers, principals and support staff.

Other issues raised included the need to reduce the number of contracts and reinstate the Education Maintenance Allowance. Pennicuik’s proposal that comparative religious instruc-tion and ethics be taught in place of religious instruction was met with resounding applause.

Finally, the conference provided the opportunity to reflect on the bigger picture. Meredith Peace talked of the Global Education Reform Movement (“GERM”), charac-terised by greater autonomy over financial and personnel management in schools, discussed by Dr Pasi Sahlberg in his series of AEU- hosted presentations this year.

“Both sides of politics have taken up the GERM agenda here,” said Peace. “It’s evident in NAPLAN, the focus on teacher perfor-mance, principal autonomy…, but based on the research, it’s a political ideology rather than evidence-based policy.”

Professor David Peetz provided a wide-angle view on the challenges facing the union movement generally. Warning that current policies were aimed at weakening unions, he urged the AEU to articulate its values, commu-nicate its agenda, train and mentor more on-the-ground delegates and build alliances within as well as outside of the union movement. •

From L-R:

Meredith Peace, Angelo Gavrielatos, Sue Pennicuik, Daniel Andrews, David Peetz

27www.aeuvic.asn.au

P&D FAST FACTSWE’VE HAD calls, as you’d expect, about the Performance and Development process for 2014–15. A heap of useful information is on our website at www.aeuvic.asn.au/pdp but here are some useful facts:• Therearenoquotasortargetsforthe

number of staff who will be successful.• Ifyou’reanESorateacherintheprocess

of becoming fully VIT registered, these guidelines do not apply to you (yet).

• Youcan’tbedemotedthroughP&D.• TheP&Dplan,includinggoals,evidence

and weightings, should be agreed between the employee and their reviewer. Both of you are required to sign off on it.

• Ifthereisnoagreementaboutweight-ings, a default of 25% will be applied against each dimension.

• RawdatasuchasNAPLANandVCEresults cannot be used as the sole evidenceforassessingP&D.

• Workloadassociatedwithimplementingthis process must fall within your usual attendance hours.

MEMBERSHIP SERVICES UNIT 1800 013 379

Fiona Sawyer membership services unit

Consultation: A date for your diary

Term 3 brings a couple of important dates that AEU members need to be aware of.

SEPTEMBER 1 is the date by which schools must notify the Education Department about their agreed consultative arrangements.

Before this, your sub-branch and principal must finalise discussions about arrangements at your school. Together, you have to decide:• The consultative structure•Operational procedures

and arrangements• Arrangements for repre-

sentatives to canvass members’ views.

That means your sub-branch should meet to review existing arrangements, what can be improved, and whether the process is working in line with our agreement, VGSA 2013.

If your school can’t reach agreement on this, your principal must notify the department and the default model set out in the VGSA will operate. You can read more in our VGSA Implementation Guide online. For more infor-mation, call the MSU.

Another date to rememberOctober 1 is the date by which anyone on maternity or

family leave must notify the school that they wish to return to work next year. The notice must be written, and is usually part of a negotiation about flexible work options — that is, how they wish to return.

Parents can return part-time to accommodate the needs of their family. However, this must be worked through with the principal — the school’s needs have to be considered too.

The AEU has two excellent resources for members: our Parental Leave Information Kit and the Flexible Work Options Kit. Find them at www.aeuvic.asn.au/family_kits.

VIT registration time!Memo to all teachers: it’s time to renew your registra-tion. Notices will have been received by now. You can only register and renew online through your MyVIT account, and you can’t miss the September 30 deadline without consequences.

It’s your responsibility to make sure you are paid up and have submitted any documentation. Without registration your school

can’t employ you. If you’re in charge of a noticeboard at work, put up reminders and ask your colleagues if they’ve got it done.

If you have any difficulties with your renewal, call the VIT immediately. Past experience tells us that anything that needs fixing will take time.

Social media for preschoolsThe Early Childhood Teachers Victoria Facebook page is a fantastic way to stay connected, and it’s been embraced by our early childhood members.

Unlike schools, many members in preschool settings don’t have sub-branches to turn to for advice on campaigns or other issues. The Facebook page is a closed group (you need to request to join) that allows our members to find out about campaigns and ask each other professional questions.

If you have a Facebook profile and you’d like to join, just ask.

We have other groups for the AEU CRT Association, the New Educators Network plus our campaign pages TAFE4ALL and Put Education 1st.

Another pay riseUnder VGSA 2013, schools members are due their latest

pay rise “effective from the first pay period on or after August 1, 2014”.

The pay period in question covers August 10–23; you’ll receive it on August 21. The previous pay period (paid on August 7) covered July 27–August 9.

So August 21 is the date you receive the first full pay on the new pay rate. There is no backdating to August 1. •

On the phones

28 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

TRAVEL AUSTRALIA

AIREYS INLET SATIS BEACH HOUSEStylish 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 melrose@gjr.net.au www.satisbeachhouse.com

AIREYS INLET HOLIDAY RENTALHoliday rental, 3 bdrms, 2 living, large decks, 1 acre garden, bbq woodfire.

Phone (03) 4208 0668 0416 234 808.

HOLIDAY HOUSE PAMBULA BEACH, NSW SOUTH COASTStylishly renovated mid century beach house, enjoy the retro experience on the beautiful Sapphire Coast. Prime location with ocean views, short 2 minute walk to beach and river mouth. Three bedroom, sleeps 6.

Ph: 0437 840 785 www.stayz.com.au/50714

HOLIDAY HOUSE PHILLIP ISLAND, VENTNORTwo bedroom sleeps 6, available weekends and holidays.

Jane (03) 9387 9397 or 0431 471 611 or Louise (03) 9343 6030 or 0413 040 237

WILSONS PROMONTORYPromclose Cottage. www.promclose.com 0488 592 725

TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL

driveEUROPE

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Our 39th year of service to the European traveller. Email: gha25440@bigpond.net.au (02) 9437 4900

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 marjen1946@hotmail.com

FRANCE — PROVENCERestored 17th-century house in medieval 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, “centreville”, or cottage in Lauzerte, 12thC hilltop village. Low cost.

www.flickr.com/photos/clermont-figeac/ or www.flickr.com/photos/les-chouettes/ Ph teacher owner (03) 9877 7513 or email jimmcdon@tpg.com.au for brochure.

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TAX RETURNS FROM $90in the comfort of your own home or place of work. All

possible deductions will be claimed, superannuation advice, retirement planning available.

Experienced Accountant/Registered Tax AgentCall Artur on 9503 4366

info@taxwindow.com.au www.taxwindow.com.au

Seeking promotion or a classroom teaching position

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service*evaporative cooling & all home maintenance.N.E. METRO AREA

Quality work for the right price with over 25 years industry

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CALL SIMON

mobile: 0414 294 824 phone/fax: 9439 9223

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ITALY — UMBRIAApartment. Beautiful sunny 2 bdrm. Historic Centre Citta Di Castello €625pw 2p, €675 3-4p.

0414 562 659 darylhely@gmail.com

MY EUROPE BASE, LIVE THE CONTINENTAL LIFE! Mosel River, Rhineland holiday apartments.Vibrant winemaker town convenient to Ryanair network. Suit sabbaticals, all vacations.

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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.

Web: www.languedocgites.com

Email: info@languedocgites.com

TOM – THE BALINESE DRIVERFor $50 a day Tom will drive you to the best locations in Bali. Tom’s wife, Tari, is a primary school teacher. Tom speaks perfect English and loves kids.

Email Tom at: made_nurita@yahoo.com

NOTICES

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All jobs, big & small + bathrooms/tiling. 25 yrs exp.

Work in Eltham/Diamond Valley area.

Phone Simon 0414 294 824.

LITTLE ROOM OF BEAUTYPerfect skin by Rose is offering 20% off all services to members. With twenty years of experience in beauty, let me look after you.

$20 off first treatment (union cards need to be presented). 20% and $20 not to be used in conjunction with any other offers.

Please contact Rose on (03) 9486 1231/0433 260 588 for any inquiries. Salon situated in Essense Hair, 415 High Street, Northcote.

Like “Little Room of Beauty” on Facebook.

(MPS) MELBOURNE PROPERTY SOLUTIONS

Vendor advocacy — selling your property?

Take away the stress and engage an independent advocate and a former teacher and AEU member. There is no cost when using Melbourne Property Solutions, as the agent you select (MPS) pays a set percentage of the fee from their total commis-sion. Mark Thompson, Licensed Estate Agent Melbourne Property Solutions. Buyer and Vendor Advocate Services.

Ph 0409 958 720 Email: mark@mpsadvocates.com.au Website: www.mpsadvocates.com.au

NEWSY MATHS WORDED PROBLEM SHEETS!Australian, freshly written EACH WEEKEND. Topical, fun, emailed to your in-box each Saturday. Ideal for teachers, or as HOMEWORK SHEETS! 3 levels: Yrs 3-4, Yrs 5-6, and Gifted. From just $29/year/level (discounts apply). SCHOOL ORDER FORMS ACCEPTED. For free sample, visit www.Edshop.net.au or call us on 0409 231 366.

PROFESSIONAL APPLICATIONS PREPARED

Reduce Stress. Achieve results.

Selection criteria, CVs, letters CARNEGIE WORDSMITH P. (03) 9576 8790 M. 0413 070 330 E: heather@carnegiewordsmith.com; www.carnegiewordsmith.com

RETIRING SOON?Volunteers for Isolated Students’ Education recruits retired teachers to assist families with their Distance Education Program. Travel and accommo-dation provided in return for six weeks teaching. Register at www.vise.org.au or George Murdoch 0421 790 334 Ken Weeks (03) 9876 2680.

RETIREMENT VICTORIAVisit us at www.retirevic.com.au

RURAL HOUSE AND LAND FOR SALE BRADVALE 55km S/W Ballarat. Historic weath-erboard church and architect’s own two-storey home on ½ acre. Three bedrooms, study, open plan living and dining. Two bathrooms. Two fire places. Satellite internet. Reverse cycle A/C,1.64kw grid connected solar. 22,500lt water tank. Bore with pump. The 9mx6m Church Hall has been used as an inspirational space for various arts/crafts through the years, but consider it a blank canvas limited only by the imagination of the purchaser. This home is the perfect place to start an inspiring, creative, eco lifestyle. Central location to a variety of tourist destinations. See Bradvale Church on Facebook. Email bradvalechurch@gmail.com Ph Peter 0404 888 244.

SEEKING AUSTRALIAN TEACHERS —TEACH OVERSEAS Professionally rewarding career with lucrative salary packages. Obtain current information at www.travelandteach.com.au about quality international schools. Outstanding opportunities.

Daryl 0449 005 339

VISAS IMMIGRATIONFor the professional advice you need — contact Ray Brown. Phone (03) 5792 4056 or 0409 169 147. Email raybrown888@bigpond.com. Migration Agents Registration No. 0213358

29www.aeuvic.asn.au

MAD HOT BALLROOM Dir: Marilyn Agrelo, Rated PG, 106 mins Icon Film DVD

EACH YEAR, New York City’s public schools sponsor a dance competition for fifth-grade students in which boys and girls learn traditional ballroom styles and compete against kids from other schools in the region.

This documentary focuses on students from three areas — the Bensonhurst neigh-bourhood dominated by Asian and European families; Manhattan’s upper-class Tribeca neighbourhood; and Washington Heights, where most families live on the poverty line — as they undergo a 10-week dance course to become “little ladies and gentlemen”.

We witness the students’ stress, their changing attitudes, and the highs and lows — all having mixed emotions during their journey — bringing them closer together. The film also addresses larger issues such as equality and the impor-tance of the arts to students with struggling families.

— MC

WADJDA DIR: Haifaa Al Mansour Rated PG, 100 mins Entertainment One DVD

TEN-YEAR-OLD WADJDA (Waad Mohammed) is a smart, spirited girl whose main goal is to buy a bike so she can gallivant around the neigh-bourhood with her friend Abdullah. What makes this task near impossible is that she lives in Saudi Arabia, a country that forbids women to drive, vote or walk in public alone.

Writer-director Haifaa Al Mansour uses this ostensibly simple story as a portal into a complex world. What prevents her film from being utterly depressing is the delightful rebellion of Wadjda and the warm bonds she shares with her mother and her devoted friend Abdullah.

Perhaps the most extraor-dinary thing about Wadjda is that it was made entirely in Saudi Arabia by a Saudi woman. Al Mansour was forced to direct from the back of a van, watching the action on a monitor and commu-nicating via walkie-talkie. Hopefully its success will pave the way for more films that expose the gamut of human stories, including the acts of rebellion both tiny and large, from this arcane country.

— ST

AUSTRALIAN HISTORY IN 7 QUESTIONS John Hirst, Black Inc. 208 pages, RRP $24.99

ANOTHER AUSSIE history book? Hirst knows the pitfalls but hopes his approach avoids them. Building on a series of lectures, he looks at the story of Australia thematically rather than chronologically, tackling questions that might get us to the heart of the matter.

Among them, why did Aborigines not become farmers? How did a penal colony change peacefully to a democracy? What effect did convict origins have on national character? And, bringing us up to date, why is Australia not a republic?

Some of these of course beg the question. As Hirst admits, we were never a penal colony in the first place — rather a colony of convicts, who had a role in building a new society from the moment the first fleet landed. Aborigines never became farmers because — well, why would they?

But overturning assump-tions is part of the story and allows for a stimulating and readable discourse packed with interesting tidbits and which reveals how events can happily thwart the plans of great men.

— NB

Reviews & giveaways

Win teaching resources

AEU News gives members the opportunity to win resources for their school libraries from our friends at Scholastic, Text Publishing and ABC Books. To enter, email giveaways@aeuvic.asn.au by 10am Tuesday August 26 with “Win Teaching Resources” in the subject line. Include your name and school or workplace. Good luck!

FIVE LITTLE DUCKSThis delightful counting rhyme has been loved by children for generations. RRP $12.99, ABC Books

ANIMALSDiscover a world of animals with Play School! RRP $12.99, ABC Books

PIG PUG

Aaron BlabeyPerfect for teaching children about sharing.RRP $16.99, Scholastic

POPPY CAT

By Sara ActonA simple and beautiful story of a cat that likes to copy everything her owner, a playful little girl, does. RRP $24.99, Scholastic

THE LAST THIRTEEN BOOKS 5-8

James PhelanA single storyline in 13 cliff-hanging installments. Inception meets The Da Vinci Code for a younger audience. RRP $14.99, Scholastic

THE SECRET ABYSS Darrell PittWhen the world’s deadliest assassin, the Chameleon, escapes from prison, Jack begins his most dangerous investigation yet. RRP $16.99, Text Publishing

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Congratulations to our winners from issue 4: Jessica Ferroni, Rowville PS; Leanne Dumaresq, Albion North PS; Kathleen Temple, Yarrambat PS.

30 AEU NEWS VOL 21 | ISSUE 5 | AUGUST 2014

AT DIGHT’S Falls in Clifton Hill, a group of boys crouch over their visual diaries to sketch the monolithic shards of skyward-pointing rock along the riverbank opposite.

Nearby, artist and parent Sarah Tomasetti has unfurled a scroll of paper along the ground, where kids use charcoal to trace the botanical formations underneath. Her collaborator, artist Heather Hesterman, holds a student’s journal against a basalt block so she can take a pencil rubbing of its texture.

Along with the artists, teachers and parents involved, geologist Dr Rod Fawns is leading the group, explaining how the rocks in the area were formed and pointing out plants used as bush tucker by Indigenous peoples along the way.

Grade 6 student Max admits that “at the start, we all thought this project might be a bit boring,” but says it’s turned out to be “really interesting. I didn’t know the rock face here was half a billion years old!”

These Grade 5 and 6 students from Spensley St Primary School are undertaking the first of a series of walks along the Merri Creek as part of a unique Artist in Schools program that aims to foster a deeper under-standing of their local area.

“Deep Time” urges the kids to see the area through “different lenses” — historical, Indigenous, scientific and environmental, as well as creative — and record their ideas in a visual diary that will inform a series of collaborative art projects involving mapping, land art, frescos, engraving and ephemeral sculptures. The group prepared with a trip to the State Library, where they viewed early paintings and maps of the creek to see how the landscape has changed.

Tomasetti says the project plans to “break up the idea that by Year 5 or 6 you’re good at

drawing or you’re not” by being process rather than outcome-driven.

“We showed them visual artists’ diaries, like Leonardo da Vinci, but also Darwin’s diaries and Einstein’s, to show them that not only artists keep (visual) notes,” says Hesterman.

Two years in the planning, the school would have found a way to run the project with or without government funding, but support from ArtsVic gives them the opportu-nity to extend it from Grade 5/6 to the whole school.

“I’ve realised what an artistic community we have,” says principal Anne Nelson, “and how willing they are to give up time. To do something of this size, you have to have the belief that you can pull it off and that you’ve got the community to support it.”

Artists in Schools provides funding for professional artists to work with young people on a creative project. “The initiative manages to be a synergy between the very ordered, structured way a teacher thinks and the open-ended way an artist thinks,” says Tomasetti.

Nelson says that once Sarah and Heather provided the bones, she made the links with AusVELS and thought about integration with the curriculum.

“Many of the children at this school are very familiar with the Merri Creek area, but I hope the kids gain a new understanding of the landscape and the history and science and that they’ll share that knowledge with their families,” Nelson says.

Grade 6 student Genevieve, says, “I like art but I never thought I was amazing at it, but I think this might help that.

“I’ve really enjoyed the walk after learning a lot about the history at the State Library. It’s making me see things differently.”•

A WALK THROUGH PLACE AND TIME

Artists, teachers

and scientists come

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landscape to life

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Schools program.

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Artist Sarah Tomasetti and

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31www.aeuvic.asn.au

Miss Takes

Almost ChristmasFREEZING COLD mornings, fog, rain, wind. Term 3 has arrived and is ready to share all of its finest points with us.

Always one of the more challenging terms, Term 3 at least signals that we have passed the halfway mark in the school year and, before we know it, we will be on our end-of-year break. Well, that’s what I tell myself as I peer into the darkness from under my pillow after my alarm goes every morning, trying to will myself out of bed to face the day.

Days are much easier to face if the sun is shining and you don’t require a heavy coat to get from the front door to your car.

With the terrible weather come the lunchtimes when students cannot go outside. There is nothing worse than being on “yard” duty when your school is following a wet weather timetable. Swarms of kids, drenched from their dash through the quadrangle, stuffed into an over-heated, confined space, spilling their crumbs all over the floor. Rained-on students have a particularly offensive aroma that, coupled with the dim sims they are eating from the canteen, creates a truly gag-worthy atmosphere.

And then, there’s the noise. Outside-yard duty is occasionally punctuated with bursts of noise and increased volume, but, inside-yard duty pushes the noise tolerance boundaries.

“Miss! Miss! Look at Declan! He’s pretending he’s from the Lego Movie!”

“Miss! Simone just threw a lamington at Georgia and now Georgia’s crying. She’s over near the bin.”

“Miss! Miss! Look! I’m going to shoot my Glad Wrap ball into the bin. Do you reckon I’ll make it?”

All of these attention-grabs are pitched against the constant background buzz of song lyrics, hysterical laughter and sound effects from mobile phones. It is hell.

Plus, there’s no guarantee that all students are going to abide by the wet weather arrangements. There are always groups of boys determined to initiate a crazy game of soccer or footy in the midst of a thunder-storm, sliding around on the muddy oval and avoiding looking in your direction as you frantically gesture to come inside from the safety of shelter. Gaggles of girls also like to venture out into the weather, if only to shriek as the rain destroys their straightened hair.

Putting large groups of kids into small spaces also tempts conflict. Even the calmest bunch can rapidly escalate into a crazed mob when restricted by four walls while the rain pelts down outside. Voices become louder and louder, chaos reigns supreme. No one can hear the loudspeaker announcements reminding students to pick up their rubbish, and the tropical conditions fog the windows, encour-aging crude artworks to be finger-drawn and guffawed at.

This is the reality of Term 3, but, as you enter your steamy, crumby and dishevelled classroom that was used as a lunchtime space, remember, we are more than halfway there.•

CHRISTINA ADAMS

PADDY KENDLER

Wine talking

Let it breatheYOUNG CABERNET sauvignon can be a difficult wine to enjoy at the best of times but it’s an even tougher assignment in winter.

The cold weather seems to accentuate young cabernet’s natural shyness and astrin-gency. As a youngster, it’s often dark and brooding, like an animal in hibernation.

Of course there are basic cabernets designed for early consumption, made with not much oak treatment and deliberately reduced tannins to render them more open and acces-sible in their youth. Also common is the use of the softer and more fleshy merlot as a blending partner but most often these wines will be found at the cheaper rather than the classic end of the market.

For the latter, I’m thinking of Coonawarra and Margaret River as prime examples of potentially great cabernets once the awkward-ness of childhood and adolescence has passed.

Pleasure may still be maximised from quality young cabs. Prior to drinking, ensure the wine has been in a heated room for at least 24 hours. Broach the cap or cork, pour off half a glass, loosely re-seal and allow to breathe overnight. Finally, before serving, decant and rest for a while.

Paddy’s August recommendationsLindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay 2013 ($8)A stand-out leader among its under-$10 rivals with plenty of fresh peach and melon fruit with some grapey sweetness filling out the palate.

Mr Riggs Three Corner Jack 2011 ($17)Ben Riggs is one of SA’s busiest winemakers and arguably one of its best. While working or consulting for various other businesses, he is primarily dedicated to his eponymous brand, which includes this very impressive McLaren Vale Shiraz Cabernet Merlot blend. A very smart wine, indeed. (sales@mrriggs.com.au) •

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bankmecu…we’re all about personal service. At bankmecu we do things differently – whether you’re after friendly one on one service from our Community Development Managers, or the convenience of having banking come to you. We believe in supporting you, and your school.

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