Beginners gather for information and socialising

Josh Gollan and Danielle Blanch

More than 130 teachers in their first two years of teaching congregated for a weekend of gathering information and socialising at the Beginning Teachers Conference in Bundanoon on March 17 and 18.

They had travelled from all over Sydney and the Illawarra, and as far away as Cooma.

A bright and early start on the Saturday morning began a weekend of whole group information sessions on probationary year procedures with the Department of Education and Training (DET), accreditation procedures with the Institute of Teachers and a guide to the staffing process, all presented by representatives of the DET. Also included was an invigorating session on current Federation campaigns presented by Federation President Maree O'Halloran.

There were also many opportunities for the participants to get together in smaller groups to discuss issues based on educational philosophy, subject area and locality. An innovative activity this time was to have the participants choose a poster from a previous Federation campaign which held significant interest to them. Participants were asked why and the policy involved was discussed.

Other networking sessions addressed the intricacies of participating in schools, that is, how to go about fitting into a well established staff with all of its idiosyncrasies; and a basic guide to planning and programming at the primary and secondary level.

Federation Officer-led information sessions on full time, casual and temporary conditions and entitlements were well attended, as was the networking session on issues for new teachers and their local Associations, which looked at what level of the workplace or Federation those issues could best be solved at.

As for the social aspect of the weekend, the P&C of Bundanoon PS provided a wonderful morning and afternoon tea throughout the weekend. The catering provided by the Bundanoon Hotel was equally as scrumptious and the atmosphere provided by the old style hotel was easygoing and stress free.

On Sunday there was a chance for the participants to get together in stage groups and subject areas for a networking session to share teaching ideas and resources which is essential in this collaborative career we call teaching. The participants were also encouraged to take part in a focus group of interest to them to further discuss any issues that they had or learn more about areas.

As project officers for this term, this was a fabulous way to experience the conference from the organisation side. We would like to acknowledge the work of the New Educators Network (NEN) participants who were invaluable in their help along with all of the officers involved. A special thanks to David Wynne, without whom the conference wouldn't have run so smoothly.

Josh Gollan and Danielle Blanch are Project Officers.

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Last Modified: 29 Mar 2007