School Success Model replaces Local Schools, Local Decisions in name only
Today’s announcement on the replacement of ‘Local Schools Local Decisions’ with ‘The School Success Model’ continues the recent history of the abandonment of support for schools and the shifting of responsibility and blame away from the government and the Department onto the local public school.
Teachers add value as agents of social inclusion and cohesion
Every day, schools, principals and teachers play a critical and invaluable role in their communities by contributing to society’s social-inclusion outcomes.
Covid got you feeling exhausted? Here’s why
Members are repeatedly reporting to Federation that they are exhausted, struggling in many cases to get their ‘mojo’ back in 2020 – bushfires, drought, floods and a global pandemic.
High levels of responsibility and accountability not matched with support
Schools have buckets of money instead of teachers to meet needs under the Local Schools, Local Decisions model, Federation Senior Vice President Amber Flohm told the work value inquiry on 26 October.
Where’s the respect due to the profession?
What we teach and how we teach it lies at the heart of our work.
Federation’s Women’s Conference
25 September 2020
Section: News
To maintain a sense of connection and solidarity with members despite the pandemic, Women’s Conference was held as an online webinar in August.
Vision for new curriculum hinges on teachers’ input
The NSW Curriculum Review was released on 23 June this year to much political and media fanfare. Despite slogans of “back to basics” and the “end of puppetry” Federation is now focused on the Government’s response to the 24 recommendations and the design, development and implementation of the curriculum for our schools, teachers and students.
Department rejects catch-up program for public HSC students
29 August 2020
Section: News
Public school HSC students have been left at a disadvantage after the Department of Education refused to pay for extra face-to-face learning hours as “catch-up” lessons.
Program helps schools SOAR above racism
27 August 2020
Section: News
The results of a pilot program to mitigate racism in schools found it gave students the confidence and knowledge to intervene to address racist behaviour.
Negotiating a crisis of pandemic proportions
As schools returned at the beginning of this year, we wondered how so many of our teachers and public school and TAFE communities would ever recover from the summer they had just endured.
Union secures guarantees for casual and temporary staff
After successful representations to the Department of Education, Federation has secured employment certainty for casual and temporary teachers amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Students should be at the centre of reporting: submission
Academic growth and individual achievement should be the focus of reporting, Federation’s submission to the review of NAPLAN states.
Local Schools, Local Decisions: eight years of policy failure
While the professional voice of teachers is often ignored under Local Schools, Local Decisions, the views of Federation members will be amplified in the union’s submission to the Department’s evaluation of the policy.
Federation breaks staffing cap and secures additional EALD positions
Federation is proud to report that the arbitrary staffing cap, initially set in 1983, has been broken.
Statewide meetings endorse new award
10 December 2019
Section: News
Federation members came together at more than 200 venues across the state on 5 December to overwhelmingly endorse the new salaries and conditions Award for the next two years
Power of the collective delivers IEC win
Member action at the local level and Federation’s representations to the Department will see a new Intensive English Centre (IEC) established in the northern NSW town of Armidale from the commencement of the 2020 school year.
Multicultural Matters
On 22 May, more than 80 teachers from across the 14 Sydney and regional Intensive English Centres (IECs) came together to discuss matters affecting teachers in IECs and the broader multicultural education area.
Multicultural matters
EAL/D provision, Intensive English Centres and Adult Migrant English Program
Unite to advance profession
27 August 2019
Section: News
Reach deep into your school and TAFE communities to build new relationships with the female colleagues in your workplace and strengthen those relationships that you already have, Federation Senior Vice President Amber Flohm told members participating in the union’s virtual Women’s Conference on 22 August.
Additional permanent EAL/D teachers to meet student need is long overdue
18 July 2019
Section: News
The number of students requiring specialist English language support has increased by 20 per cent over five years but not a single EAL/D teaching job has been added, Federation’s Annual Conference was told.
Share a meal this Refugee Week
17 June 2019
Section: News
Federation continues to be a proud sponsor of the Refugee Council of Australia’s Refugee Week. This year’s theme, “A World of Stories”, will be marked by schools and TAFE colleges across NSW from Monday 17 June to Saturday 23 June.