WAESPAA Connections – 29 October 2023

(Posted Oct 31, 2023)

Kaya,

WA Education Awards I want to start this week’s WAESPAA Connections with a huge congratulations to Joondalup Education Support Centre and Malibu School for becoming finalists in the Disability and Inclusion Category of the WA Education Awards. It is a huge achievement for both schools, I will be there on the 4th December to hopefully celebrate one of them winning.

Principal Health and Wellbeing

I have had cause to reflect this week how quickly things can change both for good and bad. Knowing each one of you will have a huge list of things to do – you will be looking at next year and worrying and stressing about staffing, class lists, budgets and enrolment numbers etc. But I would like to add a gentle reminder to your list of things to do and that is to be kind to yourselves and look after one another. Often in times of high stress we do not realise what it is doing to us, we all think we are superheroes, and we keep going. So, my challenge is to each of you is to look after you. Do not put off that long service leave or that trip. Think seriously about taking pro rata long service leave if you have reached that age. May be do not take home that pile of work but leave it – it will be there on Monday morning I promise.

Preservice Teacher Recruitment Expo

Staffing continues to be a huge challenge for all of us. I am attending a Preservice Teacher Recruitment Expo on the 9th November, if you have vacancies and you would like to me to advertise your school, please let me know. Ideally, I need a flyer from you with a few details of your school and any vacancies which I can use to hopefully get some interested Preservice Teachers your way. If you can email me the flyer, I will get them generated and take them with me.

WAESPAA Horizons Preservice Course in Education Support

My thanks to all of you who hosted a preservice teacher from this course. We had 16 attendees and generated a lot of interest in our settings. Four of them are now actively looking for work in education support settings.

Work Health and Safety

Just a gentle reminder if you have not done it or got your staff to do the Work Health and Safety online course – there is very likely to be an audit fairly soon. Have a great week.

Warmest regards,

Debi Taylor