Welcome Back
Kaya
I trust your holiday break was a rewarding and relaxing one, though I have no doubt many of you were still busy staffing your school, tying up loose ends, and planning for the start of the year. The Business Centre opened on 9 January and we have already been hard at work, organising a number of events, taking support calls and planning for the year ahead.
We have been tracking movements within the department and would like to congratulate all members who have won new positions, moved schools, been appointed into acting roles and taken up system level positions. Whilst there are too many of you to name individually, we do wish you all the very best in your new roles and we remind you that we are only ever a phone call or click away, should you need anything.
We would also like to acknowledge the following members, who have reached significant achievements over the holiday period and start of year.
- Janet Whisson OAM (retired member Meckering PS), receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2023 Australia Day Honours List
- Natasha Upcott, Principal Mandurah PS, receiving the City of Mandurah's 2023 Citizen of the Year Award
- Shane Wilson, Principal Marble Bar PS, winning the Public Sector Digital Government Category at the 2022 Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards, held in Pakistan
- Ray Boyd and Rachael Lehr, foundation admin team at Dayton PS 2023
- Jaclyn Huts, Rachel Dowling and Aleesha Meuleners, foundation admin team at Wellard Village PS 2023
Sian Bakewell, foundation Deputy Principal at Madora Bay PS 2023
New Members
With close to 60 retirements last year, we have started reaching out to newly appointed principals and deputy principals and are looking to our current members, to spread the word about how beneficial a WAPPA membership is. We have welcomed a number of new members already this year, as well as moved some members from Aspirant, to Ordinary, based on them winning new leadership positions. Our brand new members are:
- Clare Mansveld, Chidlow PS
- Danika Wylie, Ranford PS
- Geoffrey MacNicol, Braeside PS
- Gulshan Price, Newborough PS
- Lisa Barns, Waggrakine PS
- Miriam Thomas, Yuluma PS
- Shakira Thomas, Golden Bay PS
We thank you for supporting WAPPA, but more importantly, for trusting us to support your professional leadership needs.
Advocacy & Support
Quite naturally, our thoughts and offers of support have been with everyone in the Kimberley Region this year. We continue to see and hear stories of great community spirit, innovative problem solving and collaboration. If you are in the Kimberley and in need of anything, please reach out, although our ongoing interactions with members, Central Office and Kimberley Director/WAPPA Member, Paul Bridge, tell us that most things are under control and school life is continuing.
With the Kimberley matter in very good hands and no COVID to speak of, our focus to start this year has continued on the Student Complexity in Schools position paper, which the WAPPA Board continued to refine at our first meeting of the year. I have also met with Minister Buti at an initial introductory meeting and when asked about our big three issues I advised the Minister that high on the list were; primary resourcing/funding, student complexity and the implications for school leaders and educational outcomes and finally, school leader health and well-being in the wake of parent and societal demands to be 'all things to all people', combined with complex and ongoing complaints management processes. The Minister was responsive to these issues and indicated his interest in wanting to seek WAPPA's input, into how to address these matters.
In further efforts to start the year by supporting members' needs, we have ramped up efforts to start at least one new Collegial Group and there is a great deal of interest form members. It is always a difficult task to simply assign members to existing groups, for a number of reasons, so the next obvious choice is to start some new groups. We expect these might take some time to establish, but we are keen to support the establishment and sustainability of these groups. Contact Member Support Officer, Jan Applin, if you would like to know more about Collegial Groups.
Our regional members have long reported concerns about aspects of the GROH program; with little evidence of any meaningful change achieved. One reason for this is the differing responsibilities between the Department of Education and the Department of Communities.
In response to the ongoing challenges, the four associations representing school leaders (WASSEA, WAPPA, WADHSAA and WAESPAA) have raised this issue as a priority with Minister Buti and are also seeking a meeting with the Minister responsible for GROH, the Hon. John Carey, MLA, Minister for Housing; Lands; Homelessness; Local Government. Thank you to our regional principal members, who this week were sent a GROH survey to complete, which will assist our meeting. 70 surveys have already been returned.
Professional Learning
The WAPPA Professional Learning Team have started the year with a bang! On the recent School Development Days we worked with the staff of 5 schools utilising The Why of You with PRINT to boost each team's capacity for high performance. Initial feedback has already suggested some great open conversations are emerging as a result. We thank the schools involved and look forward to supporting their journey throughout 2023.
Thank you for yesterday! This morning some of the staff continued to share their PRINT reports…all you could hear was the laughter. …I really like that they understand it is for themselves and how they would use it to bring them back to their Best Self.
Get your PL calendar sorted with WAPPA
Now is a great opportunity to get your year's learning organised with us. Here are a few opportunities coming up soon that are too good to miss!
- ELEVATE Semester 1 Cohort registrations closing this Friday
- Fierce Conversations for Term 1 filling up fast
- Masterclass with Dan Haesler live at WAPPA in Term 2
And that's only naming a few, check out our website or give us a call to discuss your PL options.
From the Field
January 20 saw the first big event for the year, with a WAPPA Board Meeting followed by an Alumni catch up and Welcome Sundowner... read more
Partner Spotlights
Mindful Meditation Australia (MMA) is excited to again be a WAPPA Partner for 2023 and they are inviting you to attend a complimentary WAPPA member-only Sundowner.;
Join WAPPA members and the team at MMA for a chat and program overview.
MMA will offer a brief video showing their 2022 achievements, and how their Mindful School Pathway can benefit your school. Don't worry, there's no "Death-by-PowerPoint" interrupting your opportunity to network with your colleagues.
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