Our May collegial meeting is scheduled for Thursday 16th June 2016. You can find all the details below.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The
meeting will be held in the school's staffroom. Please enter the school
via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to
the Staffroom!
Date: Thursday 6 June 2016
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic: It's
now winter and there will be times when the students won't be able to
head outside to let off some steam so bring along your games and
activities that you will be able to run inside on these wintery day. Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any enquiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com
Hi everyone,
I have just come across a free 40 minute webinar (normally $60) presented by Sue Larkey on Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder. This webinar is available free until Monday 16 May 2016. You can access the webinar from the link below:
Our May collegial meeting is scheduled for Thursday 12th May 2016. You can find all the details below.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The
meeting will be held in the school's staffroom. Please enter the school
via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to
the Staffroom!
Date: Thursday 12 May 2016
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic: ICT in the CRT classroom. Bring along websites and writing prompts, games and video clips. Bring along all things ICT to share with everyone.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any enquiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com
Like Wodonga last month, there was much confusion about VIT's new Special Needs requirements in our PD submission so I'll repost the info here for our Shepparton colleagues:
All
us Victorians received an email recently outlining the Special Needs
PD requirements being attached to our renewal of registration in the
2016 and 2017 reporting periods.In our collegial meeting last week we
had a some concerns raised regarding this requirement and a number of
associated worries surrounding it. Some found the email confusing,
others are receiving conflicting reports from various sources of
information and so on. I have also received emails asking very
similar questions.
We have contacted
VIT on behalf of Wodonga CRT Support Network members to get some
straight answers for the most commonly asked questions on those who are
feeling out of their depth on this one.
Are there hours attached to this requirement?
No.
There has been confusion over 'hours' regarding this requirement
because people have been told there are hours but they cannot find how
many hours they need on the VIT website. The reason there is no
mention of hours on the VIT website is that there is no time component
to this requirement. We are required ONLY to have 'some PD' related to
special needs (APST descriptors 1.5, 1.6 and 4.1).
The second
issue is that we are required to declare two years worth of this PD. Will anyone get 'in trouble' if they did not do any Special Needs PD
last year (2015 reporting period)?
No. If we have done PD hours regarding special needs last
year and this year we can satisfy this requirement this year (2016
reporting period) but we do not 'have to'. If we did not do any
special needs PD last year (2015 reporting period) we can do some this
year, some next year and successfully meet this requirement in 2017
without penalty.
Do we need to do "Extra PD" to satisfy this
requirement?
No. This PD is included in the standard 20 hours fully
registered teachers submit every year.
Do provisionally
registered teachers need to do this PD?
No. If a
teacher is not a fully
registered teacher they do not have to supply the 20 hours of PD each
year to maintain registration so none of this PD must be referenced to
special needs. As a provisionally registered teacher they will
demonstrate it as part of the process of moving to (full)
teacher registration or early childhood teacher registration IF they
undertake the full registration process. If they are provisionally
registered and do not undertake the full registration process they do
not
need to meet this requirement in any way.
The VIT webpage providing more information can be found here:
Don't
ruin a great day by stressing about special needs PD requirements!
This is honestly very easy to comply with and there is no reason it
should prove an issue for any one of us.
Regards,
Melinda Lichnovsky-Klock Wodonga/Shepparton CRT Support Network Coordinator.
Our March collegial meeting is scheduled for Thursday 17th March 2016. You can find all the details below.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The
meeting will be held in the school's staffroom. Please enter the school
via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to
the Staffroom!
Date: Thursday 17 March 2016
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic: TBA
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any enquiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com
"Verney Road School provides educational programs for children and young
people with a moderate to severe intellectual disability from age 3 –
18 years. Many students have additional associated disabilities
including sensory or physical impairment, autism and / or challenging
behaviours. The school has a strong learning ethos, with a belief ‘that
all children can learn’. Individualised SMART goals and teaching
strategies are developed with parents/ carers using Individual Education
Plans. The development of Social Competence occurs through School Wide
Positive Behaviour Support. A matrix of school expectations sets the
background for teaching all aspects of ‘How we behave at Verney Road
School."
Meeting will start in the staffroom (please ask the front office for direction).
Date: Thursday 25 February 2016
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in carpark at the front of the school.
Topic: Tour of the school with guest speakers. Followed by Question & Answer time and reflections.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you are interested in being added to the Verney Road School CRT list for work, please bring your resume along.
If you have any enquiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com.
Our last meeting is scheduled for Thursday 3rd December 2015. You can find all the details below.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The
meeting will be held in the school's staffroom. Please enter the school
via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to
the Staffroom!
Date: Thursday 3 December 2015
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic:
Bring along any Christmas craft or end of year activities you would like to share with the group. The end of the year is a tricky time to sometimes keep students engaged in their learning. If you have found something that is helpful during these last couple of weeks of school, share and help others understand whyit engages students.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any enquiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Regards,
Mel and Jen
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
New post on the Wodonga CRT Support Network blog:
"I have had a couple of quite worrying conversations of late. The topic I'm about to discuss has always been there but has remained veiled for the longest time. Now it's getting to the point where people are being quite direct about it:"
Shoot over to the Wodonga Network blog to have a read!
Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 15th October 2015. You can find all the details below.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The
meeting will be held in the school's staffroom. Please enter the school
via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to
the Staffroom!
Date: Thursday 15 October 2015
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic: Bring along any behaviour management tips and tricks you use to share with the group. This might include, strategies on how to remember students names, how you keep students engaged until the end of the day, reward systems and the like.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any enquiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com.
We are excited to announce another PD workshop opportunity. These coming holidays the Shepparton CRT Support Network will be hosting aMuse's Sue Arney and The Singing Classroom!
The Singing Classroom workshops will:
Provide skills and resources for generalist teachers to enable more singing in the classroom
Build confidence in generalist primary teachers to sing with their students
Provide techniques to lift the profile of singing in schools and classrooms
Demonstrate ways of integrating singing into dedicated music sessions as well as into the general curriculum
Venue: The Overlander Hotel/Motel, 97 Benalla Rd, Shepparton
"Verney Road School provides educational programs for children and young
people with a moderate to severe intellectual disability from age 3 –
18 years. Many students have additional associated disabilities
including sensory or physical impairment, autism and / or challenging
behaviours. The school has a strong learning ethos, with a belief ‘that
all children can learn’. Individualised SMART goals and teaching
strategies are developed with parents/ carers using Individual Education
Plans. The development of Social Competence occurs through School Wide
Positive Behaviour Support. A matrix of school expectations sets the
background for teaching all aspects of ‘How we behave at Verney Road
School."
Meeting will start in the staffroom (please ask the front office for direction).
Date: Thursday 21 August 2015
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in carpark at the front of the school.
Topic: Tour of the school with a guest speaker. Followed by Question & Answer time and reflections.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any enquiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 6th August 2015. You can find all the details below.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The
meeting will be held in the school's staffroom. Please enter the school
via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to
the Staffroom!
Date: Thursday 6 August 2015
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation to help cover afternoon tea
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic: Bring along any 10 minute games. These might be used at the start of a lesson or to fill in 10 minutes at the end of a lesson, or even when you have a spare 10 minutes to fill in. These games could be played inside, outside, with resources or with minimal resources, cover maths, literacy or just be lots of fun.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any quiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com.
The MoneySmart PD hosted by the Shep CRT Support Network is only a few days away and I'm excited!
I look forward to seeing some of you on Tuesday.
As some of you may also be aware, I produce online courses for ClassCover's Relief Teacher Association. Our next course is shaping up well and we thought it was time for a bit of a preview.
This site has a list of world statistics updated in real time. It's very interesting to just have a quick look at for sure.
One of our members uses the worldometers in a range of classrooms for a range of reasons. He goes to the site and puts a set of stats up on the IWB and then asks questions about the statistics. He gave us the example where he used the Oil statistics to engage the students and then pose a question to the class:
"What is oil used to make".
Of course there's pertol and oil for your car, grease and other lubricants, tar for roads and so on but there's also solvents, plastics and even food colourings and flavourings.
Chemicals for medicine, plastic for heart valves, lubricants for industrial machinery, glues, CDs and DVDs, dish washing liquid, floor wax... The list goes on. what is our world going to be like if we don't have these things or have to find other ways to make them?
A great activity to help students understand exactly how reliant we
are on petroleum. And that's only one way to use the worldometers.
A fantastic resource and way to use it. Thanks go out to Dunny for sharing!
Our second meeting is scheduled for Thursday 11 June 2015. You can find all the details below.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The
meeting will be held in the school's staffroom. Please enter the school
via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to
the Staffroom!
Date: Thursday 11 June 2015
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation at the door
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic: Bring along folded items you can make in the classroom. This topic was suggested at the last meeting. You are going to become the teacher and teach us how to fold your items. I will have spare paper for everyone to use.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
RSVP:
We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP
to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the
meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
If you have any quiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com.
F-10 teachers of AusVELS English,
Mathematics and Science are encouraged to access MoneySmart Teaching, an
initiative funded by the Australian Securities and Investment
Commission (ASIC). MoneySmart Teaching has developed a range of teaching
resources designed to help children and young people improve their
levels of consumer and financial literacy. The VCAA is managing the
MoneySmart Teaching project in Victoria. There are a range of teaching
resources available and they are aligned to AusVELS. Professional
learning opportunities include:
Free teacher professional development
All resources are made available to teachers attending the professional learning
Suitable for primary and secondary across all three sectors
Part 1: Introduction
Consumer and Financial Literacy education - why it is important
Teacher Wellbeing - professionally and personally
MoneySmart Teaching website and resources available
Part 2: Workshop
Explore the MoneySmart Teaching units of work - hands-on group work.
We have secured a MoneySmart Teaching PD for 2015 and this will be held in Seymour and delivered by myself and Shane O'Connor of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.
The date and venue is not yet confirmed but it will be week 2 of the holidays.
We will post the date, venue and times when everything is finalised.
This last week we held the first
Shepparton CRT Support Network collegial meeting. I'd like to thank
everyone for attending and participating, you made it a great night!
I'd also like to thank those who would have liked to attend but were
unable to. The support you have shown for future meetings has helped
let us know we are on the right track for you. We look forward to
seeing you in the future!
Unfortunately this one was a bit rushed
as Jen and I scurried behind the scenes to get everything put
together. This meant it was rather short notice which didn't leave a
lot of flexibility for people to say "yes". I felt, however, that it
was better to get the airship off the ground now than put it off for
another month. The ball is now rolling and through discussion with
those who were there it's clear that this is something that there's
enough desire for to justify going ahead and running more collegial
meetings. We hope to be posting a schedule for meetings in the not too
distant future like we do for Wodonga to make sure everyone has plenty
of warning.
To give everyone a solid idea of what these meetings are
about from our end, I'd like to discuss the coffee machine and what it
represents. CRTs are busy people with unpredictable work, families at
home and hobbies to participate in too. Time is important to us.
We
also have great days where we like to reward ourselves. Pull into a
cafe, grab a nice coffee or hot chocolate and a pastry on the way home.
We also have those days where we do the same thing because it's been a
very challenging day and we deserve it just for making it to the end of
the day with nothing having exploded. We also have those very busy
times where we just are so flat out we need something nice as a
pick-me-up.
So it's there for you no matter which of the reasons
you need it. No extra stops that take even more time, it's already
waiting for you at your destination.
It's a nice example of how these meetings aren't just about our PD, it's about us
as CRTs and recognising that we're people too. It's also about
acknowledging that while the greater education community might often
think we have "the easy job", we really really don't and you all deserve recognition
for the important role we fill in education.
So I'll leave you with the video we closed the meeting with. I press-ganged my husband into creating this video because we all need
some positive affirmation from time to time. If you have CRTs in your Facebook friends (or through other social media) please share this
video, they deserve that affirmation too!
A Music and Cognitive Development PD with presenter Sue Arney. Video - Wangaratta presentation 2013
As can be seen in the above video this is a hands-on, activity-based PD aimed at incorporating music into the mainstream classroom. Not only is it a valuable educational experience for teachers, it's a fun and entertaining day with your colleagues!
The Singing Classroom – Level 1
Introduction to the purpose of singing in the classroom
Singing and brain development
Links to literacy, numeracy and more
The use of singing, body percussion and instruments to stimulate creativity
Sample songs, rounds, group composition activities, writing a rap and more
Supporting the development of self-confidence in teachers and students
Note: As a self-funded PD, DEECD restrictions on attendance does not apply. NSW CRTs are more than welcome to attend (this PD is not BOSTES accredited as it is sourced through a Victorian provider). Regards,
We have some exciting news. We have just booked our first network meeting for Shepparton! Yes, you heard right. Our first network meeting for the Shepparton Network.
Venue: Mooroopna Park Primary School, 45 Macisaac Road, Mooroopna
The meeting will be held in the school's library. Please enter the school via the main front door and enquire at the main office for directions to the Library!
Date: Thursday 7 May 2015
Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
Cost: gold coin donation at the door
Parking: Avaliable in staff carpark (access vis Macisaac Road), street parking on Macisaac Road or around the corner on Norton Drive.
Topic: Bring along a resource to share with others. Something you have found valuable and think other CRTs would benefit from.
RSVP: We would love to hear who will be joining us. If you are able to RSVP to Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com at least two days before the meeting, this will help us with the catering for afternoon tea.
Catering: A light afternoon tea with continuous tea/coffee/hot chocolate (coffee machine and milk frothers).
If you have any quiries regarding this meeting, please email Mel at Sheppartoncrtsupportnetwork@hotmail.com.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Regards,
Mel Lichnovsky-Klock Shepparton CRT Support Network Co-ordinator
