Hello again. Last week I attended the regional staff meeting. Items included a report from the Aboriginal Turn Around Team about how they work with some of the most disconnected families in the community. They are having successes with families including school aged children that the children's schools and other regional services have not been able to connect with despite their best efforts over very long periods. Some of the success is no doubt a result of the relatively small number of families the team works with and the resolve and hard work of the three team members. As I listened to them recount some cases and the plight of family members I wondered if some refugee familes might benefit from a similar approach. Perhaps the new configuration of DECD will enable a small team of social workers and CLOs to be formed to emulate the work of the Aboriginal team.
I also visited Findon High to work with the assistant principal to write IELC plans for two students who started there this term. The information that is provided by ASSOE about students deemed to be potentially "at risk" when they move into the mainstream includes their strengths and interests. At Findon HS this was helpful because it allowed us to write plans that linked students to existing school or VET courses.
On Thursday I meet with Simmone Retallick from Underdale High to plan a whole school training session about the Australian Curriculum. It appears that secondary schools are at different points along their introduction to and planning for the teaching and reporting of Phase 1 subjects next year. In UHS's case the situation is less sure because they are currently deciding if they will teach AC or IBMYP. Regardless of which they use, the school sees some value in making their staff aware of some general approaches like backwards design, identifying literacy demands in assessement tasks and explicitly teaching these as part of a teaching sequence.
The rest of my week was spent developing some resources for the upcoming secondary ESL network meeting and ESL Scaling and moderation at Underdale High and Allenby Gardens Primary. I also developed a draft primary genre map that others working with Sandy Deam, RCC, can use as part of the genre resources they are creating for the region. Never a dull moment!