Presenters: Leigh Schelks, John Norfolk

This presentation will outline a range of school based strategies that are being implemented in Low SES National Partnership schools to drive school improvement.

A general overview will be presented by Leigh Schelks, Executive Director, Innovative School Improvement. John Norfolk, principal of Woodridge State High School will outline how school reform and the implementation of innovative strategies at his school are contributing to positive student outcomes.

Leigh Schelks has over 30 years experience in education with over half of that time spent in remote Indigenous education settings and communities. Leigh has had a range of roles developing and implementing strategies to improve education outcomes. As the Executive Director, of Innovative School Improvement, (Qld Dept of Education and Training) Leigh has responsibility for the successful implementation of the Low SES National Partnership in Queensland State Schools.

John Norfolk is an experienced educational practitioner in Queensland state education and has held a range of school leadership positions. John has worked in a number of school locations across Queensland including Mt Isa, Sunshine Coast, Proserpine, Gold Coast and Logan City.

John is currently the principal of Woodridge State High School and has been appointed to lead the implementation of the four year Low SES National Partnership strategic school plan.

Presenters: Leonie Trimper, Trevor Radloff

The Principals as Literacy Leaders (PALL) program aims to improve the literacy outcomes of students through developing the capabilities of primary school principals as effective literacy leaders. The intensive two year program focuses on the need for principals to develop skills and knowledge in literacy as well as leadership. PALL is an evidence based program initiated by the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) and developed in collaboration with Edith Cowan University, the Australian Catholic University and Griffith University. Originally the program was conducted as a pilot project between a number of jurisdictions and sectors, with funding and evaluation support provided by DEEWR. As a result of the success of the pilot project evident in SA throughout the first year, PALL is now being extended to over 300 principals in South Australian Government schools under the Smarter Schools National Partnerships.

Leonie Trimper is currently the President of the Australian Primary Principals Association representing Government, Catholic and Independent schools. She was also President of the SA Primary Principals Association for 7 years as well as a principal of disadvantaged schools for 25 years. It is through these roles that Leonie has become passionate about the critical and specific role that principals need to play in the teaching and learning process particularly in literacy and numeracy, a role she believes has been under emphasised for too long. The initiation of the Principals as Literacy Leaders Program by APPA has been a very positive response to restore this balance.

Trevor Radloff is currently the Director of Site and Regional Improvement and Accountability in the Department of Education and Children»s Services in South Australia. He has worked as a District Director, a District Superintendent and a Principal in schools in both metropolitan and country locations.

Presenter: Ngaire Hosking

The AEDI is a population based measure of children's development prior to school. In 2009, the AEDI was completed nationally for the first time, collecting data on more than 260,000 children from communities across Australia. Together with other socio-demographic and community indicators, the AEDI results are a powerful tool to be used by the whole community (schools, teachers, parents, non-government organisations, and all levels of government) to influence planning and policy around early childhood development.

The presentation will provide a short introduction to the AEDI and offer practical examples of both government and community responses to the AEDI results. As such, the presentation will address questions such as: How can communities and schools work together to respond to the AEDI results (to help children arrive at school ready and able to learn)?; What does the AEDI mean for leaders of education systems as they support children in their first years of school? The presentation will also explore what the AEDI can offer from a policy perspective and how it can be used to as part of the early childhood evidence stream to identify areas of focus for federal, state and local government.

Ngaire Hosking is the Group Manager of the Indigenous Pathways and Early Childhood Development Group in the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. This role covers delivery of the Australian Government»s commitment to universal access to early childhood education, a range of early childhood education and care programs targeting Indigenous children, workforce and data issues, including the Australian Early Childhood Development Index, and the implementation of the National Early Childhood Development Strategy. Prior to joining the department Ngaire worked as Assistant Secretary in the Office of Work and Family in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and was involved in a number of Council of Australian Government negotiations on early childhood issues. She has worked in a range of other areas in the Australian Public Service covering employment, work and family, and workplace relations.

Presenter: Peter A Fraser

In this presentation Peter Fraser, Principal at Beaconsfield Primary School in the State»s north, will explain Tasmania»s Child and Family Centre (CFC) journey. Peter will tell the CFC story at a community level, outlining the challenges and successes, as well as the benefits for children, families and schools. He will share Tasmania»s unique and authentic community approach and the many valuable lessons learned.

With processes characterised by unprecedented community consultation and agency collaboration, these centres will provide a range of truly integrated services and local ownership and participation that will support families with the health, wellbeing , learning and development needs of children from birth to age 5, preparing them for a healthy life and success at school. The initiative is being supported by an action research project and an associated learning and development strategy for community members and service providers which focuses on the changes required to achieve integration of services.

In a number of communities, the CFC»s are a critical component of their Low SES School Communities National Partnership Integrated and Extended Service Delivery strategy implementation.

Peter Fraser is principal of Beaconsfield Primary School nestled in the spectacular Tamar Valley in Northern Tasmania. Peter is also co-chair of the Local Enabling Group for the Beaconsfield Child and Family Centre as well as Tasmanian branch convener for Principals Australia. An educator for more than two decades, Peter is committed to children being able to have the very best start to life long learning.

Presenters: Katrina Spencer, Angela Falkenberg

SILA, the South Australian Department of Education and Children's Services National Partnership Pilot Project, involves supporting significantly disadvantaged schools to build a culture of success and achievement. The key features of the project are the provision of a targeted diagnostic school review and the provision of a layered coaching model to support improvement. The coaching model involves a leadership coach, and literacy and early years connections coaches, working with school staff to develop focused whole school approaches to literacy teaching and learning. This presentation will highlight the partnerships between schools and the coaching teams and key learnings from both a principal's and system leader's perspective.

Katrina Spencer is the Director of Literacy and Site Improvement in SA DECS and leads the diagnostic review team, the SILA coaching team and the Literacy Secretariat. She has been a key designer of the SILA diagnostic review and coaching models and connecting the learning from SILA into information and support for regional and systems improvement. Through her involvement in the SILA project she has informed her work and the directions for literacy improvement within the Literacy Secretariat.

Angela Falkenberg is principal of Hampstead Primary School and has had acting experience as a leadership coach in the SILA team. She has worked for 27 years in a range of primary and secondary school settings in low SES communities in both the NT and SA. Angela maintains her passion for personal learning and is reflective in considering action to address the literacy and numeracy under achievement of the students in her school.

Presenters: Louise Hanlon and Prof Michael Gaffney

The Leading Aligned Numeracy Development (LAND) project is a cooperative undertaking between the Australian Catholic University and the Catholic Education Offices of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, designed to identify effective ways of improving numeracy outcomes for students in low SES school communities. The project brings together two important dimensions that influence student achievement in numeracy:

• the development and delivery of high quality numeracy teaching, and
• the exercise of educational leadership at classroom, school and system level.

The focus of the project is how to align what happens at classroom, school and system levels to achieve the best outcomes for students.

There are 4 clusters of schools: metro Adelaide, metro Perth, Kimberley (Broome region), and NT remote Indigenous Catholic community schools. The project is piloting new approaches to the provision of professional learning and system policy and program design based on Australian research into effective teaching of mathematics and the development of educational leadership capabilities.

Professor Michael Gaffney is Chair of Educational Leadership at the Australian Catholic University. Mike has wide experience as a teacher, as an education system senior executive, and as a researcher, consultant and policy adviser to Australian governments in areas of educational leadership and policy, curriculum and teaching practices appropriate to 21st century schooling.

Louise Hanlon is the Branch Manager of the Smarter Schools Partnerships Branch, in the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Ms Hanlon manages a range of federal government policies and programs including: the governance, monitoring and reporting of the three Smarter Schools National Partnerships and the Literacy and Numeracy Pilots in low SES School Communities.

Ms Hanlon has also worked in ACT Department of Education and Training, in private industry, and has taught Information Communications Technology and Mathematics to secondary students in the ACT.

Presenters: Roxanne Ware and Bob Lines

The Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee (PYEC) is the first tier of governance in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY) schools in the far north-west of South Australia. PYEC makes all major policy decisions for the schools and is responsible for the strategic directions, development and monitoring of preschool and school education to students living in communities on the APY Lands. PYEC has provided a means for the community to more fully engage with education; to set the directions and establish targets of skill development, for both students and community members.

Roxanne Ware is the principal of Yalata Anangu School on the far west coast of South Australia. Her family have long and deep connections with the west coast of the Eyre Peninsular. Roxanne is the first Indigenous principal at Yalata Anangu School; after being an Early Childhood teacher there for a number of years.

The school was established as a consequence of the British atomic testing at Maralinga in the 1950s and for over 30 years has been a Department of Education and Children»s Services (DECS) site.

Presenters: Phill Nean, Judy Pettiford, Irene Lind

The presentation will demonstrate how student outcomes are improved by establishing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, their parents and caregivers as well as universities and employer groups.

The initiative includes support for focus primary schools, practitioner-based enquiry and support for leaders to participate in the Stronger Smarter Institute. In addition, the Student Aspirations Program and initiatives with the ANU Secondary College have impacted positively on expectations about student learning, community engagement, student pathways and school support.

Phill Nean is an Aboriginal man from the Gamilaraay (pronounced Gum-il-roy) nation of North West New South Wales and has worked in public education for over 30 years. During his career, Phill has developed programs and initiatives to promote the involvement of Aboriginal people in all aspects of education decision-making.

Since coming to the ACT Department of Education and Training, Phill has administered the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education program within the public school sector, managed all aspects of policy and program implementation and continues to provide high quality leadership to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous employees within the Department.

Judy Pettiford has been a teacher and leader in the ACT public school system for over 30 years including five years as principal of Wanniassa School, a dual campus P-10 which at the time had the highest number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolments in the ACT.

Since 2008 Judy, has co-managed the Accepting the Challenge - Improving Outcomes of Indigenous Students Leadership Program for the ACT Department of Education and Training, supporting principals and school leadership teams to achieve their priorities and targets in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education.

Irene Lind has worked in education in the ACT for over 30 years including as principal of four government primary schools. Irene's experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education began as part of her undergraduate studies and was complemented by post graduate study in Cultural Heritage Management. As ACT Convenor of Principals Australia, Irene participated in, and promoted Dare to Lead Programs.

Irene has co-managed the Accepting the Challenge - Improving Outcomes of Indigenous Students Leadership Program for the ACT Department of Education and Training since its inception in 2008.

Presenters: Mary Tobin, Paul Sedunary

This presentation will engage the audience in dialogue challenging some of the common assumptions underpinning the transformation of education. It will provide an overview of a system wide response to the implementation of the Commonwealth Government reform agenda. The strategy of the Catholic Education Office Melbourne builds upon the school improvement agenda, whilst promoting new relationships between school and community through a process of «disruptive innovation». This approach focuses on building the capacity of educational leaders throughout the system to move beyond the school gate in their efforts to improve literacy and numeracy learning outcomes and ensure that schooling contributes to a socially cohesive society. The strategy recognises that schools alone cannot achieve these outcomes and the presentation will highlight how the system is seeking to create new understandings of what role community plays in educational provision which is essential if all young Australians are to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens.

Mary Tobin is the Manager of the Student Wellbeing team at the Catholic Education Office, Melbourne and is the Project Manager for the Schools as Core Social Centres Project. In her current role Mary is responsible for providing strategic advice on best practice related to student wellbeing and in the rollout of the CEOM»s Student Wellbeing strategy. In particular Mary has key responsibilities for articulating the link between the School Improvement Agenda and student wellbeing and overseeing the operationalisation of the work of the team in this key area. She has had extensive experience in education for over 30 years. Her area of expertise and interest is in the wellbeing of young people and the role of schools in contributing to social cohesion. Mary has significant experience working with students at risk in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. She has completed further studies in criminology and has also completed a Master of Education in the area of Educational Leadership. Mary has a strong belief in the important place of schools in the lives of young people and their families and believes that schools can make a strong contribution to the development of healthy communities.

Paul Sedunary is the Manager of the Curriculum and Innovation Group at the Catholic Education Office Melbourne(CEOM). In his current role Paul is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the CEOM»s Teaching and Learning strategy. Paul has responsibilities for the management of a multidisciplinary group of teams specialising in the development of strategy and initiatives across a broad range of areas including literacy, numeracy, assessment and reporting, contemporary teaching and learning and science. He has had over twenty years experience in education including that as teacher and school principal. Paul has a specific interest in research and innovation initiatives which are directed at improving the learning experience and outcomes for learners.

Presenter: Kathy O»Donoghue, Director

Led by Western Australia, the Extended Service School Models Project aims to advance and broaden the national understanding of how a range of models could be developed in Australian schools and what potential the approach holds for enhancing education outcomes. The research will inform recommendations for effective, sustained reform and suggested processes to move these forward at a national level.

The presentation will provide an overview of the project to date and will include a vodcast of a successful extended service school model operating at Challis Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC), in Armadale, Perth. The Challis Cluster encompasses the ECEC and Challis Primary School (both are Independent Public Schools) that share the site with Challis Parenting and Early Learning Centre, an integrated and comprehensive multi-agency school and community resource focused on Early Learning and Family Support that is jointly funded and managed by both schools.

Kathy O»Donoghue is the Director of Social Research at TNS in Perth, having started with the company when it was known as Donovan Research in 1999. Kathy specialises in research in the education, training and workforce development sectors and has had a long term relationship with the Department of Education Western Australia researching a variety of important issues on their behalf. Kathy is a Qualified Practising Market Researcher (QPMR) accredited with the Australian Market and Social Research Society and has an Honours Degree in Marketing and Public Relations.

Presenters: Hanya Stefaniuk, Dr Kate O'Brien

A cross sectoral collaboration in data driven curriculum innovation in language, literacy and numeracy learning for students learning English as an additional language.

This session will detail processes and strategies implemented to develop a knowledge building community of schools. A community of schools, comprised of seven government and four Catholic low SES schools in south western Sydney, that is focused on curriculum innovation leading to improved literacy and numeracy outcomes for learners of English as a second language, including refugee students.

Hanya Stefaniuk is currently Manager of Multicultural Programs for the NSW Department of Education and Training. Hanya has held a number of leadership positions and worked as a policy and curriculum officer with responsibilities for vocational education and training; equity programs and policy and Aboriginal education for NSW education. Hanya also guest lectures in curriculum theory, design and innovation at the University of New South Wales.

Dr Kate O»Brien is currently Head of Primary Curriculum for the Archdiocese of Sydney. Kate has held several leadership positions in Catholic schools including principalship and has also held the position of Head of Learning and Development for Westpac, New Zealand. Kate facilitates the process of implementing the Low SES School Communities National Partnership Agreements within the Sydney Archdiocese. Kate is co-author of four educational resource books; Collaborative Decision Making Tool Kit; Thinking Platform; Into the Deep and Deep Thinking: an Essential for learning.

Presenters: Ruth Crilly, Elina Raso

The speakers will begin by presenting the rationale for the project. Then they will cover the different phases of the project, the cross-sectoral collaboration, report on progress so far and features of the finished product.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions and comment on the project. Participants will gain a greater understanding of the project and how the outputs will support other National Partnership projects.

Ruth Crilly has worked in a variety of school settings, as well as a Regional Curriculum Consultant and Literacy Officer. In central office, Ruth has worked in the areas of Middle Years, literacy, assessment and reporting. In 2004-05 she worked as an education consultant in New York in schools with high numbers of ESL students and low literacy levels. She became Manager of ESL for Victorian government schools in 2006. Ruth is currently A/Assistant General Manager, Targeted Programs Branch in the Office for Government School Education.

Elina Raso is Manager of Professional Learning and National Partnerships at the Catholic Education Office, Melbourne. Her work in Catholic education over a 30 year period has focused on numerous areas of school education including school leadership and teacher professional learning, beginning teaching and induction, ESL and new arrivals students and languages and literacy education. Her teaching career includes work as a classroom, ESL and New Arrivals teacher in Catholic primary schools and ESL teaching to adults

Presenter: Chris Keightley

The presentation will focus on the challenges of recruiting, retaining and developing teachers suitable for very remote Indigenous schools for periods of two or more years. It will profile the initiatives and industrial reforms being implemented in the Northern Territory to build and support a strong and sustainable quality teacher workforce from pre-employment and throughout their career with the department.

Chris Keightley is the Director of Strategic Human Resources of the Department of Education and Training in the Northern Territory. The Strategic Human Resources unit develops and drives the strategic agenda for the Remote Teaching Service.

Presenters: Luisa Trieu and Dr Jenny Donovan

The quality of the teaching is the single greatest influence on student engagement and achievement. In NSW, the Centres for Excellence provide «hubs» for modelling and sharing excellent practice amongst a cluster of «spoke» schools. They are the focus for partnerships with universities to enhance the quality of practice and beginning teacher experience and are sites for enhanced professional development for existing teachers.

Appointed to every Centre for Excellence is a Highly Accomplished Teacher (HAT). «HATs» is a new classification that represents significant reform in the NSW DET system. It combines a teaching and quality teaching leadership role that ensures outstanding teachers can be recognised and rewarded, but not lost to the classroom.

This presentation will describe the NSW DET Centres for Excellence and the Highly Accomplished Teacher initiatives. It will include a multimedia presentation showing HATs at work in their schools as well as a personal account from a HAT from one of the Centres for Excellence in south-western Sydney.

Luisa Trieu is the Highly Accomplished Teacher for the Macquarie Fields High School Centre for Excellence. Luisa was awarded a NSW Quality Teaching Award in 2007 and a Regional Director»s Award for her Welfare Leadership in 2009. Her responsibilities within the school executive extend to both curriculum and welfare leadership. Luisa has been a mentor to Early Career Teachers for five years through the school»s Collegial Support program and is a member of the school»s evaluation team which reviews the quality of faculty programs, classroom practice and assessment and reporting.

Dr Jenny Donovan is the General Manager, Planning and Innovation in the NSW Department of Education and Training. In this role she heads a directorate responsible for research and evaluation, data collection and analysis, performance reporting and strategic planning. Previously, Jenny was the Deputy Director of Educational Assessment Australia, a not-for-profit research and assessment organisation attached to the University of New South Wales. Jenny began her career as a high school teacher in Sydney»s western suburbs, and has held many roles in both operational and policy arms of state public service.

Presenters: Sue Pfeiffer, Desiree Gilbert

What makes a difference to student outcomes in mathematics? How can this be grown and replicated? One school has achieved this through aligning leadership, data collection and quality teaching to improve student outcomes in Numeracy. The strengthening of these structures through an interschool mentorship program, and the resulting changes in teachers» beliefs, pedagogies and use of data to improve student outcomes in mathematics will be described. The presentation will also demonstrate how the Australian Government funded Building Capacity Through Learning Communities Pilot has been sustained and built upon through the National Partnerships Key Teacher Initiative. Key features described will be program and leadership structures, teacher mentorship, data sources, connecting and engaging parents and community and the online professional collaboration that have all contributed to improved outcomes for students.

Sue Pfeiffer works as a Numeracy Specialist teacher at Calvary Lutheran Primary School in South Australia. In this role Sue works closely with the teachers and students in her school to develop the Mathematics teaching and learning programs. She is plays an active role in developing the curriculum, pedagogical practices and assessment procedures. Sue has also worked as a Numeracy Support Mentor to two other Independent Schools, and as a Numeracy consultant at the Association of Independent Schools, South Australia.

Desiree Gilbert is a Numeracy Adviser at the Association of Independent Schools, South Australia. A key area of responsibility is providing advice and support to ten school-based Numeracy Key Teachers, funded through the Literacy and Numeracy National Partnership. Prior to this Desiree was employed as a teacher in the Independent sector in South Australia and as a Numeracy consultant. Desiree has a particular interest in pedagogy and in Early Childhood Education.

Presenters: Mark Campling, Kerri Giebel

The Teaching and Learning Audit Program is a new, comprehensive audit requirement focussed on boosting school improvement and building local school community capacity.

Current, highly successful school principals, working off-line, produce an audit report for each school with feedback against eight specific domains of an Audit Instrument.

Schools with the support of the principals» supervisors use the audit recommendations to improve teaching and learning outcomes for every state school student. School communities work together to formulate local responses and identify the next steps required in order to improve performance across their schools.

Turnaround Teams is one of the strategies being implemented through the Low SES School Communities National Partnership (NP) in Queensland state schools to improve student outcomes.

Ten Turnaround Teams of three or four experienced and effective teachers work with 131 NP state schools to help identify, implement and review strategies to lift performance. The Turnaround Team strategy is linked to the Teaching and Learning Audit initiative, assisting all state schools as they monitor their practice to ensure a focus on continuous improvement.

Turnaround Team data coaches utilise a data-driven approach to improving student learning and outcomes through building a strong foundation of data literacy and a whole school approach to accountability and responsibility for student outcome improvement.

Mark Campling graduated as a primary school teacher with a major in Physical Education in 1977, teaching at Kalkie SS in Bundaberg and Woodridge North SS before becoming a principal of a two teacher school at Kindon in 1982. Since then he has been principal of a range of schools across Queensland including Kindon, Thulimbah, Wallumbilla, Mt Morgan, Wilsonton, Harristown SHS, Forest Lake and North Lakes State College. He has also held the position of Senior Review Officer in the Darling Downs Region and has acted as Executive Director and District Director on a number of occasions.

Mark is presently the Assistant Director - General (School Performance), responsible for Teaching and Learning Audits, Principal Coaching and is a key driver in the development of the Education Queensland - Principals Capability and Leadership Framework.

Kerri Giebel has worked in education for over 20 years in a variety of roles including teacher, head of department, deputy principal, school improvement officer and most recently as a project officer for the pioneer turnaround team in Queensland. She has worked in both the private and public schooling sectors in inner city large secondary schools and in rural secondary schools.

Presenter: Karen Sloan

The presentation will demonstrate the ways in which the innovative use of ICTs can contribute to students» achievement of learning outcomes. The focus will be on the use of collaborative online tools by teachers and students to enable communication and collaboration to support students» learning. The presentation will employ video grabs from resources developed by teachers who participated in the 2010 Catholic Education South Australia AGQTP funded projects: 21C Teaching: e-Learning, Collaborative Online Tools and Learning, and, 21C Teaching: On the Horizon: m-Learning, Multimedia and Web 2.0.

Karen Sloan is the Professional Learning Consultant, Learning and Student Wellbeing, Catholic Education South Australia. Responsible for coordinating the design and implementation, monitoring and reporting of professional learning opportunities for teachers in CESA, including the Australian Government Quality Teaching Program. She is passionate about designing and delivering authentic, action research based professional learning which provides CESA leaders and teachers with the knowledge, understanding and skill to be leading, digital schools and educators.

Presenter: David Gallagher

The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a very successful senior secondary certificate in Victoria that has a focus on applied learning. Part 1 of the presentation will give an overview of some of the theories that support applied learning and contribute to explaining the success of the VCAL.

Many community organisations have mapped their community programs to the learning outcomes and elements in the VCAL. Part 2 of the presentation will explore how these community programs can successfully contribute to a student»s senior secondary certificate.

The final part of the presentation will focus on new initiatives in the VCAL e.g. the development of Industry Themed Programs and the impact of the Bradley report.

David Gallagher has been involved with secondary education for over 40 years. During this time he has been a class-room teacher, careers counsellor, Executive Officer for a Local Community Partnership, the manager for VET in Schools with the Victorian Department of Education and Training and is currently the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Manager with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

David has just completed his Master in Education (Applied Learning) and currently lectures to undergraduate and post graduate students in theories on applied learning, program design and assessment. He has written articles on the VCAL and applied learning which have been published in both state and international journals.