• ‘Back on Track and Community Youth Diversion Program’ Evaluation – interview conducted by NOUS Group on behalf of Territory Families.
• ACARA CEO Stephen Gniel meeting to provide feedback on the National Curriculum and Assessment with Catholic Principals’ Association President, Paula Sellars.
• Anti-Discrimination Commissioner presentation on legislative changes to the NT Anti-Discrimination Act 1992.  These reforms include the introduction of Positive Duty and Representative Complaints. The commissioner is keen to talk to principals, schools and students in regard to these changes. Please see additional information below.

• Monthly meetings with Deputy CE to raise current issues and hot topics
• Talent Attraction & Recruitment Strategy feedback
• Teacher Workload Review Project meetings
• Education Functional Design Guidelines - Stakeholder Workshops
• Video for the Bureau Business Mangers Business Day on the ‘Gatekeeper to Gateway’ vision.
• Leadership Strategy Programs and Courses
• 2025 School Resourcing reform team, consultation and and feedback

Australian schools are currently experiencing a crisis in principal recruitment and retention, driven by stress, burnout, and increased workloads. An under recognised but crucial aspect of demands on principals is the key role they play as school leaders in fostering safe and socially connected school communities amongst increasingly diverse student populations. How can principals be better supported to carry out this crucial role?

Emotional labour, which involves managing one's own emotions and those of others, is a crucial aspect of principals' work that demands various 'invisible' skills.

This research study aims to shed light on the emotional labour of government school principals, promote public understanding of their complex role, and initiate conversations for meaningful changes and improvements.

‘I am often reminded of the privilege and price of leadership in the role of a principal. You are working with colleagues to improve the teaching and learning outcomes for the students in your school. However, most of your time is spent dealing with intense critical matters. You are always navigating difficult relationships and very complex matters. All of it takes a toll. There is help available but you are intrinsically responsible and you’re often left exhausted at the end of each year,” said Pitsa Binnion PSM, retired school principal of 15 years.

Take the short survey via this link: Invisible labour: School principals’ emotional labour in volatile times - Monash Education

This week we have included an extract from Simon Breakspear’s E-newsletter:

The idea: Workload mapping 

When we get into a new month or term, we tend to have a hazy view of things on the horizon that might be coming at us. What if there was an easier way to manage the peaks and troughs of deadlines, and smooth them out ahead of time?

In our roles, we tend to work in a reactive state as we move towards a short-term horizon. While we have a general sense of what’s coming at us, we usually have only a vague sense of how and when that will land, and what capacity we’ll have to meet it. This means we’re living with a sense of looming apprehension of what’s on the horizon, and not taking any agency around how we’ll manage it. We ask too much of ourselves in a way that’s not sustainable, and often end up having to drop some things that really matter. Enter workload mapping — a practical strategy you can use to avoid this.

At the beginning of a fresh month or term, the idea is to take time to pause, pull out your calendar and assess the upcoming workload demands. Getting four to 10 weeks in front, visually pace through all your future commitments, week by week. Ask yourself for each one, “overall, how demanding is this week? What will it feel like to be me at work that week?”. Then take each week and rate it on a scale of one to four based on the expected workload, with one being low and four being heavy — making a subjective relative judgement. 

As you do this exercise, you might notice an understandable spike in apprehension. Use this as a motivator to smooth out those peaks: Think about what could be pushed out or brought forward to balance out periods of lower or higher intensity. Consider raising with your team or a line manager whether something could be taken off you or given to someone else. At minimum, you can plan ahead and design some things in your non-work life to build in rest and rejuvenation to sustain you. 

This process can be done individually, but it’s even better done collectively. As a team you can ask yourselves: “Could we step in and take something off a certain person at a certain time to try to smooth out the peaks?” As we understand what each other has got coming up, we’re better able to support each other. By addressing workload challenges early, you can make sure your workload for the term is sustainable, which means better performance, and much less risk of burnout.

Challenge → Have a go at workload mapping. Take the five minutes to future pace your coming month or term, identify the predictable periods of peak intensity and then take action individually — or even better, as a team, to smooth out some of those demands. 

Acknowledgement:Dr Simon Breakspear | Speaker. Author. Researcher.

If you would like to learn more, Dr Simon has an 8 minute podcast episode that you can listen to here: https://simonbreakspear.com/podcast-workload-mapping/

The ASPA and APPA Presidents, Andy Mison and Angela Falkenberg attended the last Education Ministers Meeting and presented a case for governments to commit to addressing principal and school leader wellbeing. This resulted in a positive commitment:

Ministers expressed their continued support for principals and school leaders and acknowledged the work already underway across jurisdictions to support their wellbeing. Ministers asked officials to work with stakeholders and provide advice on further actions that could support principals and school leaders. Ministers will continue discussions on principal and school leader wellbeing at the next meeting of EMM.  

https://www.aspa.asn.au/ministers-commits-to-principal-wellbeing

Please see the attached Education Ministers Meeting Communique for additional information.

ASPA urges Education Ministers to address school leader wellbeing crisis - Education Matters Magazine

ASPA supports school refusal report's recommendations but urges caution - Education Matters Magazine

AGPPA

The Australian Government Primary Principals Association released the position paper, A Better and Fairer Start for All: A case for funding all government primary schools to their Schooling Resource Standard as soon as possible. The research was undertaken by Pasi Sahlberg (University of Melbourne), Trevor Cobbold (National Convenor of Save our Schools) and Caitlin Senior (University of Melbourne).

The paper says that Australia’s school education is one of the most unequal in the developed world with achievement gaps between children from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds as much as equivalent of two years of learning by Year 5. The inequitable distribution of government funding is fuelling those gaps wider rather than helping to narrow them.

Emagazine - Education Matters Magazine

Be You in the NT

Would you benefit from an extra pair of hands to help plan for wellbeing, at no additional cost?

Be You, the National mental health and wellbeing initiative for learning communities in Australia, provides wellbeing support to all schools, free of charge. It is a federally funded, evidence-based initiative with an experienced and passionate team of consultants located across Australia.

In a significant endorsement of the initiative, Be You has recently signed a partnership agreement with the NT Department of Education, the first of its kind in Australia. The partnership aims to assist schools to establish wellbeing teams, create wellbeing action plans, and develop suicide postvention plans.

Brian Morgan, Michaela Greening and Isabella Kotlar provide support to NT schools from their base in Darwin. 

 “In order to best support the full variety of schools across the NT, we agree with the NTPA that it’s more important than ever to focus on the wellbeing of school leaders and their educators,” says Brian Morgan, Be You NT Manager.

 “It’s a privilege to work alongside Principals. Their contributions are invaluable in balancing educational, social and cultural priorities. Just as they support so many people, it’s our job to support them.”

Educator Wellbeing in the Spotlight

With the additional challenges of recent years, it’s essential that leadership champion their existing workforce.

For staff to feel supported, motivated and engaged in your school, it’s imperative that leaders actively plan to support their wellbeing. Educators’ wellbeing impacts their outlook, health and capacity to build relationships, which are critical to supporting key student metrics such as attendance, engagement and academic performance.

With these principles in mind, Be You commissioned Monash University to conduct five projects investigating educator wellbeing. The findings highlight the importance of thinking about educator wellbeing as a shared responsibility. By prioritising staff wellbeing, leaders can create a culture of care, autonomy, and trust.

Be You’s Beyond Self-Care: An Educator Wellbeing Guide focuses on the three components that learning communities can address to promote educator wellbeing:

• Collegial relationships: Positive relationships and interactions are essential for building educator wellbeing. For example: the sharing of professional expertise, mentoring, effective conflict management, role modelling of positive mental health and celebrating educator success.
  
  
• Workplace culture: Inclusion and belonging nurture wellbeing. All educators should feel free to express themselves and voice their opinions.
  
  
• Leadership: Showing appreciation for your staff and celebrating their achievements plays a key role in creating a thriving workplace.

Importantly, these components are all centred around addressing organisational factors in the school environment. For meaningful change to take place, leaders need to implement actionable steps on a system-wide level.

Reach out at any time to your NT Be You Team.

Brian and his team are available to assist school leaders in planning a whole-of-school approach where educators will feel supported, included and able to thrive in their workplace.

Brian Morgan – Be You NT Manager (Servicing Barkly region)

bmorgan@headspace.org.au        0484 269 957

Michaela Greening – Be You NT Clinical Lead (Servicing Top End and East Arnhem)

mgreening@headspace.org.au      0436 450 502

Isabella Kotlar – Be You NT Consultant (Servicing Darwin, Big Rivers and Central)

ikotlar@headspace.org.au            0448 392 330

Remember memberships are for a calendar year so now is is the time to renew or join for 2024. Click on this link to complete the form.  

Click here for the latest ICP newsletter

Last month, Micahels and his team opened enrollment for the ENVoY Trainers Online Program (ETOP) – "thank you for your incredible support! I’m thrilled to make this training available online and easily accessible to educators."

Watch here for Michael's latest vlog on "5 Ways to identify a dysfunctional team"

The Festival, now in its 11^th screening year, aims to inspire the creative and purposeful use of digital media by young people for social good and to build their skills and confidence.

Here are some key details:

• Submission Deadline:  7 July 2024.
• Competition Theme: “Choices”.  This year’s theme is designed to encourage storytelling about the impact of choices on our lives and the world around us.
• Film Length:  5 minutes (including credits).
• Screening Date and Venue: 17 August 2024 at Ritz Cinemas, Randwick (and livestreamed for an Australian viewing audience).
• Eligibility:  Youth 12 to 24 years.
• Prizes:  Prize categories are Best Film in Junior, Intermediate and Senior Age Divisions; People’s Choice; REEL Change (Best Film exploring a need for social change), “Spirit of REELise” (Best Film reflecting teamwork, community heart, personal growth, resilience or courage) and “Best Pocket Film”.  Cash prizes are awarded to winning filmmakers.
• Competition Entry Fee:   NIL. The Festival competition is free to enter.  Finalists (and their crews) are treated to a VIP red carpet experience, cinema screening and After Party but must make their own travel arrangements.  

The Festival offers students the opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience, gain recognition for their talents and potentially win awards.  Additionally, it allows them to engage with important societal issues through the medium of film, fostering meaningful conversations and promoting social change.

For more information about the Festival, including submission guidelines and entry requirements, please visit the website at: https://www.reelise.org.au/create-and-influence/.  REELise is a registered Australian charity formed to safeguard youth mental health and wellbeing, advance education and advance culture.

Our very own Walungurru School recently received nearly $50,000 worth of brand new goods. Read their story impact here.

See the flyer below for more information on how this proram could beneift your school community.

The Seasons for Life initiative provides:

• Training to nominated school staff (on-line or in person) to deliver the Seasons for Growth program, including supplementary learning specific to a suicide loss.
• Nominated school staff are also trained to deliver an accompanying parent session, including resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
• Your school will also receive support to implement the Seasons for Growth program, including coaching support from a Seasons for Life Coordinator, access to a Community of Practice and a step-by-step school guide.
• All participating schools can also receive an in person, all-staff professional learning session about change, loss and grief and the needs of young people following a suicide related loss.

The initiative is also being evaluated by the University of New England led by Professor Myf Maple and Associate Professor Sarah Wayland.

For more information please visit our website or contact the Seasons for Life Coordinator for the Northern Territory: Klara Jaeger – Seasons for Life Coordinator WA/NT.

Grant applications open until 30 June 2024

For more information please see the flyer below: