/Nov2010Binder

The Independent Voice

November 2010

Journal of the Queensland Independent Education Union

November 2010

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Volume 10 Number 7

Success and challenges to ET6 •

School Officer Day and World Teachers’ Day page 5

ABOVE: Teachers from St James College who applied for ET6 were awarded the classification; however, they are aware that some members have not been treated as fairly by panels

With the outcomes of Experienced Teacher 6 (ET6) applications in the Catholic sector now being advised there is evidence of very different approaches across the various panels.

Honouring our union achievers

pages 12,13

Where the panel operated in line with the provisions in the agreement and agreed panel training and the criteria were properly addressed by an applicant recommendations for approval are being made consistently.

Panels recommendations in the Rockhampton Diocese, for example, have shown a consistency of approach by panels and consistent levels of recommendation have been noted.

However, in a number of panels in the Religious Institute schools and Toowoomba Diocese there is evidence in a number of cases of employer nominees on panels reinterpreting the agreement provisions and ignoring elements of the agreed training and applying a personal view of both the process and level of proficiency required. These discrepancies are E:

UPDAT

Winners of annual Literary competition page 16-21

obvious when some panels have a near 100 per cent recommendation rate while other panels have a consistently less than 50 per cent recommendation rate. The merit of teachers across the sector cannot be that significantly wide. It is apparent on the latter panels that some employer representatives failed to adhere to the ET6 provisions in the agreement and ignored elements in the approved guidelines that were set out in the joint training.

Panels are underway in the Cairns, Townsville and Brisbane Dioceses.

Feedback from panel members in the problematic panels in the Religious Institute and Toowoomba Diocesan employing authorities has suggested that a number of employer representatives and/or Principal or Principal’s nominee have sought to identify “extra” tasks the experienced teacher was undertaking and/or held excessive views of what constitutes various levels of proficiency, arguing that they would expect the

demonstrated levels of proficiency from “all their staff”. Sadly, there is also some evidence in the Toowoomba Diocese that teachers who are not of the Catholic tradition were not being accorded the benefit of the provision in the ET6 schedule which requires panels to take account of a lack of opportunity an applicant has to demonstrate a criterion. Non-Catholic teachers will understandably have not had opportunities to demonstrate the first criterion regarding support of the Catholic mission and ethos where as a matter of employer decision they are not allocated a range of activities associated with the practice of the Catholic tradition.

The ET6 provision is clearly about better recognising the contribution of experienced proficient teachers. It is not an opportunity for some employees to attempt to reconstruct an agreed, negotiated outcome. Commendably, the majority of panels have conducted their assessments in accordance with the provisions and agreed training,

resulting in around a 90 per cent recommendation rate. Review panels are now being constituted to conduct reviews expeditiously for those applicants who were not recommended for approval.

The review panel mechanism is an integral part of the steps set up to award ET6 classification to ensure fair process and correct outcomes.

Where the decision of the initial panel has been not to recommend ET6 status the applicant should protect their interests by immediately informing the employing authority that they are seeking a review of that decision, which will allow the review panel to review and reconsider the application.

As review panels meet in the near term, it is essential that ET6 status be recommended for meritorious applicants where the earlier panel recommendation has clearly been based on a redefinition of the agreed and approved ET6 provisions.

Breakthrough in PMSA negotiations

A significant breakthrough on the key employee issues needing resolution has made a collective agreement in PMSA schools possible. PMSA employer representatives have undertaken to seek PMSA and Principals’ approval to a set of in principle positions, including: • Wage dates in 2012 for base pay and allowances; • Back pay of the outstanding 0.5 per cent in 2010;

• Access to long service leave after seven years; • Positions of Added Responsibility (PAR) Coordinator access to accomplished teacher allowance (subject to eligibility); • School Officer Specialist Care Allowance; and • 15 weeks maternity leave exclusive of paid vacation time.

Both the employee and employer

representatives have agreed to undertake further work on eligibility requirements for the accomplished teacher allowance. The employer also offered to reconsider its claim for 39 weeks of directed duties in 2012 in consideration of the 30 hours per annum of occasional functions at the school level. Employer representatives have agreed to take the outstanding issues, which were agreed in principle at the small group meeting

on 5 November, to the PMSA for approval. A further group meeting was scheduled for 17 November to deal with any outstanding matters.

The final document for employee consideration and ballot will be reviewed by the employee network representatives/SBU employee representatives after the 17 November meeting. A ballot of employees is then possible before end of term in 2010.

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

CONTACTS The Independent Voice is the official publication of the Queensland Independent Education Union (QIEU) www.qieu.asn.au ISSN 1446-1919 QIEU Brisbane Office PH: 07 3839 7020 346 Turbot Street, Spring Hill Q 4000 PO Box 418 Fortitude Valley Q 4006 QIEU Townsville Office PH: 07 4772 6277 Level 1, 316 Sturt St Townsville Q 4810 PO Box 5783 Townsville West Q 4810 QIEU Bundaberg Office PH: 07 4132 8455 44 Maryborough St Bundaberg Q 4670 PO Box 1227 Bundaberg Q 4670 IEUA-QNT Darwin Office PH: 08 8981 1924 FAX: 08 8981 1935 38 Woods Street Darwin NT 0800 GPO Box 4166 Darwin NT 0801 Editorial/ Advertising enquiries to Fiona Stutz: Telephone: 07 3839 7020 Toll Free: 1800 177 937 Fax: 07 3839 7021 Email: fstutz@qieu.asn.au Editor Mr Terry Burke IEUA-QNT Branch Secretary Publications Officer/ Journalist Fiona Stutz Printing: Rural Press (07) 3826 8200 Disclaimer: Advertising is carried in The Independent Voice in order to minimise costs to members and is paid at commercial rates.

Such advertising does not in any way reflect endorsement or otherwise of the advertised products and/or services by QIEU. Copyright All articles remain the copyright of QIEU. Permission must be obtained before reprinting.

ABN: 45 620 218 712

REPORTS AGM reports from QIEU’s President, General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary/Treasurer are now available online on our website:

www.qieu.asn.au

President’s Report President’s report to the 2010 QIEU AGM At our recent Annual General Meeting I reported that this year has been an empowering year for our union; we have seen the successful completion of the Catholic collective agreement and continuation of several key negotiations which has not only resulted in significant gains in conditions of employment, but also a greater level of activism by members.

Through this activism members have clearly demonstrated their support for the collective and have shown their employer that they will not accept inferior wages and conditions even if this means they have to go out on the street and march to the doorstep of their employer.

We have not only grown in size but we have also grown in activism which has been demonstrated through the professional rates of pay campaign.

The growth in membership with the increased activism has resulted in a stronger union which is able to make a real difference to the lives of our members and to the quality of education provided in our schools.

There are many challenges ahead as

we continue to gain sophistication in negotiations in the federal industrial jurisdiction; the expertise gained has enabled us to effectively use these laws, with all their deficiencies, to place significant pressure on employers to concede to the will of the collective voice of our membership.

We continue to see an increasing federalisation of the education agenda, with the imminent roll out of the national curriculum, the expansion of national testing and reporting, combined with the upcoming renewal of independent school funding. It is pleasing to report that our voice is heard on a national stage through the continued strengthening of our federal union, The Independent Education Union of Australia (IEUA). Combined with the significant state based initiatives from the “Flying Start” paper there is much to be vigilant about.

Thank you to all members who have participated in various educational bodies, forums and committees to enable our input on these professional educational initiatives from both state and federal

governments. I would like to thank all Chapter representatives, staff representatives, enterprise bargaining coordinators, network coordinators and membership coordinators at each worksite. They are the face, and for many the first contact for members.

The work that staff representatives do is essential and for our union to continue to be effective we need quality representatives at each school and college. During the AGM we recognise some of these delegates with the various awards that are named in honour of significant people in our union development.

However, for the work of delegates to be successful they have to have the support from our union office to be truly effective. We are very fortunate to be blessed with not only very talented staff but also dedicated people who continue to offer quality support and advice to members.

From organisers who visit worksites to promote and engage in campaigns and professional development, to the advice and support from the member support officers and the industrial service officers and clerical staff to the high quality work of our journalist

and communications officer. Thank you to all council members who provide well considered governance of our union. I would particularly like to acknowledge the leadership provided by Terry Burke our General Secretary; Terry has at all times clearly demonstrated his dedication and commitment to our union. Terry is also very well supported by two talented Assistant General Secretaries, Paul Giles and Ros McLennan.

With over 50 employees and over 15,000 members our union is a significant organisation; thank you to all for your various contributions. As a union we can be proud that we have a membership that acts collectively for not only the improvement of our own working conditions but for the betterment of the broader community.

Andrew Elphinstone IEUA-QNT President

Branch Secretary’s Report Realities of the Federal Jurisdiction Our union now operates almost exclusively in the federal industrial relations jurisdiction. Our members have dealt with the implications of this development in a very mature and sophisticated way and now well understand the particular character of union and collective activity in the federal arena.

The provisions of the Fair Work Act are now well in place for over 12 months. However, from 1 January 2010 the applicability of the state based awards ceased and the Modern National Awards now operate in the absence of a collective agreement.

We clearly are not immune from the impact of these changes and members have responded well to the emerging situation and have appropriately asserted their industrial and collective rights in the face of attempts by various employing authorities to diminish those rights.

Members understand that the collective will always be the source of their ultimate strength in negotiations and while we take no pleasure from the fact that members have had to take industrial action to support their claims, it is nevertheless a sign of our maturity of our members as a union that members understand that in the current industrial environment those actions are both legitimised and often necessary to achieve a negotiated outcome. While we can commend the

membership for the manner in which they have embraced the challenges of the federal industrial relations system, many employers for their part have shown a tawdry regard for the relevance of the industrial conditions which prevailed to 31 December 2009.

and services staff have seen a shared interest in maintaining high level conditions for each category of employees. These developments have in fact strengthened the allencompassing nature of our union collective in schools and we are the stronger union for that dynamic.

It is a matter of shame that employing authorities such as ACSEA in the early childhood sector having championed a trawling to the bottom of industrial provisions for inclusion in the Modern National Awards and now are hardened advocates of the need to establish these low level conditions as the industrial norm in our schools and centres. These employing authorities have shown little regard for the hard fought for conditions in the previous state awards and have seen an opportunity in the transition to the Modern National Awards to diminish working rights and conditions. It is even more shameful that in many instances employers have targeted the conditions of school officers and services staff, advocating that these very base level conditions should now become the industrial norm in a particular school or employing authority.

Members, for their part, appreciate the need for well co-ordinated education and industrial campaigns to ensure that their working rights are protected and enhanced. Employees in a number of Catholic employing authorities, for example, took action again early this year in support of their claim for a professional rate of pay. The taking of industrial action establishes a new character to the employer/employee relationship.

No more clearly is this in evidence than in the Presbyterian Methodist Schools Association (PMSA) where the employing authority encountered widespread industrial action across their four schools with a degree of united determination not before seen in these schools. The outcome of this action has been both tangible in terms of a revised employer position and also importantly in an intangible way employees have won a new respect from their employer and a recognition that employees in these schools are not prepared to be trifled with nor disregarded in their legitimate claims to protect their industrial provisions.

Rightly, our members have responded vigorously to these attacks on the industrial conditions of the membership and again it is to their credit that teachers, school officers

The Fair Work Act fundamentally encourages the establishment of collective agreements. It is pleasing therefore to report that over the last twelve months a number of agreements have been established in employing authorities for the first time. These are pleasing developments because our union can bring critical advice and consideration to the negotiations to ensure that employees’ conditions maintain community standards and are appropriately flexible in a workplace mindful of the working rights of employees.

It is pleasing to see a number of what were employer agreements significantly enhanced with our involvement and to report the acknowledgement by employees of the benefit of our input.

The new year will see new challenges to negotiate agreements across state and territory jurisdictions. These are exciting challenges and provide opportunities to further strengthen our capacity as a collective.

Terry Burke IEUA-QNT Branch Secretary tburke@qieu.asn.au

The Independent Voice

November 2010

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Queensland government must make a stand on employment conditions in kindergartens IEUA-QNT early childhood education members have met with state government members of parliament to highlight the concerns of community kindergarten employees. Members sought an explicit commitment from parliamentarians that the viability of community kindergartens would be maintained. IEUA-QNT members asked for assurances that community kindergartens would be able to continue to provide quality early childhood education.

Members from Townsville, Sarina, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast requested that their local MP sign a pledge which committed the MP to support in the parliament publicly improved funding to protect the working conditions of employees and to protect the future viability of community kindergartens.

Current proposals by some employers to force employees to increase their teaching hours by 9 per cent without any additional recompense or reward are totally unacceptable. The fundamental flaw in the Kindergarten Funding Scheme (KFS) is that it fails to take into account the additional labour costs associated with the introduction of the 15 hour universal access model. The additional hours of teaching work resulting from this model will result in

additional labour costs.

In the majority of instances this will require the employment of additional staff. The payment of some form of ‘overtime penalty’ is a less than attractive option where employees are already struggling with workload pressures.

The Queensland government has, to date, failed to identify any measures which would ensure that employers do not attempt to impose on employees the additional costs associated with implementing the universal access model.

The failure of the state government to make a clear statement supporting the value of early childhood education employees is reprehensible. The Government must implement measures which, as a very minimum, both protect the existing hours of work of early childhood education professionals and ensure that their wages remain comparable with other education sectors.

The proposed level of funding under the state government’s KFS remains inadequate for the overwhelming majority of kindergartens. The current KFS will result in a community kindergarten education being placed beyond the financial means of many families. This

ABOVE: IEUA-QNT members Kay Harling, Julie Kavanagh, Jenny Finlay and Averal Woodham discuss the current issues in early childhood education at the recent Emerald C&K meeting

will, in turn, threaten the ongoing viability of many kindergartens.

The state government’s scheme is causing kindergarten closures and the resultant redundancy (without any redundancy payments) of existing employees.

The government must make a commitment to significantly increase the quantum of funding not only to cover the additional costs, but to also guarantee that early childhood employees receive appropriate wages and conditions.

The affordability of community kindergartens for parents must not be adversely affected.

ABOVE: During the kindergarten delegation visit in Townsville IEUA-QNT member Deb Saylor (right) meets with MP Lindy Nelson-Carr ABOVE RIGHT: LNP MP Ted Malone meets with Dale Wood, Maree Sluggett and Melanie Hamblin from Sarina Kindy

Collective agreements guarantee wages and conditions Kindergartens which have made the decision to implement the 15 hours educational programme from 2011, have an absolute and urgent need to negotiate a new collective agreement.

It is commendable that the new agreement currently subject to a ballot of C&K employees will protect existing hours of employees and provide a 4 per cent wage increase in 2011.

The Queensland Lutheran Early Childhood Services Inc has committed to protect the hours of their kindergarten employees and provide a similar increase,

though this protection has not yet been reflected in an enforceable agreement.

However, the Australian Community Services Employers Association Kindergartens (ACSEA), which is the representative of an ever smaller minority of community kindergartens, has failed to commit to a collective agreement. In a nonsensical letter to centres it has suggested no new agreement is necessary. ACSEA has a rather misplaced hope that employees can be asked to work additional teaching hours without any additional recompense or reward.

The number of committees in early childhood settings who have entered in to single enterprise agreements which protect employee conditions supports our view of the benefits of collective agreements.

To improve both early childhood education and the position of employees in this sector, negotiations for a single enterprise agreement with each kindergarten employer is vital.

IEUA-QNT are prepared to discuss the requirements for each kindergarten and draft agreements are available.

ABOVE: IEUA-QNT members at the Mission Beach ECE meeting

ABOVE: Discussing the issues were members at the North Queensland Early Childhood Network Meeting at the end of October

IEUA-QNT launch Women’s Forum The IEUA-QNT Women’s Forum was officially launched in Townsville to provide opportunities for regional women members to work together to achieve outcomes that support, educate and empower women in both their union and profession.

On November 5 the Women’s Forum, an initiative of the IEUAQNT Equity Committee, was officially launched by Branch Secretary Terry Burke. The launch acknowledged and celebrated the role of women in our union as well as highlighting a number of

past campaigns that advanced the working rights of women and all members.

Branch Secretary Terry Burke said the introduction of the pilot will identify how women can be more active and engaged in our union, by empowering women, providing leadership opportunities, and identifying and campaigning on working conditions that take account of modern households and the need for flexible arrangements.

“Taking up these issues is an essential responsibility of a growing

ABOVE: IEUA-QNT members take part in the IEUA-QNT Women’s Forum in Townsville

union which has high levels of women members,” Mr Burke said.

The Townsville Women’s Forum will meet again early in Term 1, 2011 to plan their activities for the year with activities to focus on achieving equity, providing

education and strengthening the union collective for women in the Townsville region.

RIGHT: IEUA-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke with Lyn Gardney and Elizabeth Thompson from Holy Spirit School

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

Members in Action Network dedicated to school officers School officers from the metropolitan and north metropolitan branches want to develop a dedicated network of school officer colleagues after attending a IEUA-QNT forum recently.

During the forum members from a number of Catholic primary and secondary schools shared their knowledge and experiences, and were able to have a range of questions answered about their rights at work.

The school officers were particularly interested in their responsibilities and duty of care when asked to perform additional duties that had traditionally been undertaken by teachers.

Supervision of students, working with high needs students and the responsibilities school officers have with the behaviour management of students were discussed.

This is of particular significance in light of the new provision in the Catholic collective agreement that allows for the allocation of additional duties to support staff.

This could include duties such as playground supervision, bus duty and exam supervision.

Similarly, the school officers were interested in how to ensure that lunch breaks and rest pauses are accessed in the face of their increasing work demands, and banking of hours was keenly discussed as a strategy to respond to increasingly busy jobs.

The issue of position descriptions, classifications and role descriptions was also one that generated interest.

ABOVE: School officers from metropolitan and north metropolitan branches attend a branch forum recently

IEUA-QNT organisers Nicole Carlill and Susan O’Leary were able to point out the changes in the

recent collective agreement that relate to school officers and to encourage members to take

advantage of these changes to improve their working conditions.

Susan O’Leary IEUA-QNT organiser

Ryan Catholic College school officers benefit from training

North QLD members undertake Professional Issues training Important professional and industrial issues that have an impact on education professionals was highlighted to north Queensland IEUA-QNT members during recent training in Townsville.

The Industrial and Professional Issues Under Fair Work Australia workshop focused on the contemporary industrial environment under Fair Work Australia and the resolution of common workplace issues.

RIGHT: IEUA-QNT members from Far North Queensland recently took part in a two-day course whcih gave them practical skills and knowledge for collectively addressing issues within schools during the Industrial Relations in the Workplace training. Further industrial relations training for all branches will be scheduled in 2011.

The session included essential information around bargaining under the Fair Work Act, who is covered under the National Industrial Relations System and the National Employment Standards. Members also participated in an exercise to review the Catholic sector professional rates of pay campaign.

IEUA-QNT organiser Patrick Meikle said it was important for members in Townsville to be actively

involved in the professional issues members are currently facing through professional development opportunities.

“Members benefit from attending union training by becoming better informed about the issues so they can then take this information back to their Chapter so they all become better educated on the issues teachers continually encounter,” Patrick said.

ABOVE: Ryan Catholic College school officers learn more about new provisions in the new Catholic agreement for school officers after taking part in IEUA-QNT training

Ryan Catholic College school officers now have a clearer understanding of the new provisions and entitlements within the Catholic sector collective agreement following recent industrial training.

School officers at the Townsville school were briefed on specific provisions relating to school officers in the new agreement, such as specialised care allowance, special project allowance, higher duties provisions and banking of ordinary hours and overtime hours.

Allocation of duties as determined by the Principal and guidelines around counsellors without teacher qualifications and special education students support were also highlighted to members.

IEUA-QNT organiser Wendy Hutchinson said members were also interested in discussing fixed term contract use, redundancy and wages.

“Members were eager to find out what they are now entitled to under the new Catholic sector agreement, and were also provided with a brief overview of school officer classifications and position descriptions during training,” Wendy said.

Members also had an opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification around the new provisions where school officers can now be asked to take on additional duties such as bus and playground supervisions, exam supervisions and collation of reports.

To find out more about attending school officer training, contact your union organiser or visit www.qieu.asn.au .

The Independent Voice

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November 2010

Members in Action School officers celebrate their contribution to education School officers have been acknowledged for the variety of essential and diverse roles they play in schools in this year’s School Officer Day celebration.

IEUA-QNT Chapters throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory were encouraged to say ‘thank you’ to school officers for their efforts in enriching our school communities on this important day with special morning teas at each school.

The professional work of school officers in our classrooms, administration, libraries, laboratories and computer rooms combine to both enhance students’ educational experiences and support the work of teachers.

School Officer Day is an

opportunity to acknowledge these skills, professionalism and commitment of school officers.

St John Fisher College school officer Barbara Singleton said school officers play an important part in any school environment.

However, school officers still face challenges such as appropriate access to professional development, recognition of prior service and qualifications, keeping up with modern technology and the extra jobs required to do in a normal day, Barbara said.

“Despite this, school officers like their jobs and their interaction with students,” she said.

To view further School Officer Day celebration photos, please visit www.qieu.asn.au

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IEUA-QNT celebrates World Teachers’ Day Members of IEUA-QNT have used World Teachers’ Day to reflect on the importance of quality education for children and communities throughout the world.

On 29 October World Teachers’ Day, themed ‘Recovery Begins with Teachers’, union Chapters took the day as a valuable opportunity to promote the teaching profession while also using the celebration day to raise money for the Pakistan Floods Children’s Appeal.

Funds raised by members to help support Pakistan children and families in this time of crisis will help to provide food, shelter and hope for those affected by these floods.

IEUA-QNT Secretary Terry Burke

said: “Both internationally and at home, teacher unionists accept the reponsibility to speak out for quality education, the interests of students and in support of our profession.”

Chapters also held morning teas to say ‘thank you’ to teachers on this important day for all the work they do with students, the community and to ensure high quality teacher professionals into the future.

St John Fisher College teacher Jan Gulliver said though issues such as work intensification and student demands can be challenges teachers must face, the ‘light bulb’ moments and the development of trust with students makes teaching a worthwhile career.

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

Assistant General Secretary’s Report The importance of membership growth Our union is strong and effective in promoting members’ professional interests and protecting employees’ working rights and conditions in the non-government education sector. If we want to continue to have a strong voice and the power to influence decisions affecting education and the profession, union membership must continue to grow.

For the last 20 years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has conducted annual surveys on trade union membership. By and large, that epic story hasn’t been pretty. Late last month, the ACTU’s Strategic Research Unit released a report which analysed the ABS data. The result is a timely reminder for Australian unions, including our own, of the urgency to organise.

Tim Lyons (ACTU Assistant Secretary) points out that the ABS figures for the year to August 2009 revealed a “…net membership growth and an economy wide increase in union density (meaning the proportion of ‘union members’ to ‘total number of employees’) for the first time in twenty years”. The latest figures show an increase in overall density from 18.9% in 2008 to 19.7% in 2009. While an increase is always welcome, the ACTU report sagely points out that it is as yet “…unclear as to whether the long-term trend has been arrested.”

In 2010, WorkChoices has been ‘ripped up’ (or watered down substantially, at

the very least), heralding a return to collective bargaining. Better legislative and industrial protections are undeniably in place. And the current federal government (though hanging by a thread) is not fanatically devoted to the complete annihilation of our Australian union movement.

Don’t put the champagne on ice just yet. Any reasonable analyst would have expected membership growth in the brave new world of relative political and economic peace postHoward and the GFC. Looking to the future, the ACTU report also points to the opportunities to organise and build membership into the future. Very strong growth is predicted in some key sectors of the economy, including education. The latest figures show that “there are 772,900 employees working in the provision and support of education and training across the country.

Education and training employment is projected to grow by 2.7% pa, reaching 883,000 employees in 2014 – consequently 45,800 additional members will be required by 2014 to maintain current density levels.

This equates to a 14.2% increase in the number of members from 2009.” [page 60, Urgency and Opportunity, ACTU Report, October 2010]. The report’s insights into the ‘typical member’ and ‘typical non-member’ in the education sector at present is also of interest in developing effective recruitment and retention strategies.

According to the profile presented,

Equity Matters: With a busy Term Four drawing to a close and an already crammed curriculum, it’s a big ask to invite teachers to participate in yet another ‘awareness-raising’ activity this late in the year. For me, however, the seriousness of the issue of violence against women, particularly here in Australia, is enough motivation to ask my colleagues to consider the possibility. With one in three women experiencing physical or sexual violence in this country, and one in four children witnessing domestic violence, involvement in White Ribbon Day on November 25 and an awareness of the White Ribbon Campaign in Australia and throughout the world, may be a very positive thing. I’m not suggesting that the complex and broad social problem of violence against women will be addressed through one day of ‘consciousness-raising’, but it may well be a useful start.

On Thursday 25 November 2010, Australians are encouraged to take part in White Ribbon Day, as part of a global campaign to end violence against women. The white ribbon is

the ‘typical member / past member’ in the education sector is an Australian born female, aged 45 – 54 working full time with university qualifications.

The ‘typical never been a member’ profile is of an Australian born female, aged 24-34, working full time with university qualifications. Given the vast majority of teachers and school officers are female, the teaching profession is an ageing one and the majority of staff are union members – this all rings true.

However, in terms of our recruitment strategies, the ‘typical never been a member’ profile strongly points to the importance of recruiting graduate teachers at both pre-service level and upon first entering the school workplace. Our union has already implemented a number of strategies to encourage young people to join – such as offering free Associate union membership; speaking to third and fourth year education students about membership benefits; running seminars on employment search strategies; providing discounted graduate teacher union membership; prioritising collective bargaining issues such as new graduate teacher wage levels commensurate with interstate professional rates of pay and better induction provisions; and holding special information sessions tailored for new graduates in their first and second years of teaching.

But after all that, there is no substitute for a face to face conversation with a more experienced colleague, when first starting at a new workplace

and trying to make sense of the gulf between university preparation and the realities of the classroom!

With parents continuing a trend to increasingly look to nongovernmental education choices, the role of IEUA-QNT members cannot be understated in turning the strength of our Australian union movement around – school by school, town by town.

Of course, the end game is not about simple stats. It’s about the power you have to effect positive change on behalf of the students in your care and on behalf of the profession – both present and future. While many sector collective bargaining rounds have concluded this year, the next campaigns are already clear on the 2011 horizon…

We have the challenges of reversing the federal government’s passion for implementing a failed, imported performance-based pay model that, if successful, would threaten the very nature of our collegial school workplaces and the essence of the profession – and of minding the workload outcomes and quality issues inherent in the delivery of a future National Curriculum. As IEUAQNT Secretary Terry Burke recently commented: “Here in Queensland, teachers and school staff need to stand together to fight for adequate resources to ensure every teacher can deliver a quality educational program that meets the diverse needs of each of our students.”

Undeniably, each and all are critical campaigns that we can’t afford to lose.

Undeniably, each and all are critical campaigns that we will lose – if not for the strong voice of a committed and growing union membership of educators and school employees.

That’s why it is so important that each and every union member, in each and every non-government school, has a personal one-on-one conversation with a colleague who is yet to make the decision to join our union about the importance of doing so.

For our part, a personal letter, along with a 2011 union membership form, have now been sent to all unfinancial and potential members.

As a further inducement to join up as union members in 2011, we are now offering free membership for the rest of the year to those unfinancial and non-members who return their completed 2011 union membership form and payment authority to us by 30 November. Because a stronger voice for educators and school employees is worth joining for.

Ros McLennan Assistant General Secretary rmclennan@qieu.asn.au

White Ribbon Day - 25 November 2010

a symbol of men’s opposition to this Office for Women ran awareness in ‘Resources’ provides guidelines violence and was chosen by a handful activities on the International Day, and information for running White of Canadian men in 1991 who started and, in 2003, the Australian branch Ribbon Day activities in your school the White Ribbon Campaign on the of the United Nations Development including a list of suggested activities second anniversary of one man’s Fund for Women, UNIFEM, began and ideas for action, important massacre of 14 female engineering a partnership with men and women’s background facts and statistics, students in Montreal. They decided organisations to make this a national detailed discussion points, advice that they had a responsibility to urge campaign. Ten thousand white about public disclosure, useful men to speak out about violence ribbons were distributed in 2003, and websites, information about the against women, and their actions built in 2007 the White Ribbon Foundation associated My Oath Campaign, White the foundations for what the campaign was established.

Ribbon Ambassadors and White aims to achieve today - to raise Ribbon Action Teams and forms and awareness about the “Violence against women is the great silent crime of our time. contacts if your school issue amongst men It is the silence that makes it so insidious... Violence against or class chooses to and in the general women needs to move from the great silence to be part of formally register and community, and become a participant a continuing national conversation... Because we need to with the Foundation. that men must play a positive and change the way men think. We need to change the way some An information set of constructive role in boys think. And that cannot be done in silence.”

‘Fact Sheets’ and a Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd comprehensive report eliminating violence White Ribbon Foundation Annual White Tie Dinner about the prevalence against women.

17 September 2008 o f v i o l e n c e i n Since the early Australia entitled An nineties, the campaign has spread It’s unfair to ask teachers to take Assault on Our Future: The impact throughout the globe and in 1999, with on extra tasks and not to provide of violence on young people and their the UN declaring November 25 as the resources, so it is reassuring to find a relationships (Flood & Fergus, 2008) ‘International Day for the Elimination comprehensive range of resources on is also available in ‘Resources’ and of Violence against Women’, the the White Ribbon Foundation website invaluable if you decide to become white ribbon became the symbol for found at http://www.whiteribbonday. involved. And of course, promotional the day and this cause. From 2000, org.au. In particular, the White materials and merchandise is also the Commonwealth Government Ribbon Day Schools Kit 2010 found readily available from the site.

In support of White Ribbon Day 2010 and the White Ribbon Campaign our union will also be sending material to your Chapter, so please ask your Chapter Executive members to forward this to you. The White Ribbon Campaign is an opportunity for males and females to work together to end violence against women and girls in our community, and to promote a culture of non-violence and respect.

As the White Ribbon Day Schools Kit 2010 points out, schools and teachers are in a unique position to help in the Campaign; they are able to challenge attitudes and behaviours, by illustrating positive values, beliefs and practices of acceptable behaviour during the important developmental years. White Ribbon Day on 25 November 2010 may only be one day in the year, but it highlights what we can be doing every-other-day in our schools and broader communities, to promote a safer and more socially-just community for all Australians.

Kerry Laws IEUA-QNT Equity Committee Convenor

The Independent Voice

November 2010

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Assistant General Secretary/Treasurer’s Report Report to the QIEU Annual General Meeting - 29 October 2010 In presenting my Assistant General Secretary/Treasurer’s Report for 2010 to Council, I stated my belief that this year has been a period of growth and challenge industrially and a period of increased maturity for our members.

growth and activism in our union.

single-site situations.

Recruitment and retention of graduates, and employees new to the non-government sector, needs to be maintained as a priority so that the culture of union is maintained.

Members are being assisted to take steps to exercise power through union.

The collective bargaining that has occurred in the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican and is still occurring in the PMSA sectors has been and continues to be both challenging and rewarding.

As well, in 2011 there will be concentration upon, and campaigns around, other hard-to-organise sectors that are potentially fertile areas of growth and activism or of strategic importance, including Seventh Day Adventist schools and particular independent single-site schools.

Membership of our union has continued to grow over the past year and we anticipate further growth in 2010/2011.

This growth has been across all sectors.

On-going strategies developed in regard to pre-service and graduate teachers are notable in establishing levels of membership and sense of “union” that once created provides a strong foundation on which to build.

These established activities and strategies will continue to infuse our membership with vigour and provide a solid foundation for

Education of members continues to be a focus for organisers.

This education has been about industrial issues and skill building as well as professional issues.

Members as a collective are beginning to internalise an understanding of, and belief in, the moral rightness of collective power in action.

This is particularly so in sectors where collective agreement negotiations have occurred and is also occurring in other sectors and

This is an experience that will need to be fostered, supported and nurtured in our membership in 2011.

Over the previous budget period we have successfully funded projects that were identified in our budget estimates and projections.

This includes increases to both officer and clerical staff, upgrading and maintaining the vehicle fleet and substantial maintenance of QIEU Place.

We have in the previous budget continued to operate effectively and well so that at the end of the 2009/2010 budget year we are able to acknowledge the positive state of our union both in quantum of membership and our financial situation.

Shafston International College’s first collective agreement will be balloted by the end of term, pending employer agreement to the formalisation of existing time release for coordinators.

Beginning in October 2009, negotiations have resulted in a number of enhanced conditions at the college, including: • A guarantee that the full amount of wage increases will

IEUA-QNT have

in conducted an audit brief... of wages paid to ELICOS colleges.

Our union is pleased to report that the majority of colleges have elected not to use the transitional schedules under the Educational Services (Post-Secondary Education) Award 2010, instead conferring the full rate of wage increases to staff as per union advice.

If you have any questions about wage rates or collective bargaining, please contact your ELICOS organiser on elicos@qieu.asn.au

be conferred to staff without transitional arrangements; • Access to paid professional development and staff meetings; • Formalisation of a $5,000 coordinators allowance; • Enhanced access to higher classifications for casual staff; and • The establishment of a consultative committee.

In response to genuine financial concerns with the college, the

Substantial resource allocation has been directed to maintenance and renovation of QIEU Place for the optimum utilisation of the space available.

As well continued significant provision has been made for direct member education in regard to professional and industrial issues so that as our membership continues to grow members are both professionally and industrially sophisticated and our strategic leverage at both state and national level is strengthened.

The 2010/2011 budget anticipates an exciting period.

The financial situation of our union is healthy and the prognosis positive with the 2010/2011 budget and budgetary considerations clearly directed to maintaining that health whilst responding to on-going infrastructure and growth imperatives as well as adopting practices that underpin sensible financial management.

In the 2010/2011 budget period

The 2010/2011 year will be one of

ELICOS Sector Matters Shafston International College

provision has been made for an increase to officer and clerical staffing which responds to the needs of a growing membership base.

Chapter was determined to seek a short term agreement of 12 months with a view to focus on professional rates of pay at the next negotiation round.

IEUA-QNT organiser Nick Holliday said: “ The Chapter has worked as a strong collective throughout negotiations and has achieved significant results through this process. However, the Chapter remains committed to achieving enhanced wages in the next bargaining round.”

IES Members at IES are concerned that the current management proposal will fail to provide certainty of wages and hours of duty in current negotiations for a collective agreement.

Management has offered staff wage increases linked to the Consumer Price Index (Brisbane CPI is currently 3.2 per cent) with a further five percent payable if college student numbers remain at current levels. Whilst staff welcome the discussion of wage increases, assurance of pay rates remains a concern.

The employer has also tabled a proposal which would have significant effect on hours of duty and the school year for

HHH The ELICOS sector has lost another college with HHH being declared insolvent in September.

Staff were given no warning of the school’s closure with 23 losing their jobs.

IEUA-QNT conducted training in October to encourage members to apply for the government program General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS). The scheme is in place to help workers recover wages and lost entitlements

staff. Teachers at IES currently work set teaching hours for the standard 40 week year; however, the employer’s proposal would facilitate work at anytime between 8:30am and 8:30pm weekdays and 8:30am and 4pm Saturdays during any time of the year. Staff are currently considering their options in response to this critical issue.

The issue of a paid parental leave scheme is also of concern. Employees have sought 12 weeks paid parental leave in addition to any federal government scheme.

However, the current employer offer that the college will pay the difference between the federal funded scheme and the employees usual wage for the 18 week duration of the leave remains problematic.

challenges, excitement and growth for our union.

The forward thinking leadership of the General Secretary, Executive and Council will continue to effectively guide our efforts as they have in the past. The commitment and effort of organisers, industrial, communication and clerical officers needs to be acknowledged and applauded for their continued effort.

Members need to be congratulated for their activism and belief that by working together we achieve more than by working alone.

Together we are union.

Paul Giles Assistant General Secretary/ Treasurer pgiles@qieu.asn.au

from their employers who are insolvent or go into voluntary administration.

Our union will continue to advise and support members at HHH. The Brisbane college was one of numerous ELICOS colleges who have closed their doors in 2010, which includes the Queensland College of English (QCE) who went into voluntary administration in February.

Our union will monitor this situation and are hopeful staff at the College can be placed in other schools.

Australian Language School Employees at the Australian Languages School have benefited from union membership after noticing discrepancies in wage rates and asking for union assistance.

Members became aware that the ELICOS college had interpreted wage increases to the Modern Award for staff incorrectly.

After contacting our union for advice on how to appropriately address the issue, members elected a representative to speak to management on behalf of all staff.

The college has now rectified the issue with full back payment and appropriate increases to now be paid to all staff.

Members at the Australian Languages School are to be commended for their awareness of the issue and seeking union advice where needed.

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

Northern Territory News NT Professional Issues Conference 2010 The Northern Territory Professional Issues Conference 2010 plenary sessions and workshops focused on professional issues educators are facing now and into the future.

The Conference for both members of IEUA-QNT and the AEU incorporated critiques of the ‘Education Revolution’, positive responses to special needs education, cross-cultural communication problems between indigenous and other Australians, what is required to provide high quality early childhood education, and effective delivery of education programs to middle school students.

The keynote speaker was University of Queensland Professor Robert Lingard.

ABOVE: IEUA-QNT and AEU members take part in the inaugural Northern Territory Professional Issues Conference 2010 LEFT: Doctor Allan Edwards from Griffith Unversity - Gold Coast presents targeted pedagogy and strategies to enhance the effective delivery of education programmes to middle school students

IEUA-QNT organiser Camille Furtado said members were enthusiastic about the range of topics, with all sessions validating the good work teachers are already doing while provoking different perspectives and ideas on what they can further adopt in the classroom.

Helen van Hulst from Murrara Christian College said: “Too often we buy into the despair and fear associated with the changes in education and (the

conference) has validated that we do a great deal well and we have been given powerful strategies for doing some things better.”

Cate Garwood from Araluen Christian College said the sessions inspired her to contextualise the ideas at the school level, such as national goals and ideas.

All presentations have given Conference participants improved knowledge and better understanding to enable us, as a union and as educators, to prepare for the challenges of the future.

The Conference concluded with a dinner to celebrate a year of achievements.

IEUA Federal Assistant Secretary Christine Cooper spoke at the dinner about the importance of taking time out to think about past challenges, who has helped us through those challenges and the values around those challenges. “Those values are still current today,” Christine said.

To view the Conference presentations, please visit our website at: http://www.qieu.asn.au/nt.html

Former branch President awarded inaugural Judith Cooper Award

Training benefits members in Top End IEUA-QNT members have been provided with important strategies to encourage union activism to ensure a strong collective within their schools during recent member training.

Throughout the ‘Understanding your Workplace’ training day Darwin members were eager to discuss the importance of building union membership to help create strength in their schools, as well as workshopping ways to successfully develop networks.

IEUA-QNT organiser Camille Furtado said she was pleased at how engaged the members were during training.

“The participants came from very different contexts in terms of their school environment and their level of activism within their school; however, they each easily understood the techniques that we talked about and went away with plans to implement them in their schools,” Camille said.

“Having a small group was really

beneficial as this meant participants were able to share easily about the issues prevalent in their schools and how they have been over come.”

ABOVE: Taking part in ‘Understanding your Workplace’ member training was IEUA-QNT members Jacob Windle from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) Wadeye, Louise Lenzo from The Essington School, Tony Walton from St John’s College, Linda Conder from The Essington School and Andrea Wren from St Mary’s Primary School

John Gaulke has been awarded the inaugural Judith Cooper Award for his outstanding contribution as a union activist during his time as President of the IEUA Northern Territory branch.

Presented with the award by IEUA Federal Assistant Secretary Christine Cooper (above) at the Northern Territory Professional Issues Conference, John said he was “humbled and honoured” to receive the award.

John said it was a “time of change” during his term as President which led to the strengthening of our union

in the Top End. “It really gladdens my heart to learn how strong the union movement in our sector is now,” John said.

The award was established to honour the instrumental role Judith Cooper played in the establishment of a union in the Northern Territory.

The Independent Voice

November 2010

9

Graduates prepare for career in education IEUA-QNT associate and graduate members are now better prepared for securing employment as education professionals thanks to the recent information session Strategies for seeking employment in the non-government education sector.

The professional development session provided members with information and resources to assist them in preparing for a career in education.

A graduate teacher already working in the profession, representatives of Brisbane Catholic Education and IEUA-QNT representatives addressed over 100 IEUA-QNT associate members.

IEUA-QNT member and supply teacher Carmel Kuhr spoke on the benefits of supply teaching as a career.

Brisbane Catholic Education’s Matthew Neale and Carmel Wallace were also on hand to explain how to specifically apply for employment within BCE schools in Queensland.

IEUA-QNT organiser Sherryl Saunders discussed the importance

of being an IEUA-QNT member to ensure that they had appropriate support and assistance.

The session concluded with a presentation by first year graduate teacher Andrew Smith. Andrew spoke to members about his experiences as a graduate teacher covering topics such as the challenges and rewards of teaching and the importance of providing a detailed cover letter and research into the schools’ policies and mission statements when applying for a job.

All attendees were provided with information packs to assist them in finding employment and help them become better educated about the profession.

FAR RIGHT: First year graduate teacher Andrew Smith gives advice to final year education students on the challenges to his first year of teaching

ABOVE: IEUA-QNT associate members Hayley Wells, Renata Kallenbach and Samantha Chapman speak with supply teacher and IEUA-QNT member Carmel Kuhr at the Strategies for seeking employment in the non-government education

sector session

RIGHT: Larissa Adams, Amanda Lucas and Melissa Cope BELOW: Final year education students find out more about applying for employment in the non-government education sector

Zachary awarded John Nash Bursary Award 2010 James Cook University student Zachary Scarabello (right) has been awarded the John Nash Bursary Award for 2010. The bursary, awarded for the first time in 2009 to celebrate our union’s 90th anniversary, is awarded each year to an outstanding student studying an education degree at university to become an inspiring teacher.

Zachary, studying for a Bachelor of Education with Honours (Secondary), said he wanted to become a teacher to help inspire and motivate students to become life-long learners.

“Teaching gives me the rewarding opportunity to encourage students to find success regardless of their discursive background and barriers to learning,” he said.

Zachary was eligible for the award after being nominated by his mother, Gabriella, who is a member of QIEU and is employed as a school officer at St Mary’s College in Cairns. Zachary is also an associate member of QIEU. He said the $2,000 bursary would be used to puchase a new laptop to aid with his teaching.

Together with the awarding of the John Nash Bursary Award, four other university students were awarded education bursaries at the QIEU Annual General Meeting in October. The recipients were Ken Connors from Central Queensland University, June Bawden from Griffith University, Aleisha Wollstein from Queensland University of Technology Kelvin Grove and Melissa Foster from University of

Graduating as a teacher this year?

Queensland. The education bursary recipients were awarded $1,000 to be used for education associated expences such as text books, computer technology and payment of their HECS/HELP debt.

Are you ready to apply for a teaching position?

Pre-service university students are eligible to become an Associate Member of the Independent Education Union of Australia Queensland and Northern Territory (IEUAQNT) branch, your union in nongovernment schools.

The award was named after John James Nash (1947-2006), an extraordinary man who played a significant role in our union. Having played an important part in building capacity as a union in the 1980s, John ensured the continued strength of the Chapter at St Laurence’s College, Brisbane, by educating and inspiring new staff to become active union members. These awards were established to benefit the relatives of current or past QIEU members.

Associate membership is free and provides you with: regular journals to keep you up to date with professional and industrial trends; information about wage rates and conditions offered by prospective employers; and kits to give you the edge when making an application for a teaching position.

Age, gender or remoteness is no barrier for those studying an education degree to apply for the bursaries. Eligible university students are encouraged to apply for the bursaries in 2011.

LEFT: On hand to accept their Teacher Education Bursaries was (left) Ken Connors, Melissa Foster and June Bawden with Chris Nash (second from right), son of John Nash

Simply fill out an Associate Membership Application form by downloading a copy from our website www.qieu.asn.au.

IEUA-QNT’s website keeps you upto-date on: employment conditions across the different schools; job application tips; an induction checklist for your commencement at a new school; sector wage comparisons; and free professional development opportunities.

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION TE: A D P U

What is happening with the MySchool website?

The working party established by then Deputy Prime Minister/Education Minister Julia Gillard to provide advice on the next iteration of the MySchool website has completed its work and has made a final report to the Education Ministers which was considered by them at the October MCEECDYA meeting.

Our union was represented on this working party

by IEUA Federal Secretary, Chris Watt.

The report from the working party, which included unions, principal associations, parent associations and nominees of the then Federal Education Minister, agreed without dissent on a range of significant improvements to the structure and look of the MySchool website.

Notably, the 18 recommendations contained within the draft report met most of the specific issues raised by unions about the MySchool website.

These recommendations included a restructure of the ‘landing page’, that is, the first page that opens for each chosen school.

This page was to provide for contextual information about the selected school, including extended space for the ‘principal commentary’, school demographic information and data relating to the school’s expenditure, both recurrent and capital (a new feature as proposed by the Ministers earlier this year) but, most significantly, without any NAPLAN results.

Essentially, the working party proposed that the ‘landing page’ be a ‘narrative’ about the school.

Additionally, the website would see a new display of student results, in addition to the current table but given privileged placement ahead of the results table.

This representation would graphically overlay ranges of scores and indicate averages, if the user chose to compare the chosen school to statistically similar schools or all schools.

While the infamous results table would remain, it was proposed that the ‘likely range’ of the averages be shown underneath the current average figure and that the red-green colours be removed.

It was also advised and supported by the working party that it is likely that many jurisdictions would be able to provide data on actual student/ home information rather than ‘community data’ for the compilation of the index of socioeconomic advantage, and that this would allow for a more robust measure.

The committee also made recommendations about additional capacity for further commentary provided by the school in relation to VET programs and the NAPLAN scores, as well as consideration for representation of ‘growth data’.

At the time of going to press our union had been advised that while all the state and territory Ministers accepted and endorsed the recommendations of the working party, the federal government and Minister Garrett wanted instead a different ‘landing page’.

Further, it is understood that some senior officers of ACARA had prepared an alternative page that differed from the working party’s recommendation, without the knowledge of the working party.

As agreement could not be reached by the Ministers during the October meeting, ACARA has now been asked to draft further alternatives for the ‘landing page’ for consideration by the Ministers out of session.

It is also understood that the MCEECDYA meeting resolved to keep the redgreen colour coding on the table of NAPLAN results.

Our union has commended the state and territory Ministers for their sensible approach to date and called on the Federal Minister to accept the recommendations of the working party and act to finalise this issue expeditiously.

Queensland Schools Alliance Against Violence: Final Report Released The final report of the Queensland Schools Alliance Against Violence (QSAAV) was tabled in Parliament on 26 October, 2010.

The Working Together: Queensland Schools Alliance Against Violence Report outlines the work of the Alliance and makes the following recommendations to: • urge all Queensland schools to adopt a comprehensive cyber safety strategy; • promote the new QSAAV resources for staff, students and schools; • commission an external review within 18 months using an independent bullying expert to check on the progress of implementing the QSAAV report and recommendations; • engage an anti-bullying expert; • develop a promotional campaign to promote bullying awareness ; • meet annually with three education sectors to continue anti-bullying work; • develop a way to communicate with students about the issues of bullying and violence; and • continue to raise the national profile of anti-bullying efforts through national meetings with education ministers.

qld.gov.au/studentservices/behaviour/ qsaav/index.html. However, the vodcasts of the Action Against Bullying Education Series will only be available until April 2011, so ensure you access them in good time.

Our union has been represented on the QSAAV advisory committee from the outset and recommends these tools to all who work in non-government schools.

Your chapter is encouraged to review the materials and consider how, working in collaboration with your school’s management team, you can ensure that the policies procedures and practices of your school are the best they can be for the protection of all who contribute to your school community: students, staff, volunteers, parents and carers.

While it may never be possible to totally eliminate all forms of bullying and violence in our schools or community more broadly, we can work hard to ensure that all that can be done is attempted to the very best of our ability.

In Parliament Premier Anna Bligh announced that all the recommendations of the report would be implemented by her department.

Furthermore, the Catholic Education Commission and the Independent Schools Queensland have also agreed to play their part in the implementation of the Report’s recommendations. As part of the government’s commitment to implementation, the Premier announced the appointment of Dr Michael Carr-Gregg as the State’s antibullying expert.

A comprehensive suite of resources is already available at the Department of Education’s website: http://education.

ABOVE: Officially signing the Declaration of the Queensland Schools Alliance Against Violence was IEUA-QNT President Andrew Elphinstone with Regina Walsh from the Department of Education and Training

The Independent Voice

November 2010

11

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION TE: UPDA

Implementing the Australian Curriculum

Teachers across the country are still waiting to see the final draft of the Australian Curriculum K-10 in English, History, Science and Mathematics.

At the October 15 meeting of the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA), it would appear that no progress has been made. According to their Communiqué, Ministers expect to have a final draft of the documents to consider for approval and release in December this year. As it seems that the meeting is likely to occur on 8 December it is clear that even if the documents are approved, they will not be released before schools in Queensland and the Northern Territory close for the year. It

will, therefore, not be possible for schools to do any coherent planning for implementation before the beginning of 2011.

The Ministers have indicated that they reaffirm “their commitment to achieve substantial implementation of [these subjects] by the end of 2013, subject to there being a three year implementation period to commence from when the K-10 Australian Curriculum (content, standards and support materials) becomes available.”

It is interesting to note that the requirement for “substantial implementation” is not the end of 2013 rather “by 2013” that has previously been stated. This, at least assures a reasonable period

of time for schools and teachers to prepare.

However, non-government employers have not yet outlined their plan for implementation.

IEUA-QNT have not yet been informed of any considerations around the provision of funding, time release, and professional development that will be necessary to implement the curriculum changes effectively.

At a pre-MCEECDYA Stakeholders’ briefing, a representative of Education Queensland indicated that they have a plan worked out and that they have been working closely with other sectors about their plans. The representative indicated that there are five main

National Standards for Teachers and Principals The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) has produced its first draft of standards for Principals (yet to be made public). It is substantially different in structure to the Standards “criteria sheet” produced for teachers.

The draft National Standards for Teachers attempts to document every aspect of teachers’ work and practice, and provide a sliding scale of proficiency from Graduate to Proficient to Highly Accomplished to Lead.

In attempting to cover every aspect of teachers’ work in this detailed and documented manner, as well as suggesting where cut offs might be between the various stages of development, the standards fail to provide a coherent and manageable tool to track the progression of skill from the first years of teaching through to the development of the skills and attributes that one associates with the best teaching practice so frequently observed in our colleagues.

It is clear that in some of the descriptors as they are currently articulated there is little difference between the descriptor for a graduate teacher and the descriptor for one who is highly accomplished. This is quite clear in standard 2.3 where a graduate

will “Know and understand literacy and numeracy teaching strategies and their application in teaching areas” while a Proficient will “Apply knowledge and understanding of teaching strategies to support students’ literacy and numeracy.”

A Highly Accomplished teacher will “work with colleagues to implement effective teaching strategies to improve students’ literacy and numeracy.” One would assume and hope that graduate and proficient teachers would be working with colleagues in this area: the descriptors between graduate and proficient are a simple rewording of the same idea.

These draft standards need, at the least, considerable revision to provide an effective insight into the various stages of the development of the art of teaching.

More appropriate would be the model developed for Principals.

This early draft document looks at a range of “Leadership requirements” which are overlayed with the Professional practices required for the role.

It does not seek to rank Principals as beginning, proficient, highly accomplished or leading lights of the cohort. Rather, it outlines what is necessary in every Principal and from this the individual can reflect individually or in conjunction with others on what areas of their

professional practice needs development.

This is a far more appropriate model for all professionals. To attempt to define the cut off points between four distinct phases of professional competency is folly.

As the standards are currently written, they could well be used by employers as a sorting tool, not by professional competence, but by who is in favour and who is out.

While AITSL says that it is not its purpose to use the Standards as a tool for determining performance based pay, its representatives also hasten to add that they do not have the power to prevent employers from using them in this way or for performance review purposes.

Our union has taken every opportunity to indicate its dissatisfaction with the current draft standards for teachers and will continue to express this view in the strongest terms.

When the draft standards for Principals are released for consultation, we will be seeking feedback from our Principal members as to their responses to this development.

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points to the plan: 1. Provision of guidelines and advice; 2. Resource development – provision of materials, exemplar programmes; 3. Professional Development activities – both QSA and other sectors will make provision; 4. Communication plan; and 5. Information Technology and delivery to teachers to ensure all have access.

When asked about supply teachers, especially those in rural and remote areas, it was indicated that teachers would be able to access a range of modes (in their own time) to “keep in the loop”.

It is to be hoped that by the time

schools reopen in 2011 the details of the Australian Curriculum and the plan for its implementation in Queensland and the Northern Territory are available for teachers and schools to begin the work necessary to ensure its effective implementation.

To ensure this, employers will have to ensure that all teachers who work in their schools (including supply teachers) have access to high quality professional development.

It will also be necessary to provide appropriate time release to design and write new programmes of work, and provision of time to enable staff to work collegially to prepare for and then implement the changes in their schools.

A Flying Start for Queensland Children The consultation process around the Flying Start for Queensland Children Green Paper has come to an end. While there has been general support for proposals around “improving children’s development, wellbeing and school readiness,” some of the proposals about “improving transitions from primary to secondary school and supporting adolescent development” have been more contentious.

In particular there have been concerns about the proposed move of year 7 from primary to secondary. Our members have expressed concern about the financial impact on some small primary schools as well as the cost of providing increased facilities for P-12 schools and secondary schools generally.

years of boarding school fees instead of the five they currently pay.

If the government does decide to go ahead with this change, they do so with the full understanding of the need for substantial funding to ensure that all students who are affected by these changes are in schools that are at least as well staffed and resourced as those which they would otherwise have attended. Governments will need to ensure that non-government schools are supported to make the changes without suffering substantial financial impacts.

Of particular concern for members has been the possibility of redundancies for teachers who are not offered employment in the secondary sector or who are reluctant to make the move from primary to secondary schooling.

Throughout the consultation process it has been made abundantly clear that the proposal to form a single authority from The Queensland College of Teachers, the Queensland Studies Authority and the Non-state Schools Accreditation Board is not looked on favourably by the vast majority of stakeholders. In particular it generally felt that the QCT should remain a separate entity.

There are also very real concerns for the families of students in rural and remote areas who may have to bear the burden of six

Stakeholders generally are hopeful that a White Paper will be developed that takes account of their views.

An introduction to the Australian Curriculum

Australia is moving towards a national curriculum to achieve consistency in curriculum, assessment and reporting from Prep to Year 12. Australian Curriculum subjects will be phased in over several years, but all Queensland schools will start using some of the new curriculum from 2012.

In 2011 schools will familiarise themselves with the English, mathematics and science

curriculum or P–10. From 2012–2014 the following curriculum will be implemented for Prep to Year 10: English, mathematics and science; history (2013); languages, geography and the arts (from 2014).

It is unlikely any courses for Years 11–12 will be introduced before 2014. To find out more visit www.qsa.qld.edu.au

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

The Independent Voice

November 2010

13

QIEU honours our achievers in 2010 John (Max) MacDermott Award (Individual)

- Lea Thomline

- Samantha Munro Lea Thomline h a s b e e n recognised for her professionalism and passion towards her work as a Pre-Prep teacher aide with the awarding of the Ruth George School Officer Award for 2010.

Samantha Munro of Sacred Heart School, Yeppoon, has been recognised for her commitment to union principles and ability to support fellow staff with the awarding of the John (Max) MacDermott Award for 2010.

Having joined IEUA-QNT a few years ago as a graduate, she has helped to develop and promote our union at the school level while also regularly attending branch meetings and supporting branch activities.

Chapter Executive member LindaAnne Mullane nominated Samantha for the award, acknowledging her commitment to helping assist members when needed.

“Sam has always taken the time to speak to members in order to develop the collective culture at her workplace. She approaches all concerns raised by members in a fair way and works hard to assist members to achieve the best possible outcome for them,” LindaAnne said.

As staff representative of the school, Samantha has also supported members through the provision of information, assisting members to the best of her ability and also referring members to union officers.

“She has made herself available to members to support them and assist them during these difficult times and

Elizabeth McCall Award - Jenny Finlay

Ruth George Award

this has been greatly appreciated by the members at Sacred Heart. This enables members to confidently talk about issues and maintain their working rights and conditions.”

Colleague Sally Hebron also nominated Samantha for the award, highlighting her bests assets of enthusiasm, professionalism and knowledge.

“As a relatively young teacher, Samantha has been extremely dedicated to understanding the issues that our union has been dealing with on behalf of members.

“She has quickly accessed

information for people and has constantly emailed staff the information that has been forwarded to her from our union,” Sally said.

The John (Max) MacDermott Award was established to recognise the outstanding contribution to union activism of this highly respected teacher at Mercy College, Mackay.

As a union activist and staff representative Max was tireless in ensuring that members were accorded due process and that issues of concern to members were properly and appropriately represented.

The Peregian Beach College teacher aide (right, with Q I E U Gener al Secretary Terry Burke)has demonstrated high levels of organisational skills and has been on hand to discuss with members information on collective bargaining issues.

Teacher Allison Broadley nominated Lea for the award acknowledging her ability to share information with staff about tabled clauses in documents to ensure all school officer and services staff are represented and aware of the issues that affect them.

“Lea has been integral in bringing (members) together to discuss their common issues and concerns by facilitating meetings and organising the distribution of materials to all service staff regardless of their ‘status’ in the college,” Allison said.

The Ruth George Award honours the memory of Ruth George who, along with her union colleagues, played a key role in reestablishing the provisions in the award covering non-government school assistant mistresses in the mid 1930s following the removal of conditions by the then industrial tribunal as part of the now discredited response to the Great Depression.

John (Max) MacDermott Award (Chapter Executive) - Sunshine Coast Grammar School Chapter Executive Sunshine Coast Grammar School Chapter Executive has been awarded the John (Max) MacDermott Award for demonstrating a clear understanding of the need for a collective culture, strong membership and quality leadership at the school. The Chapter Executive under the able leadership of staff representative, Maria Campanini, has created, over a number of years, a membership which is educated about the issues of concern and the strength of the collective in dealing with a hostile employer.

This has allowed the Chapter to deal effectively with a significant restructure, collective bargaining and industrial action in 2010.

Union organiser Chris Seymour said the Chapter Executive demonstrated the qualities that a nominee must

have to receive the prestigious award. “The Chapter Executive has created a sense of direction and purpose in the face of employer attacks on employees’ status and job security. Their leadership has resulted in coherent and effective action which has caused the employer to ameliorate the worse aspects of their attack on employees,” Chris said.

In 2010 the Chapter Executive, in conjunction with other PMSA schools, created a climate which allowed employees to feel protected in taking strike action in pursuit of their log of claims and delivered a significant number of employees to the Brisbane strike rally. The Chapter Executive also worked diligently to create a sense of solidarity in opposing the wholesale restructure

proposed by the employer which would have seen up to 24 teachers potentially lose their jobs. The success of this campaign resulted in the employer withdrawing the threat and confirming that those incumbents who wished to continue in the new roles could do so.

The work undertaken by the Chapter Executive over the past few years has created a Chapter resilient enough to stand together in the face of the industrial adversity they have faced in 2010.

RIGHT: On behalf of the Sunshine Coast Grammar School Chapter Executive, Maria Campanini accepts the John (Max) MacDermott Award (Chapter Executive) from QIEU General Secretary Terry Burke

The Elizabeth McCall Award for 2010 has been awarded to Jenny Finlay of Borilla Kindergarten, Emerald, in recognition of her activism and strength in helping to build union membership in the early childhood sector in central Queensland for over 12 years. Director of Emerald Kindergarten, Kay Harling, said Jenny has been active in a quiet but determined way, to ensure the early childhood sector in Emerald is aware of our union and that they understand the benefits of being part of a strong collective voice.

“Jenny has worked hard to build a collective voice, through direct recruitment of members (within early childhood as well

as the non-government sector), through education and support of members on the issues facing them, organising collective action and support of union campaigns, and through the formation of the Central Queensland Early Childhood Network in Emerald,” Kay said.

Over the years Jenny has undertaken union training, organised informal network sessions including breakfast meeting and coffee afternoons, as well as training seminars to inform her colleagues of the impact of the professional and industrial issues that face the sector.

“Through her efforts alone a strong collective culture has been established in Emerald within the

early childhood sector. Jenny has always tirelessly supported her colleagues through her actions and leadership. It is through her leadership that Jenny has educated her peers about the many social justice issues and how these can be managed through a strong collective voice.”

The Elizabeth McCall Award was established to honour inspirational QIEU member and activist Elizabeth McCall who died in a tragic accident in 2006. This award recognises those who demonstrate a fundamental commitment to the principles of unionism and in particular give expression to the pursuit of social justice in our schools and community.

Paul Forrester awarded life membership Foundational member of our predecessor union QATIS and longstanding activist Paul Forrester (right, with life member Bob Rea) has been awarded life membership at the QIEU annual general meeting in October. Life membership was conferred on Paul in recognition of his outstanding contribution to building union strength over three decades of union activism.

In 1977 Paul, along with his St Laurence’s colleagues Bob Rea and Terry Edwards, believed that the Queensland Association of Teachers in Independent Schools (another name change which occurred in 1970) could be a more active and representative force in the non-government education sector and planned the historical election in the QATIS Council.

It was a significant time for our union, particularly with an increase in the number of lay teachers being employed by Catholic schools, a strong industrial union was essential for the protection and enhancement of these teachers’ working rights.

It was a time when our members needed a strong and viable union to fight to establish that the Archbishop was responsible as the ultimate employer of Catholic schools in the Courts and safeguard conditions through awards.

For over 30 years, Paul remained active throughout his teaching days

at St Laurence’s through developing the Chapter, leading and supporting action when needed and encouraging all new teachers to the school to become responsible and active union members.

Paul has always been instrumental in the strength of the Christian Brother schools and continued his union activism when he moved to St Brendan’s, Yeppoon in 2004.

The foundations that Paul helped to develop, with his colleagues, gave to our union today the democratic and representative union and constitution, formalised teacher classification and salary recognitions for school officers.

Paul is a most worthy recipient of life membership of our union and a most respected member.

The inaugural Founders Award - Kate Lawrie, Neil Kelly and Maria Campanini

The inaugural Founders Award has been established in recognition of those who founded our union on the principles of dignity, respect, fairness and collective solidarity. In 2010 QIEU members Kate Lawrie from Moreton Bay College, Neil Kelly from St Laurence’s College and Maria Campanini from Sunshine Coast Grammar School (above, with IEU Branch Secretary Dick Sherman) have been awarded the Founders Award for this first time.

Awarded at the discretion of Union Executive/ Council to those who exemplify a commitment to fundamental principles of unionism; namely a commitment to dignity, respect, fairness and belief in and practice of the power of union collective solidarity.

Teacher Kate Lawrie has been an active QIEU member for over 20 years. Kate’s grandfather and father’s experiences of unions and solidarity contributed to shaping Kate’s views of unionsm.

“These (factors) have developed further throughout my teaching career, because of the collegiality of the teaching profession and also due to the value that I have seen demonstrated in the strength of the collective on many occasion,” she said. Kate has been recognised for the award due to her active involvement on the Chapter Executive at Moreton

Bay College for the last 16 years, for her role as a Chapter representative and Network Coordinator, and for displaying the spirit of collegiality at the school.

St Laurence’s College teacher Neil Kelly has been actively involved with our union for 25 years. As staff representative, Neil provides an effective conduit between our union and the Chapter and in assisting members when the need arises. “ For me, participating in the union movement is a logical extension of the lessons I learnt at home via my family and at school in the traditions and mission of the Christian Brothers. It’s my way of living the values that I believe in and an outward expression of who I am and where I am.”

Teacher and careers counsellor Maria Campanini from Sunshine Coast Grammar School has been a union member for 20 years. As the staff representative at the school, Maria said she was humbled and honoured to receive the award and was proud to be part of an organisation that has achieved so much for its members. “Being one of the inaugural winners of this fine award is very exciting and means an immense amount to me as being recognised by colleagues who share the same values of union and commitment to the collective that I do, is a truly great honour.”

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

EVENTS DIARY Queensland Studies Authority 2011 Conference Vision to Reality: Queensland’s new education landscape is the QSA’s 2011 conference for school leaders, teachers and education professionals.

It will provide opportunities to engage with a wide range of education issues across the early childhood years to Year 12.

The conference will be held from 27-29 April 2011 at the Brisbane

Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The QSA’s 2011 conference will offer delegates opportunities to: •hear highly respected national and international education experts; •engage with the new Australian Curriculum; •explore the themes of assessment literacy, quality teaching and leadership success; •network with fellow professionals;

and •attend forums about leadership in education and early childhood.

Registration is now open. Earlybird registrations close 25 February, 2011.

To download a conference brochure or to find out more, please visit the QSA website at http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/

C&K 2011 Early Childhood Conference The Crèche and Kindergarten Association Inc (C&K) are calling for papers for the C&K 2011 Early Childhood Conference - Living in a child’s world.

The conference will include four strands: • early childhood curriculum and assessment; • inclusion and equity; • sustainability; and The conference will be held at the • community engagement.

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday 21 and Sunday Call for papers will close on Monday 22 May 2011.

11 October 2010.

The C&K annual conference will attract delegates from a range of service types including child care, family day care, kindergarten and school settings as well as educators in leadership and management roles.

Register your interest in presenting at the conference by visting the C&K website http://www.candk.asn.au/

Simpson Prize 2011

Marist College Ashgrove annual

The History Teachers’ Association of Australia (HTAA), together with HTAA State affiliates, conduct the Simpsons Prize competition for year 9 and 10 students on behalf of the Australian Government. The focus of the competition is the Australian ANZAC tradition and students are asked to write an essay of 900 to 1200 words, or prepare an audio-visual presentation of not more than 15 minutes, on a given statement every year.

Professional Learning Conference

This year’s statement is: “Has the ANZAC legend changed over 95 years?” Students should support their view with reference to at least two different periods of Australian history. Entries close on 3 December.

Students should submit three copies of each entry accompanied by an official coversheet to your HTAA State affiliate’s competition coordinator. A maximum of three entries per school may be submitted. Enquiries should be directed to your state coordinator (Queensland - Queensland History Teachers’ Association, Sandra Kenman, qhta@qhta.com.au; Northern Territory- History Teachers’ Association of South Australia, Andrew Buxton, buxton@bigpond.net.au) For further enquiries contact the Simpson Prize Competition Secretariat on Simpson@htav. asn.au or (03) 9417 3422.

Creating,Collaborating, Communicating - 21st Century Digital Learning Environment - a conference with a focus on ICT in Teaching and Learning for primary and secondary educators. The conference will include keynote speakers presenting on: future directions of 21st century inquiry based learning spaces; use and application of contemporary digital technologies in teaching, learning and leadership; creating online communities of practice; P-10 Student ICT Expectations (Education Queensland 2009).

Cross-curricular and also KLA specific workshops facilitated by practitioners will focus on: using online collaboration tools; utilising web based resources; managing online information – notetaking, evaluating websites, creating and managing personal and professional learning environments; exploring online and network applications; planning and assessing with ICT expectations.

The Conference will be held Monday, 28 February 2011 from 8:30am to 3:00pm at Marist College Ashgrove. Please email expressions of interest in attending this conference to conference@marash.qld.edu.au. For further queries, please contact Alana Armitage on 07 3858 4574 or email armitagea@marash.qld.edu.au

QSA: NAPLAN Teaching and Assessing Writing The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) - Teaching and Assessing Writing workshop is a condensed version of the training provided for markers of the NAPLAN writing task.

It is an opportunity to gain insights into how the NAPLAN scripts are marked and how the writing rubric is used. During the workshop, participants will work through classroom strategies for teaching writing. Teachers, HOCs, HODs, Deputy Principals and Principals are encouraged to attend.

Participants have the opportunity to: • learn how the rubric is constructed; • apply the rubric to training scripts; •develop a common standard for the assessment of writing to make judgments about students’ language development; •network with other teachers to: - establish shared understandings about analysing and assessing writing - develop and sustain supportive and collegial relationships.

This workshop/conference has relevance to elements of the Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers (PSQT) - Standards One, Three, Five, Nine and Ten. Date and venue: Brisbane North - 21 January 2011 from 9 am-3 pm Arana Leagues Club, 274 Dawson Parade, Keperra Cost is $123 (GST inc) per participant.

For more information contact the QSA Professional Development and Events team at events@qsa.qld.edu.au or (07) 3864 0471.

Information about events, professional development and training opportunities are updated regularly on our website

www.qieu.asn.au

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151155/0510

The Independent Voice

November 2010

15

A member insight into Teacher Exchange IEUA-QNT member and teacher at Gilroy Santa Maria College in Ingham, Annette Cope, describes her Teacher Exchange experiences from 2010.

I have just realised that it is now less than four months until I leave Canada at the end of my teacher exchange to Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Stittsville, Ontario. The months have sped fast amazingly quickly and it is a good time to reflect on the experience.

My husband, Darryl, and I left our home in Ingham, North Queensland in mid summer in early January 2010. We arrived in Canada to what locals called a very mild winter, but it still took a lot of adjusting for us.

Concepts we had been told about like dressing in layers became a reality – but we quickly adapted.

We were fortunate to have the time after our arrival in Vancouver to travel overland by train from the west coast as far as Ottawa where we would be living for the next 12 months. The trip took four nights and three days and gave us an excellent concept of just how big and diverse Canada is and how welcoming Canadians are to newcomers. We saw plenty of snow and met many people who had suggestions of “must see” things to do while in their country.

on-going matters we have needed to communicate about over the course of the year of exchange.

There were definitely initial challenges that had to be overcome but this is to be expected in such a venture. For me a huge city school was very different from the small country schools I have spent most time in. Traditions, expectations and curriculum within the school needed adjusting to. My husband who retired from full time work to come over with me found it hard to fill in the days. We both missed our son who we had left behind in Australia. Shoveling snow off the driveway and getting used to driving on the other side of the road were not easy at first. These initial challenges, however, have been definitely outweighed by the positive aspects of the exchange.

From the beginning we made a point of doing something new each weekend and seeing as much as we can in the time that we have. The long summer break and shorter breaks in March, Easter and other long weekends have all been opportunities to get away and see spectacular scenery in so many different places. On regular weekends we would find local things to see. Baseball and hockey

games, snow-shoeing, hiking, a pow-wow, concerts etc. The list of things we have done goes on and on.

The local CLEE Exchange group was very welcoming and organised both a Winter Conference in Quebec City to coincide with the Quebec Winter Festival and a Summer Conference in Ottawa which coincided with the Tulip Festival and included a welcome at the Australian High Commissioner’s Residence as well

as less formal events like a pot-luck dinner. It was good to meet fellow exchange teachers and also Canadians who had been on exchange in Australia and elsewhere.

The opportunity to take part in a teacher exchange for me has been most worthwhile. I would certainly encourage any teacher to consider an exchange if the opportunity presents itself.

TEACHER EXCHANGE Five years teaching experience + QIEU/IEUA-QNT membership

OPPORTUNITY! Work overseas and retain your accrued entitlements. United Kingdom; Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Canada; Colorado, USA!

It was great when we finally got off the train to be greeted by our exchange partners and shown over the house, school and district by them. I believe that even though we had been communicating by email and phone for some months, the fact that we met in person helped both couples to feel more settled about who they were swapping houses with. It has also helped with the

Check out our website www.qieu.asn.au Click on Membership sectors then Teachers then Overseas Exchange Program.

Contact Kay on FREECALL 1800 177937 (QLD); 1800 351 996 (NT) or kholloway@qieu.asn.au

Services staff profile A desire to develop his skills working with youth in an education environment prompted Brendan Herbert to seek a career change.

At the beginning of 2010 after working for 20 years in middle management positions at Australia Post, Brendan began his new role at Kooralbyn International School as a Boarding Supervision Services Officer.

Though he has only been employed at the international co-educational boarding school for less than 12 months, Brendan is happy with his career change.

“There are many positives to my job, such as going to work not knowing what to expect on a daily basis,” Brendan says.

However, with any new role, Brendan admits there are some challenges to what services staff face in a boarding school environment.

“An issue in the Boarding area is the professional and youth related development required in order to provide an appropriate service to students, parents and school staff.”

The school, which caters for students from Australia and overseas and offers numerous mastery programs such as golf, equestrian, athletics and aviation, believes its main objective within the boarding school is to provide a safe and secure environment in which students can learn and grow; to create a community feel and a home away from home.

Brendan recognises this, and after completing a Bachelor of Arts degree

Brendan hopes to begin a Graduate Diploma of Education next year to further develop his skills in youth services so he can achieve this goal and do his job better.

Recognising the benefits of union membership, Brendan approached his Chapter’s organiser at the beginning of his new career and quickly signed on to become a member of IEUA-QNT. “I believe in the role that a union plays in the workplace. In my previous job I witnessed first hand the support and representation that a union brought to the negotiating table.”

Brendan says he has already consulted with our union on employment issues and has experienced the benefits of having a support network when negotiating workplace change.

Brendan Herbert Boarding Supervision Services Officer Kooralbyn International School

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

2010 Literary Awards highlight skills of young writers Winners of the 2010 QIEU, English Teachers’ Association of Queensland (ETAQ) and James Cook University Literary Competition were presented with their awards at a ceremony at The Bardon Conference Centre on 20 October.

could submit either a short story and/ or poetry piece, while students in Years 11 and 12 could also enter a work of non-fiction prose.

Now in its 51st year, the competition gives students and teachers throughout the state an opportunity to practise their skills and be recognised and rewarded for their talents.

The competition was judged by members of ETAQ and James Cook University and the winning entrants were presented with their awards by guest presenter children’s author Phil Barry (right) and IEUA-QNT President Andrew Elphinstone.

This year 62 students and teachers from both government and non-government schools were acknowledged for their outstanding literary works.

Those entering this year’s competition

Section D: Poetry - Years 6 & 7

Good Morrow

Teachers could also enter the short story open category.

Wind whispers softly Calling, calling Leaves patter loftily Falling, falling, Dressed in many reds and yellows They mirror the sun’s sweet descent, Until morning cockerel bellows And Moon softly murmurs her consent.

Stars twinkle high above, Like fairy lights on a Christmas tree, Clouds soar along like doves Gliding on Earth’s ecstasy.

Helpful fireflies glow Lighting the way through misty dreams, Slowly rises the rim of morrow Trembling when an owl screams.

The ceremony was attended by students, families and members of school communities from throughout Queensland.

Section D: Short Story - Years 6 & 7

The Hunt The wolf slunk through the dense trees of the forest, his yellow eyes glinting in the failing light. His sleek silver coat rippled as he stole silently among the shadows. Twigs snapped under the feet of small animals hurrying out of his way, their eyes wild with fear.

The wolf did not have a mild temper.

The rabbit suddenly lifted its head, and the wolf tensed immediately as it scanned the bush suspiciously. It sniffed the air, and sudden panic showed in its eyes as it detected the wolf. The rabbit scrambled to its feet, but it was too late. With a giant leap the wolf pounced onto its escaping prey, cutting off the rabbit’s agonised scream. The wolf howled, a sound that echoed through the forest, making animals shiver as the chilling noise swept over them. Triumph. The hunt was over. Then the wolf bent down his head and ate his dinner.

A small bird landed on a nearby patch of forest floor. Mistake. It managed one shrill cry before the wolf’s jaws closed over it, silencing it forever. There was an unpleasant cracking and the wolf spat out a few brightly coloured feathers. He smiled, showing the shiny white teeth that hung like icicles from the black cavern of his mouth.

The sound of rushing water broke the stifling silence, and the wolf padded towards it silently. Green tree leaves suddenly gave way to a burning red sky, the few minutes before sunset. The wolf stared impassively at the sky for a few seconds, before continuing his soundless journey. Suddenly, he froze. There, lying sleeping on a large rock was a large, grey buck rabbit. It was oblivious to its invisible spectator, who crouched in the thick bush. Somewhere, a bird gave a harsh cry, but the rabbit didn’t notice. The wolf watched the innocently sleeping animal intently, his hungry eyes following the movement of its chest. He began creeping towards his unsuspecting prey, his tongue darting anticipatingly across his furry lips.

First light of rosy dawn Creeps slowly over its domain, Sun peeps through, stifling a yawn, Pulling the blankets of the horizon.

Slowly Moon slips under them, Pulling the covers round her head To keep them warm for Sun’s return, When last light of day is dead.

Now the birds begin their chatter, From the nest they rise in flight.

In every direction do they scatter, Gone, gone, gone is the night!

by Bella Zhong, Southport State School

by Isabella Farrah, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School

Section C: Poetry - Year 8 Paul Sherman Award

y winners tr e o P : D n Sectio

My Piano We have a grand piano it stands alone most days as the rain begins to fall, I can hear my mother play I love the soothing sound her fingers seem to dance the grand piano comes alive enjoying the attention, by chance I dance from my bed I run down the stairs a vision of my mother her free flowing hair The music echoes only for me leaving haunting tunes a lifelong memory

by Eleanor Robinson, St Andrews Lutheran College

ABOVE: Award winners of Section D: Poem - Years 6 & 7 include (left to right) Bella Zhong from Southport State School, Emily Spittle from Bardon State School, Daniel O’Keeffe from Our Lady of Good Counsel School (Gatton) and Isabella Farrah from St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School with children’s author and teacher Phil Barry

The Independent Voice

November 2010

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Section C: Short Story - Year 8

The Ocean’s Charm The child watched in awed wonder as the waves of the ocean crashed against the cliffs below. An otherwise calm horizon glinted back at her, the surface molten gold in the dying sunlight. Amber wobbled unsteadily to her feet, and tottered back over to her mother waiting by the old, fraying picnic rug. She waved as she came over, a watermelon smile hanging from her ears, and her mother waved back, arms held out in welcome, waiting for the little girl to hug her. Amber plopped down in her mother’s lap, watching sleepily as the sun fell behind the ocean. Silhouetted birds flew back to their nests, dark trees rustling in the salt-sprayed breeze.

Serenaded by the wind and the waves, Amber fell asleep in her mother’s warm embrace.

A cool morning breeze stole through the open window, gently rustling Amber’s blanket as she dreamt. She woke slowly, seagreen eyes blinking away sticky sleep that had collected during the night. Clouds galloped through the blue sky like wild horses, tossing their tangled manes defiantly at whoever crossed their path.

Amber giggled as she climbed from her crib, silent as a mouse as she crept past her sleeping mother.

She ran through the house, out the sandy doorway, and down the long, worn path that led to the ocean.

She stumbled past long, deadgreen jungles of grass, following a small, steady trail of sand that soon widened into the beach. Amber stared in amazement at the vast expanse of water stretched out before her, flecks of white foam riding atop shining green waves.

She watched in fascination as two little boys cast long fishing lines into the water, and squealed

in delight as they brought up a tiny, wriggling fish, sunlight bouncing off its slimy scales like diamonds.

Amber ran, laughing, out along the water’s edge, jumping tiny waves like hurdles, collecting pretty shells as they washed up before her like gifts from the sea.

Quite suddenly, she stopped. A few metres away, bobbing in the water, was an Amber-sized pot, rocking and rolling in the waves like a tiny boat.

She splashed out to it, fascinated by the rusty red patterns it wore like freckles, the seaweed dressing it in shining necklaces of greens and browns. It was empty but for a few salty puddles of water, glittering like a puddle of melted stars, and Amber, knocked off balance by a wave, tumbled into it. The cruel tide laughed as it drew back, pulling Amber and her little vessel with it, lured by the ocean’s dangerous charm …

In a seaside holiday cottage, a woman woke alone, mouth dry and eyes itching with tiredness. She looked across to where Amber had slept, sleepily stretching out the cramps in her back in an effort to wake up properly. Amber wasn’t there. She blinked, confused. Startled awake now, Alisha walked cautiously to the kitchen; it gleamed back at her, so clean it shone, as if to say, “She isn’t here!” She felt the beginnings of panic rise in her chest, blocking her throat so that she couldn’t breathe. She stood, staring at the door, left ajar, gripping the edge of the slippery black kitchen bench to hold her upright and taunted by the sound of the sea.

When Amber woke, she thought she heard someone calling to her. She stood, making her little boat rock dangerously to the side. The sea whispered to her, calling “Come in,” it said, “swim with me.” There was no

longer the sound of the waves crashing against the beach, and all Amber could see was the gentle, rolling mountains of water. In the salty ocean below, little waves lapped at her boat in frustration, trying to get by. Mermaids swam in reflections, and Amber could see them laughing up at her, daring her into the water. She leaned over the side, and a shockingly cold wave splashed over her. It startled her, and she started to cry, tiny droplets falling into an ocean so vast it simply didn’t matter. Amber just wanted to go home. She was so thirsty, adrift in a desert of water, lost and lonely, far from home. She curled up in the bottom of the pot, whimpering in exhausted fear.

Alisha scanned the ocean for any sign of Amber, speaking quickly into a flip-out-phone at her ear, clutching the device like the life buoy she so wished her daughter had. A searchand-rescue boat blazed across the horizon, burning stripes into her eyes.

Alisha walked across the burning sand, bare feet searing. She relished the pain. Every step was punishment: atonement, but it didn’t really matter now: Her daughter – her baby was gone. She turned her back on the sea, knowing that she may never find Amber in a world as wide as this one.

Amber woke again, face raw and aching. The sun burnt her eyes, and she sobbed, too tired to stand up.

Someone called her name in anguish.

A rush of memories swirled in her head, wave after wave rolling in and out. A soothing hug, a secret shared, a laugh as warm as her eyes. Amber struggled to sit up, her head poking just over the pot’s rim. A beach loomed closer as Amber drifted in the tide, the glowing stretch of land tantalizingly close, yet still impossibly far. She leant over the side of the pot, calling

ners t Story win r o h S : D n Sectio

By Felicity Perrers, Mt St Michael’s College

desperately to land until finally, caught between waved, the little boat tipped, spilling Amber into the merciless sea. Gasping desperately for air, she burst to the surface, waves still pulling her under. Amber’s eyes burned in the salt, tears mingling with the ocean, hopelessly searching for help as she sank. Something reached out and grabbed her, and pulled her from the ocean’s grasp. A face smiled down at her, but it wasn’t the one she wanted to see.

She struggled against the man’s strong grip, clawing and biting. “Mummy!” she wailed, desperately searching for the comfort of a familiar face. There was none. Bright T-shirts danced before her, patches damp with sweat and spray from the ocean, people speaking loudly, crowding around her, laughing and touching her. Strangers offered comfort, passing Amber around as she screamed, squirmed and clawed until she was worn to a shred.

She moaned quietly and fell helplessly asleep in a stranger’s arms.

Alisha wept in the shadows, waiting hopelessly in the shell of a memory, waiting in a house that reminded her only of what she had lost. Yesterday seemed like

a lifetime ago, while tomorrow loomed too close. Yesterday was a simple game of hide-and-go-seek, hiding under beds and behind curtains. Tomorrow would bring the search for the body of a child washed up on a beach somewhere.

She closed her eyes against inevitable pain, blocking out the memories, the house, the hopeless waiting. She ignored the doorbell; just listened as it echoed through the house, dying away to a whisper.

A crack of light flooded Alisha’s corner as the door opened and a smiling Ambulance driver stepped inside cradling a bundle no bigger than a three-year old child. Alisha, in a daze, walked forwards into the light, smiling down at her daughter’s sleeping face.

Amber woke in her mother’s arms, her face wet with tears that weren’t her own. She touched her face, feeling the damp, salty wetness on her cheeks, then reached up to her smiling mother. She smiled in return. “I love you Mummy,” she murmured, and fell asleep once more, finally safe in her mother’s arms.

y winners tr e o P : C n Sectio

Section C ABOVE: Award winners of Section D: Short Story - Years 6 & 7 include (left to right) Bella Zhong from Southport State School, Tamekah Fry from St Rita’s Primary School (Victoria Point), Isabella Farrah from St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School and Brianna Ushay from St Peter’s School (Caboolture) ABOVE RIGHT: Award winners of Section C: Poem Paul Sherman Award - Year 8 include (left to right) Felicity Perrers from Mt St Michael’s College, Ashley White from St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Sharna Roberson from St Ursula’s College (Yeppoon) and Eleanor Robinson from St Andrews Lutheran College (Tallebudgera) BELOW RIGHT: Award winners of Section C: Short Story - Year 8 include (left to right) William Bullock from St Paul’s School (Bald Hills), Hollier O’Neill from St Patrick’s College (Gympie), Riley Byrne from Mt St Michael’s College, Hannah Radvan from Loreto College, Gabriella Vico from All Hallows’ School and Felicity Perrers from Mt St Michael’s College

: Short Sto ry winner s

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

Section B: Short Story - Years 9 & 10

Section B: Poetry - Years 9 & 10 Lisa Allen Memorial Prize

Midnight Paintings 10.03.10 She was beautiful, her eyes so wide and innocent, you could feel her fear in the air. I could inhale and taste her fright on my tongue. I brushed away her tears and ran my hands over her pale face, cupping her chin. The skin was my favourite. So white and pure.

It almost seemed a shame to ruin her perfect complexion with my knife, but the outcome was so much more magnificent; crimson spilling down her throat onto her nightgown. Her death moan was beautiful. Her eyes were glassy and unseeing when I positioned her in the lake, amongst the lilies. Her hair was a dark blonde in the water, the tendrils splaying around her face. The blood from her throat ran, giving the water a deep red hue. I painted her as she was; her eyes glistening in the moonlight, and her beautiful skin chalky. My midnight painting would be finished by morning.

One of my finest pieces yet.

By the time Kayla finished reading she was shaking. She dropped the diary and it landed heavily on the footpath. Bingo was getting agitated, yapping up at her.

She looked around the park, but no one was there. Kayla picked up the worn out diary and jogged back to her apartment.

She unlocked her door and slammed it behind her, scared that she was being followed. Her breathing was heavy and she unclenched her hand holding the paper. Bingo scampered down the dark hall; she followed him, nervous about being left alone. She felt breath on the back of her neck and she screamed. Her body tensed as she saw the floor coming closer to her face. Two strong hands stopped her from face slamming onto the tiles.

‘What the hell, Kayla? It was a joke!’ shrieked Isaac. He looked concerned when she stared up at him.

‘You idiot, that was mean!’ She meant to sound harsh but it came out an octave higher than usual.

‘What’s wrong?’ He took the crumpled paper in his hand. She saw his eyes run across the page swiftly. His eyes widened and he whispered, ‘Where did you get this..?’

‘I found it on the ground. I…I didn’t

know what it was.’ He hugged her and she could feel him breathing in her hair.

He kissed her on the head and told her she should go to bed. She dry swallowed her pills and slid under her sheets, pressing up to Isaac and drifting into a deep, dark sleep.

She woke with a cold sweat gathered on her forehead. Swallowing, Kayla sat up in her bed. Her dream had been distressing: Stained fingers writing in a journal. An artwork drying outside in the windy darkness. Isaac smiling as he sliced through the skin of a young woman. Watery terror ran coldly through her bones. She looked over at the empty side of the bed where Isaac was supposed to sleep. Her heart pounded. Your boyfriend’s a murderer.

He’ll kill you. He’ll kill you!

There was a chilly breeze blowing in from the open window. Kayla moved quickly to the window and slammed it shut before locking it. She turned around to see the diary, open on her bedside table with a pen resting on top of it. Curiosity drove her to read it again. She recognised the handwriting and immediately knew it would be another diary entry. One that hadn’t been there before…

12.3.10 This was a masterpiece. This painting was one of my best. I was proud of the artistic quality the artwork possessed.

His limp body hung in the wardrobe, electrical cords bound around his wrists and keeping him upright. His head was rolled to the side with his mouth duct taped. His body spattered with patterns of blood and purple bruises, the colours contrasting beautifully with his velvety brown skin.

Isaac K. Stevenson’s lifeless body is art.

Her hand covered her mouth as she stifled a scream. She bit hard on her knuckles to stop herself from making noise, hot tears blurring her vision. Did he kill that girl, and write this to make me think otherwise?

She ran that thought over in her mind until she believed it was true. Just to make sure, she looked in the kitchen cupboard expecting to see his body.

Thank you, Stranger He walked the streets in silence, His hands inside his coat.

His happiness, a memory, His life, a sinking boat.

He found a darkened alley, And sat down in the dirt.

Found no meaning nor purpose; A reason to continue his hurt.

by Madeleine Mills, Kelvin Grove State College

Instead she saw a stack of canvas paintings. Flicking through the graphic paintings her horror grew. She counted them; nineteen, twenty, twenty-one.

Twenty-one paintings. Twenty-one murders.

Breathe slowly Kayla, he might not get you. Just call the police, get him in the cell and you’ll be fine. She inhaled deep breaths and tried to calm herself.

Until she got to the last painting, still wet. A man in a wardrobe, swollen and beaten. Isaac. Dead. She fought to keep down the bile in her throat. Kayla crept through the hall hoping the murderer was gone from the house. She slowly opened the laundry door. The thin slit of light that shone in confirmed the painting.

She couldn’t keep the vomit down this time, throwing up onto the floor. She leaned her head against the cold wall, continuously wiping the flowing tears from her face. The darkness in the apartment seemed more spiteful She knew the killer was in the house. It was in her bones. ‘Why?’ She croaked. She tried standing up but collapsed back to the ground. The second time she got up she leant on the wall before sprinting to the door. She tried to wrench the front door open but it was locked. She kicked and punched and wailed. She fumbled with the key and finally got it in the hole, when she stopped.

And stared at her paint-stained fingers.

LEFT: Award winners of Section B: Short Story - Years 9 & 10 include (left to right) Kate Pidgeon from St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Stephanie Freeman from Albany Creek High School, Jessica Clarey from Lockyer District State High School and Caitlin Allen from Aldridge State High School with IEUA-QNT President Andrew Elphinstone

ers Story winn t r o h S : B Section RIGHT: Award winners of Section B: Poem Lisa Allen Memorial Prize - Years 9 & 10 include (left to right) Lauren Oates from Clairvaux MacKillop College, Justin Welfare from St Eugene College, Rose Carbon from Mt St Michael’s College and Jessica Vandersande from Boonah State High School

Section

B: Poetr

y winne rs

The metal is cold against his head, And heavy in his hand.

The seconds ticked by gradually, More slowly than he could stand.

He heard a noise beside him, And realised his mistake.

There was somebody beside him, A girl of barely eight.

She stared at him in wonder, At the gun held in his hand.

Strangely, she seemed to understand, The fate that he had planned.

“What are you doing mister, With that gun against your head?

There are better things in life, to be, Instead of being dead.”

This was coming from an orphan, Without a dime to spare.

Her only possession a rag doll, But she didn’t seem to care.

Seeing her scrawny figure, I asked her when, last, she ate.

She smiled and said “Last Monday.”

A week ago, to date.

The gun clattered to the ground, Forgotten for the while.

Realising that there was a chance for him, He returned her saddened smile.

She had lived a harder life, Yet he was the one with the gun.

He had lost against his struggles, But this stranger, the orphan, had won.

It was in this girl that hope he saw, To live a better life.

To find a purpose inside himself, To help others who are in strife.

As the sun began to set, A beautiful portrait in the sky, Realising that they had to part, “Thank you stranger,” was their goodbye.

By Jessica Vandersande, Boonah State High School

Section B: Poetry - Years 9 & 10

The Independent Voice

November 2010

19

Section A: Short Story - Years 11 & 12

Symphony (n.)

(Simph-fon-eee) A lengthy, complex work for a group (an orchestra) presented here in three sections. Features a continuous musical theme represented in different ways, which grows to reach a distinct resolution.

up for my inspection. The wooden panels are sad and deeply tarnished.

The bridge is chipped, and the scroll rough. There were once arguments about this violin. It’s a piece of junk that belongs in the fireplace.

He took it when he left, but now it belongs to her.

I

A tendril of hair quivers beside her cheek.

The fetid air is first. Wet, yellow light drips through the window panes, and cicadas drone in song.

The room is tall and dark. Heat prickles on my skin, and a furnace rages inside my forehead, Be still, be quiet. Over and over reminding myself, moving focus to different parts of my body. Be still, be quiet.

I roll over. The bed is empty. It feels deep and wide and quiet. A pulse marches through my mind.

The smell of stale whiskey and smoke. The chorus crescendos. I’m going to be sick…

“Happy birthday,” I manage.

I listen to the padding of her feet up the hall, and then fall back into the oceanic numbness of sleep, where dreams are white.

“But then there’s a moment like tonight, a profound and transcendent experience, the feeling as if a door has opened, and it’s all because of that instrument, that incredible, magical instrument.” – Diane Frolov.

“But look, look!” I ignore this.

“Yes, actually. We’re fine now, thank you for noticing.”

Not really. But this is my thing, my band. The boys stand up, bracing their postures against her.

“Mr Spence says you need a violinist for something.”

“We did, but then I … rearranged it.”

“Truly?”

“Joe! Pass the bloody amp cable.”

Her eyebrows rise. She is remembering how, last year, my transposition was used as a how not to tutorial.

He swears back at me, under his breath.

“We’re playing really technical stuff anyway.” I manage.

Frankly, we’re all pretty buggered.

But this is the only time school gives us to rehearse our ‘ensemble’ with their big time real equipment.

So, we just have to get on with it.

Outside the kids play equipment looks warped in the radiant heat waves.

Oh, God. offended.

“Mama!”

“Later,” I mumble, turning from her.

It’s the chick from my music extension class, the one with scary eyes, leaning on the door frame.

by Nicola Alroe, Stuartholme School

II She blinks back at me. Eyes round and darkly glistening, like wet ink.

She flicks them over me like darts.

They are framed in curiosity, a question mark. She is six years old today.

mode. Joe tries yanking the cord out, but it’s become fused to the box, and Andy tries fiddling with the balance and pulls the knob off.

I crawl over and switch it off at the wall. Sweet success! A knock on the door.

Now she’s really

“Can I at least see the music?”

She pronounces this softly, with unexpected strain.

It’s always her racing over the top of it all, turning and flying forward.

Amidst it all, the black eyes glint like flint and starlight. But her face is empty, emotionless, stark and terrifying. Then, her shoulders draw upwards for that final, crucial moment and she’s lost again, in the tremors of applause. We take our bow.

“Now what?’ I ask her.

---

“Mama? Look! LOOK!” “BUGGER!” yells Andy.

Today she will not leave.

“What?”

The speaker erupts in a fit of hisses and shrieks.

The word is gravel in my throat.

“What the hell did you do to it?”

She holds her father’s old violin

Then she’s counting, and the piano tiptoes in through the first bar.

Her hair falls over the curve of her sky blue school dress. The others drop in, and the music grows. The careful stepping becoming frantic, joyous leaps. Somehow, the crowd understands it; just like we do.

We’re on the floor in frenzy crisis

The silence is deafening in those last seconds, the blur of acne and scraping chairs swimming below us. I watch her lift the bow against the strings and see the arc of her face. She wets her lips. Her lips are formed, heart-shaped.

ers Story winn t r o h S : A Section

We lie on our backs on the roof.

Feel the heat being sucked from the ground. Watch as the colour runs out of the burnt sky, like ink in watercolour painting.

“Now I get out of here.”

“Where words fail, music speaks.”

– Hans Christian Anderson III Since before the dawn, the cloud bank had begun to advance.

Creeping forward as our backs were turned, it silenced the birds and mad the air thick and heady with ozone and suspense.

Approaching first in silence, then gurgling and grumbling, until finally learning to roar.

Swimming against the tide of Adelaide Street, as I make my way to lunch, I see it. A dense, dark wave poised to fall upon the foothills of the city, reaching with clenched fists toward the sky.

---

ABOVE: Award winners of Section A: Short Story - Years 11 & 12 include (left to right) Sophie Schoenknecht from Indooroopilly State High School, Amy Swan from Saint Stephen’s College (Coomera), Sophie Pacek from Mt St Michael’s College, Felicity Upham from St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School and Nicola Alroe from Stuartholme School

Cold wind flirts with our dresses, as we climb the marble staircases

at QPAC. Clara passes me glasses of champagne and flashes me bright smiles; the anxiety on her face betraying the careful act.

Then, suddenly, the sky gives out a contented sigh, and it starts to rain. Softly, whispering, at first it only weaves with the wind. Then it taps, knocks, skips, jumps, bounces, curls and dances. Until gradually, finally, it begins to run, scream, twist, rip and tear from the fraying silk clouds. The ground trembling, Clara sweeps me to my seat.

The orchestra stands, twenty or so, in an arc upon the stage.

Impossibly calm, they fix pages.

They draw bows. They count. It begins. Carefully, swelling and lilting forward. Each, playing with an easy, unified grace moving them in perfect synchronisation. Except for one.

A violinist, at edge of the stage.

Her instrument does not reflect the glaring theatre lights. Her movements are sharp, calculated.

There is no expression of absent contentment on her face. She plays as if each phrase were dear bought, precious. And as she wins them, a smile spreads across her face.

Found first in the deep, dark eyes – a glimmer, a flash, like something catching fire, burning up. Creasing the corners of her face, until a secret tear slides down her nose. The girl, whose face reflects my own.

And the audience applauds not the orchestra, but the violinist in the second row. An unspoken treaty of recognition, for the victory we had witnessed unawares. Our player – the only one who, underneath the blush, appears sincerely surprised.

The player, whose face is my own.

My daughter stays with me as I stride down sidewalks slick with rain. Chance ablaze in my breast.

I walk home under velvet, windswept skies.

20

The Independent Voice

November 2010

Section A: Non-Fiction Prose Years 11 & 12 Section A: Poetry - Years 11 & 12 Mary Alexis Macmillan Memorial Prize

Survival of the Frankest

Washing Words

At what is predicted as only the drastic dawn of the technological era, are we ushering in a communication ice age? ________ investigates.

I wash, then set each plate carefully, marshalling perfect rows of silent china sentinels.

Moving between sink and cabinet, hushed in the night kitchen, measured paces as if walking a tightrope.

Each bowl, each cup is familiar in my hands – gleaming, fresh, pure. Cool to my touch.

The damp towel Snags my water-roughened fingers As I hang it to dry…

The forbidding dark crowds the lamp lit circle, leaves shiver anonymously, a lone gecko calls.

Could I wash words? Reclaim them from despair and dissipation, from apathy and lack of care?

Wash them one by one, lay them to dry, then gather them in my arms and clasp them close.

Could I do this?

Could I use them to say what I mean?

To say dream, to say live, to say love?

The African white-bellied pangolin. The long-tailed chinchilla. Social interaction.

All dying breeds; all endangered species disappearing at the hand of humankind. The stark reality is that while the digital-age bear-trap clamps down on traditional speech, we are the potential poachers of our own linguistic future.

As we jeopardise the ‘outdate’, are we inadvertently damaging our communicative eco-system?

At the turn of the millennium, it seems the world has adopted a globalised addiction to the electronic. But with this evolution from elephantine computers to anorexic phones, what will become of the great orators and socially-injected communities who once roamed the earth? Since the time of the toga, humankind – intoxicated by curiosity – has always sought to invent. Yet it is only recently that this innovation has become a threat to our humanity in our entrepreneurial neglect of the simplistic lifestyle Adam and Eve solicited before their paradise was lost.

In short, when God said ‘let there be light’ I don’t think he was referring to L.E.D.s.

Ironically, it is the seeming benefactors who are short-circuited by this advancement.

Studies from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have shown that 59% of Generation Y, (the CPU Confuciuses), avidly use computers. For the record, that’s the highest percent from any age group recorded. But power has its price, and unfortunately with the title of Texters-Supreme comes an extreme step backwards in the evolutionary chain.

by Jack Burnham, Caloundra Christian College

Section A: Poetry winners

Kingsley’s revelations that “chivalry is past” and “romance is dead” have never been truer. As the cold embrace of mechanisation surrounds the teen population, the swooning, wooing and crooning of days past is being swiftly replaced by texting and typing. Albeit convenient, this instantaneous transaction of text neglects the 90% body language required for proper understanding. But in the jungle, the mighty jungle, does Romance really die tonight? The latest advertisements gracing telescreens exhibit the ‘success’ of dating sites – internet arenas where contenders can find trivial … sorry, true love. But the

accomplishment of these lust-drenched sites is dubious, as results from Australia’s consumer Watchdog reveal that 550 romancers were ‘duped’ in 2009.

In a world where Cupid’s arrows and Aphrodite’s curses are overpowered by raunchy Google searches, people, - particularly apathetic teen, - have lost the desire to desire.

The slogan now goes, “All you need is love … and unlimited text”. With our new screento-screen mentality, ladies, (evidenced by the rising divorce rate), don’t expect to see Romeo lingering underneath the balcony – he’ll be too busy ‘tweeting’. Looks like there will be no streetsus serenade tonight.

As well as shocking the prosperity of jungle love, the electronic conflagration extends its wires further into the heart of the human wilderness. Ignorant of Winston Churchill’s cautionary “jaw-jaw is better than war-war”; one of the ten technological commandments is ignorance of violence.

Is war itself not a result of disparity in communication?

Data from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne signifies a perturbing increase in violence among Australian teens, with hundreds of incidents per 100,000 juveniles.

This information seems suspiciously synonymous with the rising rate of adolescent Facebook punters – with Generation Y making up most of the website’s escalating Australian demographic. But screen-suckers beware: with great distraction comes great whimsicality. The adoption of a new, curtailed tongue means the sacrifice of a genus of linguistics that sanctioned prophetic peace speakers of the past – Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, the ever-sopious Mother Teresa. Where would we be if Schindler had spent all his time updating his Myspace page? With the extinction of rational communication, what was previously only a two-minutes hate will be inflated to last an eternity.

Perhaps the most intriguing effect of technological tyranny is the implication an adolescent-oriented phenomenon has on societal strata. The fertile barrens of the Internet are obviously best suited for young lions.

Youtube? Try Youthtube.

The age of malt milkshakes and roller derby is vanishing – and with the rising of the Flood

by Sarah Cooper, Somerville House

Obsolete, the end is nigh for any animal that doesn’t make it into the Anodic Ark. In what is a mammoth societal sacrifice, the birth of the tech-savvy must be ransomed by the death of the I.T. incapable. The error! The error!

Yet, to hope that such a peaceful farewell to the eschewed older species is ambitious. In his cultish novel A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess’ self-created argot, (sardonically entitled ‘nadsat’ – stemming from the Russian word for ‘teen’), is symptomatic of such possible violent transgression. In the despotic future envisaged by the author, crime is a ubiquitous presence, and the employment of this new language disempowers the elderly; authorising the maniacal budding generation.

If Burgess’ portending wasn’t enough, let’s not forget the simplistic threat of a language echoing newspeak.

Evidence of such stunted lingo is prevalent in any text or msn conversation – why settle for Austen’s, “Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can” when a simple ‘lol’ will suffice. Never mind the lack of lyrical flourish – I’m sure that your Darcy will recognise that you’re laughing with, and not at him.

This slaughtering of a millennium-old language could mean the butchering of older species – and in an era governed by the clacking of keyboards and the pressing of buttons, the new masters won’t inhibit a native hue of resolution.

So what can we do to ensure that communication doesn’t follow the same path as the dodo? Perhaps no salient answer exists. For now, let us hope that the voice box does not become an artefact in archaeological digs of the future.

ABOVE: Award winners of Section A: Poem Mary Alexis Macmillan Memorial prize - Years 11 & 12 include (left to right) Seamus Power from Marist College Ashgrove and Jack Burnham from Caloundra Christian College with IEUA-QNT President Andrew Elphinstone RIGHT: Award winners of Section A: Non-Fiction Prose - Years 11 & 12 include (left to right) Somerville House students Ali McKay, Thushani Adikari, Leanne Comino and Sarah Cooper

rs rose winne P n o ti ic -F Non Section A:

The Independent Voice

November 2010

21

Section E: Open (Teachers)

Doorways I opened my eyes. The room’s edges blurred as the quiet buzz of silence filled my head. I want to hear them, but the room stays quiet. My arms and legs are still bound. I spend the first week straining against my unseen bondage, but now I just sit still, in a tangle of chair, limbs and unheard screams, I just sit and wait.

They come each day to feed me and every third day to bathe me, their dirty sponge dabbed half-heartedly over my naked body. I don’t know how long they have kept me here or maybe I want to forget. The days creep along like an itch up my leg, but it remains an itch I just cannot scratch. The room throbs to the beat of my heart when I hear them at the door, the door that is always closed. The door that keeps their clean world away from me; their dirty secret kept hidden away. I can hear them both at the door, soon it will open and for a brief second our worlds will touch.

“Can you grab the door please? My

hands are full.”

Martin leaned forward and pulled the handle for his wife. The couple entered the room, tray of soggy wheatbix in hand. Silence.

“Look, she’s pretending to be asleep again.” Martin bent down and brushed the unkempt hair out of the young girl’s face and her eyes burst open.

His hand paused for a second, tightly cupped around her right ear. Their eyes locked but her glare sliced straight through him and to the door.

The door has been left open.

Eva interrupted the stare, lifting a spoon of soggy cereal, but it was not met with an open mouth. Throwing the spoon to the floor, Eva brought her now free hand down upon the girl’s fleshy cheek. Like the spoon, the girl went flying at her rage. Her body hung weightless in the air for what seemed like an eternity before she fell into the bowl of cereal and the angry screams of Eva. Grabbing the girl roughly under her pale arms, she lifted her and the chair out of the puddle of milk

RIGHT: Award winners of Section E: Short Story Open (Teacher) include Keith Leitch from Saint Stephen’s College (Coomera) and Debbie Peden from Stuartholme School

Section E: O pen winners

and left the room swearing softly to herself. Martin stood up and stared at the milk stained face without remorse, turned and walked silently out of the room after his wife, making sure the door slammed loudly behind him.

Milk and tears steam down my face. The bowl of upturned cereal sits stagnant at my feet as the sun warmed the wasted breakfast into a nutritious crust around the dish. My legs ache for movement as I struggle against the restraints. Shadows move silently under the crack of the door, like a secret military operation, but they don’t know that I am Charlie in the trees and in their heads, I know everything. I know that they won’t come back through the door today, but I can feel them standing there.

“What are you doing staffing at the door?” Eva walked up to Martin, his ear pushing against the door as if he was trying to break into a safe.

“What are we going to do with her?

Martin, we can’t keep her in there forever. We need help. I’ve got to get out.” Martin remained silent; he could feel the girl’s eyes burning through the door and through his heart as his wife continued to babble into his free ear.

He reached for the handle, he needed to go to her, to touch her, to lie at her feet and be with her.

“Aren’t you listening to me Martin, I can’t keep doing this. We have to let go of her.” Martin reached out for the handle of the door as Eva turned

away. The door swung open and he stood in the hallway, the girl’s eyes staring straight at him.

I scream with all the air in my lungs, but he doesn’t hear me.

Unafraid he walks towards me, taking off his shirt in one fluid movement. Kneeling down, eyes level with mine, he takes my head in his hands. Lifting

by Elisha Ward, Ormeau Woods State High School his shirt he dabs the milk from my face, not with the harshness of my routine Eva brushed past Martin heading sponge baths, but with something else for the open door. He grabbed her he has been saving deep inside, scared arm firmly, catching her off guard. of showing in front of Eva. He lifts “Leave it, she likes it when the door my bowed head, his eyes lock with is open.” Eva shook free of his grip mine. My tongue plays hide and seek and continued on towards the door. with my saliva while I search for fluid Eyes to the floor she hurried past the to spit on him. hallway framed with photos of her past. Family portraits, long gone “I love you.” The words feel like they holidays in the sun, the smiling face have been waiting inside his mouth of her only daughter only brought for weeks and finally fall out in a back a fleeting moment of forgotten hurried mess. I sit motionless, except happiness. for the soft sway of uncertainty that has taken over me. I watch him as he Eyes glued to the carpet, Eva moved slowly climbs to his feet, lingering past the photos and lingered quietly as if waiting for a reply. He pauses, at the open door, but no movement leans down and kisses me softly on or sound came from within. She the forehead. I watch without emotion stood hypnotised as she watched as the man leaves the room. The door her daughter sit paralysed in her is open. wheelchair unable to fine that smile that once owned her face.

“What are you doing in there? You left the bloody door open!”

“I’m sorry. I want the door closed.”

2010 QIEU Literary Competition winners Section D – Poem Years 6 & 7 1st Place – Isabella Farrah, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School 2nd Place – Saskia Mathers, St Andrew’s Anglican College 3rd Place – Daniel O’Keeffe, Our Lady of Good Counsel School (Gatton) Highly Commended Emily Spittle, Bardon State School; Maree Larsen, Banana State School; Bella Zhong, Southport State School Section D – Short Story Years 6 & 7 1st Place – Bella Zhong, Southport State School 2nd Place – Brianna Ushay, St Peter’s School (Caboolture) 3rd Place – Dominic Whisson, Jondaryan State School Highly Commended Tamekah Fry, St Rita’s Primary School; Emily Kirstenfeldt, Redeemer Lutheran Primary School (Biloela); Georgia Kennedy, Chinchilla State School; Isabella Farrah, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School

Section C – Poem Paul Sherman Award Year 8 1st Place – Eleanor Robinson, St Andrews Lutheran College (Tallebudgera) 2nd Place – Sharna Roberson, St Ursula’s College (Yeppoon) 3rd Place – Ashley White, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School Highly Commended Felicity Perrers, Mt St Michael’s College Section C – Short Story Year 8 1st Place – Felicity Perrers, Mt St Michael’s College 2nd Place – Riley Byrne, Mt St Michael’s College 3rd Place – Hollier O’Neill, St Patrick’s College (Gympie) Highly Commended William Bullock, St Paul’s School (Bald Hills); Hannah Radvan, Loreto College; Bindi Nguyen, Brisbane State High School; Gabriella Vico, All Hallows’ School Section B – Poem Lisa Allen Memorial Prize

Years 9 & 10 1st Place – Jessica Vandersande, Boonah State High School 2nd Place – Rose Carbon, Mt St Michael’s College 3rd Place – Justin Welfare, St Eugene College (Burpengary) Highly Commended Lauren Oates, Clairvaux MacKillop College ; Jessica Hoey, Inglewood State High School; Kim Le, Brisbane State High School Section B – Short Story Years 9 & 10 1st Place – Madeleine Mills, Kelvin Grove State College 2nd Place – Lauren Wilson, Kelvin Grove State College 3rd Place – Caitlin Allen, Aldridge State High School Highly Commended Megan de Toit, St Andrew’s Anglican College (Peregian Springs); Kate Pidgeon, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School; Stephanie Freeman, Albany Creek State High School; Jessica Clarey, Lockyer District State High School

Section A – Poem Mary Alexis Macmillan Memorial Prize Years 11 & 12 1st Place – Jack Burnham, Caloundra Christian College 2nd Place – Melody Li, Somerville House 3rd Place – Chelsea Muscat, Mirani State High School Highly Commended Seamus Power, Marist College Ashgrove; Savannah Van Der Niet, Grace Lutheran College (Rothwell) Section A – Short Story Years 11 & 12 1st Place – Nicola Alroe, Stuartholme School 2nd Place – Felicity Upham, St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School 3rd Place – Kathryn Roberts, Loreto College Highly Commended Sophie Schoenknecht, Indooroopilly State High School; Jenny Mair, Ferny Grove State High School; Amy Swan, Saint Stephen’s College (Coomera); Mikaela Allen-Ankins, Nambour

Christian College; Sophie Pacek, Mt St Michael’s College Section A – Non-Fiction Prose Years 11 & 12 1st Place - Sarah Cooper, Somerville House 2nd Place - Leanne Comino, Somerville House 3rd Place - Thushani Adikari, Somerville House Highly Commended Ali McKay, Somerville House; Laura Leighton, Mareeba State High School; Michelle Gately, Rockhampton Girls’ Grammar School; Kathryn Roberts, Loreto College Section E – Short Story Open (Teacher) 1st Place - Elisha Ward, Ormeau Woods State High School 2nd Place - Keith Leitch, Saint Stephen’s College (Coomera) 3rd Place - Lana Beagan, St Columban’s College (Caboolture) Highly Commended Phillip Richards, Eudlo State School; Debbie Peden, Stuartholme School

22

The Independent Voice

November 2010

Legal Briefs

Andrew Knott, Macrossans Lawyers

PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES REMAIN AFTER SCHOOL ENDS In a number of articles we have emphasised the importance of the maintenance of professional boundaries. This applies both as a general principle and in relation to specific instructions given to employees by their employers, particularly in student protection policies and codes of conduct.

As outlined in earlier articles, it is prudent to be very limited in contact with students outside the professional role, particularly where supervisors are not aware of that contact. This principle extends to (and indeed particularly applies to) use of technology such as mobile phones, text messages and social networking sites. Many schools have their own policies and/or instructions, and teachers and school officers should be familiar with those documents and ensure that they comply with them.

When in doubt, consultation with a supervisor is appropriate.

End of Year 12 Functions Unfortunately, it is our experience over a number of years that some staff engage in extremely problematic behaviour with year 12 students at or about the time of completion of their schooling. It is most imprudent to attend student functions associated with the end of the school year unless those have been approved at a school level and the teacher or school officer’s involvement is consistent with what has been approved by the school.

One of the great difficulties in this situation is the uncertainty about whether the teacher is attending as a guest or as a supervisor and whether the teacher is “on duty”.

Alcohol Supply to Minors Since 2008, the general rule in Queensland is that the supply of

alcohol (even in a private place) by an adult to a minor, except in the very limited circumstances set out below, is an offence. The commission of this offence may have serious implications for the teacher in respect of employment and teacher registration.

and an offence to supply liquor to, or permit, or allow liquor to be supplied to or consumed by a person who is a minor, on licensed premises.

relationship continues. Likewise, the power imbalance created by the teacher student relationship does not end on the last day of school.”

There is no particular time limit as one can only make a judgment in all the circumstances. Clearly, factors such as how recently the teacher The critical section in relation to has engaged with the student in a private places is s.156A entitled professional relationship and the “Irresponsible supply of liquor to a nature of that relationship, e.g. minor at a private place etc”. That classes taught, extra curricular Section reads as follows: activities, counselling or advisory “(1) An roles and adult must ... the power imbalance inherent in the teacher/student s o o n w i l l not supply influence the liquor to a relationship “does not end on the last day of school”. length of time minor at a for which it private place, unless the adult is a would be considered that the power responsible adult for the minor.

The first proposition is that the imbalance continues.

Maximum penalty – 80 penalty power imbalance inherent in the units. teacher/student relationship “does It is also very important to refrain (2) A responsible adult for a minor not end on the last day of school”. from social network involvement must not supply liquor to the minor with students for a considerable at a private place, unless the supply T h e T e a c h e r s ’ D i s c i p l i n a r y period of time after they have left is consistent with the responsible Committee stated within the last school. For example, it is very supervision of the minor. two years as follows: unwise to commence Facebook Maximum penalty – 80 penalty “The Committee is unable to say interactions with students as soon units. with certainty when The term “responsible adult” is the relationship with obviously fundamental. It is defined X commenced, but the in Section 5 of the Act as follows: fact that it allegedly “(a) a parent, step-parent or commenced shortly guardian of the minor; after school completed (b) an adult who has parental does not diminish the rights and responsibilities for the seriousness of that minor.” behaviour. Other Quite apart from any prohibitions professionals such as imposed by employers, it would be medical practitioners very imprudent for any teacher to recognise the ongoing take the view that they fell within nature of the power Section 5 as a person who has imbalance and make “parental rights and responsibilities” clear rules about the for the minor. requirement to forgo a relationship for D o n ’ t F o r g e t t h e “ O l d ” a patient long after Restrictions the professional Even prior to the insertion of relationship ends.

Section 156A set out above, it was This recognises that an offence to sell liquor to a minor t h e i n i t i a l p o w e r Contact After Students Leave School The purpose of this article is to emphasise, as the school year reaches an end, that student departure from school does not bring an end to the issue. There are two important and established propositions.

as they have left school.

The second proposition is that in a review of the teacher’s conduct, interaction with a student shortly after the student has left school may raise the issue of whether there was “grooming” of the student during the student’s time at school. This was dealt with by the Teachers’ Disciplinary Committee as follows: “Further the development of a relationship with X prior to the end of school with a view to continuation later shows a degree of planning rather than mere opportunism. This places the misconduct at the more serious end of the spectrum.”

Conclusion Teachers should definitely err on the side of caution in all of these situations. Individually, staff can protect themselves by seeking advice. Collectively, school staffs can co-operatively develop protocols (and then comply with them).

Changes to the blue card system for registered teachers From 1 July 2010, a new exemption will apply to registered teachers in Queensland under the blue card system. Previously, registered teachers were not required to obtain a blue card for duties that related to their role, but were required to hold a blue card for activities that fall outside of this, such as volunteering at a sporting club or community group.

The new exemption means there is no need for teachers to apply for a blue card; however, they must instead apply to the Commission for an exemption card.

A registered teacher working in a school or boarding facility does not need to apply for an exemption notice. However, a registered teacher who provides any other services to children such as private tutoring, working in a child care centre or volunteering at a sporting

or community group needs to apply for an exemption notice.

Some of the benefits are: • There is no fee to apply for an exemption card; • Exemption cards have no expiry date and you do not need to reapply; and • Exemption cards are transferrable so you can use it for all types of child-related work, including volunteering or running your own business.

The Commission for children and young people and child guardian is liaising with the Queensland College of Teachers to implement this change and is in the process of creating specific application forms and resources for registered teachers.

We are Queensland’s number one Industry superfund of choice for the Independent Education and Care sector. We exist purely for the benefit of our members.

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This information is of a general nature and does not take account of your individual financial situation, objectives or needs. Before acting on this advice, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. You should obtain a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and consider the PDS before making any decision. If you require specific advice, you should contact a licensed financial adviser. QIEC Super Pty Ltd (ABN 81 010 897 480), the Trustee of QIEC Super (ABN 15 549 636 673), is Corporate Authorised Representative No. 268804 under Australian Financial Services Licence No. 238507 and is authorised to provide general financial product advice in relation to superannuation.

The Independent Voice

November 2010

to develop right after a person is involved in a serious car crash.

Health & Lifestyle Tips What is Podiatry?

Podiatry is foot medicine. A podiatrist specialises in the diagnosis and management of foot and lower leg disorders, with a particular focus on injuries associated with these areas.

Podiatrists treat ingrown toenails, corns and calluses as well as more complex conditions such as sports injuries, foot deformities and side effects from medical conditions such as diabetes. Podiatrists place great emphasis on preventative care.

Podiatry treatment can include: • assessment and treatment of all foot and ankle disorders, including skin and nail conditions • assessment of mechanical causes of lower limb pain • prescription of corrective foot orthoses for lower limb realignment • prescription of appropriate stretching/ strengthening and training programs • advice and modification of footwear.

Sports Podiatry When you’re running, playing sport or dancing, the impact through your feet is up to six times your bodyweight. Making such demands on your muscles and joints can lead to wear and tear, and repetitive strain injury, especially if you have structural misalignment or imbalance. Pain can occur anywhere in the lower back or lower leg as a result of muscle, fascia or ligament strain and inflammation, stress fractures, cartilage damage or tendonitis.

We offer a full range of podiatry sports care,

and specialise in working with: • athletes suffering from sports injuries or overuse • athletes keen to avoid injury and maximise their performance • active people of all ages who want to improve their recreational safety • children and teenagers training in sports or dance • keep fit enthusiasts of all ages who are walking, running, jogging or going to the gym • dancers experiencing injuries or strains • advice and modification of running shoes, football boots and other sporting footwear.

We analyse the way your feet and lower leg work as a unit, taking into consideration the particular demands of each sport or activity.

That way we can work out how the injury or strain developed. The most common sports podiatry injuries are: Shin splints; Knee pain (runner’s knee); Plantar fasciitis/arch pain; Achilles tendinitis; Calf strain.

Treatment varies from person to person but can include strapping, stretching and strengthening, joint manipulation, footwear advice and the prescription of orthotics where necessary.

Common lower limb disorders Flat feet; Bunions; Running injuries; Corns; Heel pain; Achilles tendonitis; Toenail condition; Athlete’s foot; Runner’s knee; Diabetes; Warts; Heel spurs; Metatarsal stress fractures; Hammer toes; Shin splints; Calluses; Footwear

If phobias are fairly easy to understand, they should also be fairly easy to deal with. When a feared object cannot simply be avoided, it is important to resolve the fear, and this is accomplished by a series of processes called “exposure”. Understanding that your fear is unreasonable, or how it developed, is typically not enough to resolve the problem. The most effective way of getting over the fear is to “expose” yourself to the feared object or situation, gradually. The treatment for this is called systematic desensitization and it contains essentially three steps.

Dear Jo, My wife has recently drawn it to my attention that I have some fears about crowds, queues, confined spaces, especially being underground as in car parks and underground railway systems. I did not realise how this impacted on our lives till we recently had an overseas holiday. She thinks they are phobias and that I should get some counseling. I don’t think its so unusual and I believe that I function quite well. What do you think?

These three steps are: 1. Relaxation. 2. Establishing a fear hierarchy - this is a list of the elements or phases of the feared objects arranged from least fear producing to most fear producing. So for our resident of the bush who is frightened of elevators, he may feel mildly uncomfortable watching a movie where someone rides an elevator, somewhat more uncomfortable standing in front of a real elevator, more anxious still pushing the button to call the elevator, and even more anxious sticking his foot into an open elevator. Usually hierarchies must be further refined in step three with some items omitted and some others added or broken down into sub steps.

3. The final step is actual “exposure” to the elements listed in the hierarchy. Usually the progression starts quite smoothly and easily, but eventually a step comes that is “too big”. Then it is important to think of ways to break this step down into smaller steps. Patience, repetition, and creative manipulation of the steps in the hierarchy are what allow the success of the systematic desensitization process.

Being open to our vulnerabilities and naming them is an important step in changing behaviours and responses that limit our lives. A phobia is simply a marked and persistent fear of some specific object or situation.

People can be phobic of spiders, public speaking, car travel, or almost anything. When confronted with the feared object, the phobic individual will show the familiar signs of anxiety, increased muscle tension, general arousal, shortness of breath, increased perspiration and heart rate, mild gastro intestinal distress (“butterflies” in the stomach), and the subjective experience of feeling uneasy or afraid.

The phobic response is so common that most of us have had it at one time or another. Phobic reactions only qualify as a true phobia, that is a diagnosable disorder, when they interfere with a person’s life over an extended period of time. So, an individual may be deathly afraid of elevators, but if he lives in the bush and rarely needs to visit the city, his fear is not really a problem. He can simply avoid them. While many of us may react quite strongly to poisonous snakes and spiders, we encounter them rarely enough so that there is no real problem. While some situations or objects are more inherently frightening than others, often phobias develop out of specific learning experiences that an individual encounters. A driving phobia is most likely

While theoretically quite simple, and a process that often occurs naturally after a frightening event, many people find it helpful to have professional support in applying this technique to their particular phobia. If you would like additional information or professional assistance in managing a phobia, give TUH a call at Supportline on 1800 655 302 and we can help you access the resources that you require.

Jo

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The Independent Voice

November 2010

QTCU Advertorial

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To take advantage of this offer call 13 29 30 or go to qtcu.com.au/switch Terms & Conditions: Offer limited to the first 100 refinances only. A minimum balance of $100,000 per loan is required to qualify for the waiver of refinance costs and the insurance offer. Offer expires 31 December 2010 and is subject to change without notice. QTCU’s lending policies, conditions, fees and charges apply. Full details of the terms and conditions are available on application. *Refinance cost waiver is limited to the following: QTCU establishment fee, Valuation Fee (to $220 only), Government mortgage release and registration fees, search fees and agent’s fees that are either charged by QTCU or paid for on behalf of the client by QTCU that relate to settlement of the refinance from existing financier. The refinance cost waiver does not apply to package fees for our Gold Star Premium or Teachers’ Life packages. ^Free building insurance is limited to policies issued by CUNA Mutual and will apply only to the building being refinanced. Insurance is subject to underwriting and acceptance criteria. Policies will be valid for 12 months from the date of settlement. The building insurance policy will carry a total excess of $500. Existing QTCU insurance holders and strata title properties are ineligible for the free building insurance offer. Before making a decision about your insurance needs, please refer to the Product Disclosure Statement, available from Queensland Teachers’ Credit Union. Insurance issued by CUMIS Insurance Society Inc. (Incorporated in the United States. The members of the society have no liability) trading as CUNA Mutual QTE4681IV General Insurance. Queensland Teachers’ Credit Union ABN 83 087 651 054 AFSL 241195

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