ASPA President, Sheree Vertigan, is a member of the Asia Education Foundation's (AEF) Asia Literacy Ambassadors Project Advisory Group. On behalf of the AEF, Sheree would like to invite ASPA members and their schools to be part of the Asia Literacy Ambassadors – Partnering Businesses & Schools project. Click here to download a letter of invitation and a one-page flyer providing more information about the project.

What is the Asia Literacy Ambassadors project?

The Asia Literacy Ambassadors – Partnering Businesses & Schools project establishes and supports partnerships between businesses and schools to stimulate and increase student and school community demand for Asia literacy. Skilled professionals from the business sector (Ambassadors) are matched to secondary schools across Australia to form school-business partnerships. By sharing their own story, Ambassadors assist their partner schools to better understand the diverse career and life opportunities available to employees who are knowledgeable about Asia, who speak an Asian language and have the skills and dispositions needed to effectively engage with the people and cultures of Asia, off-shore and domestically.

In July 2009 I attended the ICP convention in Singapore that was hosted by the Academy of Principals (Singapore) - APS: a huge event with an impressive array of speakers. At the time I was, as were many of the other delegates, acutely aware of the commitment of that country to education when the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, shared their educational journey and the thinking behind each stage in that journey with participants.

In June 2010 I attended the annual conference of the APS, and again I was staggered by the insightful comments made by the Singaporean Director General of Education, Ms Ho Peng. I was left in no doubt that education is a high priority, if not the highest priority, in that country. The theme of the conference was Instructional Leadership: a Conversation with Principals. I would like to share a few comments that were part of her keynote address:

• Every time you take up a new leadership position there is a baptism of power.
• Leaders and teachers must have the faith that all learners can learn.
• A (2015) curriculum must be strong in both the fundamentals and 21^st century skills.
• Teachers must have more than knowledge; they must have deep pedagogical understanding.
• Principals must be effective pedagogical and instructional leaders.

Singapore is about to establish Academy of Singapore Teachers, and I believe the Director General’s final comment: ‘teach less and learn more’ is also relevant and timely advice for the Australian education community as we prepare to introduce the National Curriculum, and teachers and leaders are expressing concerns about indicative time and the confusion with mandated times. We must guard against the curriculum that is a mile wide and an inch deep…. ( doesn’t sound right when you say a kilometer wide and a centimeter deep!).

Remember: teach less and learn more.

A more detailed report on the conference is available - click here to go to the report page.

The President of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, Sheree Vertigan, has weighed into the debate on tax deductions for private schools.

Click here to download the media release in PDF format.

Sheree Vertigan, speaking today, said, “We are concerned that it appears a coalition government would clearly walk away from the review into school funding and maintain the existing SES funding model that currently disadvantages so many government secondary schools across Australia. Funding of schooling is about much more than rebates.”

Sheree Vertigan added, “The Education Revolution has clearly begun. There is much unfinished business. ASPA challenges both political parties to continue to place education at the centre of the debate about Australia’s future. Without the provision of quality public education, demography will become destiny.”

The meeting was held in conjunction with the Annual General Meeting, Delegates’ Meeting and the Talking Heads 100 Forum held variously at Old Parliament House and Erindale College. A summary of the major items on the Executive agenda follows:

Talking Heads 100:

Details are published elsewhere on the ASPA website. Executive determined strategy following the event noting that it was part of a wider picture which was intended to encourage wider consultation and policy development rather than the professional development focus of the previous annual conferences.

Following the very favourable reaction to the event Executive decided that this concept would be used in 2011 and into the future. It was agreed that the 2011 Forum would be held in Canberra at a site to be determined about the same time of the year (July).

A complete report will be available on the website in the near future. In the meantime Executive would like the discussion to continue via email and Twitter (address: https://twitter.com/TH100_forum).

The Queensland Secondary Principals' Association held their 2010 conference in Brisbane recently. The report from that conference is now available on this website. Click here to read the report, which contains keynote session notes, presentation files, and audio recordings.

Thanks very much to the QSPA for allowing the publication of the report on the ASPA website for all ASPA members to be able to access.