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AEUNEWSv o l u m e 17 I i s s u e 5 I a u g u s t 2 011v i c t o r i a n b r a n c hOneworldONEVISIONInside the global union congressPreschools buckle under workload | TAFE reforms damage revealed | Branch conferenceA E Ut : 0 3 9 4 1 7 2 8 2 2 f : 1 3 0 0 6 5 8 0 7 8 w : w w w . a e u v i c . a s n . a u

AEUNEWSAEU Victorian BranchBranch president: Mary BluettBranch secretary: Brian HendersonAEU VIC head officeaddress 112 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford, 3067postal address PO Box 363, Abbotsford, 3067tel (03) 9417 2822, 1800 013 379 fax 1300 658 078web www.aeuvic.asn.au email melbourne@aeuvic.asn.aucountry officesBallarat (03) 5331 1155 | Benalla (03) 5762 2714Bendigo (03) 5442 2666 | Gippsland (03) 5134 8844Geelong (03) 5222 6633AEU FEDERALWOMENS CONFERENCESaturday 8 and Sunday 9 October 2011EXPRESSIONS of interest are invited from women members of the AEUVictorian Branch for 5 delegates to attend the AEU Federal Women’sConference to be held at the AEU federal office in South Melbourne onSaturday 8 and Sunday 9 October.The delegates will include at least one representative from each of thefour sectors of the union.Expressions of interest should be mailed, hand-delivered, faxed oremailed to: John Cassidy, AEU Victorian Branch, PO Box 363,112 Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford 3067.Fax: 1300 658 078 Email: john.cassidy@aeuvic.asn.auby 4.00pm on Monday 29 August.Background details to support your nomination may also be submitted.Branch Council will determine the delegation by ballot if necessary at its2 September meeting.Why don’t you consider being a delegate or observer at the conference?It’s a great opportunity for professional development and to learn moreabout the union. ◆Changed your details?Your membership can be affected by any changes toyour employment.If you have moved house or work location, changed yourhours, retired, resigned or picked up a contract, you must letus know so that we can ensure your membership isup to date and your fees are correct.Contact the Membership Centre on (03) 9417 2822 to discussany changes, or update your details at:www.aeuvic.asn.au/update.Contentscover storyCape of good hopeThe global education union has a14unified vision, a new platform forsupport staff — and a Victorianteacher at its head.features12162022regularsThe damage doneVictoria’s skills reforms have led to fallingenrolments and teaching cuts, according to thebiggest survey yet of TAFE teachers.First impressionsThe mentoring new teachers receive can determinewhether they thrive and grow or quit the profession.Shut up and listenCOVER PHOTO: Bea UhartBranch conference 2011Delegates offered the Federal Government heavycriticism for its abysmal record in education butclamorous support for its action on climate change.It’s time to junk the jargon and let the teachersteach, says long-time teacher Leon Wright.3 president’s report 27 safety matters4 letters 28 classifieds23 women’s focus 29 christina adams24 AEU training 30 culture25 on the phones 31 giveawayscontactseditorial enquiries Nic Barnardtel (03) 9418 4841 fax (03) 9415 8975 email nic.barnard@aeuvic.asn.auadvertising enquiries Lyn Bairdtel (03) 9418 4879 fax (03) 9415 8975 email lyn.baird@aeuvic.asn.auAEU News is produced by the AEU Publications Unit:editor Nic Barnard | designers Lyn Baird, Peter Lambropoulos, Kim Flemingjournalists Rachel Power, Sian Watkins | editorial assistant Helen PrytherchPrintPost Approved: 349181/00616 ISSN: 1442—1321. Printed in Australia by Total Print on Re Art Matt 100% RecycledPaper. Free to AEU members. Subscription rate: $60 per annum. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the AEU News arethose of the authors/members and are not necessarily the official policy of the AEU (Victorian Branch). Contents © AEUVictorian Branch. Contributed articles, photographs and illustrations are © their respective authors. No reproductionwithout permission.Printed on ReArt Matt 100% recycled paper2 aeu news | august 2011

Agreement talks begin at lastWith both parties finally at the negotiating table, time will tell if wecan bridge a huge divide on teachers’ pay.president’s reportNEGOTIATIONS on the next SchoolsAgreement (for teachers and principals)began on August 4. Furtherbargaining talks are scheduled on aweekly basis.The negotiations will be carried outon a “without-prejudice” basis. Thismeans that neither side will publish thenegotiating positions of the other ormake statements to the media aboutthe negotiations unless it is agreed.The AEU will report in generalterms to members via AEU News andother publications. Detailed reportswill be provided to your elected representativeson branch council and thebranch executive.AEU elected officers and organiserswill also provide detailed reportsto members at regional and subbranchmeetings.These protocols are very importantnot only for the free exchange of ideasin the negotiations but because of thenew “good faith bargaining” provisionsof the Fair Work Act.These impose obligations on theparties to exchange information andAlan Cooper, Geoff Allen & StaffLevel 3/432 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004Visit us at www.retirevic.com.auto negotiate with a genuine view toreaching agreement.The challengeWe will be reminding Premier TedBaillieu of his policy to make Victorianeducators the “highest paid teachersin the nation”. Right now Victorianteachers at the top of the scale arepaid 7.8% less than the highest paidteachers, in Western Australia.So 7.8% is what would be neededto make Victorian teachers the equalhighest paid.However, WA’s agreement hasexpired and teachers there havebeen offered 3.75%, 4% and 4.25%over the next three years — albeitpredicated on productivity changesthat have been rejected by their unionexecutive.Let us be clear: a 2.5% “pay rise”— Baillieu’s current position — whenthe cost of living is running at about3% is effectively a pay cut.However, we will negotiate in goodfaith and Minister for the TeachingProfession Peter Hall has pledgedthat the Education Department will dolikewise. Only time will tell how such awide gap can be bridged.Work rightsThe AEU’s Annual Conference washeld on August 6. Conference isour highest policy-making body andthis year it endorsed policies onprofessional pay (not performancebonuses!), the TAFE skills reforms,climate change, and rising workload inthe early childhood sector. We have fullreports on pages 20–21.At conference I had the privilege ofintroducing Justice Mordy Bromberg tolaunch the new Work Right curriculumresource produced by the TeacherAEU PREFERRED PROVIDERSGlen Pearsall, and developed in collaborationwith teachers and students insix government schools.I encourage you to find out more atNEED Learning Network, THE the BEST PD provider ADVICEwww.tln.org.au. ◆that the AEU hosts and funds.Students often come to us to raiseissues about work, whether it’s theirpart-time job or their first job afterthey leave school, or their careerAEU Vic branch presidentdevelopment more broadly.Teachers and ES staff can helpyoung people to understand theirrights and responsibilities in theworkplace — not only to be effectiveworkers but to be safe in theworkplace, free from harassment anddiscrimination and to have their say.These are union values and AEUvalues and they are values we wantto give to our students. This resourcewill support our members in thatimportant role.Work Right is not only the first ofits kind, it’s also ground-breaking inits use of technology, with free iPhoneand iPad apps, and online support. Itwas written by one of our members,TO RETIRE SUCCESSFULLY YOUAPPOINTMENTS (03) 9820 8088Retirement Victoria is the AEU’s preferred provider of financial and retirement planning services to members.Retirement Victoria Pty Ltd is an authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Lts AFSL 244252AEU PREFERRED PROVIDERSAlan Cooper, Geoff Allen & StaffLevel 3/432 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004Visit us at www.retirevic.com.auWHY IS RV SO HIGHLY REGARDED BY TEACHERS?Our advice is personal and ongoing. We know the value of a continuing professional relationship.• An RV financial plan ensures the best retirement outcomes in the areas of taxation, socialsecurity and supernnuation — especially state super. Considering each area in isolation makesno sense and can be detrimental.• First appointments are complimentary• A tailor made plan costs $660• RV was established by union members for union members.Don’t just take our word for it — ask one of the thousands of satisfied clients we have assisted over thelast two decades — they are not hard to find!For information concerning future seminars see our website www.retirevic.com.auor book online at www.aeuvic.asn.au/calendar and click on date and event.APPOINTMENTS (03) 9820 8088Retirement Victoria is the AEU’s preferred provider of financial and retirement planning services to members.Retirement Victoria Pty Ltd is an authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Ltd AFSL 244252.www.aeuvic.asn.au 3

lettersLetters from members are welcome. Send to: AEU News, PO Box 363, Abbotsford, 3067,fax (03) 9415 8975 or email aeunews@aeuvic.asn.au. Letters should be no more than250 words and must include name, workplace and contact details of the writer. Letters may beedited for space and clarity. Next deadline: 31 August, 2011.Support staff under stressTHE reason for the growing number of educationsupport union members (AEU News, June) isobviously the growing discontent among us.I have been an ES for 13 years in varying timefractions, as an integration aide and after-schoolcare coordinator. We have been advised thatnext year there will be few hours available due toeducation cutbacks and shortfalls in funding.Having fewer ES in classrooms affects everyone.Children who need extra support simply won’t get itand this in turn affects every child in the class.We have had increasing pressure put on us totrain — I have a Certificate III in integration, thenhad to complete Cert IV in out-of-hours schoolcare; now I am doing a diploma in children’sservices. All for a job I probably won’t havenext year.My seven-year contract comes to an end inJanuary — that means no more pay over theChristmas holidays. Try budgeting for that on awage that is already pitiful.I know another long term contract will notbe offered — the school simply can’t afford it.If anything I will be offered a six or 12-monthcontract on much reduced hours.After 13 years in the job — what do I do now?It is not the fault of the school — theyrecognise how important ES are. But I now needto look at taking my experience and qualificationselsewhere and leaving a job I love simply becausethe government doesn’t care.Something serious needs to be done urgently.The saddest part is that it is the children who willultimately suffer.— Name and address withheldEpitome of a strong unionistI AM very sad to hear of the passingof my dear friend Marj Broadbent(Obituary, AEU News, June). As a new,young member of the union executive,I was welcomed by Marj with openarms and encouraged with every step.On my first statewide strike,she suggested that I visit countrybranches to discuss the issues. Mysubsequent evening meeting withmembers at the Benalla showgroundswas one of my toughest ever, wherefired-up unionists were not backwardin making their views known.When Marj spoke about Aboriginalissues, it made me realise thathere was an issue on which I wastotally ignorant and one that Ishould become involved with. Beforeteaching, she was an active memberof the equal wage case for Aboriginalpeople. She spoke passionatelyabout Paul Robeson’s earlier visit toAustralia and his comments aboutAboriginal conditions. With this background,Marj was the epitome of astrong, committed teacher unionist.She was a central figure in equalpay cases, was a member of theTeacher Registration Board followingstruggles over teacher qualificationsand control of entry to the profession,represented teachers on manydeputations to government anddepartment, and was on the front lineof every union action.Marj Broadbent was the salt of theearth, a true daughter of the workingclass. She was a compassionateand staunch supporter of workers,teachers and students everywhereand the person you would want inyour corner every time. She was aninternationalist who fought injusticewherever it occurred. We celebrateher life and achievements.— Neil Hooley,former vice-president, TTUVSchool of Education, Victoria UniversityCoaches take us nowhereJUST a brief email to share myfeelings regarding “Baillieu’s cuts”and their effects (AEU Primary SectorNewsletter, May).Whilst I can only speak for myself,I believe that the staff at my schoolwould be more than pleased to seeliteracy and numeracy coach rolesabandoned and have those teachersreturned to the classroom, thusreducing class sizes.Literacy and numeracy coacheshave created extra workloads forteachers and, more often than not,are data collectors and documentpublishers! They have certainly notmade a difference to our students.As a long-time member of theunion, I think it would be advisableto get more feedback from membersbefore you go in to bat in an effort tomaintain them.— Dianne Ivers St Georges Rd Primary SchoolAEU president Mary Bluett responds:The union has had much feedbackfrom members on this issue. Ourposition on the issue was unanimouslyendorsed by Council, which includesabout 100 elected primary andsecondary teachers and ES staff fromacross the state.What he was thinkingJEREMY Linton’s attack on theVictorian Institute of Teaching (“Whatwas he thinking?”, Letters, AEU News,June) suggests today’s teachers needa history lesson.It was not that the AEU “sat backand watched while the VIT came intoexistence”. Forty years ago, whenteachers understood what it meantto belong to a profession, they tooklengthy stopwork action to establish aprofessional registration system.Following that system’s abolition,the AEU advocated a replacement,which came into existence as the VITwith the support of the majority ofteachers. Readers can find some ofthe history at tinyurl.com/3gaym98.— Chris CurtisHurstbridgeSeeking promotion or aclassroom teaching position?Announcing our newONLINE PACKAGESFOR CRITERIA WRITING AND INTERVIEWPromotions Positions - $135Classroom Teaching Positions - $99These detailed packages are specific to the Victoriancriteria. They will help you develop a dynamic applicationand prepare for a powerful interview performance!Available for immediate download atwww.teachers-resumes.com.auTel 0411245415 Email teachers-resumes@bigpond.comTeachers’ Professional Résumés – ABN 40 833 718 6734 aeu news | august 2011

Cuts prompt return of community actionSchool communities are mobilising against Baillieu’s cuts.newsSian Watkins AEU NewsFRUSTRATED parents and staffare uniting to fight the StateGovernment’s deep cuts to schoolfunding that have resulted in theabandonment of proposed newschools and the rebuilding of decrepitschools.As AEU News went to press,protests are planned or underwayat Thomastown West Primary Schooland Portarlington PS. Newspaper andradio coverage last month about thelack of heating at GreensboroughSecondary College helped it get the$187,000 needed to upgrade its old,overloaded electrical system.Cuts to building projects followingthe Coalition’s first budget come asa member of the taskforce investigatingthe federal BER programsaid Australia needed a $40 billionmaster plan program to improve theappalling state of the nation’s publicschool buildings.Investment banker MalcolmMcComas told the federal schoolsfunding review he was shocked by thedecrepit state of government primaryschools that taskforce membersvisited last year.“It’s no surprise that retentionrates are low, that school teachermorale is low, and that academicand extra-curricular achievement arefailing many students,” he told TheAge newspaper.In Portarlington, a rally organisedby parents last month attracted 200people and local media coverage,with AEU vice president Justin Mullalyamong the speakers.The 150-student school was18 months into planning a completerebuild, with $6 million promisedby the Labor Government last year.But the school got nothing in theCoalition’s May budget.Most of its buildings are old andleak and the original 1872 schoolhouse“desperately needs work onit”, said principal Denise Simons. “Wewere well down the planning processand that process should be continuedregardless of who’s in power,” shesaid. “We do lose enrolments becauseof the substandard buildings.”At Thomastown West, in the top10% of Victoria’s most disadvantagedschools, the school council willseek media attention to highlight theEducation Department’s decision notto deliver all buildings promised aspart of the school’s $7.2m rebuild.Six months into construction, theschool has been told it will not get fournew portable buildings, a multi-purposebuilding or completed landscaping dueto “project cost overruns”.The school will be left with a largeconcrete slab in its midst — foundationsfor the intended multi-purposebuilding. “The architects told us tocover it with Tiger Turf and let the kidsplay on it,” said school council vicepresident Marie Costanzo (picturedright). “What? With plumbing pipesand cables protruding from it?“We postponed telling the widerparent community because we knewthere would be a great deal of angerand disappointment. If we weren’t in asafe Labor seat this wouldn’t happen.”The school’s 315 students,many from refugee families, aresqueezed into portables at the backof Thomastown SC while part of theirnew school is built.The school council believes that$1m or less is required to completethe school and that the “costoverruns”were incurred in removingsub-soil rock.The school was losing “a vitalindoor space that had great potentialas a meeting place for parents andcommunity groups,” Ms Costanzosaid, while the cuts to the landscapingwould “leave the place still looking likea building site”.◆Prepare to fight Abbott over fundingMEMBERS must be prepared to fight for improved public school funding inthe face of a possible Abbott government, Angelo Gavrielatos has told theunion’s annual conference.The AEU federal president said the union had won the argument for a fairdeal for government schools in the face of heavy and well-funded lobbying froma private schools sector “hell-bent on trying to maintain its position of relativeprivilege”. Despite hopes of a favourable set of recommendations from theschool funding review chaired by David Gonski, the fight was not nearly over.“This (Gillard) government could fall at any moment — all of its ownmaking,” he told conference earlier this month. “What will come of theserecommendations should there be an Abbott government? If there is a set ofrecommendations worthy of our support, we will need to embrace them andbecome defenders of them and make it impossible for the Government andmost importantly Abbott to turn away from them. That will be very hard becausewhat Abbott and (Christopher) Pyne have made very clear is that they intend toextend the privilege and privatisation of education.”The review panel is this month expected to issue analysis papers beforeformal recommendations later this year. ◆— Nic BarnardWe’re there for the AMWUAssisting AEU Members for over 30 yearsAdviceLine Injury Lawyers division can assist you – no win, no charge – with:• Work injury compensation – physical and psychological injury• Road and transport accident injury compensation• Medical negligence• Asbestos injuriesHolding Redlich also offers special arrangements for AEU members for:• Employment and discrimination law• Family law services• Conveyancing• Wills and estate planningContact us directly on 9321 9988 or 1300 MY INJURY or contact your AEU organiser for a referral.Visit www.advicelineinjurylawyers.com.au or www.holdingredlich.com.au today.www.aeuvic.asn.au 5

newsTell Ted to PAY UPMembers are urged to email the Premier from our website totell him that disability services staff deserve equal pay.Sian Watkins AEU NewsAEU members are urged to send a message toPremier Ted Baillieu in support of the union’scampaign for equal pay in government-funded adultdisability services.A new e-lobby on the AEU website allowsmembers to voice their concern to the Premierand his ministers over their attempts to limit anypay rises to the low-paid, mostly female workers insocial, community and disability services, and overtheir threats of service and job cuts should any payrises exceed their budget.You can send a message at www.aeuvic.asn.au/tell_ted.The Australian Services Union, which is leadingthe equal pay case before Fair Work Australia,and the AEU seek pay rises of between 16% and54% for the 150,000 workers affected, who areemployed by non-government groups such asUnitingCare and Mission Australia.They include hundreds of AEU members workingin adult disability services.In May, FWA accepted unions’ case that workersemployed by non-government services wereunderpaid and that at least part of the gap wasdue to their gender. It asked for submissions on theextent to which gender contributed to low pay andwhat pay rise should be awarded.Workers in the non-government sector are paidbetween 17% and 30% less than their public sectorcolleagues. But these services are funded largely bythe federal and state governments.Canberra directly or indirectly funds about halfthe sector. The Federal Government says it willprovide ‘’fair and appropriate’’ support for anypay rise. The State Government rejects unions’argument that gender is largely responsible for payinequality in the sector. In its recent submissionto the FWA, it said that lower wages in the privatesector were instead due to funding arrangementsand higher wages achieved by unions in the publicsector.Before the last election Baillieu pledged to fullyfund the equal pay case outcome but backflippedonce in government. Victoria has set aside only$50 million a year to cover possible pay rises. It hasrecommended that any increase should be phasedin over four years and not be paid until at least sixmonths after being granted.Unions say that $50m is insufficient and aThe real tea partyRECIPIENTS of government disabilityfunding at the loud and cheerful morningtea at Milparinka Disability Services inBrunswick this month were the lucky ones,Milparinka CEO Frank Crupi said.They could afford to pay for vocationaland social support offered by agencies suchas Milparinka, but many unfunded disabledpeople could not, which was why a nationaldisability insurance scheme was vital, hesaid.The AEU-hosted morning tea was one ofhundreds held around the country onAugust 2 for the Every Australian Countsfunding shortfall will have to be paid for throughredundancies and cuts in hours and services.AEU deputy VP Greg Barclay said it was disappointing,but not unexpected, that “Ted Baillieucontinues to make excuses for breaking his promiseto fully fund the outcomes of the equal pay case”.“It is about time that he and (Minister) MaryWooldridge came out and supported workers inthe disability sector by agreeing to pay whateverincreases are awarded in this case.”Low wages are nominated by managers asthe main barrier to attracting and keeping staff incommunity and disability services. ◆L-R: AEU branch president Mary Bluett, Chris Coombes, Milparinka Disability ServiceCEO Frank Crupi and Peter Garbellini.campaign in support of the proposed disabilityinsurance scheme. The scheme would cover allthe care and support needs of Australians withsignificant disabilities.Find out more and join the campaign atwww.everyaustraliancounts.com.au. ◆MALVERN Central School teachersSally Haddow and Amy Prior areour reps for this month, nominatedfor their energy and determinationin strengthening the work of theirsub-branch and making members andnon-members aware of their rights.After becoming senior school unionrep, Sally, 36, read the teacher’sagreement in detail and, with Amy, setabout getting teachers time-in-lieu forparent-teacher interviews and settingup a formal consultative committee toNominate your REP!ensure staff have a say in the manydecisions affecting them.Sally follows in the steps of herfather, who was a shop steward withthe Australian Railways Union. “Hespent many hours on picket lines. Iwas too young to join him then butwhen I was older I was heavily involvedin the campaign to save RichmondSecondary College in 1993.”Amy, 27, is the junior school’s rep.Her mother is a principal and AEUmember and “she told me from thetime I started teaching that I shouldjoin the union because they’re theonly people that will back you”.Organiser John Handley said thewomen completed the AEU Activetraining for new reps in Term 1 andreturned to Malvern with a “plan tore-awaken the sub-branch”.“They also organised Fridaydrinks to which they invitednon-members to hear aboutthe importance of union membership.”◆Sally Haddow (right)& Amy PriorMalvern Central SchoolDoes your school or workplace AEU Rep deserve special recognition? Email aeunews@aeuvic.asn.au telling us whoyou’re nominating and why. The Rep of the Month receives a limited edition AEU leather briefcase.www.aeuvic.asn.au 9

newsQUEENSLANDA NEW “Right to Teach/Right toLearn” campaign developed bysouthern Queensland TeachersUnion members ensures theyare aware of their “professionalrights and responsibilities” in theworkplace.This concept, known as “assertiveprofessionalism”, has been widelyaccepted in Queensland and enablesQTU members to manage their individualworkload by making decisionsabout what is best for students intheir class and their school.NEW SOUTH WALESHUNDREDS of public sector workersrallied in Lismore — one of a seriesof protests across the state againstthe new Coalition Government’s paypolicy. Teachers made up abouthalf the crowd who gathered at theNSW Teachers’ Federation officeand made their way to local NationalParty MP Thomas George’s office.NORTHERN TERRITORYWITH plans to employ unqualifiedteachers in territory schools,Matthew Cranitch from the AEUNT branch has argued that it is“a Band-Aid fix”. Under the plans,anyone can apply for the positionof a teacher provided they havegraduated from university in anyfield. Education Minister Chris Burnsrefuses to say which schools will beinvolved.AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORYTEACHERS have strongly opposedproposals from the ACT Governmentto give principals the power to “hireand fire”. AEU members claim thatthe Government is simply avoiding itspublic responsibilities by “introducingautonomous staffing”.This has not stopped ACTEducation Minister Andrew Barrfrom continuing with the plans.He believed that “members wereabsorbed in ideological debate” andplans to have the changes in placeby 2013. ◆Overwork threatensPRESCHOOL REFORMSStaff support reforms but pace of change isforcing them out, AEU survey finds.Nic Barnard AEU NewsHIGH levels of stress caused bythe national overhaul of earlychildhood education is causing ahaemorrhage of staff in Victoria,an AEU survey has found.More than half of the teachersand assistants who responded tothe survey expect to leave the sectorwithin five years, with more than a thirdplanning to leave within three, becauseof the reforms sweeping the sector.Yet staff appear broadly supportiveof the changes being introducedby federal and state governments.They say it is the pace of change,huge increase in workload and lackof support and consultation that aredriving them out.The reforms include new earlyyears development plans, nationalquality standards, a My School-stylewebsite and the move to 15 hours perweek preschool for every 4-year-old.More than 400 teachers andassistants responded to the AEUonline survey.An alarming 98% said theirworkload had increased since 2009— with 72% saying it had risen a lot.Some 93% said they were workinglonger hours.And 73% said the changes wereaffecting their decision to stay inthe sector. Of these, 15% plannedto leave within the year, 52% withinthree years and 71% within fiveyears (equivalent to 52% of allrespondents).Asked to rate their “feelings ofdistress” about the changes on ascale of 0–10, 79% said 8 or above.The biggest causes of distress were:• The hours required to engagein the process (identified by85%)• The number of changes (74%)• The level of consultation (56%)• Uncertainty over how the futurewould look (52%)• Pace of change (48%).AEU sector vice president ShayneQuinn said: “People aren’t sayingthey don’t like where we’re heading.It’s about the process by which we’regetting there, and the expectationsbeing placed on the sector.“It’s putting greater pressure onstaff, and it’s all falling into their owntime.“The agenda is a positive one, butit has to be matched by the resourcesand arrangements to support peoplethrough it.“If these are not addressed, all theinvestment in trying to attract peopleinto the sector will be wasted becausewe are haemorrhaging staff at theother end.”The Productivity Commissionhas already identified that Victoriarequires an almost 50% increase inqualified early childhood staff to meetthe reforms.The AEU has launched the Lightenthe Load campaign to address thegrowing workload issues, backedby a resolution passed at its annualconference this month.◆More information at www.aeuvic.asn.au/childhood and www.aeuvic.asn.au/lighten.Conference reports: pages 20–21.Paid parental leave changesAS OF July 1, the Department ofEducation and Early ChildhoodDevelopment is paymaster for thenew federal paid parental leave (PPL)scheme for school employees.The scheme sits in addition to theexisting Schools and ES Agreements’14 weeks’ paid maternity leave (PML).There continues to be some confusionabout these entitlements:PML (14 weeks) is paid for by theemployer (State Government) at fullreplacement wage. Superannuationis also paid and other entitlementsaccrue. This provision has existedsince 1975 (as 12 weeks) followingeducation union campaigns.PPL (18 weeks) is paid for by theFederal Government at the federalminimum wage (about $580 perweek). The DEECD merely acts aspaymaster. Superannuation is notpaid and the time does not count asservice.Applications must be made via theFamily Assistance Office at Centrelink.The two schemes have differenteligibility criteria, so read the AEU’sPPL advice sheet carefully. You canfind it at www.aeuvic.asn.au/women.One feature of PPL is a “KeepingIn Touch” provision to help parentskeep up to date with PD and initiativesat the workplace. It was intended toinvolve a number of days’ attendance.This caused considerable concernthat it might involve compulsion toattend and constitute a return toduty and therefore termination ofPPL payments. These issues are stillbeing negotiated and some legislativeamendments might be needed.Our current advice is not to attendthe workplace or undertake CRT orother work during PPL.DEECD advice is contained in HRMOnline Issue 06-2011 and Issue 07-2011. ◆— Barb Jennings women’s officerwww.aeuvic.asn.au 11

❛Cost-cutting in TAFEs►“A substantial push towards online learning is resultingin teaching staff becoming ‘redundant’ and students notnecessarily gaining greatly from self-paced learning.”►“Cancelling any less than fully subscribed courses(particularly short industrial skills courses).”►“More and more online delivery and using sessionalinstead of ongoing staff to deliver and coordinate as it ischeaper.”❜“Staff who once had at leastone hour to coordinate classes andoversee compliance no longer have it.Staff are really under pressure,” onemember said.The AEU has vowed to exposethe extent of the shaving of teachinghours by institutes, a practice that hasbecome endemic. TAFEs are fundedby Skills Victoria to provide a nominalnumber of contact hours, but thereare no checks on the number of hoursactually delivered.Teachers report that they havebeen instructed to cut those hours byas much as 70%, with the remainingtime delivered through online work orself-directed study.Members said the reforms weredamaging the quality of education andtraining that students received. Some85% of teachers said they did nothave enough time to support studentsto the level required.Some 68% said the cuts in contacthours made it hard for students tosuccessfully complete their courses,while 53% said they were underpressure to pass students who mightnot be competent. A bare majority —52% — believed student needs weretaken into account in course design.One of the first acts of the newState Government was to reintroduceconcession rates for trainees agedunder 25, and Skills MinisterPeter Hall is now reviewing fees andcharges in the VET sector. The AEU’ssubmission to the review calls for thefees to be reduced even further.Greg Barclay, AEU deputy vicepresident for TAFE, said: “We want tosee changes to the current fundingmodel, including a boost to the overalllevel of Victorian Government funding,and better access to concessionplaces for students.“Education is about long-termfutures for individuals and communities.It should never be aboutshort-term budgets and profits.”◆Download the full survey results atwww.aeuvic.asn.au/tafe_survey (PDF).Have the Securing Jobs for Your Future reforms (contestablefunding, more complicated enrolment procedures, etc) affected youradministrative workload?❛Messages to the minister►“(We need) more concessions for all students, not justunder 25. Maximum fees should be abolished, stop shavingoff hours from nominal hours, (and) reduce admin for teachersas the reality is there is less time for teaching and beingeffective.”►“I work with students from disadvantaged backgrounds.With the funding attached to the student, if for medicalreasons they can no longer attend, we lose the funding andthen the class that was viable at the beginning of the yearbecomes threatened.”►“Take away the eligibility restrictions for a governmentfundedplace and simplify the fee structure. You cannot expecta flexible workforce and new job creation if people cannotretrain in an alternate industry to their original qualification.”►“Come and live in the country. We have had drought for over10 years, fires, floods in the past three years and a 200%increase in private providers who are not audited as we are.”►“Not only have you given us a funding system and overthe-topauditing to grind us into the ground, you have allowedopen slather for the independent RTOs to do as they please.“They joke to us about all the ways we are tied up in red tapewhile they can happily run classes with seven people and beaccountable for a third of what we are.”►“One of our students has an arts degree from the early1990s which didn’t lead to work, and has been a single mumfor the past 10 years. She has an aptitude to do well in ourcourse, but will not take on diploma level studies because shehas to pay full fees.“Why would you pay $7000 for a diploma when highereducation is cheaper?”►“Please minister, listen to the facts as they are presented toyou by teachers such as myself: we are in the best positionto evaluate these reforms because we are dealing with theconsequences daily.“We care about our students, we care about education and wecare for the future of Australia. This is not the way to achievethe goals of educating and training people for the future. Let’sgo back to the way things were before the reforms wreckedTAFE education.❜“Education should not be viewed as a moneymakingenterprise; it is an investment in our people and future.”Please choose the most appropriate response to the statement:The Securing Jobs for Your Future reforms have had a negativeeffect on the quality of teaching and learning at my TAFE.featurewww.aeuvic.asn.au 13

internationalCape of GOOD HOPECAPE Town in South Africa was thestriking location for the sixth worldcongress of Education International(EI) — the global union bodyrepresenting 30 million teachers andother education employees from earlychildhood to higher education.Almost 1,700 delegates andobservers from 154 countriesattended the four-yearly event. Manyresolutions and reports were consideredand debated. These articles area small sample.The conference’s major policydevelopment was EI’s first ever globalvision: Building the Future throughQuality Education.It was endorsed unanimouslywhich, given the incredibly diverseconstituency, was a significantachievement.Above, L-R: EI president Susan Hopgood, South African deputy president Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe and EI secretarygeneral Fred van Leeuwen. Below: Australia’s delegation.PHOTOS: BEA UHARTThe global education union body now has a unifiedvision, a new platform for support staff — and a Victorianteacher at its head. Mary Bluett reports from theEducation International Congress.EI represents undeveloped,developing and advanced nations.They start from very different basesbut all aspire to the same goal: qualityeducation for all where every studentis given the opportunity to achieve hisor her potential.In the policy’s own words, it“challenges explicitly the narrow,instrumentalist view of education assolely teaching students to becomeskilled employees.“Instead, it argues for a perspectiveon education that serves boththe values of the society at localand global levels, as well as cultural,democratic, social, economic andenvironmental needs.“It recognises that education isa human right and a public good inits own right, enabling people at allstages in their lives to achieve theirmaximum potential and to betterunderstand themselves and their roleand relationships.”The comprehensive policy isnot just a strong statement of theimportance of quality public educationand access guarantees for all; it is acampaign tool to achieve those goals.Its themes include equality andinclusive education, a focus on quality,technology, stronger unions asessential partners in civil society, andthe importance of education for livingand for life.four years. Hopgood was appointedpresident by the EI executive last yearto replace Thulas N’Xesi from SouthAfrica following his election to parliament.Her unopposed election now isa resounding vote of confidence by allcountries and is well deserved.In her address to conference,Hopgood urged delegates to continueto campaign for greater governmentinvestment in public education.“We must grow our campaignsagainst short-sighted and selfdefeatingausterity measures cuttinggrowth and causing deeper recession.“Students have only one chancein education. Cutting their fundingtoday robs them of their futures.Quality public education for all is thepromise one generation must maketo the next.“We must find inspiration, motivationand strength in our fundamentalbelief in the transformative powerof education — the key to a betterworld.”A former secondary teacher, Susanis an AEU Victorian member. She joinsformer AEU federal presidentSharan Burrow, general secretary ofthe International Trade Union Councilin Brussels, on the world stage.It is a cause for celebration thatthe international trade union andteacher movements now have AEUwomen as their leaders. ◆President HopgoodA major highlight was the electionof AEU federal secretary SusanHopgood as EI president for the nextMore information on Congress includingthe text of resolutions can be found onthe EI website at www.ei-ie.org.14 aeu news | august 2011

internationalClimate of changeA landmark resolution highlights the keyrole educators play in addressing globalwarming, writes Meredith Peace.AN INSPIRATIONAL speech by Greenpeace executive director and former ANCactivist Kumi Naidoo set the stage for EI’s resolution mobilising educationunions on climate change.Naidoo addressed the climate crisis andthe importance of challenging the threatto education services “peacefully,principally and courageously”.He argued that theausterity measuresimplemented bygovernments aroundthe world in responseto the financial crisiswere a “perfect storm andturning point” for activistsfighting to overcome theclimate, financial, food, fuel andpoverty crises that devastate millions of people.The climate resolution — EI’s first — recognised that global union federationshave an important role in shaping opinion and policy on one of the mostserious challenges of the 21st century.Any move to a low-carbon economy will require new patterns of production,consumption and employment, and workers must be centrally involved in thisprocess. Education unions are well placed to help bring about the structuralchanges needed.Importantly, the resolution also recognised the important role educationcan play by leading the debate on climate change and ensuring it is foundedon sound, scientifically based information; to persuade education institutionsto reduce their emissions; and to give students the skills and knowledge toparticipate in the debate in their own communities.The wide-ranging resolution encouraged unions to:• Promote environmentally friendly workplace policies and practices• Include sustainable development clauses in enterprise agreements• Include climate change in curricula• Raise awareness of indigenous ecosystems as a way of educating futuregenerations about sustainable development, bio-diversity and climatechange• Lobby for investment in research into climate change and sustainabledevelopment.The resolution was overwhelmingly endorsed by Congress and will hopefullyresult in education unionists around the world mobilising to ensure theirstudents understand this issue and its implications for their future.The AEU is well placed to participate; we already have branch policy in placeand are campaigning on climate change through the ACTU. ◆ES members getglobal voiceEqual education march in South AfricaTraining the way outof global crashTWO Congress resolutions on vocational education and training recognisedthe strong contribution that the public VET sector makes towards stabilisingeconomies hit by the global financial and social crisis.Delegates overwhelmingly agreed on the need for more learning and training,for better qualifications and for successful completion so people could beprotected against unemployment.EI will set up a regional taskforce for VET in every EI region.I attended a VET forum with speakers from countries including Canada,France, Malaysia and Nigeria. The issues discussed reflected many of ourconcerns for TAFE in Victoria, including quality provision, diminishing controlover curricula, the narrowing of courses and delivery, commercialisation and thesustained attacks on public VET provision.It was a fantastic opportunity to listen to people from across the world and totalk with passionate VET union representatives. But it was cold comfort that weall seem to face the same frustrating problems of inadequate funding, regulationand professional training. ◆— Gillian Robertson deputy secretaryAEU education support members now have a voice on the world stage to raisetheir concerns with the support of the whole education sector after congressadopted its first resolution on the status of ES staff.Carried unanimously, it gives a powerful voice to the concerns of ES membersthrough the 30 million teachers and other personnel working in educationaround the world from early childhood to university.The resolution affirmed the vital role of ES employees, including their legitimatevoice in union debates on the challenges facing the education sector.It recognised that ES employees include a broad range of professional,administrative, technical and general staff who support teaching and learning incooperation with teachers.Significantly, it acknowledged that while ES members share the samechallenges as teachers in bargaining, they also face a lack of respect andrecognition and poor pay and working conditions.It noted with concern the growing exploitation of ES employees throughcasual, part-time or limited term employment without job security.ES staff best contribute to the health, education and safety of studentswhen they are part of a single workforce employed by one employer, theresolution said. ◆— Brian Henderson branch secretarywww.aeuvic.asn.au 15

featurecontinued from p17level of satisfaction with the process were linked tothe level of leadership support for it. ACER quotedone PRT:“I didn't have a mentor and didn't have regularmeetings or progress reports with anyone onhow I was going, despite having a very heavyteaching load of VCE during my first year.“Thankfully, I had supportive staff around mewho helped me, but I think the program needs to betaken more seriously by some to support graduateteachers. I can now see why so many graduateteachers leave the profession.”The ACER report said mentors also recognisedthe critical importance of school leaders backingeffective induction programs. One mentor said:“The whole process needs to be supported bythe school leadership team, principal, vice principaletc. This was sadly lacking in our school. I felt theydid not understand the importance and relevanceof the process.“The choice of mentor was based onconvenience, rather than needs, personality,enthusiasm or suitability of the people involved.”Effective induction programs benefitted students,teachers and taxpayers, the ACER report said.“They increase retention of good teachers. Theypromote high standards of teaching and effectivehabits of ongoing professional learning. They alsohelp to guide ineffective teachers to other occupationsand minimise money that might have to bespent later on managing theirperformance.”Anecdotal evidence suggests that, six yearson, not all beginner teachers, and therefore theirstudents, are benefitting from an induction processthat experts consider vital in achieving qualityteaching and learning and in keeping good andpotentially good teachers in the profession.Mullaly says the best schools provide mentoringbeyond one year.Also, “where the ethos has colleaguessupporting each other, the school will probablyalso have induction programs of good quality andgenerous mentoring.” ◆The Education Department’s induction guide, setting outwhat it expects of school induction programs is at tinyurl.com/3z5vhvs.Details of the department’s Teacher Mentor SupportProgram are at tinyurl.com/3cad8j4.You can download the department’s leaflet Supportingyour Beginning Teachers (PDF) at tinyurl.com/4229r5k.First and last?A series of contracts and lack of support left oneyoung teacher looking for an early career change.ENGLISH teacher Sue Jonesdescribes her first — and so faronly — year in teaching as “ratherbrutal”.Sue — not her real name —was employed by a Melbourne highschool at the end of Term 1 last yearon a three-month contract to replacea teacher on sick leave.She was shown around thecampus and given a folder “with abunch of information in it about theschool”. Her first office was sharedwith teachers who didn’t teach hersubject, and she was not allocated amentor, she says, “because we don’tknow how long you’ll be here”.A group of English teachersinvited her to join them in their office— “I don’t think I would have lastedthe year otherwise”, she says — andshe was eventually given a mentor.But, as a leading teacher withother graduates to mentor, he hadlimited time to offer. “He was verybusy and he did the best he could.We sat down when we could, butadvice was generally limited to whatI should be teaching in terms of thematerial,” she says.Sue’s three-month contract wasfollowed by successive 10-weekcontracts. She worked about60 hours a week to master thecurriculum and plan her lessons.Towards the end of the year she hadto buy her own whiteboard markersbecause “my $80 stationery budgethad run out”.At the end of the year it wassuggested she apply for three,one-year positions for 2011 —timetable planners even discussedsubject placements with her. But shedidn’t get a job.“My partner was often shockedby my experience,” says Sue,26, “The office I worked in, theamount of work I had to do and theexpectations, and the fact that theschool was never straight with me.”Early this year, a friend alerted herto a job at the Justice Department.“I have a massive desk, a bigwindow, it’s centrally heated, I haveopportunities for professionaldevelopment and there arereasonable expectations about theamount of work I have to do. And Ican have as many pens as I want.”She may return to teaching “butit’s not hard to understand now whyso many people don’t stay. It is a lotof work and so much is expected ofpeople.” ◆What beginningteachers need• A choice of mentor who cansupport their professionaldevelopment• Mentors should be accessible,with time to spend with thebeginner teacher and workclose by• Formal, timetabled meetingtimes with their mentor• Opportunities to share teachingpractice, observe othersteaching and be observedteaching• Regular and supportive communicationwith the principal• Orientation of basic schoolprocesses, rules andprocedures.Source: DEECD18 aeu news | august 2011

Charityplus oneprofileTHIS is proving an eventful year for secondaryteacher Michael Nelson.Apart from the demands of teaching Years 11and 12 VCE English and English Literature, thesecond-year teacher has also made his firsteye-opening trip to East Timor and, with friends,established a not-for-profit trust to improve accessto education for young disadvantaged people.Nelson teaches at Fountain Gate SecondaryCollege in Narre Warren and it was there that helearned of a trip to East Timor this year organisedby Friends of Ermera.A group in the City of Casey that includes manyformer teachers, Friends of Ermera raises moneyand organises goods and services to help peopleliving in the town and district of Ermera, a mountainousarea south-west of the capital, Dili.Casey has a large East Timorese community,many of whom come from Ermera.Most of the Ermera district’s population works inagriculture, predominantly growing and harvestingcoffee. Friends of Ermera focuses on improvingthe water supply, building projects, and providingmedical equipment and supplies, scholarships, youthleadership and education.Casey and Friends of Ermera have worked on anumber of initiatives including teacher exchangesand professional development programs; providingsewing machines to women’s groups; sendingsecond-hand soccer boots; and supporting linksbetween Ermera schools and kindergartens andschools in Casey.Like most parts of East Timor, Ermera sufferedterrible destruction of life, public buildings andprivate property after the East Timorese voted forindependence from Indonesia in 1999.While Nelson “wasn’t particularly ignorant” ofIndonesia’s violent response, “I had no idea of theextent of what happened. It’s not until you go therethat you can really understand the human toll.”At the start of his trip during the mid-semesterbreak, Nelson taught English to students at the1,200-student Ninos Konis Santana school. Previouslydenied opportunities to attend school, many of itsstudents are in their late teens and early 20s.Teaching classes of about 60 students, Nelsonshow& tellThe most important thing I take into theclassroom every day is ... Honesty. If astudent asks you a question, it’s much easier(and dignified) to say “I don’t know” than to beproved wrong by Wikipedia.The best advice I ever received was ...“Poets are the unacknowledged legislators ofthe world” — Shelley. It made me feel a little lessabstract.The most inspirational figure in my life was... My grandfather. He introduced me to poetryand was my best friend.In my other life, I am ... Taller. And more selfassured.The books that changed my life were ... TheRomantic poets helped a lot. I recommend them toevery teenage boy who is struggling to reconcilea passion for poetry with their own masculineself-concept.My favourite teacher at school was ... MrBhujoharry, my Year 12 literature teacher. Healways made me feel my ideas were valuable.He’d also pull me up when I needed it, which onreflection was probably too often.If I met education minister Martin Dixon,I’d tell him … Retaining passionate and skilledgraduate teachers is a real problem. When youngteachers know their work is undervalued and thecorporate sector offers them much better pay andconditions, what incentives are there to remain?A trip to East TimorpromptedMichael Nelsonto set up his owneducation charity tohelp a mountain-sidecommunity.Sian Watkinsmeets him.gained a “new appreciation of the work that ESLteachers do”.“Students’ motivation and hunger to learn wasvery strong,” he says. “Students would come to meafter school asking me for more homework.”Nelson raised $300 in donations from FountainGate colleagues before he left and with it bought150 English-Tetum dictionaries. Tetum, a Malayo-Polynesian language influenced by Portuguese, isspoken by most East Timorese.Nelson’s decision this year to also set up aneducation trust came after he and a group offriends sat around one day and their conversationturned to what they could do, as young professionals,to help others.As a graduate teacher Nelson does not earnquite enough to be a generous philanthropist but heand his friends had a desire to do something and arange of skills to do it.After he finished teaching at Ninos KonisSantana, Nelson drove around East Timor andintroduced himself to people. “I’d ask, ‘How canwe help facilitate the work you are doing?’ A lot ofpeople there are putting a lot of time and effortin voluntarily; there was a real sense of building anation.”Nelson’s newly registered Plus One Foundation’sfirst project is to raise $14,000 to complete ahalf-finished school and training centre in Ermerafor young disabled people. There is only one suchschool in East Timor, in Dili.Planned future stages of the project includeinstalling a water system, building accommodationquarters and fencing the property.Nelson says Plus One will be transparent anddemocratic: “Every dollar of money donated will betrackable. People want to know that their money isgoing somewhere and making a difference.”◆For more information about Plus One Foundation, contactMichael Nelson at nelson.michael.g@edumail.vic.gov.au.www.aeuvic.asn.au 19

featureCONFERENCE 2011Turn up the HEATThe Federal Government’s record in education is abysmal but its plans for a carbon taxwarrant clamorous support, the AEU’s annual conference was told. Sian Watkins andNic Barnard report.AUSTRALIAN Conservation Foundation executivedirector Don Henry has urged teachers andunions to support the Federal Government’s carbontax package and repel the “ferocious, ill-informed”opposition to it led by Tony Abbott and big polluterswith “deep pockets”.Henry told AEU branch conference delegatesthat the next three months would be crucial towhether Australia took a modest step forward inaction to avert dangerous climate change. Failureto pass the legislation could also “break” the GillardGovernment, he warned.“Most Australians know we have to act,” he said,before urging AEU members to join the “Say Yes” tocutting carbon pollution campaign, organised by theACF, the ACTU and other environment organisations.But the Federal Government received no praisefrom federal AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos, whosaid that most of its policies had been “plagiarisedstraight from the Tory playbook”.Julia Gillard’s performance pay proposals were“hare-brained” and methodologically flawed andeven curriculum body ACARA had warned againstusing NAPLAN test results to guide teacherperformance evaluation, Gavrielatos said. Theproposal was a “profound attack on teachers. Itdenigrates us and our work.”Don Henry told the conference that theGovernment’s carbon price package would act asa vital incentive to companies and individuals toreduce non-renewable energy consumption anddivert investment to cleaner energy.It would not “break our economy” or, givencompensation proposals, impose too great aburden on low-income earners.Henry said Australia was one of the 20 biggestpolluters in the world and the biggest polluter percapita. As a wealthy country, it had a responsibilityto act. “If we don’t, how can we expect others to(reduce greenhouse emissions)?”He condemned the political debate onthe proposed package as “disgraceful andNeanderthal”, as was the media coverage of it,“particularly from sections of the media that arenow being held to account overseas”. The campaignagainst the package was “led by the deep pocketsDon Henryof overseas coal companies and big polluterswanting to make sure that the country stays in thedark ages of pollution”.Teachers had a vital role to play in helpingthe next generation move to a cleaner economyand in equipping people with better knowledgeof the science. “We are knocking on the door ofdangerous climate change and we must begin toturn it around this decade. Severe climate changeimpacts are already locked in.”Gavrielatos, in his keynote speech, was witheringabout a string of Gillard Government initiatives.Teach Next — the successor to Teach for Australia— treated teaching as an “evangelical mission”;the expanded chaplaincy program was “one of themost misguided policies we’ve ever had imposedon us”, and proposals for greater school autonomywere simply “the power to obey” in an increasinglycentralised education system of national standards,tests and curriculum.Autonomy was a ploy, he said. “driven by thisideology of shifting blame and risk away fromgovernments. It’s an abrogation of government’sresponsibility.”But all these issues were mere “irritants” giventhe main game: the federal funding review led byDavid Gonski.The AEU was virtually alone in campaigning fora fairer deal for public schools, he said. The privateAngelo Gavrielatos20 aeu news | august 2011

Mary Bluettschool lobby — “hell-bent on tryingto maintain its position of relativeprivilege” — knew what was at stakeand had hired some of the biggestlobbying and advertising firms in thenation. But not one state educationminister or department secretary hadspoken up for public school funding.Although public educationsupporters could expect positiverecommendations from the Gonskireview, these would be threatened by achange of government.“Abbott and (Christopher) Pynehave made very clear that they intendto extend the privilege and privatisationof education.”In her speech to the conference,AEU Victorian president Mary Bluettreported on a tumultuous year — thatincluded a change of government —for Victorian state education.She spoke of the moving responsesfrom parents to the AEU’s My SchoolNeeds campaign last year: “The mosturgent voices came from parents ofchildren with disabilities. The numberof times I read comments postedat 3 or 4am, just saying ‘We need acampaign like this’, was quite heartwrenching,”she said.Bluett was scathing of the BaillieuGovernment’s trifecta of backflips:breaking election promises onteachers’ pay, on completing theformer Brumby government’s schoolrebuilding program and on funding infull the outcome of the equal-pay casein disability and social services.Meanwhile, the new governmenthad demanded state educationspending cuts of $481 million overfour years, but put an extra $240minto private schools. “It’s clear thatsome election promises always had tobe followed through,” she said. ◆Resolutions in briefPerformance bonuses rejectedTHE union condemned state andfederal government performance payplans and trials as delegates voted topursue a professional pay scheme forteachers that recognised the collegialnature and complexity of teaching.AEU deputy president MeredithPeace said governments’ schemeswere divisive, anti-collegiate andcontrary to “all the researchconsensus on what improvesteaching and learning”. Teachersneeded a career structure thatenabled them to stay in theclassroom , through a new “highlyaccomplished” classification.Opposing the union’s call fora professional pay system, MaryMerkenich (Mill Park SC) said it,too, was divisive in that it wouldreward “only the few”. Instead, theunion should seek higher pay for allteachers and an expansion of higherduties allowances.Campaigning role for CRTsBARRIERS to casual relief teacherswinning elected positions in the AEUhave been removed after a rulechange agreed by conference.CRT members will now beallocated to regions based on theirhome address — meaning they canstand for election to council. Electionsare based on AEU regions, but manyCRTs work across regional borders.The change aims to give CRTs alouder campaigning voice. DeputyVP James Rankin said casuals werepoorly paid in Victoria, despite mosthaving years of experience, withmaximum annual pay of $51,000.Hall urged to speed TAFE reviewCONFERENCE called on Skills MinisterPeter Hall to begin immediatelyhis planned review of the previousgovernment’s skills reforms, saying:“Disadvantaged Victorians … cannotput their lives on hold until 2013.”AEU deputy VP Greg Barclay said:“These reforms reduced access tolife-changing education for thousandsof Victorians. They have placedprofits ahead of the dreams ofindividuals.”A review of fees is underway now,but a full review of the reforms is notscheduled until 2012.Justice at workTEACHERS were importantagents of cultural change anddisseminating information aboutfair workplace relations was vitalgiven the central place work held inpeople’s lives, Federal Court judgeMordy Bromberg told conference.Quoting former prime ministerBob Hawke, Justice Bromberg saidwork provided individuals with sustenance,a purpose, identity and wasthe hub of social exchange.Justice Bromberg was launchingWork Right, an interdisciplinaryteaching and learning resourceabout workplace rights andresponsibilities.The resource, also availableonline and with smart phone applications,is based on the AustralianCharter of Employment Rights, adocument that defines and articulatesthe rights of employers andworkers and serves as a template forworkplace fairness.Work Right, which includes 70L-R: Lisa Heap of AIERMordy Brombergand Michael Victory of TLNtasks covering humanities, science,English, maths and LOTE, wascreated by the Teaching LearningNetwork and the Australian Instituteof Employment Rights. It is designedfor Years 9 and 10 and VCALstudents.Justice Bromberg was thefounding president of the AIERin 2005 and one of the expertswho wrote the charter, drawingon Australian industrial practice,common law, and international treatyPay equity endorsedDELEGATES unanimously endorseda call for the State Government tohonour its pre-election promise tofully fund any pay increases grantedto community and disability-sectorworkers by Fair Work Australia.Greg Barclay cited one womanwith 17 years’ experience earning$22 an hour and another “who worksat two jobs and packing supermarketshelves pays more than working inthe disability sector.”Early childhoodPRESCHOOL teachers should be givenguaranteed pupil-free time to write thenew transition statements for childrenmoving on to primary school, conferencesaid.A unanimous resolution calledfor greater time and resources forpreschool teachers and assistants inthe light of an AEU survey showingstaff buckling under the weight ofthe huge raft of national reformstransforming the sector. ◆The full text of resolutions can be foundat www.aeuvic.asn.au/policies.obligations. “It’s astonishing to seehow long it’s taken to teach ourchildren about their life at work asemployees and employers,” JusticeBromberg said.The printed version of WorkRights is available at a cost price of$50 from TLN, but apps and onlineresources are free.For more information go to www.tln.org.au, www.aierights.com.auand www.teachworkright.com ◆featurewww.aeuvic.asn.au 21

MemberBENEFITSSave on everyday itemsAEU members can now save 5% when buying Coles and Woolworths giftcards with Union Shopper.The deal means members can save on everyday items such as groceries,petrol and electronics by paying for the weekly shop using gift cards boughtthrough Union Shopper.Gift cards are available in denominations up to $500. There is no limit onhow many gift cards you can purchase, making it possible to save hundredsof dollars on everyday expenses.Union Shopper uses the combined purchasing power of Australia’s twomillion union members to get the best deals. As well as finding the cheapestpossible price for goods and services on the market, it offers an increasingnumber of special deals.AEU members can sign up for a monthly e-news and check the UnionShopper website regularly to stay informed about the latest offers. UnionShopper membership is free to all union members; simply go to the UnionShopper website to register your union membership details to start saving.To purchase gift cards, download the order form from the Union Shopperwebsite at www.unionshopper.com.au/giftcard. Please note that creditcard purchases incur a 1% surcharge. ◆Women’s FOCUSBarb Jennings Women’s officerMISOGYNY?Sure looks like itWhile our first female PM introducesnation-changing legislation, opponentsplay the woman, not the ball.AS FORMER Prime Minister Paul Keating pointed out recently, the CarbonPollution Tax is an example of good government and leadership in acrucial area — not poll-driven policy but true reform.The evidence is clear that we need to move to renewable, clean energy.The AEU believes that this is union business: jobs will change as climatechange is tackled and new skills and knowledge will need to be developed.In my view, Julia Gillard, our PM, has shown leadership in her negotiationswith Greens and Independents and in her framing of this measure. Women— especially part-time workers — will be the big winners here throughchanges to the taxation system that accompany the carbon price.By raising the tax-free threshold, one million workers will not pay tax.Most of them will be women.Add this to paid maternity leave and the Federal Government’s FairWork Act which allowed pay equity to be addressed — and its recentannouncement that it will fund the outcome of the case — and you start tosee a government of great benefit to women and listening to their concerns.I’m not going to mention some of the Federal Government’s educationpolicies, which are disappointing at best.Most of the media have consistently denigrated the PM. But theirtreatment of her and of the serious issues addressed by the carbon pricehas been even more unacceptable and misogynist.Young women observing this treatment could be forgiven for decidingthat they won’t aspire to leadership if this is what awaits them. It’s adisgrace and it has to stop.Supporting victims of violenceMembers might remember a survey on domestic violence we sent outrecently. Thank you to all who answered it; to those who haven’t yet, pleasego to tinyurl.com/3crcvjt. The survey is gathering important information.The AEU is one of the unions leading the way in building workplacesupport for survivors of domestic violence (DV). Horrifyingly, violenceagainst women causes more death and disability globally than cancer,malaria, traffic injuries and war put together.We have included the need for paid leave for DV survivors in our schoolslog. Research shows that an ongoing connection to the workplace makesit more likely that women (and they are mainly women) will leave a violentsituation.That stability, income and contact would help women to keep theirconfidence and sense of self more intact. Paid leave would enable doctor’svisits, court appearances and time to deal with a difficult situation. It couldbe accessed with proof of need and full confidentiality would have to bemaintained.Let us know your thoughts on this issue. ◆inside the AEUwww.aeuvic.asn.au 23

inside the AEUAEU TRAINING & PDKim Daly and Rowena Matcott training officers2011EVENTSCALENDARChanging climate for trainingTwo upcoming events put the training focus on environmental issues.Events_cover.indd 2 2/02/11 9:53 AMHERE’S a date for your diary — November 18will see our second Green Schools Conference,with a chance to hear an update direct fromgovernment on action over climate change.The inaugural conference was held last year atour federal office and was very successful. This yearwe are hosting it here at the AEU Victorian branchoffice in Abbotsford.Our guest speaker will be Mark Dreyfus,Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change andEnergy Efficiency.Other speakers and workshops will be fromMonash University, Melbourne Museum, CERESenvironmental park, GEP (the global educationproject), and Kids Teaching Kids.We’ll also be hearing from teachers and studentsfrom government and non-government schoolsabout the work they are doing around sustainabilityand a green future.Information will be in schools soon. Booking willbe online through the Teacher Learning Network— tln.org.au — and you can also find out morenearer the date at the AEU website, www.aeuvic.asn.au/green.Climate change and OH&STalking of all things green, August 24 will see ournext OH&S forum, which this term tackles the healthand safety implications of climate change.Just as population growth, energy policies,urbanisation and deforestation all contribute toglobal climate change, they also play a part in anincrease in heat stress, chemical intolerance, eyeeffects, immune dysfunction, allergies, mental stressand more.These forums are after-work events held atthe AEU office in Abbotsford, aimed at anyonewith an interest in workplace health and safety.Our speakers will include AEU deputy presidentMeredith Peace on why climate change is a unionmatter.Keeping up to date on trainingDetails of our training program are included in ournew Reps e-Bulletin, sent by email to our schoolsreps every Wednesday.We ask reps to forward these emails tomembers, or download relevant flyers for theirnoticeboard to notify members of upcoming events.If you want to know what’s coming up — ask yourrep.The program for this semester includes anumber of one and two-day AEU Active courses.Don’t forget, we cover staff replacement costs forall these courses. These days are open to bothteachers and ES members. ◆AEU TRAINING CALENDAR TERM 3, 2011All courses and conferences are full-day events unless indicated. Upcoming events can be found at www.aeuvic.asn.au/calendar.AEU ACTIVETwo-day coursesAug 25–26..........................GippslandAug 25–26................Bacchus MarshSep 6–7................................WerribeeAEU ACTIVE FOR NEW ANDASPIRING PRINCIPALS (one-day)Sep 21.......................AEU AbbotsfordKNOW YOUR AGREEMENTS(one-day)Aug 23....................................BerwickSep 9................................AbbotsfordWOMEN’S PROGRAMRefresher CoursesSep 14 to Sep 16..............PakenhamFull details of all AEU training programs, conferencesand events can be found atwww.aeuvic.asn.au/training.GETTING A JOBApplication writing (4.30pm–6pm)Aug 18..................................BallaratAug 23................................TraralgonAug 25..................................BendigoSep 13......................AEU AbbotsfordApplying for leading teacherpositionsSep 14......................AEU AbbotsfordAPPLE MAC TRAININGTo register, contact Julie on 03 94172822 or julie.pond@aeuvic.asn.auEngaging critical thinkersAug 24..............................AbbotsfordEDUCATION SUPPORTCONFERENCEAug 31.......................AEU AbbotsfordTwilight conferencesConference 4pm –6pmDinner 6pm–8pmSep 22..............................Yarra ValleyES Recognition MonthAug 1 – Aug 31OTHER EVENTSDisability services workshopSep 16.......................AEU AbbotsfordOHS & The EnvironmentAug 24.......................AEU AbbotsfordAEU PRINCIPALSCONFERENCE AND DINNERAugust 25...................Langham HotelLeadership and managing in thecontext of the VGSASep 21.......................AEU AbbotsfordNEW EDUCATORSMeet the Principals (4.30pm)Aug 30.......................AEU AbbotsfordAug 31.......................AEU AbbotsfordSep 6......................................GeelongSep 8......................................BallaratSep 13.................................TraralgonSep 15.................................BendigoSep 20..................................WodongaYoung Member ActivistsProgramAug 29 – Sep 2.........AEU Abbotsford24 aeu news | august 2011

inside the AEUNew Educators NETWORKAndrew Cassidy graduate teacher organiserCalling all points north-westAre you a new teacher working in Mildura, Swan Hillor elsewhere in Victoria’s north-west? A specialconference is coming your way.WELCOME back for Term 3. It’s great to be backafter the birth of my baby girl late last term.This column is about a special professionaldevelopment opportunity for new educators in thenorth-west of Victoria.On Sunday and Monday, August 28–29 we will betaking part in a Tri-State New Educators Conferencein Mildura with our AEU colleagues from SouthAustralia and New South Wales.Participants from the three state branches of theunion will get together to discuss issues we have incommon and share those that are perhaps uniqueto each state.They will also hear about the national curriculumfrom the AEU federal president, Angelo Gavrielatos,and learn about developing union campaigns.This last item will be particularly important withthe Victorian negotiations for the nextteachers’ agreement starting this month.This is the first time that I will be involvedin an event like this as an AEU organiser. Iam really looking forward to taking the union’smessage to the region.At times it can be difficult in regional areas tokeep your finger on the pulse when it comes tounion information and activities, so we hope thatVictorian participants will take their new skills backto their schools and use them to get their subbranchesactive.There are a limited number of spots availablefor this great learning opportunity so please submityour expression of interest as soon as possible.Send me an email at andrew.cassidy@aeuvic.asn.au.Doubling up, doubling downThe AEU will cover accommodation costs (ifrequired), dinner on the Sunday night, lunch on theMonday and, most importantly, CRT costs for theMonday.I look forward to hearing from you and I wishall new educators the best for another busy termahead. ◆Some tips for new teachers to make getting full registration easier.TEACHERS new to the profession are really doingtwo jobs — you are teaching and you are alsolearning to teach.No matter what teaching course you took, somethings can be learned only on the job. The processof meeting professional standards to become a fullyregistered teacher should link to this learning.In fact the whole process of moving from provisionalto full registration can be a valuable learningexperience. Here are some useful tips to consider.Firstly, make sure that you have a mentor.Agreements are in place to ensure that if you haveongoing employment in a school you should have amentor, so follow up with your school if an experiencedteacher has not been allocated to this role.Hopefully your mentor has attended the two-daymentor program conducted by the VIT and theEducation Department and is clear about their role.Once a working relationship with your mentoris established, ensure that you tap into theirexpertise. Use their knowledge of teaching andlearning and of other staff who may be helpful asyou navigate your way around the school.Next: have you attended an information sessionrun by the institute? More information sessions willbe run this term (Term 3). Details can be found atwww.vit.vic.edu.au.Attendance at these sessions gives a clearoverview of the expectations around applying forfull registration. Key messages include:• The process encapsulates the day-to-daywork of a teacher. It is not an assignment• The documentation required as evidencemakes use of a teacher’s working documents• Compiling this documentation is not meant tobe onerous. Proformas are provided, and aswe say to the students we teach — it is nothow much you write but the quality of whatyou write. Dot points are acceptable — infact your recommendation panel may thankyou for them as it makes for ease of reading.A further tip is to make sure that you organise atimeline for completing the activities that need to bedocumented for your evidence. Of course documentas you go. Leaving this to the last minute could putpressure on you when you least want it.Finally, check that your time release is consistentwith what is in the agreement.The Victorian Government Schools Agreementsays that teachers in their first 12 months ofteaching should have their scheduled dutiesreduced by at least 5% over a school week. Thiscan be achieved through a reduction in teaching orthrough exemption from yard duty or extras.The AEU’s advice to sub-branches in its VGSAImplementation Guide is to “ensure that this matteris discussed at the consultative committee and thata solution fitting with the agreement is achieved. Donot leave it to the new teacher to try to implementon their own.” ◆ — Rhonda McPhee Victorian Institute of Teaching26 aeu news | august 2011

Staffwellbeing3.30pm -5.00pm= =HealthyworkingenvironmentTUESDAYSin AUGUSTES Month is on!SuccessfulschoolsAUGUST ISES MONTHES MONTH is in full swing, but it’s not too late to getinvolved.August is when we celebrate the essential part that educationsupport staff play on the school team. Schools are encouraged tohold coffee mornings, lunches, after-work drinks — in fact anythingto give our ES staff a thumbs-up for the great work they do.AEU organisers are out and about, armed with gifts of ES coffeecups as school visits take on an extra ES focus. You can book a visitby emailing melbourne@aeuvic.asn.au.Once again the AEU is holding dozens of Coffee Cake and a Chatevents on Tuesdays around the state. A full list of dates and venuesis at www.aeuvic.asn.au/coffee.Make sure your school is involved in ES Month. Talk to yournon-AEU colleagues about the benefits of joining the educationunion and give a big thank-you to your ES colleagues. More atwww.aeuvic.asn.au/esmonth. ◆My Work RightsMY WORK Rights is aninteractive web resourceto inform young women abouttheir rights in the workplace,and what they can do if theyexperience sexual harassment ordiscrimination.The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissiondeveloped the resource after research showed that young womenare one of the largest groups to experience harassment, discriminationand victimisation in the workplace. They are also highlyunlikely to make a formal complaint about their treatment.The website uses multimedia to engage users and is bestviewed with a smartphone. Access the site at www.myworkrights.com.au. ◆Pitfalls of parent surveysWITH many schools now conducting parent surveys, and parentopinion data set to become part of the My School website,members can hear the latest research on how to get high quality,useful feedback.RADII, Research Australia Development and Innovation Institute,has conducted more than 2000 surveys of students, staff andparents for schools, and is now sharing its findings on best practicein a series of leadership seminars in late August.“These surveys provide the only available sound evidence aboutthe potential and pitfalls of survey data from school communities,”RADII director Peter Cuttance said.RADII will conduct seminars in Melbourne’s western, eastern andsouthern suburbs on August 30. More online at seminars2011.schoolevent.org. ◆SafetyMATTERSJanet Marshall OH&S organiserThe union effectUnionised workplaces are safer workplaces, anew British report reminds us.HEALTH and safety is everyone’s business but a report from the UK’s peak union body,the Trades Union Congress (TUC), shows again the centrality of unions in the OH&Sequation.The Union Effect, by the TUC’s senior OH&S policy officer Hugh Robertson, sets outthe difference that unions make to workplace safety. It’s an argument that applies equallyin Victoria.Robertson opens by saying: “The most effective tool that we have in ensuringgood health and safety at work is unions, because organised workplaces are saferworkplaces.”He goes on to argue that the involvement of unions and health and safetyrepresentatives (HSRs):• Helps reduce injuries at work• Leads to reductions in the levels of ill-health caused by work• Encourages greater reporting of injuries and near-misses• Makes workers more confident• Helps develop a more positive safety culture in the organisation• Saves the economy many millions [of dollars in lost days].One of the reasons is that unions ensure HSRs are trained. In fact we know that HSRsoften have more knowledge than their managers and are more aware of OH&S principles.This makes a powerful difference to enforcing basic compliance. Unfortunately it can alsobe a source of tension.Robertson says that unions and staff on the ground:… often realise the risks long before management. … It was unions that highlightedthe dangers of asbestos and campaigned for a ban many years before theGovernment introduced one. … Unions were the first to raise major concerns overlevels of violence in the workplace, and RSI, and the effects of passive smoking.To which I would add work-related stress. Similarly it is unions that are now campaigningfor greater labelling in regard to nanotechnology.Research also shows that “consultation with the workforce has a considerable effect inchanging the safety culture in a workplace” — provided that the workers are unionised.OH&S consultation in unionised workplaces means that representatives are morelikely to be informed, trained and empowered to set an agenda and to knowledgeablychallenge the employer. It also means they have the strength of the collective behindthem.With regard to future improvements the report seeks a global extension of theconcept of the Victorian OH&S Act, which provides for HSRs to issue ProvisionalImprovement Notices which in turn leads to increased compliance and better OH&Soutcomes.It also proposes roving HSRs who can cover a group of small workplaces. TheVictorian Act already allows for this and there is no doubt that sectors such as earlychildhood would benefit enormously, although the barriers to establishing roving HSRsare very real.Finally the report highlights that while many jurisdictions require employers to consulton OH&S matters there is a lack of clarity about what this means in practice, and a lackof enforcement by regulators.This is also true of WorkSafe in Victoria and has caused anguish and disappointmentin many of our AEU workplaces. It is an area that we will continue to work on. ◆Read or download The Union Effect at www.tuc.org.uk/theunioneffect.inside the AEUwww.aeuvic.asn.au 27

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Adventure tours run by Australianhost.Website : www.phong-nha-cave.comEmail: phongnhafarmstay@gmail.comdriveEUROPEPeugeot Citroen Renault2011 European specials out NOWOur 37th year of service to theEuropean traveller. Email: enquiries@driveeurope.org (02) 9437 4900FRANCEFive cottages for rent. Provence,Dordogne, Burgundy, Ile de France.Only $1175 pw.Contact maxtens@gmail.comwww.stayinafrenchcottage.comFRANCE — LANGUEDOCTwo renovated stone houses intranquil village near Carcassone, sleepfour or eight, from $600 a week. Seewebsite at www.frenchrentalhouses.bigpondhosting.com; or phone (02)4757 1019; 0414 968 397; emailmarjen1946@hotmail.comFRANCE — PROVENCERestored 17th-century house inmediaeval fortified village of Entrevaux.Spectacular location, close to Côted’Azur and Italy. Contact owners(03) 5258 2798 or (02) 9948 2980.www.provencehousestay.com.FRANCE — SOUTH WESTRenov 17thC 2 bdrm apart in elegantFigeac, “centreville”, or cottage inLauzerte, 12thC hilltop village. Low cost.www.flickr.com/photos/clermontfigeac/or www.flickr.com/photos/les-chouettes/ Ph teacher owner(03) 9877 7513 or email jimmcdon@tpg.com.au for brochure.ITALY — FLORENCEBeautiful fully furnished apartmentin historic centre. Sleeps 2-6,$1,700 pw, telephone 0419 025 996or www.convivioapartment.com.bathrooms, construction & maintenance*bathrooms *en suites *new or old*complete service*evaporative cooling & all home maintenance.N.E. METRO AREAQuality work for the right pricewith over 18 years industry experienceCALL SIMONmobile: 0414 294 824 phone/fax: 9439 9223Email: simonedgley@optusnet.com.auITALY — UMBRIAApartment. Beautiful sunny 2 bdrm.Historic Centre Citta Di Castello€625pw 2p, €675 3-4p.0414 562 659 darylhely@gmail.comPROVENCE — LANGUEDOCLarge village house. Luxuryplus location. Suitable for up toeight adults. (03) 5444 1023www.houserentalfrance.com.au.ROMEStudio apartment, Piazza Bologna,beautifully appointed, sleeps 2, opensonto garden courtyard, $1100 pw,telephone 0419 488 865 orwww.ninoapartmentrome.com.SOUTH OF FRANCE — LANGUEDOCTwo charming newly renovated traditionalstone houses with outsideterraces. Sleeps 4 or 6. Market town,capital of Minervois, wine growingregion, close to lake, Canal Midi,Mediterranean beaches, historictowns. From $460 per week. Visit,Web: www.languedocgites.comEmail: info@languedocgites.com.SOUTH OF FRANCELovely village house in the "heart of awine growing region."www.myfrenchhome.com.au.Julie 0403 314 928VITA ITALIAN TOURSGrand Tour of Italy for Teachers28/12/2011 – 14/1/2012Join us on our annual personally guidedtour of Italy designed especially foryou to enjoy a well deserved holidaywithout concerns where to stay, eat orhow to get around. The tour includesextended stays in Rome, Sorrento,Florence, Venice and visits to Perugia,Assisi, Urbino, Siena, Republic of SanMarino and much more. Our all inclusiveprice allows you to relax and enjoy yourexperience.Call Mario or Viny for a completeitinerary on (03) 9460 7373www.vitaitaliantours.com.auNOTICES(MPS) MELBOURNE PROPERTYSOLUTIONSMark Thompson (former teacher andAEU member) — Licensed EstateAgent, Melbourne Property Solutions.Buyer and Vendor Advocate Services.Phone 0409 958 720email: mark@mpsadvocates.com.auwebsite: www.mpsadvocates.com.auRing or email for a brochure to be posted.RETIREMENT VICTORIAVisit us at www.retirevic.com.au.RETIRING SOON?Volunteers for Isolated Students’Education recruits retired teachersto assist families with their DistanceEducation Program. Travel and accommodationprovided in return for six weeksteaching. Register at www.vise.org.auor George Murdoch (03) 9017 5439Ken Weeks (03) 9876 2680.TAXATIONTAX RETURNS FROM $75Teachers Special OfferMost refunds in 14 days. With over20 years experience we ensureall maximum refunds by claimingall allowable deductions and taxoffsets. Business tax returns for soletraders, partnership, company andtrust also available. After hours andSaturday appointments available.Contact M Georgy (03) 9467 7842TAX CLAIM FOR TEACHERSA tax claims check list for teachers isprovided free of charge byTeachers Taxation Services Pty Ltd.For a copy email info@teacherstax.biz or telephone (07) 3821 1879.VISAS IMMIGRATIONFor the professional advice youneed — contact Ray Brown. Phone(03) 5792 4056 or 0409 169 147.Email raybrown888@bigpond.com.Migration Agents Registration No. 0213358.MOBILE ACCOUNTANT SPECIALISING INTEACHER’S TAX RETURNSSPECIAL RATES FOR AEU MEMBERSTAX RETURNS FROM $80in the comfort of your own home or place of work.All possible deductions will be claimed,superannuation advice, retirement planningavailable.Experienced Accountant/Registered Tax AgentCall Artur on 0401 117 311artur@taxwindow.com.au www.taxwindow.com.au28 aeu news | august 2011

cultureWINETALKINGPaddy KendlerA saintly dropRECENT sampling of All Saints Estate PierreA Shiraz 2009 was further confirmation ofjust how good Rutherglen reds can be and howunderrated they are on the local wine scene.The Pierre has a delicious core of ripe fruit, asmooth even texture and near-perfect poise.Perhaps over time the Rutherglen table wineshave suffered from the internationally acclaimedexcellence of the region’s fortified wines, principallymuscat and tokay.But winery tourists should seek out theshiraz and durif reds not only at All Saints butalso at Campbells, Morris, Stanton and Killeen,Warrabilla, Buller, Pfeiffer and RutherglenEstates.The Pierre shiraz is not cheap at $30cellar door, but is clearly competitive withsimilarly priced Barossa and McLaren Valeversions. For availability, check outwww.allsaintswine.com.au.Also look out for these latest releases:NEPENTHE ALTITUDE SAUVIGNON BLANC 2010($19): Now established as one of the leadingwineries in the Adelaide Hills, Nepenthe deliversthe goods across the board but especially withsauv blanc. Email kylie@nepenthe.com.au.CHARLES MELTON ROSE OF VIRGINIA2011 ($21): Consistently one of ourvery best rosés, chock full of freshberry and cherry fruit with just enoughbalancing acidity. Email cmw@charlesmeltonwines.com.au.HAREWOOD ESTATE RED RABBIT2010 ($18): A very tasty red blendfrom WA, no more than a middleweight,versatile with food andreasonably priced. Email david@singlevineyards.com.MOUNT LANGI GHIRAN BILLI BILLISHIRAZ 2008 ($16–$18): Plentyof deep, long and satisfying flavour,the product of a top vintage and readyto enjoy right now. Email mcauliffe@rathbonewinegroup.com.WESTEND 3 BRIDGES GOLDEN MIST BOTRYTIS375ml 2009 ($19): A lovely, luscious exampleof the sweet dessert style, which is a regionalspeciality of the Riverina. Enjoy with cheese, fruitand pastries. Email ecalabria@westendestate.com.au. ◆Last chance saloonERM 3 is the make-or-break“Tterm for senior students,”I announce to my Year 12 Englishclass.“You keep saying that,” sighsLucas, rolling his eyes and shakinghis head.“Yeah. You should totally just getit printed on a t-shirt and, like, wearthat everywhere instead of sayingit all the time, Miss. No offence,”chimes in Sally.Hmm. I get the hint. I will have towork on a new phrase for next year.Still, maybe I can start spouting it inthe staff room?One thing that makes Term 3is there are no reports to write.Hallelujah! One thing that breaksteacher enthusiasm in Term 3 isthat information nights, schoolproductions, school tours andexcursions seem to occur constantly.You find yourself manning subject informationstands at VCE expos after an all-day excursion tothe zoo, frantically sewing buttons on a costumefor the school play. Never mind preparation foryour lessons or actual teaching, which also seemsto reach a fever pitch in Term 3.Knowing how quickly Semester 2 can get awayfrom students, we take our Year 12s away for atwo-night “Re-Focus Camp”. Our destination is amere 20 minute bus drive away, but that is notthe point.“This camp is not just about having fun — it’sa chance for you all to set some goals for yourSemester 2 studies. Don’t forget your costume forthe disco night.”We board the bus with 17-and-18-year-oldswho are just as excited as the Year 7s I went oncamp with in Term 1. Bags of lollies, chips andmultiple mobile communication devices, lest theylose touch with the rest of the world, are all piledaboard.Year 12 students are old enough to takeresponsibility for organising and facilitating theirown duty groups, but are still young enough tobe excited by glow-in-the-dark bracelets.They are old enough to arrive on time forsessions and young enough to consume theirbody weight in lollies and insist on arriving atbreakfast in their pyjamas.On the last night of camp, I stick my head intoa particularly loud cabin of girls.“What’s going on in here?” I ask.As one girl leaps from one bunk bed to theother, another says to me: “We just realised thisis really our last chance to be kids. This time nextyear, we will be grown up.”“Yeah, totally,” agrees Simone, her mouthfilled with Minties.This moment sticks in my mind as I embarkon Term 3. I know that these students are goingto make it, and so will their teachers. There willbe no “breaking” this term, just “making”, andhopefully a new phrase. ◆CHALK AND TALKCHRISTINA Adams takes her new show,Chalk and Talk, to the Melbourne Fringe Festivalfrom September 18–25.Written and performed with Penny Tangey,it’s a comedy about teaching complete withlesson plans, UREJs (Useless Recycled EducationJargon) and more teaching clichés than you canpoke a stick at.It plays at the Owl and the Pussycat, 34 SwanStreet, Richmond (opposite Richmond Station).AEU members are entitled to concession ratetickets at $15; simply present your VIT or AEUmembership card. Bookings: (03) 9660 9666or at the door. ◆www.aeuvic.asn.au 29

WIN teaching resourcesAEU NEWS is giving members the opportunity to win a variety of Australian resources for their schoollibraries from our good friends at Wakefield Press, Penguin Australia, Allen & Unwin and Ford Street Publishing.To enter, simply email us at giveaways@aeuvic.asn.au by 10am Tuesday, August 30, 2011.Include your name and school or workplace. Write “Win Teaching Resources” in the subject line.Prizes will be sent directly to the winner’s school or workplace with a special inscription recognising the winner. Good luck!SUBSCRIBE TO THE AEUE-NEWSLETTER ATwww.aeuvic.asn.auFOR THE CHANCE TOWIN MORE GIVEAWAYS!giveawaysIt’s Bedtime William! written and illustrated by Deborah NilandEVERY night William thinks up reasons why he shouldn’t go to bed. One night there is a very BIGreason — someone has come to visit William.This delightful story about that tricky time at the end of every young family’s day is guaranteed tomake both child and parent smile.Penguin Australia, RRP $24.95Careful What You Wish For by Maureen McCarthyRUTH Craze thinks life can’t get any worse. She fights with her brothers, her parents drive her madand no-one ever listens to her. So when Rodney the Rat suggests a way out, Ruth is ready to riskeverything. Three wishes. Three chances to create her perfect life.A million ways to get it wrong. Allen & Unwin, RRP $15.99The Ballets Russes in Australiaand Beyond, edited by Mark CarrollREVEALS how the 1930s companytours created a lasting legacy indance, visual art and music — onestill felt to this day.Wakefield Press, RRP $70Gamers’ Challenge by George IvanoffGAMERS’ Challenge is the action-packed sequel to Gamers’ Quest. For Tark and Zyra, life was literallyjust a game, controlled by the all-powerful Designers. But then they broke the rules and life got awhole lot more complicated ... and deadly. Pursued by a powerful computer virus they must locate theultimate Gamer with the help of some unexpected allies, and face their greatest challenge — findinga way out of the game. Ford Street Publishing, RRP $16.95Congratulations to our winners from AEU News issue 4, 2011: Cheeky Monkey — Diane Berry, Yerambooee Kindergarten; Changing Yesterday — Marcia Ryan, Korumburra SecondaryCollege; The Byron Journals — Vivienne Hogan, Swinburne Senior Secondary College; The Paradise Trap, AND Snake and Lizard — Julie Hamilton, Bacchus Marsh College.Get more bangfor your buck, online.Our Cyber Saver ® account is an online-only savings account offering a higherrate of interest on your at-call savings, and at the same time, providing youwith an easy and simple way to save.To find out more about mecuand our Cyber Saver ® accountvisit mecu.com.au/cyber orcall 132 888.Cyber Saver ® Account5.00 % p.a. *on balances $5,000-$149,999Generous interest rateFunds available at callAccess funds via internet bankingNo monthly account keeping feesResponsible savingsABN 21 087 651 607•AFSL/ACL 238431. Terms, conditions, fees and charges may apply and are available on application. Consider terms and conditions from mecu before deciding whether to apply.Rates correct as at 30 June 2011, however are subject to change. Check www.mecu.com.au for the latest rates. *Interest calculated daily on whole of balance and credited monthly. 32302 • AEU NEWSMECU 32302 125x185_AEUNews.indd 112/07/11 10:56 AMwww.aeuvic.asn.au 31

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