PERSONAL STATEMENT
It is my pleasure to present my report as President of the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales. 2017 was a very highly successful year, due largely to the continued support from our strong and outstanding Council, including an outstanding Past President, Mrs Frances Fleeton, in providing guidance and support in my role.
I would also like to acknowledge in this report the work of colleagues on the Council who are also friends, and who give much of themselves for no greater reward than their own professional satisfaction. Such has always been the nature of the Teachers’ Guild.
I am willing to continue and be elected again to be President of the new Council and I hope that I can continue to count on the support of the members of the Council during the coming year to support the newly elected Council.
In 2017, new Council position descriptions were revised to support the Council in achieving its range of activities for our Vice President; Honorary Secretary; Honorary Treasurer and Membership Officer. It is imperative that as a Council we are encouraged to strategically plan for succession in the roles of leadership of the Guild for 2018.
I wish the new Council every success in its Care of Education.
ANNUAL REPORT
The Teachers’ Guild of NSW in 2017 celebrated a long, impressive and honourable history of service, support and training for the vocation of teaching; always maintaining its foundation aim “to promote in all possible ways, the care of education,” strengthening collegiality and standing detached from industrial issues.
The Guild celebrated its 125th year by branding its logo to mark the wonderful achievement on all its marketing initiatives which included the development of its 125th Anniversary year pins for members. Today, The Guild continues to promote a long-established theme of deep interest in the professional development and encouragement of colleague educators, providing opportunities for members of the profession to network, refine skills, and receive recognition.
COUNCIL
The Guild is led by its Council. In 2017, the Council comprised:
1. Mrs Holly Caddy Trinity Grammar School
2. Ms Noelene Callaghan Glenwood High School (Secretary)
3. Mrs Frances Fleeton Retired (Past President)
4. Mr Peter Green Retired
5. Mr Tom Mae Trinity Grammar School
6. Mrs Erin Munn Trinity Grammar School (Treasurer)
7. Dr Frederick Osman Trinity Grammar School (President)
8. Mrs Sophie Poisel Emanuel School (Vice-President)
9. Ms Katharyn Reid St Catherine’s School (Membership Officer)
10. Ms Hayley Tuft Macarthur Anglican School (Editor of the Proceedings)
11. Mr Alex Wharton Northern Beaches Christian School
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS
Our Treasurer, Mrs Erin Munn, has undertaken the management of the Guild’s accounts in 2017. The accounts have continued to show assets that we can draw upon to enable the Guild to deliver our various programs. Our Accountant has managed the accounts well this past year. This year, the Guild explored opportunities with the St George bank to purchase an EFTPOS facility to help with providing a better financial service for our membership and other services for the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales.
MEMBERSHIP
Our membership has steadily increased this year due to the continued success of Council in resolving to explore ways to expand our membership base by offering Honorary Fellowships and Corporate and Student membership levels in addition to regular membership. It would appear that these changes have had an impact on the overall membership numbers.
Early in 2017, I invited Katharyn Reid to take on an important new role for the Guild as our membership officer. Ms Reid has continued to work tirelessly to steadily review and coordinate our renewals and membership database throughout the year, seeking advice from other Councillors.
Following on from previous years, I wrote to each of last year’s Award winners inviting them to join Council, with a positive response from Ms Katharyn Reid, and Ms Hayley Tuft. We value the continued support of our members and their ability to inform others about the Guild’s offerings each year and as a result this has seen a steady increase in our membership.
The membership fee for all levels of membership remains the same for 2018, but with additional venue hiring costs, this may need to be reviewed for 2019.
For our functions, incentives were offered for early-bird registrations and group registration in an effort to entice more corporate groups to attend. The Guild continued to communicate more by email to our members to reduce costs and facilitate more effective communication, especially with our younger members. This proved effective and beneficial in bringing the Guild’s offerings to more individuals in the educational community.
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LIFE MEMBERS LUNCHEON
On Thursday 20th of April, we extended an invitation to our Life Members to come together for a celebratory luncheon at the Sheraton on the Park. This was a wonderful occasion in celebrating our 125th year with Stuart Braga, Alan Harper, Irene Holt, Frances Fleeton, Rick Stevens and Denise Thomas all attended the Life Members Luncheon.
PROGRAMME FOR THE YEAR
The challenge each year for the Council is to plan a varied programme that provides professionals in Independent schools with a choice of events that reflect current educational issues. Each year the Guild evaluates what changes should be made to our current programmes to further meet the needs of our audience.
In 2017, the Guild proudly celebrated its 125th year and continued to make a significant contribution to the professional development of teachers within the education sector.
The Teachers’ Guild of NSW and Gifted Families Support Group Inc., joined in partnership with the vision to provide a unique platform for all educators to network as they engage in best practice application for gifted learners within their chosen field. A Conference Organising Committee was convened and comprised Dr Fred Osman, Melinda Gindy, Paula O’Hara, Vic Branson, Katrina Calverley and Sophie Poisel.
The Gifted Awareness Forum for Educators (GAFE) was then established and incorporated the National Gifted Awareness Week 2017 theme Diversity: Recognise, Realise, Respond. The program was designed to emphasise both networking (within both focus areas and stages) and practical application, delivered on a professional platform. The Forum was held in the beautiful grounds of Newington College in Stanmore, Sydney, New South Wales and catering was supplied by The Grounds of Alexandria.
The organising committee was thrilled to receive extensive support for GAFE throughout multiple school sectors and regions across New South Wales. The GAFE program was thoroughly embraced by the 100+ attendees and received some very positive feedback. International Keynote speaker, Professor Susan Assouline opened our forum with her presentation: ‘Respecting Diversity and Ensuring Excellence.
The Guild would like to thank the sponsors ANSTO, Teachers Mutual Bank, Hawker Brownlow Education, the Science Teacher’s Association of NSW and Top Education Institute. Their generous support contributed greatly to the success of the forum. Due to the overwhelming support and positive feedback on GAFE, the Teachers’ Guild of NSW and GFSG Inc. have mutually decided that GAFE will now be scheduled as a biennial event, to coincide with National Gifted Awareness Week Australia. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Organising Committee and respective association committees for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the success of the Gifted Awareness Forum for Educators.
In March at Trinity, the Guild was honoured to have as our guest speaker Mr Rob Randall, CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). He opened his address with an acknowledgement of the important work that teachers do. Guild members also knew that they were in for a most appropriate and engaging presentation for a professional learning seminar titled ‘Where are we at with the Australian curriculum?’. Mr Randall answered many questions the answers to which all were curious to know!
On Thursday 11th May, 2017, the Teachers’ Guild of NSW was pleased to invite Denise Archie, co-founder and owner of Coaching College, to join us for an evening of professional discussion and goal-setting as we considered the difference between and the inclusion of mentoring and coaching in the education sector. Denise, who herself is a passionate educator from the classroom to the boardroom, used the OPTIONS™ model to show just how easy it can be to establish a mentoring program grounded in evidence-based Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Her approach to mentoring and coaching aims to see the value in, and build rapport between, mentors and mentorees in order to achieve personal outcomes and professional growth. The Teachers’ Guild of NSW would like to thank Denise for sharing her passion, knowledge and enthusiasm with all who attended.
The Guild Educators’ Network (GEN) provides a place for student and early career teachers to network, develop ideas and share experiences. On June 15th 2017 we held an event focusing on Creative Learning Spaces. The springboard discussion was ‘To laminate or not to laminate? That is the question!’ Is having a ‘Pinterest-worthy’ room the goal? Should we have colours only finished work on display or messy, interactive walls?’ Guests were invited to bring along pictures from their practicum placements, examples from their classrooms and ideas about what makes an effective learning environment. Council members shared how they had created innovative learning environments and what they placed value on when designing and developing their space. This event was a fantastic opportunity for experienced teachers, early career teachers and university students to come together to discuss the research, share work samples and unpack ideas surrounding this topic. I would like to thank Holly Caddy and Katharyn Reid for bring the event together and showcasing examples of what the classrooms of the future will look like.
On Monday 26th June, 2017, more than 170 delegates attended the first-ever Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools forum organised by MWLP Linking Youth, Teachers’ Guild of NSW and the Australian College of Educators Hills Parramatta. School principals, VET coordinators, teachers, students, work placement providers, training organisations, business and industry representatives were among the delegates at the forum. An aim of the forum was to highlight that in the face of declining apprenticeship uptakes occurring at the same time as the health, ageing, disability and construction sectors were growing rapidly, VET was more important than ever. The Federal Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Karen Andrews, one of the guest speakers, agreed. ‘University is not for everyone and forums like this help raise the status of vocational education and training as a valued pathway for school students,’ Ms Andrews told the forum. ‘This is a terrific initiative that will help ensure students are aware of the full range of options available to them when it comes to choosing a job and career. I congratulate the organisers on today’s forum, which I hope will become a regular event on the school calendar and spread to other parts of the country.’
Feedback from attendees on the day was very positive with an overwhelming desire for another VET in Schools Forum to be held in the future. As one delegate put it: ‘The sessions re-affirmed what we all already know and believe; that VET offers lifelong value.’
On Monday 7th August, the Guild launched a new format for the Guild Research Award Presentation Evening. The evening was an opportunity to give teachers and post-graduate students an opportunity to present their research work to a learned audience in the friendly environment of a school setting.
These awards were created to encourage excellence in research work, and all nominees who participated in these awards received a certificate recognising the nominee's highest standing.
The evening was highly successful with seven different research presentations submitted for consideration. All nominees who participated in these awards had an opportunity to compete for the $1000 ‘Guild Research Award’ and $650 ‘The Teachers Mutual Bank Award’ and special certificates that recognise the nominee’s high standing.
This new format and approach to presenting current research to peers in education highlights the positive work being done to ensure education continues to move forward into the future.
Thank you to those Councillors who assisted the President in running the event: Holly Caddy, Hayley Tuft, Sophie Poisel and Fran Fleeton. Thanks also to our esteemed Judging Panel of:
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Professor Andrew Martin (Chair), University of New South Wales
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John Kennedy, Illawarra Grammar School
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Rick Stevens, Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales
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Sharrda Shah, Transform Education, Founder and CEO
The quality of the presentations was outstanding and the panel had a long and difficult task in judging the different and varied presentations because of the broad content and diversity of the subject matter. The final outcome of the Panel’s deliberations was:
Guild Research Award Winner ($1000): Lisa Allum from Queenwood School for Girls won first place, taking the Guild Research Award for her research on ‘How does self-reflection aid in the development of self-efficacy in gifted mathematics students?’
The Teachers Mutual Bank Award ($650): Katherin Cartwright from The University of Sydney for her research which investigated ‘Exploring primary teachers’ conceptions of mathematics fluency: Are we speaking the same language?’.
Each recipient received a framed Certificate at the Awards Dinner.
The 2017 Research Awards have been benefited from generous sponsorship by the Teachers Mutual Bank.
Our Annual Dinner celebrated its 125 years Anniversary was attended by more than 70 guests, and saw the Guild’s suite of prestigious awards presented. Each year, the Awards are given in honour of an educator of great standing, who also has a Teachers’ Guild Connection. This year we were delighted to honour Mr Phillip James Heath who has been actively involved in education for many years as a teacher, administrator and now as Headmaster at Barker College. The Awards also thanked Mr Jihad Dib, The Shadow Minister for Education and a former teacher and principal himself for making time in his busy schedule to attend and help to present awards to some outstanding educators.
Our members and awardees on the night were distributed with the 125th Anniversary Guild pins to celebrate this milestone and always uphold the motto I Teach That I May Learn.
It has been a delight to see the ongoing development of the Guild, recognising the impact it is having on the teaching profession, and acknowledging the reinforcement and encouragement it is providing through the Awards for some truly outstanding contributions for Beginning Teachers and Research Awards. Congratulations to all award recipients!
Awardees for 2017:
Award for Teachers in their Early Years of Teaching
Primary School Division Winner: Lauren Barlow, Northholm Grammar School
Highly Commended Award: Gemma Glynn, Barker College
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Award for Teachers in their Early Years of Teaching
Senior School Division Winner: Kaliopi Korkidas, St Vincent’s College
Highly Commended Awards:
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Dr Matthew Hill, Barker College
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Robert Magner, Loreto Kirribilli
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Simon Thompson, Barker College
The Guild Scholarship Winner: Eliza Little, The University of Sydney
Highly Commended Award: Manavi Jain, The University of Sydney
The Research Award Winner: Lisa Allum, Queenwood School for Girls
The Teachers Mutual Bank Award: Katherin Cartwright, The University of Sydney
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Highly Commended Awards:
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Wendy Saeme Lee, The University of Sydney
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Christine Mae, The University of Sydney
Commended Awards:
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Claire Golledge, The University of Sydney
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Lisa Hobden, The University of Technology Sydney
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Lauren Knussen, The University of Technology Sydney
Prior to the Awards evening, a record number of applications for each of the awards presented had been thoroughly screened and interviews had been undertaken to determine the awardees. I wish to express my sincere thanks on behalf of the Teachers’ Guild to all the people who generously gave of their time to ensure these processes were undertaken. Thanks to the members of the Committee who offered to chair the two panels – Sophie Poisel (Primary) and Noelene Callaghan (Secondary). The Guild also thanks Helen Hughes, Rick Stevens, Holly Caddy, Tom Mae and Frances Fleeton who helped on panels and by interviewing the candidates.
The Guild takes pride in its ability to acknowledge the skills these early teachers have developed and wishes them every success in the future. We also acknowledge the support that is offered to these teachers by their family, friends and colleagues, many of whom attended the Annual Dinner. The Guild must also acknowledge Mr Milton Cujes, recently retired Headmaster of Trinity Grammar School, for his ongoing generosity and willingness to provide Trinity Grammar School for many of the Guild’s programs during the year. This is greatly appreciated.
The Honorary Fellowship (HFTGN) awards continue to increase our Membership profile amongst key educationalists. We congratulate the following members in being awarded Honorary Fellowship in 2017
Mr Alexander Wharton Northern Beaches Christian School
Ms Denise Archie Director Coaching College
Mr Phillip James Barker College
Mrs Joy Adele Lockman William Clarke College
Mr David Van Tol Trinity Grammar School
Mr William Wallace Lakes Grammar Anglican School
The Council had pleasure in presenting Life Membership (FTGN) of the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales to Mr Peter Green who had extensive, long-term involvement in the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales.
Peter Green has served with honesty and discernment on the Council since he first joined in 2002, when he was elected as Vice President. From 2003 until 2017, he has remained a Guild Councillor and has contributed to several professional development events undertaken by the Guild. Mr Green has always sought to provide professional development opportunities to educators at all levels of their development and to expand the Guild’s presence within Independent schools. He is an imaginative and knowledgeable member of our Council and the Guild has benefitted greatly from his support and willingness to contribute over the last 15 years. Peter Green is awarded with Life Membership.
On Monday 6th November, The Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales held its 2017 World Teachers Celebration at the beautiful venue of the Pennant Hills Golf Club.
World Teachers Day is an opportunity to publically acknowledge the work of all teachers. These awards recognise the outstanding professional contribution to education made by teachers. On this important occasion we celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of our teachers in an increasingly complex, multicultural and technological society.
The Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales greatly admires the commitment of teachers enhancing their professional knowledge, improving teaching practice, in engaging with their students, and in their ongoing relationships with the wider community.
On behalf of the Teachers Guild of New South Wales, I would like to congratulate you on your contribution to an informed and cohesive society and wish you every success and fulfilment for the future.
More than 90 guests gathered to celebrate the presentation of this year’s awards that included hearing from our distinguished guest Dr Ken Silburn, Head Teacher of Science at Casula High School and Coordinator and founder of the iSTEM (Invigorating Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics – sharing his story from being an ex-student of Punchbowl Boys High to becoming a Global Teacher Ambassador.
Congratulations to all award recipients who were presented with their 2017 World Teachers’ Recognition Award Citations and who have made a wonderful contribution to their school in advancing the education profession.
World Teachers’ Recognition Recipients
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Adele Lockman - William Clarke College
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Alexander Wharton - Northern Beaches Christian School
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Alexandra Wood - Trinity Grammar School
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Andrea Harries - Lakes Grammar - An Anglican School
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Brett Kriedemann - Shore School
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Carmelo Aragone - Shore School
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Diane Gourlas - TAFE
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Elisa LeRay - Lakes Grammar - An Anglican School
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Emily Grant - Catherine McAuley Westmead
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Emily Gray - St. Patrick's Marist College, Dundas
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Emma Smith - Lakes Grammar - An Anglican School
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Greg Asquith - Lakes Grammar - An Anglican School
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Ian Garrett - Macarthur Anglican School
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Jenny Greig - Merrylands East Public School
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Jennifer Noble - Merrylands East Public School
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Katharyn Reid - St Catherine's School
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Katie Brett - Trinity Grammar School
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Leah Brown - Patrician Brothers' College Fairfield
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Leonie Black - John Purchase Public School
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Linda Batman - Connells Point Public School
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Linda Hogan - Norwest Christian College
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Lisa Gossling - Trinity Grammar School
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Louise Pinkstone - Kambala
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Lucy Birts - St Andrew's Cathedral School
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Luke Bartolo - Glenmore Park High School
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Margaret Rees - Trinity Grammar School
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Mark Oakley - Trinity Grammar School
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Matilda Baxter - MLC School Burwood
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Maxine Whelan - Trinity Grammar School
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Natalie Walker - St James Catholic Primary School
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Nathan Bessant - Northern Beaches Christian School
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Rose Garofano - Oakhill College
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Sarah Tor - Macarthur Anglican School
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Sophie Poisel - Emanuel School
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William Bourke - Patrician Brothers' College Fairfield
We finished the year with an exceptional visit to learn about the educational programs available from the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Participants were entertained by the evening workshop of the Rembrandt and the Dutch golden age: masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum in providing new opportunities of teaching and learning outside the classroom.
As the year drew to a close, the final function was our annual Christmas Celebration, held on Sunday 10 December at the Sheraton on the Park. All Councillors were invited to celebrate another successful year with good food and excellent company. A gift was presented to both Mr and Mrs Cujes at the Christmas Celebration as a small token of the Guild’s appreciation and loyal support for so many years in allowing Trinity Grammar School to host our functions.
THE AUSTRALIAN TEACHER – THE NEWSLETTER OF THE TEACHERS’ GUILD OF NEW SOUTH WALES
This year, The Australian Teacher Newsletter released two issues to members in June and November. My special thanks are extended to Ms Hayley Tuft who has worked diligently to modify and prepare material for these publications. The content of the newsletters would form a basis for the forthcoming issue of The Proceedings.
I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Mrs Frances Fleeton and Ms Sophie Poisel who have spent time proof reading the documents for the two issues.
GUILD ARCHIVE
It is appropriate to acknowledge and thank Mr Rick Stevens and Mr Tom Mae who have undertaken the role of collating much information to bring the Guild Archive up to date. Mr Mae, with the assistance of Mr Stevens, has produced an updated summary document of key office bearers and roles within the long history of the Guild and this is now available to view on our website.
I would like to sincerely thank Mr Stevens by writing an excellent article in celebration of our ‘125th Anniversary - Where are we now with the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales’.
The article was used as advocacy on our website and emailed to all Guild and Members of the Public on what the Guild stands for with its mission Doceo ut discam: I teach, that I may learn, as an expression of commitment to continued professional learning.
WEBSITE REVIEW
Ms Noelene Callaghan has continued to work tirelessly to steadily review and update our new website throughout the year, seeking advice from other Councillors. The new look and easier access to sections is now available for our members and other interested educationalists. I wish to personally thank Ms Callaghan for this work and the expertise that she has shown in redeveloping our website and for her continued support of this vital level of communication for the Guild.
The Guild’s presence on social media sites – LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook has had a steady increase throughout the year, with a strong following on LinkedIn, in particular. These forums remain vital avenue for our members to keep in touch with our events, as well as providing a network by which educational comment can be made on current issues. The Council needs to thank Ms Callaghan and Mr Wharton for the outstanding work in coordinating the new Guild Website / Marketing and Style Guide to unify all Guild publications, including a QR code, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter presence for the Guild. It is hoped that these avenues for the Guild to extend its network, will attract younger members and make communications easier, more efficient and uphold the value of the Guild for long time into the future.
NEW VENTURES
This year we continued to develop a Sub-Committee structure to enable small working parties to work towards a number of the Guild’s activities. The aim of this initiative was to mentor newer Councillors in the tasks to be undertaken and ultimately involve more Councillors in the work of the Guild.
I would like to thank the Convenors – Mrs Callaghan and Mr Wharton (Publications/Website/Marketing), Mrs Caddy (Guild Educators Network), Ms Tuft (Proceedings and The Australian Teacher Newsletter Editor) and Mrs Fleeton (Awards).
I would like to thank Mr Tom Mae in coordinating our NESA - Maintenance of Accreditation submission compliance requirements as we have now received good news about our approved status as an endorsed provider.
To enable printing and mail out costs to be budgeted and to guarantee good quality publications, the Guild engaged the services of Snap Printing at Burwood. This has enabled our printing and mail out of various materials to have a professional look at a reasonable cost. I can also confirm an exciting opportunity was arranged with Snap Printing to provide a further 25% discount off all printing for the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales as a corporate sponsor until the end of 2018.
I would like to thank Mr David Herring from the Teachers Mutual Bank with their continued sponsorship support for the Guild Research Awards Presentation Evening (G.R.A.P.E) until the end of 2018. I would also like to thank Mr Simon Withers and Mr Michael Evans from anzuk.education in continuing their corporate sponsorships of the Awards for Teachers in their Early Years of Teaching until the end of 2020.
The Guild appreciates the support of our corporate sponsors for our awards in ensuring their brand is recognised and valued with our events in terms of service and delivery.
As another year of challenges and change begins to become a reality, and as the changes to the Australian Curriculum and Teacher Accreditation becomes a greater reality for us working in schools, the Teachers’ Guild must keep in touch with current issues if we are to remain in the forefront of professional associations. The Guild remains an important influence, embracing the new while retaining the core values on which it was founded, and emboldens members to always uphold and advocate the motto Doceo Ut Discam – I Teach That I May Learn.
That is our charter and what we endeavour to deliver to our membership.
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all Aristotle
Yours sincerely,
Dr Frederick Osman FTGN FACE FRSN JP
President | The Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales