CaSPA Latest News
Principal Occupational Health and Wellbeing Report 2020
CaSPA is very proud to once again be a financial supporter of the longitudinal study of Principal Health and Wellbeing facilitated by the Australian Catholic and Deakin Universities.
Please find below the link to the release of the 2020 Report of the Australian Principal Occupational Health and Wellbeing Survey.
https://www.healthandwellbeing.org/reports/AU/2020_AU_Final_Report.pdf
On behalf of the CaSPA Board, I particularly commend the Executive Summary and the 16 Recommendations to you and your colleagues.
Please distribute this important link to your colleagues as you deem appropriate.
Announcing the launch of Broadcast!
CaSPA is a member of the newly formed Coalition of Australian Principals (CAP), which is proud to announce a new resource created to be the health and wellbeing voice to support all extraordinary Principals and school leaders.
Let’s start a conversation!
Please join us by taking a few minutes to register below and join us in future research and publications.
Register free today or find out more:
Kind Regards,
Ann Rebgetz
CaSPA President
PIVOT Webinar
30 March 2021
Moving forward after COVID-19 for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Students
Presenters: Amanda (Host), Donna, Dyonne, Todd, Natalee, Stephanie
Amanda from PIVOT hosted a webinar with 5 ATSI Principals / School Leaders from NSW, Queensland, NT, Torres Strait and WA. The reflections of experiences during COVID were made from Remote and Rural areas.
The key themes and issues in no order of importance were:
- Student access to digital devices and home internet connections. Main connection was through parent phones and caused issues with the download costs and time the phone was available. 50% of families had no access to wifi.
- There were wifi issues at the schools too.
- Announcements made by Ministers regarding access to laptops and dongles but nothing arrived.
- Teachers overwhelmed with developing online lessons and having to print and send out school materials to families.
- Some messages had to be sent by radio as the internet could not be relied upon. FaceTime was also used to communicate with students and families.
- Home based learning was not always effective due to family situations and language issues as materials that arrived were always in English. Many packages were abandoned and the assumption that the children could learn independently was incorrect.
- School attendance in some areas declined markedly as Communities went into lockdown. Many families went bush to stay safe from COVID. In some areas the students still arrived at school as there was no one to look after them at home.
- Schools became centres of community support. Some families needed a lot of support and many basic needs (food & petrol) were not available in the local shops due to a lack of deliveries during COVID.
- There was an increase of social issues in some areas due to the lack of supply of alcohol and marijuana. Where supplies were still ok the extra payments received were spent on alcohol and drugs.
- Staff wellbeing became an issue as they could not leave the region due to travel restrictions. They could not see their families and friends for a long time. Access to medical services was limited.
- Education was not a high priority for some communities during this time because of health concerns and other social factors. There was no new learning and the focus by departments was on cleaning and sanitising buildings rather than caring for the people and community.
Summary - Overall the reports were heartbreaking and showed clear examples of the educational inequities that exist in Australia. Education needs to be planned beyond election cycles and political whims. Diversity in Australia needs to be acknowledged in education and ATSI People need to have a voice in how things happen and be the decision makers.
“We don’t need others to speak for us. We can do it ourselves.” (Dyonne)
NATSIPA Conference: October 2021 in Sydney
Phil Lewis
CaSPA Executive Officer