We would like to welcome the following new members who have joined our Association.
Christopher Clayton - Ballajura PS
David O'Nions - Bicton PS
Phoebe Anderson - Bruce Rock DHS
Paula Churchward - Westfield Park PS
Sonya Orford - Baler PS
Nick Reghenzani - East Karlgoorlie PS
Tracey King - Dunsbourough PS
"We look forward to providing you with the Support, Advocacy, Leadership Development and Connection for which WAPPA is renowned.
We welcome your voice to the ongoing discussions around primary education and school leadership through the numerous avenues provided to our members." - The WAPPA Team
MEMBER SURVEY
Members are reminded to please complete the brief member survey. It will directly impact the development of our Strategic Plan for 2025-2027. We appreciate your time and commitment.
Last week, members of the Darling Range Chapter came together for networking with Chapter Chair, Craig Mainard, and WAPPA President, Niel Smith.
Darling Range is one of WAPPA’s most unique Chapters, spanning from Lesmurdie in the south to Bindoon in the north. It consists of members from across four DoE Networks and includes both NMERO and SMERO schools.
Members were keen to chat about their start of year experiences, staffing, the impact of current industrial measures, workload,
wellbeing and PL opportunities for themselves and their staff.
WAPPA members who are keen to hear from the WAPPA Board at network meetings, or WAPPA Chapter meetings, should reach out to Chapter Chairs in order for them to help facilitate these sessions.
A number of regional meetings, with WAPPA attendance, are already planned for later this year, inclusive of the Pilbara, Kimberley, Southwest and Goldfields.
Advocacy & Support
In recent weeks, the WAPPA Board, Chapter Chairs and Business Centre staff have been engaged in a range of ongoing support and advocacy topics as more and more focus has been brought to the issue of workload, wellbeing, support for leaders and violence in schools. Please be assured that, in addition to social media posts about PL and Conference, the bulk of the work undertaken by all at WAPPA, is in relation to the areas of support and advocacy.
In the last week, we have represented your voice, in high-level consultation meetings pertaining to:
Review of the Visitors and Intruders Policy
Review of the Keeping our Workplaces Safe Guidelines
Development of Connect and Respect Resources
De-escalation training in schools
In addition to these consultative meetings, we are currently engaged in over 50 new support cases, that have arisen since the start of the year.
If there is one message that we would like all members to be absolutely clear about, it is that any member, inclusive of Deputy Principals, can contact us to seek advice and support.
In the above mentioned online State Assembly meeting, Chapter Chairs raised a number of issues, that WAPPA will continue to liaise with members about, and will continue to raise on your behalf. These matters were inclusive of:
Principal Selection Processes
Anonymous reporting system
Referee checks and deployed staff
SRS funding and WAPPA’s advocacy efforts
Early childhood and the Preschool Reform Agreement
Worksafe investigations
PIIR Forms and implications
Program Kaartdijin and workload reduction
Housing and staffing requirements of regional leaders and workload
In specific response to the weekend’s spate of stories on school violence, WAPPA did provide some commentary and President, Niel Smith, was quoted in Monday’s West Australian.
The full statement sent to The West, was as follows:
"WAPPA has observed a noticeable increase in members seeking support from us, in response to the growing demands of supporting students with complex needs. Principals are regularly redirecting funds from other areas of their budget, to provide additional levels of support across multiple year levels and classes. This includes academic support, but also consists of student supervision, support with social interactions, implementation of personal care plans and behavioural support. In many cases, school leaders are challenged with providing a learning environment that is conducive to learning for all students within the class, whilst also ensuring adequate levels of safety and support for all students and staff.
The issue of violence in schools is not isolated to secondary schools and primary school leaders are often required to ensure risk management plans are in place, along with relevant de-escalation and positive handling training for teachers and education assistants. It is unfortunately a much larger issue, that requires a whole of society response. Unfortunately, it is often seen as the school’s responsibility to take the leading role in this issue, which then provides even more challenges in trying to balance the needs of all staff and students, with the available resources.
WAPPA members report increasing numbers of complaints and frustration from parents and staff and at times, these interactions can lead to increased levels of aggression and threats from a small percentage of the population.
Data from the ACU Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey consistently shows that school leaders work significantly higher hours per week than the rest of the population and have much poorer wellbeing. One of the largest impacts on their workload and wellbeing is a direct result of trying to support the needs of students, students’ families and staff, in the face of such growing complexity." Next week the WAPPA Board will be holding its final meeting for Term 1 and Corporate Executive will be joining the Board for part of that meeting. Members can be assured that a range of topics, from the list above, will be discussed at this time.
We are here to support you, so please don't hesitate to contact us if you need professional, legal or personal support from our qualified staff.
Professional Learning
We are bringing you insightful workshops designed to improve communication and navigate difficult situations in the school community.
Please visit our Professional Learning page to learn more about how these workshops can support you and your staff.
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