Thank you to those of you who have sent in Conference Feedback. Every year we use the feedback to shape the future conference format, speakers and so on. Evidence of this is in this year’s decision not to host an expert panel and to increase the number of concurrent sessions. As you would imagine, feedback tends to bring out responses of things that people loved, or that didn’t resonate at all with people. Quite often, this feedback at both ends of the scale, tend to be about the same aspect of conference. This goes to show how our diverse needs, interests and expectations help shape the experiences we have and the way the conference is then received. Some of the feedback that is easy to address and worth noting, is below:

• Concurrent sessions are always popular, but in order to run them WAPPA needs to book the necessary rooms (6) for the entire day. Therefore, to run concurrent sessions across multiple days would see the conference cost blow out, which would result in significant cost increases for members. Currently, we run one of the cheapest conferences in the country.
  • We select concurrent sessions based on the EOI submitted and always favour members, who are keen to share their practice. We try not to endorse companies who are just looking to ‘sell’ their services, and the committee reviews and makes the selection based on the information provided in their submission and if necessary, a phone call follow up. We believe if a certain speaker, or speaker’s topic doesn’t appeal to a member, they will simply make a different selection.
  • Past attempts to have you register for concurrent sessions had some challenges, as people regularly change their preferences at the last minute. However, we will be asking people prior to conference which concurrents they intend to visit, which will assist us in selecting appropriately sized rooms for the concurrent speakers. We have also taken feedback from one or two specific concurrent speakers, to start conversations about turning their sessions into a WAPPA PL, so watch this space!
• Keynote speaker selection will always divide attendees, with some wanting more educational specific speakers and some wanting speakers who discuss leadership holistically. We will always try to maintain this balance. 
• We will seek out speakers to talk on important community and societal issues, that impact us, our staff and our school communities. We do this to stimulate conversation and self-reflection at a personal, leadership and school level and given the diverse range of speakers who have presented lightning rounds in the past, we don’t feel this is promoting a specific ideology. We do however accept everyone’s feedback, which again resulted in responses at both ends of the scale.
• Meals and seating will continue to divide opinion, but it is rare to attend a conference anywhere these days and be seated for morning tea and lunch. The two main reasons we serve food in our Exhibitor Hall is because the venue has very strict risk management rules and one can imagine the risk involved of having foods and drinks spilled on tiled areas, where large numbers of people are gathering. Secondly, because we try to ensure that partners and exhibitors are given the maximum amount of time to mingle with delegates. As mentioned previously, our conference, at three days, is one of the cheapest in the country and it is due to the overwhelming support from our partners and exhibitors. They are also the reason that gala dinner is complimentary for full three-day registrations, as they collectively cover these costs and are subsequently invited to the dinner and both of Friday’s seated meal and speaker events.
• We thank you for your engagement and connection with these exhibitors. The feedback from exhibitors is that this is the best conference in Australia due to this level of member engagement.

WAPPA will keep the Feedback Survey open until the end of term and will then analyse the results with the Board and at the next State Assembly, before passing them onto the 2025 Conference Committee.

RIGHT TO DISCONNECT

In recent times, members have been asking about the Right to Disconnect laws and how they apply to Government schools. 

WAPPA's in-house General Counsel, Liesl Quince has gone through all of the relevant legislation, acts, awards and policies, in order to provide the attached detailed advice.

If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact the Business Centre at any time.

DRAFT REGIONAL STRATEGY RESPONSE

This week, WAPPA sent all of our regional members our Response to the DoE Draft Regional Strategy. 

This response was developed following discussions at board level, collaboration with WADHSAA , WASSEA and WAESPAA, and input from a variety of regional Chapter Chairs and individual regional members from across the state. 

The submission is due this Friday, so the final version may be slightly different, based on any feedback that has been received from regional members this week.

The submission is deliberately broad-brush, rather than drilling down into specific strategies and timelines, as we feel this is a Department responsibility which would warrant ongoing consultation with associations, unions and other regional based principal advisory groups.
 

WAPPA PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES

WAPPA Professional Communities kicked off in the last fortnight, with multiple online meetings hosted by WAPPA Board members. Numbers have been promising and participants in these sessions have indicated that the discussions were rich and beneficial. These have included discussions on the challenges of Level 3 principalship, deputy principal roles, responsibilities and career progression, principal induction, reporting to parents, the challenges of establishing Ed Support facilities in foundation schools and a range of other matters.

Members are reminded that you are able to join any number of Professional Communities and join in on the conversations, networking and problem solving. Click the image above to register. 

Last Chance to Register 
We are excited to have Jade Aim and Rozanne Williams present an engaging workshop designed to empower you with AI tools and skills, enabling you to lead positive change within your classroom and school. By streamlining your workflow and enhancing your efficiency, you'll gain the time and capability to take on leadership roles and drive impactful educational improvements.