From the President' Desk

June 2023

We are halfway through the year, and kicking it off with NAIDOC Week celebrations across the nation. Please share with us what your students and schools have done to celebrate our First Nations communities, so that we can showcase them to others.

The National School Reform Agreement consultations are still happening, and ACSSO met with the peak parent associations across Australia last week to gather their input into what our schools need to see change, in order to improve outcomes for students. It was a robust discussion, with many needs being duplicated in all jurisdictions. These will all be captured in our submission to the expert panel. Thank you to those of you who completed the NSRA survey – your voices are vital.

Our recent webinar, Demystifying Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools with Dr Scott Sleap, was a fascinating look at how AI is already being used in many sectors, including Education. The opportunities for extended and targeted learning for students seem endless. Dr Sleap explained why our schools need to embrace AI, and not be afraid of it. As with any new technology, we need to provide PD for our teachers, and then educate our students in how to responsibly use AI applications. It’s an exciting new area in learning; we just need to ensure that students in ALL of our government schools have equitable access to using AI.

The 2023 Susan Ryan Family Engagement Awards are now open and are a wonderful opportunity for your government school community to share their stories of successful family engagement with others. Information about the criteria and how to enter is on our website, with applications closing on Friday, 25^th August. We will hold an event to celebrate our category and overall winners on Friday, 15^th September, in Sydney, and the event will also be live-streamed.

I hope everyone had a great mid-semester break, and is looking forward to the rest of the year, and what it affords us to improve outcomes in Education.

Cheers,

Sharron.