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Secretary's ReportPresented to the Fifty-first Annual General Meetingof The English Teachers Association of Queensland, Inc.Saturday 17 March 2018This report aims to cover the activities of ETAQ during 2017.PatronAnita Jetnikoff was elected as patron at the March AGM. Anita contributed a regular Patron’s Column for the association’s journal, Words’Worth. Management Committee The Management Committee met eight times during 2017. Meetings were held monthly except for January, May, August and December. The February meeting comprised members of the 2016-17 committee which included Michelle Regan and Helen Johnston with Diana Briscoe absent.Those elected at the AGM held in March 2017 were:PositionNameMeetings attendedPresidentFiona Laing, Forest Lake SHS8/8Vice PresidentDr Kelli McGraw, QUT5/8SecretaryBronwyn Darben, Runcorn SHS7/8TreasurerTrish Purcell8/8Membership SecretarySophie Johnson, Brigidine College7/8MemberJarred Adams, QUT7/7MemberPeter Algate, Marsden SHS8/8MemberJulie Arnold, Corinda SHS8/8MemberMelissa Blacklock, QUT6/8MemberGarry Collins, UQ School of Education (sessional)7/8 (1st meeting missed in 12 years)MemberAnnie Fischer, Mt Alvernia2/7MemberJeffrey Lewis, Brisbane Grammar6/7MemberDebbie Peden, various schools6/8MemberDr Stew Riddle, USQ4/8MemberMatthew Rigby, Go Grammar Consulting 4/8MemberJacqueline Rutter, Corinda SHS 7/8MemberMelanie Wild, Corinda SHS 7/8The new members elected at last year’s AGM attended from March onwards – Jarred Adams, Jeffrey Lewis and Annie Fischer. Fiona Laing attended via teleconference in July.Venue for Management Committee meetingsMost of the meetings of the Management Committee were again held in a board room at the offices of the IEUA-QNT (Independent Education Union Australia – Queensland and Northern Territory Branch, formerly the QIEU, Queensland Independent Education Union) in Turbot Street Spring Hill. This space is provided free of charge and the union arranges for one of its staff to work late to allow us access to the building. This generous support has been in place for many years and is much appreciated by ETAQ. May’s special meeting was held at QUT to facilitate video- conferencing with branch members and specialists in developing ETAQ’s response to the new SATE curriculum.Administration OfficerTrish Purcell continued in her role as the association’s part-time Administration Officer and Treasurer.Membership The numbers of financial members of the Association for the last three years were as follows:YearLifeFull (i.e. individual)StudentRetireeCorporateTotalEstimated total # reached2015923564715647129192016923948814144526622017823657181484672835PD ActivitiesFace-to-face PD activities were conducted in Brisbane during 2017 as detailed below. In addition, PD events were also conducted by the Toowoomba and Townsville branches.Seminar 1 Date: Saturday 11 March 2017Type: half-day seminar CPD hours: 3 hours 15 minutesTheme: Tectonic Shifts: Changes and challenges for assessment and learning in EnglishFormat: 1 x keynote address plus suite of supporting workshops Keynote speaker: Claire Wyatt-SmithAttendance: 186 including 16 presenters Venue: Corinda State High SchoolConvenor: Julie Arnold with Melanie Wild and Jackie RutterBeginning Teachers’ DayDate: Saturday 6 May 2017Type: Beginning Teachers’ Day – This was the 8th year that ETAQ has run this activityCPD hours: 5 hours 25 minutesKeynote speaker: Melanie Wild Attendance: 44 registrations plus 14 presenters, committee etc.Venue: Citipointe Christian College, MansfieldConvenors: Melanie Wild and Melissa BlacklockSeminar 2Date: Saturday 27 May 2017Type: half-day seminarCPD hours: 3 hours 45 minutesTheme: Diversity and Differentiation in the English ClassroomFormat: 1 keynote address plus a suite of supporting workshops Keynote speakers: Dr Misty AdoniouAttendance: 91 + 8 presenters Venue: Mt Alvernia College, KedronConvenor: Peter Algate and Annie FischerGrammar Refresher Course 1 and 2Dates: Saturday 10 June 2017 and Saturday 28 OctoberType: half-day (9-12:30) class activity CPD hours: 3 hoursTitle: A half Day grammar workshopFormat: presentations, exercises & discussions Presenter: Garry CollinsAttendance: 38, 23Venue: University of QueenslandState ConferenceDate: Saturday 18-19 August 2017Type: full-day conference plus 50th anniversary eventsCPD hours: 7 hours 25 minutesTheme: Fifty and Fabulous: A narrative of English teaching in QueenslandFormat: 2 x keynote addresses plus suite of supporting workshopsConference event speakers: Nick Earls, Frances WhitingKeynote speaker 1: Larissa McLean Davies “What forces shape us? Telling the stories of English: past, present and futureKeynote speaker 2: Markus Zusak “Another keynote about an alarm clock, a jewellery box, and the board game she smashed him over the head with (or we’re all just made of stories)” Attendance: 424 including 38 presentersVenue: Lourdes Hill CollegeConvenors: Dr Stew Riddle and Matthew RigbyLiterary Breakfast - cancelledProposed date: Saturday 21 October 20172017 AATE/ALEA joint national conferenceThe 2017 AATE/ALEA joint national conference was held in Hobart over the period 6-9 July. The theme was Cutting Edge: Margin to Mainstream.Assisted attendance at conferencesAssisted attendance (Jim Buckley Memorial Scholarship) was offered to John Thomas for the state conference in August, covering registration and $200 towards costs for travel and accommodation. The following were sponsored for the National Conference in Hobart with the payment of their registration expenses:Narelle McBride (Aquinas College), Karen Norman (Cooloola Christian College), Kelli McGraw (QUT), Pippa West (Forest Lake State High School) and Fiona Laing (AATE representative).Utilizing digital technologiesETAQ’s digital presence continued strongly in 2017. Our website (.au) offers a range of functionalities, including online registrations for PD events, online membership signup and payment, behind the wall’ for resources such as videos and powerpoints of PD presentations. Previous years’ issues of Words’Worth and English in Australia are available in this area. Teachers in schools covered by corporate membership and non-members are also able to sign up to receive e-pistles and other news items which are regularly emailed out. Currently 1799 people are registered for this service. This represents a strong outreach to members, shown by the vast increase in the number of recipients throughout 2017. The website continues to make registration for events smoother and has allowed for registrations for events in Townsville to be managed through the website as well. Communications are also more efficient as they have links to registration forms and other key links from the website. ETAQ has used 2017 to restructure its engagement with its social media platforms. Through the creation of a new policy and guideline to its use of social media, the newly renamed Social Media Team (SMT) have developed an action plan in order to target and engage its members in more meaningful ways.Currently ETAQ’s social media presence operates through Facebook on a public page and a closed group, Twitter, and most recently Instagram. Each of these accounts have been structured to engage members in particular ways. The Facebook page is seen as the central hub for all social media, and is used to both promote ETAQ and AATE events, as well as share posts of interest to its members and the wider community concerning the teaching of subject English in Queensland and Australian contexts. The closed group is used to provoke discussion of English teaching, sharing resources, and event opportunities for its members. Twitter is engaged for on the ground PD events to facilitate discussion about presentations and topics offered at each event. Instagram is to tell the visual story of ETAQ and its members. ETAQ’s presence on social media has seen a significant increase in engagement by its members on all channels in 2017. Through its Facebook channels, both public page and closed group, there has been a significant increase in engagement on all platforms from the 2016 period, with more than 500 new followers of the Facebook page, and more than 100 members in its closed group. 20162017Facebook Page12201764Facebook Closed Group400503TwitterData unavailable746InstagramN/A143This increase in engagement is in part thanks to Sophie Johnson’s English Teaching campaign, in which 50 members of ETAQ were profiled on the Facebook page. Many of these posts experienced significant engagement, with some posts receiving more than 200 comments and reached over 5000 Facebook users. This culminated at the Annual State Conference, when many of these luminaries were celebrated on the day. Engagement on Twitter continues to increase at our major PD events, with many people interacting with the anniversary hashtag #etaq50. The SMT is looking to increase this engagement in 2018.At the end of 2017, Sophie Johnson, Bronwyn Darben and Stew Riddle decided to step down from the Social Media Team. We thank each of them for their work in creating such an engaging space online for our members. The SMT looks forward to building on their work in 2018 to create an engaging and meaningful online experience for ETAQ petitionsLiterary Competition 2017With the completion of the 58th Annual Literary Competition (first established in March of 1959), this competition has surpassed all others, particularly with the number of entries received; 1126 writers submitted literary pieces. This 200+ entry increase is due in part to the inclusion of Year 5 in the categories of Short Story and Poetry. Nevertheless, the increase also reflects the keen interest of Queensland and Northern Territory writers to showcase their literary talents, and the esteem in which the Competition is held. The quality of these entries was again outstanding as was demonstrated at the Presentation Evening on 11th October, 2017. The winning entries were published in the November 2017 issue of the IEUA-QNT’s journal, The Independent Voice, as well as featuring on ETAQ’s official website, together with the judges’ commentaries. The winners in each category and the judges’ comments will be published in ETAQ’s Words’Worth in 2018.The breakdown of entries is as follows:A – Years 11/12 Non-Fiction Prose29A – Years 11/12 Short Story140A – Years 11/12 Poem42B – Years 9/10 Short Story158B – Years 9/10 Poem74C – Years 7/8 Short Story152C – Years 7/8 Poem65D – Years 5/6 Short Story303D – Years 5/6 Poem 128E – Teachers – Short Story35?Total1126The Queensland Multicultural Centre at Kangaroo Point has become a regular and ideal venue for showcasing the literary talents of the awardees with the Presentation Evening being held there on Wednesday 11th October, 2017. Many family members, friends, teachers, judges and of course the recipients themselves were in attendance, as well as several dignitaries from the IEUA-QNT (Andrew Elphinstone, Paul Giles) and ETAQ (Fiona Lang, President). Regional Queensland again featured highly in the winners’ circle with several of them travelling long distances with family to be present to accept their prizes. For instance, Isabella Martin travelled from Cairns to accept 1st place in the 7/8 Poetry section. Zoe O’Flanagan of Holy Cross School, Trinity Park, Cairns, took out 1st place for the Year 5/6 Poetry Division, but was unable to attend the Presentation Evening. The 1st place-getter in the 7/8 Short Story division, Syren Letizia, travelled from Innisfail, while Courtney Smith of Rockhampton Girls Grammar School accepted 1st place with family in attendance. Others travelled from the Gold Coast and Toowoomba.Alongside the inspiration of the writers, was the wisdom and experience of the Presentation Evening’s guest speaker, Peter Carnavas. Peter took the audience on a personal journey of his own writing experiences. Mrs Barringham, his Year 6 Teacher, was his first encouragement for writing and illustrating. Peter encouraged daydreaming as a source of material for writing and to be true to oneself, writing “the story you want to write”. The judges’ reports appeared in full in the evening program, however, judges were advised to deliver only a brief excerpt of their comments. This worked well. Timeliness is an important factor at this event, with the proceedings to be completed by 8.30pm. It also allowed for the main focus to be on the recipients of the awards, and winners had the opportunity to chat to judges at the end of the program. Holding of applause until the end of each section’s announcements, also provided for a more seamless evening. The originality checking system (Turnitin), initiated in 2016, was again used for this year’s prize winners and Highly Commended entries. Courtesy of the University of Southern Queensland and Stewart Riddle, and managed by Michaela Brittain of the IEAUA-QNT, the program confirmed the originality of all writers’ work, except for one. The entry was withdrawn prior to the announcement of winning recipients, the judge advised and the relevant school notified of the plagiarism by the IEUA-QNT. The Entry Form outlines this authentication process and there is a requirement that the entry form be signed, declaring the submission to be the writer’s original work. This process is vital to upholding the integrity of the competition and it is pleasing to see that only genuine pieces were awarded prizes.Prize monies were paid by electronic funds transfer for the first time this year, replacing the issuing of cheques. Thanks to Trish Purcell, ETAQ’s Treasurer, for coordinating this process and ensuring all recipients received their prize money. In previous years, a number of recipients had failed to present their cheques; this new system overcomes that problem.This competition is, of course, made possible with the ongoing valued support and sponsorship of the Independent Educators Union of Australia, Queensland and Northern Territory branch. I would especially like to convey my appreciation to the IEAU-QNT’s Michaela Brittain, Marion Gardner and Joe Burnett for their invaluable help and sponsorship and to Sara El Sayed for photographing the evening’s event. Also acknowledged on the evening is the ongoing support and sponsorship of the senior non-fiction section by James Cook University. Sincere thanks also to Penguin Random House in Sydney for their contribution of age- and category-specific book prizes for each place-getter.Heartfelt acknowledgement goes to all students and teachers for their valued submissions. Congratulations to the winners, place-getters and highly commended awardees. The 1st place-getters for 2017 are:Section A Non-Fiction Prose – Courtney Smith, Rockhampton Girls Grammar School, RockhamptonSection A Years 11/12 Short Story – Liam Harris, All Saints Anglican School, MerrimacSection A Years 11/12 Poem – Ayla Tartic, Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, SouthportSection B Years 9/10 Short Story – Eryn-Danae Armstrong, Ferny Grove State High School, Ferny GroveSection B Years 9/10 Poem – Vivi Baker, Somerset College, MudgeerabaSection C Years 7/8 Short Story – Syren Letizia, Good Counsel College, InnisfailSection C Years 7/8 Poem – Isabella Martin, Cairns Hinterland Steiner School, KurandaSection D Years 5/6 Short Story – Georgia Munn, St Elizabeth’s School, Tarragindi, BrisbaneSection D Years 5/6 Poem – Zoe Flanagan, Holy Cross School, Trinity Park, CairnsSection E Teachers’ Short Story – Kelly Harrison, San Sisto College, Carina.Special acknowledgement goes also to the judges for these various divisions. These judges’ time, commitment and expertise is greatly appreciated. These tireless individuals are Dr Judith Seaboyer, Pam Schindler, Esme Robinson, Dr Stephen Torre, Jeffrey Harpeng, Garry Collins, Duncan Richardson, Cindy Keong, Beryl Exley and Debbie Peden. Judges retiring from the competition this year include Dr Judith Seaboyer, Pam Schindler, Dr Stephen Torre and Duncan Richardson. The tireless work and wisdom of these judges has been greatly appreciated.Debbie Peden has been coordinating the ETAQ component of the competition since 2010 and each year she has recognised and marvelled at the creative abilities of the writers who submit their work for scrutiny. It takes courage and commitment to share one’s literary craft with others: commendation to the students and teachers who make this Literary Competition possible and so successful, together with those who have inspired and guided them. Debbie is looking forward to the Queensland and Northern Territory writers continuing their creativity and celebrating their work through the Literary Competition in 2018.Curriculum MattersAustralian Curriculum: EnglishThe major change in 2017 was the release and QCAA PD preparation of new syllabuses in English, Essential English, English as an Additional Language, Literature and English and Literature Extension. The first four syllabuses were substantially based on the Australian Curriculum for Senior English. These syllabuses are due for implementation in year 11 in 2019. One of the areas of great concern in 2017 has been ACARA’s plans to introduce on-line testing for NAPLAN. For the reading component, the capacity to have a range of tests available, each changing according to the needs of the student sitting the test has been generally welcomed. However, the introduction of auto-marking of computer processed writing has been resisted strongly. ETAQ has continued to appeal to the Education Minister for support in resisting auto-marking. Auto-marking is technically more accurate and reliable than human marking, according to the research. However, what this exemplifies is the artificiality of the NAPLAN test wherein 5 out of 45 marks are allocated to the ideas within the writing. By the beginning of 2018, the auto-marking was suspended after opposition from Queensland and NSW. ETAQ will continue to argue for a strong revision of the artificiality of the writing task.Interaction with the QCAA2017 saw the start of workshops delivered by the QCAA for all teachers of the SATE subjects in the senior English suite – English, English as a Second Language, Essential English, Literature and English Extension. The new syllabuses represent a large shift in practice including a reduction to four assessment pieces for year 12 with one of these an external task, externally set and externally marked. The courses are due to begin for year 11 in 2019. The other major change has been the development of a Prescribed Text List, worked on throughout 2017 and released late November 2017. ETAQ was given one position on the committee (taken by Sophie Johnson) whilst PD Committee Chair, Julie Arnold, was appointed also. ETAQ expects to have a continuing position on the Prescribed Text List committee into the future.ETAQ has continued to work productively with the QCAA in designing a suite of professional development events for 2018. Each PD session in 2018 includes some members of staff who have been leading the design process for the new subjects and the new syllabuses. The PD includes:Quality Assessment Intensive – April 2018Masterclass Unit 3 – May 2018Masterclass Unit 4 – October 2018AATEAATE, the Australian Association for the Teaching of English, is the umbrella national body with which ETAQ and the other state and territory English teacher associations are affiliated. During 2017, Wendy Cody, from WA, continued as president whilst Erika Boas took on the role of president elect. As is ETAQ’s usual practice, the President, Fiona Laing, served as our delegate to the AATE national council.The 2017 AATE/ALEA joint national conference was conducted in Hobart in early July. The 2018 event will be held in Perth over the period 8-11 July.Council business was conducted via email, teleconferences and two face-to-face meetings. The first meeting followed the Hobart conference whilst the AGM was held at VATE headquarters in order to allow the group to meet with representatives of AITSL on the weekend 28-29 October.Besides this routine business, some key AATE advocacy activities during the year were:?Consultation with AITSL over how to best support early career teachers into the future and to work collaboratively on the best support of teachers in schoolsAATE’s publication, The Artful English Teacher, a text for early career English teachers was released digitally with further copies being printed. Dr Anita Jetnikoff finished her term as editor while a collective led by Larissa McLean-Davies was elected as leader of an editorial collective for English in Australia from the start of 2018.AATE has actively supported opposition to proposed changes to copyright law which are seen to undermine income for local writers and therefore the strength of the Australian voice in literature and film.Back issues of English in Australia have been fully digitised and catalogued. The journal is now set up on a digital platform for managing the editorial process. Further publications are being researched including a collaboration with Red Room Company and a text around place.The position of Research Officer has been redesigned to fit what can be more appropriately managed by a working academic. The position has been advertised at the start of 2018 for immediate start.Three reports on ETAQ activities were provided for publication in the AATE journal English in Australia.Book SalesThe bookstall which sells a selection of AATE and Phoenix publications was well patronised at the March and May seminars and the state conference. ?The financial results appear in the Treasurer’s Report.Branches Branches at Toowoomba and Townsville have been active during the year, running a number of activities for local members which have generally been well attended. Toowoomba branch offered a Summer Meet and Greet on 15 March and an Evening with James Phelan on 17 July along with other activities. A large contingent of Toowoomba members regularly travel to Brisbane for ETAQ PD events.Townsville branch offered Switching Kids back to Reading on 11 February, Walking with the Dead on 29 April and Mythbusting: what exactly do English teachers look for on 22 July.PublicationsThree editions of Words’Worth were published during the year and mailed to members. These have also been placed in the members only area of the website for future reference. Members have been diligent in offering articles for publication, making Steve Riddle’s job as editor much less onerous. Stew Riddle stepped down as editor at the end of 2017, with Erin Geddes winning the role from 2018.Members have also been supplied with three editions of English in Australia. The Management Committee decided to trial offering full members the opportunity of opting out of receiving a hard copy of English in Australia this year. This was communicated to members with the renewal of membership notice. So far eleven people have taken up the offer.Peter Botsman Memorial AwardAt the Annual State Conference in August 2017, Kathleen Macdonald was awarded the Peter Botsman Award for her services to the teaching of English in the ‘schools’ category. Kathy travelled from Tully State High School to accept her award and share her thoughts on the teaching of English. The text of her speech is included on the ETAQ website and was published in Words’Worth last year.50th Birthday CelebrationsTo celebrate such a great milestone, a group of ETAQ members past and present met for over a year to ensure the state conference provided just the right mixture of looking backwards and forwards for members. On the Friday evening prior to the conference, Peter Botsman Award winners were celebrated whilst guests were entertained by author Nick Earls. On the Saturday evening, life members were lauded as the guests were entertained by life member, Glyn Davies and then by journalist/author, Frances Whiting. It was with great sadness that ETAQ marked the passing of Glyn Davies just a few short months after the conference. We like to think he enjoyed the chance to celebrate the past and the future of ETAQ in August.Many thanks are due to the sub-committee who worked so hard to organise the events with current ETAQ committee members, Stew Riddle, Matt Rigby, Trish Purcell, Garry Collins, Mel Wild , Fiona Laing and Deb Peden, along with past members, Michelle Ragen (chair), Pam Brennan, Esme Robinson, Lenore Ferguson and Mary Swayne.During the 50th anniversary, Lenore Ferguson has continued to compile a history of ETAQ, to celebrate this milestone. This is hoped to be made available some time in 2018. This is based on anecdotal contributions by past and present members, along with the detail of what the association has been involved in. JCQTAETAQ continued its membership of the Joint Council of Queensland Teacher Associations (JCQTA) and was represented at meetings by Garry Collins who served on the JCQTA executive committee. Annual membership of JCQTA currently costs ETAQ $99. The two activities for 2017 other than routine meetings were the President’s Dinner on Wednesday 15 February and the annual forum and AGM on Wednesday 23 August. Both events were conducted at the Toowong Bowls Club.ETAQ was represented at the President’s Dinner by Fiona Laing, Garry Collins and Melanie Wild. This event included a SWOT analysis of association activities and an address by Rob Buchanan, General Manager for Teachers Mutual bank Queensland (TMB). This is the NSW-based equivalent of what was originally the Queensland Teachers’ Credit Union and, more recently, Queensland Teachers Mutual Bank (QTMB). Now that QTMB has merged with the RACQ, TMB (NSW) is actively seeking to expand its operations into Queensland. This led to ETAQ gaining some valuable sponsorship from TMB for the 2017 annual state conference. Another item on the program of the President’s Dinner was a briefing on an ACEL (Australian Council of Educational Leaders) project to institute a Statement of Commitment to the Profession of Teaching. As part of this project, Garry and Melanie Wild attended a reception at Government House on Friday 7 April at which the statement was formally launched by the State Governor.Garry and Peter Algate attended the annual forum in August. This featured an address by Professor Donna Pendergast, Dean of Education at Griffith University, on support for early career teachers and the role that professional associations could play in this area. At the AGM conducted in conjunction with the forum, Garry Collins was elected for another year on the JCQTA executive.ConclusionBeing our 50th anniversary, 2017 has been a marvelous opportunity for celebration and reflection. It has been wonderful to look back where the profession has been, to the present and onto the developments for the future. ETAQ has been built on the determination and collegiality of so many of our past and present teachers and we look forward to the enthusiasm of new members to come. So many teachers have stepped up to a role of the Management Committee and various sub committees over this time to ensure the continued development and professionalism of English teaching and learning in Queensland. To Management Committee members past and present, we thank you. As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, throughout 2017, we continued to showcase the passion so many of our members have for their chosen teaching area through the “I <3 English” campaign. Through our professional development events, it is wonderful to see so many members who truly love their profession and strive to be the best, most creative and engaging teachers they can be, we are glad to be part of your journey as you are of oursBronwyn DarbenSecretary4 March 2018 ................
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