Dear Members,

It was great to catch up at the Leaders’ Summit and take the opportunity to connect with our members. Welcome to those who have joined the Association and to those who have recently won school leadership roles for 2023.

NTPA is recognised as the collective voice for school leaders throughout the NT at both a Territory and National level. It is a key stakeholder and advisory body to the Department, the Chief Executive and Minister of Education, and influences through strong partnerships and advocacy. NTPA has 143 members representing 153 schools, and 33,000 students in the NT.

NTPA Exec Team 2023

The NTPA AGM was held at the end of the Leaders' Summit and we would like to congratulate the following members who nominated and won the following roles:

• Belinda Pearson Vice-President Primary
• Carolyn Edwards Secretary
• Sarah Corry Treasurer

They will be joined by Chapter Reps (who are elected by members in each region at the beginning of the year) to form the NTPA executive team. 

We have a Vice President Secondary position unfilled.

Please contact the President if you are interested in this role.

I would like to thank Natalie Banks who previously held this interim role this year.

NTPA proudly recognised and announced the recipients of its leadership awards at the 2022 AGM.

• The NTPA Life Membership Award recipients were Lorraine Evans and Lorraine Hodgson.

• The NTPA Meritorious Award recipients were Sue Healey and Britany Roestenburg.

Congratulations to Lorraine, Lorraine, Sue and Britany, and thank you for your commitment to educational leadership and your valuable service to NTPA during your careers in the NT.

NTPA would like to also acknowledge those members who are retiring or resigning for their positions as school leaders. You have made a significant contribution to your schools and communities, and most importantly, to the positive outcomes of our children and young people.

Partnership with EC Premium by Go1.

Access to world-class professional learning for educators. Anytime, anywhere

As announced at the Leaders, Summit, we are very proud to be working in partnership with EC by Go 1 to provide access to quality, world class professional learning content online via a platform which can be tailored to meet the needs of your school and staff. NTPA have trialled this platform and excited about the potential it has to meet the professional learning needs of our educators and leaders across the NT. EC Premium has offered personalised, curated access to world-class professional learning for all department staff across the Northern Territory's unique context until the end of February 23.

The partnership with NTPA is for all members to have free access until the end of 2023 as part of your NTPA membership. If you would like to take up this offer, please email ntpa.admin@education.nt.gov.au

Renew your Membership Now

The strength of our Association lies in its membership. Through your membership we are able to advocate, advise, influence, provide feedback and contribute to decisions which impact our everyday work to lead school improvement.

The Association also plays a role in supporting the growth of our school leaders. In 2023 we are looking at ways in which we can improve that support. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey at the Leaders Summit. A summary of the four main areas included:

1. Instructional leadership
2. Personal skills to manage conflict and challenging conversations
3. Operational knowledge and skills for HR and Finance issues
4. Contemporary leadership approaches to lead change

High Conflict Resolution Workshop

Thank you to everyone who participated in this very informative workshop earlier in the term. Members felt that this workshop provided them with practical strategies on how to manage high conflict behaviours and emails. Please use this link to our previous newsletter's article for the handouts.

A follow on from this workshop will run face to face in July 2023.

International Confederation of Principals Council +
 
Recently, I was fortunate to attend the International Confederation of Principals Council + in Singapore as an ASPA representative. This was the first time the council have met face to face after the Covid-19 years, so it was fitting that the theme was Collaborative Leadership.  Over 30 nations were present and it was both inspiring, along with delivering significant perspective when our nations were sharing their learning from COVID-19. Those of us in first world countries spoke of equity for our students, having sufficient access to digital devices and internet connectivity, however others in countries that are developing, were excited about finally having access to water for hygiene and handwashing in their schools.

The common themes between our countries were teacher shortages, valuing and listening to student voice, sharing and learning from one another, growing capacity of our school leaders, and ensuring equity for all learners.

Advocacy Teacher Shortages

Teacher shortage continues to be our biggest challenge and making sure we can recruit quality teachers across the Territory. NTPA have been consulted and provided advice on a range of NT Department strategies. We are pleased that NTPA have been able to influence some of these initiatives such as housing support in Katherine (Katherine_Teachers_housing_Remote.pdf)  and supporting school leaders to navigate the VISA application process for overseas recruits.  (Skilled_migration_eNews.pdf)

Please keep NTPA informed of any challenges that we could be addressing with practical solutions through the Association.

Stay well

Robyn

Robyn Thorpe

President Email: ntpa.admin@education.nt.gov.au or ntpa.president@education.nt.gov.au

The report presents 17 recommendations for the reduction and elimination of incidence and risk, and the management and mitigation of employee physical and psychological injury, as a result of violence and aggression in NT schools.

The first recommendation is to establish a governance committee within the department, chaired by an Executive, whose responsibility will be to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations.

NTPA will play a critical role on this committee to advocate and influence the implementation of the recommendations.