We are very proud of Louise Denholm, Valentine Shaw and Jenni Frank (pictured above L-R), for their dedication and commitment to best-practice teaching and learning.

The end of the year is always a time for celebrating the success and achievements of the year for our students, but also for our hard-working staff. This year, these three passionate staff members have completed their learning journey in the Future Leaders Program (FLP) and presented their final reflections and outcomes of their Innovation Project to a range of local, territory and national stakeholders across also sections of the education industry.

The focus of their Innovation Projects will be summarised after a brief overview of the program.

What is the FLP?

The FLP program is a one-year professional learning opportunity that develops the next generation of regional and remote school leaders’ to lead toward educational equity. The program supports educators in building the knowledge, skills, and capabilities needed to be effective school leaders and help all students thrive. It is delivered with the support of the Australian Government Department of Education.

Future Leaders Program supports schools and participants by:

Building leadership capacity amongst their staff and fostering culturally safe and inclusive learning environments for all students.
Connecting participants to a network of other like-minded educators to share ideas and best practices across regional and remote education settings.
Supporting participants to build skills in leading initiatives, developing their capacity to influence, and setting goals that align with their school and community.”

Applications are now open for 2023https://teachforaustralia.org/our-programs/future-leaders-program/

Valentine’s Innovation Project

Personal Leadership Goal: To increase students understanding and awareness of First Nations history throughout the Humanities department (focussing on Year 9 and 10) to increase History study in senior years.

Present: St Philip’s College, Classroom teacher and Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) committee member, Deputy Head of House, Topsy Smith.

Future: By the end of 2023, I will have collaborated with the other staff within the Humanities department and with the members of the Reconciliation Action Plan to increase First Nations Awareness in History, Geography, Art and into other cross curricular areas. Also, to increase the local Aboriginal community to come and engage at classes at school. Possibility of team teaching a senior History class. To assist and prepare future teachers to be culturally responsive.

Outcome: The way in which my final Innovative Project changed was I wanted to gauge students’ understanding on the content being taught in Years 9 and 10 on how they felt about ‘truth telling’ and Australia’s historical past with FN’s peoples. This was achieved by checking in with students, team teaching, using relevant text about FN’s people such as the Burnt stick, increasing ATSI students to be proud and recognize that they are ATSI, Reconciliation Week celebrations and students making pledges, increasing the ATSI community to be more engaged with school, learning about civil rights movements in Australia by significant FN’s peoples and being part of the RAP.

The Future Leaders program (FLP) has enabled me to reflect on my own personal teaching philosophy, my cultural teaching and to refine my teaching practice. The resources that were provided definitely increased my knowledge and understanding of leadership and what it could look like. The FLP really helped me personally to grow within my department and strengthen my relationship with my colleagues and students

My progress has been that I have had positive feedback from staff, students and parents on my teaching and that my colleagues are very supportive of this achievement as well.

Louise’s Innovation Project

Present: Classroom teacher and member of the Diversity and Inclusion Action Committee

Future: By the end of 2023, I will have collaborated with the other staff in the 'Diversity and Inclusion Action Group' to present at a whole-school staff meeting about 'Inclusive Education Practices' and how best to support LGBTQIA+ students in and out of the classroom.

Strategies:

- Building on existing programs and working to improve the culture of the school to become more inclusive and accepting of LGBTQIA+ students and staff.

Working with Wellbeing team to develop a school-wide ‘Gender Affirmation Support Plan’ template

- School-wide observance of days of significance including: 'IDAHOBIT' and 'Wear it Purple' Day

Outcomes:

Participating in the FLP affirmed for me that I already possess a range of skills that are valued in good leaders. I also reflected on my own learnings and loved reengaging with the learning process to better empathise with the students in my classes.

Student Input:

Positive engagement from staff and students in line with the 2022 College Theme: “Diverse, Inclusive, Accepting”

- Pride/Progress Flag is regularly flying in the school grounds – Student Quote: “The pride flags are such a comfort for lots of students at school! It shows the school can act upon inclusivity instead of just mentioning it in assembly. Brings a smile to my face :)”

Jenni’s Innovation Project

Personal leadership goal:

A) To increase peer-to-peer collaboration within the Science department and encourage staff to incorporate knowledge of scientific careers into their lessons.

B) To increase student engagement and outcomes in science and increase the likelihood of students following scientific careers.

Strategies:

Organising Questacon school visits, designing a Stage 1 Integrated Learning class based on scientific careers, taking students on the CDU Science Excellence Experience and planning the 2023 STARR trip. Student and staff participation in Science week, the interschool Science and Engineering Day, and the Robocup.

B)

Teacher buddy system for assessment design
Increase in professional development opportunities
Increase of teachers and students collaborating in hands-on Science based activities.
Collaborative Teams pages to share resources

Student input:

‘I like my Integrated Learning Science class because we learn things by going outside and it makes me think about becoming a Sea Ranger back home in Borroloola. I think I might want to study Marine Biology afterschool.’ Quote from a Year 10 student in my Integrated Learning class.

Operoo Outdoor Ed 2023