Queensland President’s Report | Welcome

2018 is proving to be one of our highest attendance years for some time across events from our 297 Queensland members. However, each year the conference is the highlight of the PD calendar. Alternating between the International Conference and our Queensland Conference biennially, conferences provide enormous opportunity to mix with, and benchmark against a broad spectrum of institutions and practitioners of all ‘shapes, flavours and sizes’.

Having just returned from the International Conference in Auckland I find myself challenged, inspired, affirmed and ridiculously/happily exhausted. I’m so glad that I invested the time, energy and resources to attend as I’m sure my fellow 74 Queenslanders of the 600 delegates were.

Congratulations to John Collins being awarded the prestigious Trevor Wigney Award which is the highest honour in our association. Congratulations also goes to Jeff Buchanan (AskRight) for being inducted as a Fellow of Educate Plus. Awards were received by Citipointe Christian College and Churchie acknowledging the outstanding work of those within our chapter while several Queenslanders also presented sessions.

Our 2019 QLD Conference planning is well underway with a talented and diverse committee now in place. Save-the-Date for 5-6 September 2019, The Grand Chancellor Hotel, Brisbane. Day one will incorporate targeted sessions to facilitate Principals, Business Managers and Board members better understanding of the advancement roles so get it into their diaries now (50% discount when joining you) – see below for more details.

It’s been a busy year – I am thrilled that both of our Regional initiatives, Toowoomba (22 May) and Rockhampton (31 July) were so well supported and the post-event survey showed it was a resounding success. Special thanks to Claire Grlj (Leading Marketing Solutions). Thank you to Lourdes Hill College for hosting our Admissions and Marketing/Communication PD in June for over 60 in attendees. In future speakers from outside of Brisbane will be scheduled later in the day to mitigate flights. July saw the Educate Plus Board meeting held in Brisbane and all board members commented on how ‘Queensland certainly did not disappoint’. Thank you to Sue Russell (St Aidans) for attending while I was on sick leave. Nudgee hosted a successful SIG (Special Interest Group) for Fundraising and Admissions (see below).

Our next benchmarking and networking opportunity is a combined Alumni and Marketing SIG on Thursday 18 October at St Aidans Girls’ School. I encourage all those working in those areas to attend this no cost, interactive session (more below).

As always, we are grateful for the ongoing support of our sponsors and I’d like to recognize and highlight Australian Catering Services and MMG. Please consider them for any opportunities you may have in the future. Remember to make the most of your membership and follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Educate_Plus.

I look forward to welcoming you to our up-coming events including the unmissable iPD (interactive PD) on Strategic Planning for 2019 and AGM (guaranteed to be fast) at All Hallows School followed by Christmas Lunch in Fortitude Valley on 23 November.

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh)

Lea Walker-Franks F.Edplus
President – Qld Chapter