President’s Welcome

It has certainly been an unusual start to our year with a pandemic, unprecedented social distancing from colleagues and students and the need to step up our online interactions for working, teaching and learning in our institutions. Never before has a collegial organisation like ours been more important.

As the newly-elected President of the Queensland Chapter, I’m thrilled to be writing my first newsletter. Having been involved in Educate Plus for over 18 years, I know first-hand the value we offer our members, both formally and informally. We are a unique organisation that works towards positive outcomes for our profession and the development of our individual practitioners.

I would like to thank Lea Walker-Franks for her expert guidance over the last two years during my time as Vice-President, I couldn’t have asked for a better role model. Lea is now leading our organisation as Chairman, a job I know Lea will embrace with the same skill and vigour she has shown in Queensland!

Professional Development continues through COVID-19

Our Professional Development showcasing the 2019 Queensland Chapter Award winners has been rescheduled to Thursday 10 September. Details for new registrations will be released soon – all previous registrations will be rolled over to the new date.

We were lucky enough to slip in our regional Professional Development day in Cairns before restrictions were imposed. We welcomed many of our northern members and prospective members at the session where myself, Lea and Claire Grlj shared case studies, ideas in community relations, alumni and fundraising.

Our online professional development program has seen a large number of webinars hosted over the last two months; I hope you’ve had the opportunity to engage with some of them. Upcoming events include a wide range of topics from Facebook Ads, SEO, Managing Yourself Through Change, Online Admissions, Communications, Fundraising and more. To view what’s currently on offer and to register, please visit https://www.educateplus.edu.au/event/. Past events are also available for viewing through the Educate Plus website, simply log in and click on the Resources and then 2020 Recordings.

I encourage everyone to take advantage of the expertise by our experienced practitioners.

2020 International Conference Adelaide rescheduled to 29 March – 1 April 2021

I’m pleased to confirm that the 2020 International Conference has been rescheduled to run from 29 March to 1 April 2021 at the Adelaide Convention Centre. If you have already registered, we will transfer it to the new dates. There are still a number of bursaries and travel assistance packages available for members, so please reach out and enquire.

The Year Ahead

To our members, I wish you a successful and productive time despite the COVID-19 challenges. Know that Educate Plus is here to provide support you, both technically and collegially as we all work towards giving our absolute best to our institutions and to our profession.

To our 2020 QLD Partners, Troop, School Bench, New Word Order, Charidy and Digistorm, thank you for your continued support of our vibrant chapter.

On behalf of the Chapter Committee, we look forward to continuing to serve you and to working with all members across the state. I invite you to reach out to me any time with your questions, suggestions and feedback so we can continue to improve and develop our work together.

Stay safe and well.

Sue Russell
President – Qld Chapter

Welcome to new members

We warmly welcome 16 new members to our growing membership of 411 members, from 280 schools and 11 tertiary institutions; Queensland has a plethora of skilled colleagues in which to network with. We look forward to seeing these new faces in upcoming events either in person or online.

Maree Nuget – All Hallows’ School
Ingrid Dodd – John Paul College
Jemanda Hannouf and Ryan Lind Moreton Bay College and Moreton Bay Boy’s College 
Laura Porcheron, Regan Verwey, Karen Hampson, Fiona Wruck – King’s Christian College
Melita Whittle and Paul Suffolk – Cooloola Christian College 
Ross Strong and Lesley Smith – Fraser Coast Anglican College 
Matt Gees – Bundaberg Christian College 
Cody Vella – Whitsunday Anglican School
Jo Monson – Annandale Christian College
Alana Ripepi – Trinity Anglican School

PD / SIG reports

Regional Professional Development Event held in Cairns

A Professional Development Day was held for our regional members and prospective members in Cairns on Monday 16 March 2020 – just before COVID-19 restrictions were imposed.

Lea Walker-Franks, Sue Russell and Claire Grlj presented to the group across the four pillars and then held a joint SIG on multiple topics addressing local challenges for schools in the region.

Feedback received from the event was very positive with attendees expressing their gratitude that Educate Plus value their regional members and show it by bringing a Professional Development to their hometown. The next regional event is planned for the Mackay region in the latter half of this year with dates and locations to be confirmed.

Regional membership is continuing to grow with a number of members applying for travel bursaries to attend the International Conference in Adelaide next year.

Visit to Cairns Convention Centre

Whilst on the ground in Cairns, Lea, Sue and Claire also visited the Cairns Convention Centre and local venues and attractions as part of some preliminary research into Cairns being a viable option for an international conference in the future.

Cairns is a fantastic location for a conference for our members in Australia and New Zealand, and would serve as a convenient location for a future international conference, given our organisation’s growing interest in serving members from South East Asia.

Admissions SIG – 30 April 2020

Admissions Engagement Strategies – delivered via a Zoom Webinar with over 200 participants from schools across Australia and New Zealand.

The presentation highlighted the importance of purposeful and meaning engagement as part of a successful Admissions strategy, exploring the Admissions cycle and finding ideal opportunities to engage with prospective families.

A copy of the presentation is available at the following link: https://www.educateplus.edu.au/webinar-admissions-engagement-strategies/

In feedback from this presentation, participants have shown interest in journey mapping and discovering the prospective family viewpoint, as well as the flywheel of activity, encompassing stakeholders, touch-points and initiatives that interlink to form an Admissions engagement plan. This information may well inform future Admissions SIG content. The next Admissions SIG will be conducted on 30 July, discussing scholarships and bursary management through the Admissions office.

Educate Plus Fundraising SIG Report – Annual Giving

On Thursday 30th April, 69 Advancement Practitioners from schools, tertiary and non-profit organisations joined our Fundraising SIG to share their and discuss their approaches to Annual Giving (including online appeals such as Giving Days) in a group discussion. The session was hosted by Lara Pickering, Director of Philanthropy at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Brisbane, who was joined by Emma Boyar, Senior Consultant with Educate Plus Fundraising Stream Partner, Charidy.

The SIG provided an opportunity to discuss best practice and to share how different schools and organisations were adapting their annual giving programs and approaches, due to COVID-19. A copy of the video recording of this session is available here (ensure you are logged in to view).

Upcoming events

Marketing SIG, July 30: Let’s talk about strategy for keeping our communities connected and up-to-date. Let’s share what new strategies you have put into place during COVID-19, what has worked and what needs tweaking. What new concepts have you implemented in social media, tours and Open Days and how is this going to affect your marketing strategy moving forward. Registrations will open soon here.

Admissions SIG, July 30: The role Admissions can play in awarding and managing Scholarships and Bursaries (facilitated by Susan Uhlmann) Many schools have a long and proud tradition of offering scholarships and needs-based bursaries to students who have demonstrated they have the potential to benefit from such an arrangement. Scholarships and Bursaries can often involve a number of business units in a school, including the Principal and Business Manager, Advancement and Philanthropy, Finance and Admissions, and then, of course, donors and recipient families. Because of the number of stakeholders and the sensitivity that can be attached to this process, it is not straightforward to strategise and manage on an ongoing basis. Registrations will open soon here.

Queensland Chapter Conference Award Winner Showcase, 10 September: The five award winners from Queensland Chapter Conference in September 2019, will share and present their award-winning campaigns.

1. Citipointe Christian College will share their Admissions campaign and the ‘I Can’ Marketing and Communications Campaign – a standout and creative storytelling campaign that incorporated Alumni.
2. St Margaret’s Foundation will present their Giving Day, an extensive campaign which reached it’s objectives effectively.
3. The Glennie School won the Alumni and Community Relations award for their Glennie Poppy Project, celebrating 100 years of their Old Girls organisation and the end of WWI and our Digital, On-Line or Film winner was St Joseph’s College – Nudgee for their documentary series “The Season”.

To complete the session there will be a panel discussion – Advancing Your Career in Advancement – real-world advice on being heard, moving to the next level and getting a set at the table.

We look forward to you joining us at this informative event. Members $55 Non-Members $66. Registrations will open soon here.

Educate Plus Resources

Due to many contributing factors, new technology, the move to working from home, the present threat of COVID-19, Educate Plus has looked at alternative options to provide our members with the information they need in a supportive environment – a flexible learning and sharing space. We are now offering some of our PD via webinar, which is also recorded for those members who cannot attend at that time and shared as an online resource.

The response to these has been nothing short of incredible, with around 2300 registrations for the various webinars and online training received to date. Not only have these provided a live opportunity for PD, but each has been recorded and uploaded into our Knowledge bank on the website.

“Thanks for the superb series of webinars. These have been most informative and have kept me feeling part of the advancement community.”
Sonia Brennan Wenona

If you would like to view any of these, simply click on one of the links below. Note: These recordings are only available to members and you must log in to our website to view. Read member testimonials here.

Webinars to date:

SIG’s to date:

All of these events are also offered as as audio recording/podcast if you would prefer to listen than watch a video through the podcast page.