WA President’s Report | Welcome

Like a runaway freight train, 2017 feels like it has sped past in a blur. It is hard to believe the Christmas decorations are out and we are already preparing for the culmination of an astonishing year. When reflecting on the Chapter’s achievements in 2017, there is no doubt our team of volunteers have produced amazing PD and networking opportunities.

While there is so much to celebrate, in particular my mind is drawn to the State Chapter Conference in September. Two words describe how I feel about this event…pride and gratitude! I feel great pride for the tireless work of the Conference Committee to bring the event together and tremendous gratitude for the wonderful support of our members to make it all so very worthwhile. We took some risks with this conference, with a revised one day plus webcasts format, in the hope of addressing the needs of a broadly time-poor and budget-challenged membership. The membership showed its support for this direction with more delegates attending this conference than at least the previous two conferences. The survey results also supported this move with the majority of respondents (59%) saying they preferred the new format and only 12% indicating they preferred the traditional two-day conference. The new format also enabled us to keep costs down and we were rewarded with 96% of respondents saying the price was “Just Right”. Led by Margo Bastow, the amazing conference committee worked extremely hard to manage all the moving parts and the delegates showed their appreciation for their effort. 90% of survey respondents rated our conference as “Outstanding” or “Very Good”, with 31% of these rating it as “Outstanding” (the highest percentage of all six chapter conferences…not that I’m gloating, well maybe I am just a little). To see some photos from the conference, click here.

While it is hard to imagine topping our tremendous State Chapter Conference, our thoughts now turn to the pinnacle of PD opportunities for Educate Plus, the International Conference in Auckland on 4-7 September 2018. Our brothers and sisters across the ditch have been working so hard on the preparations for this extraordinary event and I have to say, this is one you don’t want to miss. To make the International Conference more accessible to us, I am so incredibly grateful for the Board’s decision to provide a 30% discount on the registration fee for all WA members; this is on top of the usual 8x $500 scholarships that are offered. The Board has listened to your feedback about the challenges of a tighter economy and the impact this has had on PD budgets, and this discount will go a long way to offset some of the travel costs we face to attend. To read more about the Board’s wonderful gesture, click here.

In way of our superb committee members, we will have some changes in the new year. Take a look at our committee page  to see who has left the committee and who will be joining us in 2018.

I wish to express our gratitude for our generous sponsors, whose incredible support makes all of this possible. Once again, our Chapter Sponsors Photo Hendriks and Trinity Residential College have continued the long-standing relationships that are so critical to our operations. Thinking about the conference, the event would not have been a success without the kindness of event sponsors Chartwells, Digistorm, Elite Graphix, Fineline, Quickmail and Tangibility. To finish up the year in style, Scott Print stepped forward to sponsor the combined PD, AGM and Christmas Soiree, and I thank Ben for sharing his broad knowledge on everything print related. I would also like to pay tribute to the remarkable Organisational Platinum Sponsors in AskRight, MGM Wireless, Mondo Mentors, Lindsay Yates Group and Synergetic, and Silver Sponsors Schools Guide.

Before the year comes to an end, we do have one more event to squeeze in. Always looking for a good reason to network, or quite possibly any reason to network, our engaged members working in Admissions will also be having Christmas Drinks, from 3.30pm on Thursday 14 December, at the Elba Bar in Cottesloe.

In closing, I wish you all a safe and joyous festive season with your loved ones. I hope you will take the opportunity to refresh and recharge, and I look forward to seeing you in the new year. Merry Christmas!

David Williams F.Edplus
WA Chapter President
Tel: 9377 8522
Email:  david.williams@ggs.wa.edu.au

VARD Awards for Excellence – Congratulations to our winners!

As a celebration of excellence within the WA Chapter, the VARD Awards are presented biennially during the WA Chapter Conference year and are named in honour of four outstanding foundation members of Educate Plus WA, with each member representing one of our four pillars of Advancement:

Our congratulations go to the following recipients of the 2017 VARD Awards for Excellence:

Marketing and Communications Category
John XXIII College
‘Autumn Mornings’ Video
Submitted by Chris Richards-Scully

Fundraising Category
Wesley College
‘A Science Centre for Tomorrow’ Campaign

Admissions Category
Lake Joondalup Baptist College
‘Learning Journey’ Video
Submitted by Tony Fisher

Alumni and Community Relations Category
The University of Western Australia
Alumni Relations Team
‘UWA AlumniConnect’

Receiving a VARD Award on behalf of their organisations were Jenn Parsons from The University of Western Australia, Debra Reinecke from Wesley College, Tony Fisher from Lake Joondalup Baptist College, and Chris Richards-Scully from John XXIII College.

Sponsor Feature – MGM Wireless

The Challenges of Modern School Communication

Positively engaging with your school community is one of the most important challenges for school leaders.

With every school now having four or five demographics to engage and each with very different communication preferences – school communication and marketing has never been more critical and more challenging.

From glossy printed newsletters or magazines, personal phone calls, to email, SMS, news apps, social media and more – what is the right channel to use for each demographic and when?

And now, when it comes to digital, over 70% of your school community only uses the mobile to access information – even when they’re at home or at work. Even the school website’s sole purpose has changed to a branding and marketing collateral for attracting enrolments.

As school communication specialists for over 14 years, MGM supports School Marketing and Communication professionals with the tools, training and guidance.

MGM’s Multi and Omni channel communication tools like OutReach+, Absence Notification mobile messaging chatbot, and the beautiful and secure app SchoolStar, allow you not just to communicate, but to really engage.

For every piece of content, you can now choose which channel or combination of channels to use – be it SMS, email, app, social media and more.

Powerful analytics then allow you to measure your level of engagement, drill down to see which demographics are engaging with each content piece, see which content they like and read most, see which channel is most effective for each demographic, and much more.

The good news is the future of school communication is available to you today.

Visit www.mgmwireless.com or call 1800 300 346 to find our more.

New Members/Membership

In the early days, Educate Plus was known as ADAPE and was comprised of a small core group of members who networked well and had a great vision for our future. Since then, membership has grown exponentially across Australasia, whilst the organisation itself has flourished, led by a team of outstanding professionals.

The recent introduction of Institutional Membership has been a successful strategy in fuelling growth. If you already have 2-3 members, I would encourage you to consider this type of membership. It’s a great way to get key stakeholders involved, such as the Principal, Vice Chancellor or Business Manager and you can have an unlimited number of Associate Members without increasing your costs.

The more key stakeholders you have connected to the Educate Plus community, the more likely you are to get a positive outcome when it’s time to ask them to send you to the 2018 International conference in Auckland.

We warmly welcome our new members who have recently joined the Educate Plus WA Chapter and look forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming events:

Ruston Long F.Edplus
2017 WA Chapter Committee Member

WA Chapter Survey

To assist with our planning for 2018, please complete this short survey and provide us with feedback so that we can provide the best possible value for our WA Chapter members.

As an incentive, one lucky member who completes the survey will receive a $50 Coles and Myer Gift Card (handy at this time of year)!

In addition to other events and PD opportunities, the WA Chapter holds a minimum of eight Special Interest Groups every year (two per stream). These Special Interest Groups are free and provide a wonderful opportunity for practitioners to collaborate and share stories, as well as offer mentoring and networking opportunities for new members.

We would greatly appreciate the participation of all WA members, to ensure we are providing you with what you need from you membership.

Click Here to complete the survey.

Survey Closes 20 December, 2017.

Report – Fundraising SIG

As the 2017 schedule draws to a close, a big thank you to our members who have supported and attended our Fundraising SIGs throughout the year.

Our final Fundraising Special Interest Group was held Tuesday 17 October at MLC and was attended by five representatives from secondary and tertiary institutions.

The round table discussion allowed attendees to share current fundraising projects and how their role is structured. Personally, as someone who is new to fundraising, it gave me an insight into how other institutions operate and an opportunity to network.

These opportunities will continue again in 2018 and we look forward to welcoming you along and meeting you then.

Natalie Swannell
WA Chapter Committee Member

Report – Alumni & Community Relations SIG

The final Alumni and Community Relations SIG for 2017, on 27 October, was about engagement communication tools (enews, magazines or brochures).

After initial introductions about everyone’s communication tools, the participants broke out into two groups. Group one discussed magazines and content. Group two discussed ‘connecting with young alumni’.

The afternoon provided an opportunity to network and learn from one another’s experience.

Natalie Swannell
WA Chapter Committee Member

WA Chapter’s PD, AGM and Christmas Soiree

Matilda Bay Restaurant made for a stunning backdrop to our final PD of the year, followed by our AGM and Christmas Soiree on 17 November.

Our friends at Scott Print generously sponsored the event, and a selection of delicious drinks and nibbles were on offer to toast an exceptional year.

Ben Brennan, from Scott Print, started the event with an insightful look into different printing techniques and unique ways to elevate your printed collateral. With 22 years’ experience in advertising and print, Ben’s passion and mastery of this medium is unquestionable. Following on from Ben was a quick AGM and the election of the 2018 Committee. In recognition for excellence within our Chapter, the 2017 VARD Awards were presented by the Chair of Educate Plus, John Collins. To see the list of award winners click here.

Finally, to network and toast the end of a successful year, we let our hair down with some celebratory drinks and nibbles.

We thank everyone from our chapter that attended to ensure we celebrated in style. Our gratitude also goes to the Chair, John Collins, and some members from the board for joining us before their meeting. Special mention must also be made of Ben Brennan and our Event Sponsors, Scott Print, and the team from Photo Hendriks, Marnee and Sarah, for the beautiful event photographs.

Event proudly sponsored by:

Event Photos
Our thanks go to our Chapter Sponsors, Photo Hendriks, for kindly taking photographs of the event. More photographs can be found at this link.

David Williams F.Edplus
WA Chapter President

WA Chapter Conference Photos

As detailed in the President’s Report, the WA Chapter Conference on 13 September was an outstanding success, with a revised format and tremendous levels of delegate support.

We thank our sensational Chapter Sponsor, Photo Hendriks, for providing the event’s photography.

More Photos

To view more of the photographs from the event click here. (You must be logged on to access the member section of our website)

Event photography provided by:

WA Admissions Christmas Drinks: 14 December

You are invited to attend our end of year WA Admissions Christmas Soiree!

Date:    Thursday 14 December 2017
Time:    3:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Venue:  Elba Bar. 29 Napoleon St, Cottesloe
Cost:    Nothing up front but we will run a kitty for food

WA Chapter Committee and Supporters

After what has been a wonderfully productive year, our eternal thanks go out to the 2017 committee members in Julie Cameron, our Secretary, Peter Robertson, our Treasurer, Margo Bastow, Meredith Eddington, Claire Hanson, Ruston Long, Lauren Major, Mandy McFarland, Susie Gill, Jenn Parsons, Alex Robertson and Natalie Swannell.

At the end of 2017 we are sadly losing Ruston Long, Lauren Major and Alex Robertson (who has been on maternity leave for most of this year). We thank all of these people for their sensational service.

Mandy McFarland has been a committee member since 2008 and has held numerous roles, including President. We will unfortunately be seeing less of Mandy at committee level, not because she is stepping out but because she is stepping up. After joining the board in 2012, Mandy will take on the highest role in 2018, the role of Educate Plus Chair. We wish Mandy well with this new challenge and look forward to working with her in the future.

While they were not on the committee, my gratitude also goes out to our sensational 2017 Chapter Supporters in Joanne Haynes, Allison Mackenzie, Jane Hard, Leo Nye and Annette Suann.

2018 Chapter Committee

Committee:  

Meredith Eddington, Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research

Susie Gill, Penrhos College

Claire Hanson, Great Southern Grammar

Leo Nye, St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls

Jenn Parsons, The University of Western Australia

Natalie Swannell, Perth College

Assistance for the International Conference in Auckland 2018

 30% Discount for WA members

I am delighted to announce that the Educate Plus Board has made a decision to approve a 30% discount, for all WA members, on the registration fee for the International Conference in Auckland 2018.

This decision was borne out of discussion and feedback from WA members about the costs associated with getting to New Zealand from Perth. As tougher economic conditions impact on PD budgets, WA members have indicated that only small delegate numbers are likely to attend the International Conference. As a way to encourage equity across all Chapters and improve WA’s representation at the International Conference, this automatic discount will apply to every WA member who registers during the Early Bird application period. 

The Board is conscious of keeping costs as reasonable as possible across the organisation, but fully appreciates that the additional time and travel costs for WA may prohibit certain institutions from approving applications for their staff to attend. The registration cost to attend the International Conference has not increased since 2012 and with this additional discount means that WA members will pay $868 (rather than $1,240) to register during the Early Bird offer.

Registrations

International Conference registrations have now opened, and every effort has also been made to source cost effective flight and accommodation options. If you do have excess budget available this year and would like to split your costs by paying the registration fee in 2017, please insert the following code: EPAID2018 into the scholarship or financial aid section on the registration page.

 Scholarships

As in previous years, 8 x $500 scholarships will also be available for regional institutions and/or those who require financial assistance to attend the Conference. This is a separate needs-based process administered via a simple application form and is available to every Chapter. For more details, please download the application form HERE.

 Why this conference?

Approximately 80 speakers will present to delegates in both the tertiary and school sectors and will not only motivate you with leading practice but will share success stories, highlight new techniques and approaches and leave you inspired to challenge your own thinking and review how you can escalate your career aspirations. Don’t hear it from us – check out what other members have to say about our conferences in this video:

 Please discuss this with your Leadership

The Board would very much like this incredible professional development opportunity to be accessible to every Educate Plus member and, by approving this financial assistance, has significantly improved the ability for more WA delegates to attend. Please discuss this with your Head or Business Manager to ensure that they are aware of the organisation’s proactive support and to make sure we have a strong WA delegation. 
We’d love to see all of you there!

 More information

Follow us on Social Media for the latest updates. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or Tina Fleming if you require further information.

#epauckland2018
   

On behalf of the WA Chapter, I wish to express our gratitude for the Board’s incredible support and I hope it will allow more WA members to attend the biennial International Conference. Please let me know if this makes a difference to you and your organisation so I can pass on your comments.

David Williams F.Edplus
WA Chapter President
Tel: 9377 8522
Email:  david.williams@ggs.wa.edu.au

Dates for Your Diary 2017/2018

Save the date for these upcoming events. We would love to see you there.

If you would like to host a Special Interest Group for your stream, please contact Natalie Swannell via Natalie.Swannell@pc.wa.edu.au. 

Sponsors

Without the support from our sponsors, we would not have been able to present a conference and other PD opportunities of such outstanding quality. Their professional expertise, financial support and networking contribution adds an enormous amount and we thank them for partnering with us.

As members, we urge you to consider using them when you next require a quote or are considering a change of supplier.

Our Chapter Sponsors remain the mainstay of our sponsorship and, as always, we are deeply indebted to Photo Hendriks (who also capture our major events on film) and Trinity Residential for their loyal and tangibility support.

At the conference, Photo Hendriks took individual shots of delegates. If you have not received your photo please contact Naomi De Rosa naomi@educateplus.edu.au

WA Conference Sponsors