Welcome to our Term 3 Bulletin - September 2023

Welcome to our end of term 3 Bulletin - As we head into the holiday break we hope you are able to take a break, spend time with family and friends or enjoy a quieter time to catch up on your task list.

It was fantastic to spend two days networking with colleagues at our annual conference in Devonport last month, we hope you enjoyed the opportunity to attend some great DECYP Masterclasses and join in our keynote presentations from Lorin Nicholson and Ngaire Hobbins.

Links to the DECYP PowerPoint Masterclass presentations; https://www.tsaa.asn.au/conference

We welcome feedback from colleagues and suggestions for upcoming conferences. There has been some discussion and suggestions that holding our annual conference in the holiday break would allow more SBM's to attend without the burden of finding relief staff to cover them and / or the added costs of relief staff. With the extension of the 44 week option now part of our award for support and administration staff this allows more flexibility for those SBM's that are employed on a 40 / 42 week basis. 

Feedback for 2024 conference; https://forms.office.com/r/JtLM27QMmD

Conference Photobooth 2023 (download photos from this link);

https://tasedu-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/cynthia_pearce_education_tas_gov_au/EeTqlnxtBOpFsQy8Bf_N-80B6poFeyO9SIGCyCBxWZp1ww?e=3LXTBL

TSAA Executive

Executive positions and members for 2023 - 2024

• Chairperson – Cynthia Pearce - Riverside High School 
• Vice Chairperson – Carol Bellchambers - Ulverstone Secondary College
• Secretary – Kiara Youl - Deloraine High School
• Assistant Secretary – Sharon Lacey - Montrose Bay High School
• Treasurer – Brenda McLarin - Lindisfarne North Primary School
• Assistant Treasurer – Nikki Jackson - Sheffield School
• Shelley Spong - Cambridge Primary School 
• Lucy Robbins - East Launceston Primary School 
• Robyn Langworthy - Lenah Valley Primary School 
• Leanne Wescombe - Cooee Primary School 
• Andrea Miller - Table Cape Primary School 
• Lea-Anne Breganti - Clarence High School
• Kirsty Morgan - Lansdowne Crescent Primary School 
• Lorna Clifford - Port Dalrymple School 

Please reach out to our Executive for support, discussion, sharing of ideas, concerns and assistance. We are always happy to facilitate "Buddy SBM's" - an informal arrangement, when you feel you need someone to touch-base with, a colleague to discuss and brain-storm with!

Thank you to our TSAA and our National ASBLA Committee for your continued passion and dedication to School Business Leaders across Australia as we continue to promote school business leaders and our professional leadership roles in public schools.

https://www.tsaa.asn.au/

https://www.asbla.asn.au/

Our Vision

Together we inspire and support the role to be skilled professional administrators

Chairperson

Reminders as we approach Term 4!

· STAS 2024 applications will open from mid-November. Families approved for STAS in 2023 will receive written advice in November advising of their approval or otherwise for STAS 2024.

· ExpenseMe - Transactions will commence loading into ExpenseMe from the beginning of the October statement period. Any purchases with a Transaction date of the 28th September 2023 onwards will be loaded into ExpenseMe. ExpenseMe will be available to users from Friday 27th October 2023 to commence coding transactions.

· Commence budget review and planning for 2024 – utilise the End of Year Carry Forward Projection Report to ensure your budget is on target for the 15% carry forward threshold (keeping in mind any potential exemptions).

· Commence conversations with relevant budget leaders and school leadership team regarding desired budget centre submissions and priorities for 2024.

· Reach out to outstanding debtors, ensure reminder letters have also be distributed.

· Meet with IT Support Officer and Principal to discuss and order 2024 device requirements. Also conduct review on device 2023 strategy and act on any improvements

· Planning end of year activities and assemblies (letters sent to donors).

· Review staffing for 2024 - projected enrolments and whether adjustments need to be made around the school environment (i.e. an additional classroom required for larger incoming cohort, desks, chairs, lockers)

· Complete Annual Edupoint Procedures; entering class lists for 2024

· Commence End of Year Finance Procedures (remember when making any budget tweaks we need to ensure our budget incorporates the month of January 2024!)

· Confirm 2024 stationery and uniform orders for Back to School!

· Ensure key dates such as school photos, annual carpet cleaning, time set aside to archive etc are locked in for 2024.

· Review and compare suppliers e.g. cleaning/stationery/consumables

Staff Wellbeing Webinars Series 2023 

We are pleased to launch a new series of live online wellbeing webinars for 2023 the webinars are open to all staff across DECYP.

These sessions are facilitated by experts and are designed to help share information, strategies, practical tips, and ideas to support your wellbeing at work. Share the details with those who you think would be interested and encourage your staff and colleagues to attend.

Find out more about all the sessions in the Staff Wellbeing Professional Learning page, where you’ll see our flyers for live webinars.

What will I get out of joining a session?

• Learn practical approaches to adapting, building resilience, and maintaining your health and wellbeing.
• Be guided by experts who understand our workplaces settings.
• Look at ways to stay positive and achieve a healthy balance between work and home.
• Strategies to effectively handle more challenging conversations by promoting understanding and respect in the workplace.
• Share strategies on how to look after yourself, through self- care and mindfulness.

Who are we partnering with?

• The webinars are run by experts from our wellbeing partner providers, Newport and Wildman (EAP) and Bupa who is our corporate health partner.
• They are familiar with our work and connect us with well-recognised experts to deliver quality wellbeing programs.

https://tasedu.sharepoint.com/sites/intranet/_layouts/15/DocIdRedir.aspx?ID=TASED-2035904943-2553 Meal Management allowance form link

https://tasedu.sharepoint.com/sites/intranet/_layouts/15/DocIdRedir.aspx?ID=TASED-2035904943-2552 Specialist Programs Allowance Form link

Deloraine High School - The DEC Official Opening

On Monday 18 September, The Honourable Roger Jaensch Minister for Education, Children and Young People visited Deloraine High School to officially open The DEC ‘Design Engineer Create’ - Advanced Manufacturing and Automotive Workshop. The project has been a combined effort over a number of years between DHS staff, assistance through various grant opportunities and support from local politicians along with DECYP. As pictured, the Workshop is now full of every tool and resource you could dream of – creating an amazing opportunity for students to study Automotive, Engineering and associated VET courses.

Dr Adam Fraser is a thought leader in human performance and discovered a common thread after interviewing hundreds of successful people. What he calls the 'Third Space'. 

“The ‘First Space’ is what you’re doing now. The ‘Second Space’ is what you’re about to do and the ‘Third Space’ is the gap in the middle”. Different environments require different things from each of us. At work, you probably need to be task-driven and efficient, but at home you need to be connected and relaxed – and that’s why, when you find your Third Space, you can transition between those two parts of your life.

Your Third Space isn’t physical, and it doesn’t require you to do yoga or mediate for an hour either, “The third space is simply a technique that allows us to compartmentalise. A mindfulness and self-awareness method that helps us to decompress in a matter of minutes.”

Specifically throughout our admin day to day, we can use the 'Third Space’ to help us transition effectively between the different roles, environments and tasks, to extract the maximum value from each.

For example, it may be the ability to switch off at the end of the day and use the drive home to reflect on the day, so you arrive home feeling present and able to do things like go to the gym and connect with family without thinking all about work. Another example where the 'Third Space’ can be effective is on a busy day. You might get a frustrated parent phone the school, you do your best to resolve their issue, then there is someone at the counter and a teacher demanding resources from you from the back stationery cupboard. 

The 'Third Space' is an example of how you can move from the disgruntled parent interaction, but still showing up to the next parent with a positive attitude ready to help, as well as the staff member. Sounds simple enough, but practice makes perfect ?

Dr Adam Fraser explains The Third Space - Bing video

Wellbeing Article for the newsletter from Newport & Wildman 

Workplace culture has changed since the days where people started work, did what the manager told them to do and 'logged off". Today, workplaces need to engage and motivate their employees by understanding what employees need from their work. We know employees want to grow, want to be valued, involved, and to feel part of the organisation. 

Each generation may have differing needs and not factoring in employees’ values, needs and expectations leads to strong emotions at work which can lead to decreased productivity. Engagement is key to a mentally healthy and productive workplace culture – organisations need emotionally intelligent leaders who know how to respond in a way that facilitates positive workplace behaviour. 

What do we unwittingly do that creates negative/positive emotion? 

Insight and awareness around the impact of behaviour on others is a skill that can be learned and developed – paying attention to body language and others’ reactions is key. It’s important that you choose your moment to seek feedback or deliver information. 

Are negative emotions in the workplace bad? 

Emotions are contagious so it is important to listen, be aware and address underlying issues before the emotions impact on others within the workplace. Negative emotions are defined as, for example, anger, frustration, burnout - all emotions that are part of being human. It’s unrealistic to expect people not to have emotion, but they need to learn how to effectively manage their emotions. One way to manage emotions in the workplace is for leaders to know how to have a constructive conversation which includes active listening, de-escalation, providing feedback. If your managers require some skills in this area our Constructive Conversations training can help employees use negative emotion to create a positive consequence. 

What works? 

Upskilling and training managers to manage emotions is important. 

Many managers get promoted for their technical skills and abilities and may experience difficulty managing strong emotions. These skills can be taught through coaching and training and should include: de-escalation skills, skills to keep calm, active listening, reflecting and summarising.  

Modelling behaviour from the top down 

It’s important to model the behavioural response that you want to see in others. Leaders set the tone for organisational culture and communication. Consultation is key; that is, consulting with employees to understand the type of culture everyone wants to create. Role modelling that behaviour is important as employees become disillusioned if they do not feel heard and their value isn’t acknowledged. It’s like building a muscle – it takes time and practice. 

Managing difficult emotions/trauma 

Acknowledging emotion, without deciding whether the emotion is valid or not, is very powerful. People want to feel that their emotional response is heard and understood. Your first step is to calm the situation by listening with real empathy.  The person is then ready to work with you to generate solutions, and while it takes longer, does mean there will be “buy-in”. Managing trauma in the workplace means moving at the individuals’ pace and understanding that everyone is impacted differently and therefore there will be different responses. Recognising and acknowledging that there is a range of normal reactions to trauma, and suspending judgement (no right or wrong response) will assist the workplace to recover effectively. 

To arrange an appointment call 1800 650 204 or for enquiries about related training please contact the Newport & Wildman Team. 

Maxxia values our relationship with School Business Managers in Tasmania, and would welcome the opportunity to partner any events that you have in Tasmania. Please do not hesitate to reach out should any events or meetings be occurring and Maxxia would be glad to provide refreshments for your attendees.

Simone White

Relationship Associate Tasmania

Phone:   0408 412 416

Email:     simone.white@maxxia.com.au