VIT CRT PRT conference - Rydges Melbourne.

Mel is off in Melbourne today for the first of VIT's CRT Provisionally Registered Teacher conference at the Rydges in Melbourne.  Her day started at abut 3am, getting ready to catch the 4am XPT from Albury to Melbourne (and she gets back into town on the 10.30pm train!).  The joy's of regional life!

She had originally planned to document the day through Facebook and at 8am everything was going according to plan with her traditional "Good morning Melbourne" photos.



The day has proved busier than she expected putting an end to her adventures being posted to Facebook so she's left it to me to pass on the info she would like to share in quick phone calls.

First of all, "wow"!  

Being regional we at the Wodonga Network normally deal with between 20-40 CRTs when we put on our PD workshops and Mel has absolutely LOVED being in a room with 120 other CRTs!  She thanks each of you in attendance for the way you have welcomed her to the group.

Mel's level of involvement in the day was a bit unexpected, being higher than she had anticipated, with one of the VIT staff was unable to attend due to illness (get well soon Rhonda!).  She hopes she's hit the ground running in a way that's proved helpful to all involved and regrets that she didn't have as much time as she would have liked to "just chat" instead of dealing so much with the business end of things.

Understandably anxiety is high among Provisionally Registered CRTs about the current full registration method and the requirement for a block of work to successfully complete the process.  In spite of some of the anger and frustration that was there today it's a good thing that this has come out.  

One thing Mel commented on regarding this is that in spite of the anxiety in the air there was also a tangible sense of the dedication of the CRTs in the room to their chosen profession.  That resilience is one of the traits of those who go on to become expert teachers and it's something that's going to give you positive results for your careers into the future.  Keep up the great work!

Part of the day is also a Professional Development presentation by Daryl Brooks which was underway the last I spoke to Mel (which gave her the breathing space to call me!).

I imagine Mel will give more detail about this part when she gets home and has time to post herself.

Marino D'Ortenzio from the AEU was also present as were a couple of members from the AEU CRT Association Facebook group.  Krystyna Edwards, one of the members of the AEU FB group, is also (and please forgive me if I get this wrong, "teachery stuff" is Mel's department) Secretary for the Werribee VIT CRT Network (with Ann Threlfell being the Coordinator).  Mel's Project Manager from the VCAA, Shane O'Connor, also dropped in tor a bit of networking and to experience a room full of CRTs, something that is rare for many in the greater education community as a whole.

All in all Mel seems pretty positive about the day despite the inherent issues with CRTs and full registration at the moment. 

We'd like to thank VIT for running this CRT specific seminar where they able to get targeted advice about the Full Rego process.  For those of you who have missed out on this one, VIT will be running at least one more CRT PRT seminar due to the high demand.  When we find out a date we'll be sure to update everyone and, until then, we recommend keeping an eye on the News and Events section of the VIT website if you would like to attend.

Cheers.

Paul Lichnovsky
Network 2IC/IT monkey