Time to blow out some candles!

Happy birthday to us!

Today is the day that marks 7 years from the first official collegial meeting of the Wodonga CRT Support Network. Over the years we have gone from 12 CRTs looking for a bit of contact with each other, through a system supported Collegial Network to about 160 CRTs all learning together through collegial discussions and PD workshops. 

We started off in the old Wodonga South Primary School on  Pearce street and were carried along to their new Southern Rise location in a wonderful new school.  We've occupied their library and their rooms to hold some great meetings and PD workshops over the years.  The staff have been wonderfully supportive and we thank the Wodonga South Primary School for it's support for local CRTs.

Of course we are a VIT CRT Network and we thank VIT for it's past involvement in the CRT workforce.  We weren't left to fend for ourselves, Coordinators were brought together in Melbourne and given appropriate training to undertake the tasks we were asked to in a professional manner.  Some of us they paid for our petrol, for outlying coordinators in remote areas they paid for air fares to bring them in.  They had a dedication to all CRTs in Victoria which we thank them for.

In 2010 Network Coordinators also gained access to the then DEECD's CRT Professional Learning Support Initiative.  The Wodonga South Primary School agreed to increase their level of involvement and take on the responsibility of being the DET assigned support school for the Wodonga and Shepparton CRT Support Networks.  This allowed both Networks to work with the DET and provide quality PD relevant to the CRT role in education across the Hume region.  We were able to to source some pretty big names in education, take advantage of the best local talent on offer as well as support talented network members to step into the role of providing PD workshops for their colleagues.

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank both Wodonga OfficeWorks and Henri's Wodonga Bakery for their support over the years.  Through their corporate responsibility program, officeworks donated to the Wodonga CRT Support Network on two occasions.  We received catering supplies, stationary, paper and printer cartridges pens, pencils, notepads, carry bags and a whole host of other things to help our meetings and workshops run smoothly.  Henri's Wodonga Bakery have been doing a great job at keeping up with our catering needs, always willing to give us a great deal on the food we purchase.

A special mention also goes out to Signs by Knight.  They offered us a great deal on signage but unfortunately things happened and we were not able to take them up on their offer.  The fact that we couldn't take them up on it shouldn't take away from their desire to support their community.

We would also like to send out a thank you to the AEU Vic branch, in particular Marino D'Ortenzio.  It has not been all smooth sailing for CRT Networks for the last few years and the AEU has been there to support CRTs on behalf of their CRT members, Networks and CRTs as a whole.  They have supported us morally and also helped with negotiations between Networks and the DET/VIT to keep us as on the go in Victoria.

Over the years we, along with those listed above, have supplied hundreds of hours of Professional Development opportunities to support the local CRT community to remain registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and also to be excellent teachers for their students even if they are only there for the day.

We have also been active behind the scenes with VIT, the DET, the AEU and the private sector to bring benefits to CRTs locally as well as nation wide.  We have given input based on my experiences as a Coordinator and member feedback that has proved valuable for CRTs as a whole.  We have cheered on as Networks started up in other states so that relief teachers are better supported in Australia.

We are proud to have been given the opportunity and necessary support to address the needs of local CRTs so extensively for the last 7 years.  This is of benefit of themselves, the schools they work in, the teachers they replace and their students; it is an honour to be at the helm of something doing so much good in our educational community. 

So here we are in 2015.  Things have been slower than we would have liked since the end of 2013.  Up until then we had been going from strength to strength, refining our processes, and we had supplied 72 hours of affordable and accessible PD for CRTs (and some full-timers!).   With a new government, new budgets and new educational priorities things changed and support for CRT Networks wavered.  Unfortunately a few Networks have not fared well but we held our ground and we are still here and raring to go.

We continued our collegial meetings and sourced some PD we could still afford to keep things alive.  We worked with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and ClassCover's Relief Teacher Association on mutually beneficial projects to help keep us going.  It's been a hard slog but we've made it this far and have every intention of staying on target for the future.

Although I can't say much yet there are good things on the horizon.  Again governments and priorities have changed and things are starting to swing back into a better position for us all.  There are new things to learn and we're going to have to figure out how to do a few new things to our usual standard but challenge is what gives us the opportunity to rise to it.

We are proud to have been given the opportunity to support local CRTs so extensively for the benefit of themselves, the schools they work in, the teachers they replace and their students. 

We are looking forward to our 8th year and invite you to look forward to it with us!

Regards,

Mel.