Joining theWodonga CRT Support Network is fast, easy and painless. Simply send an email to wodongacrt@vit.vic.edu.au and tell us you want to be a member. If you want more information before joining, email us and say so. We try to make sure the blog contains everything you need to know to make the decision to join or not but if we've missed anything, feel free to ask.
We have organized ourselves in such a way that we can avoid charging membership fees. There's no membership cards and information is all sent via email or the blog so there's no costs involved that we have to cover. This also means there's no need to periodically renew membership, you join and then remain a member until you retire from teaching or obtain ongoing work.
We also have no compulsory activities. No minimum attendance for meetings or other opportunities we offer. We would like for you to participate because you want to and it's entirely up to you how often you take advantage of the activities we organise.
In deciding whether to join we ask you to carefully consider the following information on how we have set up our network to most benefit a regional setting and our position on the border.
Who can join?
** Please Note ** this section is in need of an update which we will get to soon. Previously we have had to limit ourselves to Victorian registered CRTs because the DEECD was funding the majority of the PD we offered. We have spent some months laying groundwork to also include alternate sources of funding and PD that make us more viable to our Albury area CRT counterparts who are not dual registered. We are now accepting NSW registered CRTs from the Albury area as members!
First, to explain the name of the Network. We are the Wodonga CRT Support Network simply because that's what we started out as. Since then we have been accepting memberships from a much wider area because interest was being shown by CRTs who did not have access to a closer network than us. We generally describe our membership area as "Upper Hume".
We have taken advantage of DEECD funding to run PD activities. Although CRT Network Coordinators are utilized to get these PDs running, the DEECD are not funding the Networks themselves. Because we access these funds we have a responsibility to CRTs in the Upper Hume region, not just Wodonga (with the other half of the Hume Region being serviced by the Shepparton CRT Support Network). We decided to allow membership to all CRTs we are responsible for providing PD Workshops to if they thought they could make use of it.
As a consequence we accept any VIT registered CRT who has a shorter travel time to get to Wodonga than another CRT Network. This includes VIT registered CRTs living in NSW. If you fall into this group then you are able to take full advantage of everything we offer. Please note that this doesn't mean you "must" take advantage of it, only that you can.
You can check VIT CRT Network Locations on the VIT website here.
You can check VIT CRT Network Locations on the VIT website here.
If you obtain full-time employment we offer a grace period of 2 months in which you may still attend Network meetings and access our member-only online content. We do this in order to allow you some breathing room to find new sources to obtain your Professional Development requirements for VIT. We want your transition from CRT to full time to be as smooth and stress-free as possible!
If you obtain part-time employment but still CRT on other days, you are free to remain a member.
By now you'll have noticed that VIT runs very few CRT PD workshops in our area anymore. Low attendances have led to is simply not being economically viable for them to do so. We currently have a "grace period", generously offered by the DEECD, to turn around the local low-attendance at CRT Professional Development activities in the last few years but it will not last forever. During this grace period we are allowed to accept bookings from any VIT registered teacher to fill seats although we limit the places available to non-CRTs. In these two cases we regret to inform you that, once the grace period is over, once you obtain ongoing employment we can no longer allow you to book seats in DEECD funded CRT Professional Development Seminars and Workshops. You will still be able to attend any you have booked previous to obtaining work but we ask that you approach this responsibly.
Once you have obtained employment it is your school's job to ensure that you get the PD required to maintain VIT registration and schools recieve funding to make that happen. We suggest that, once gaining employment, you become pro-active in getting those seminars and workshops. Express interest and make sure your school knows you are looking!
Next, we are starting a sort of "provisional" membership for University students in educational courses who think they might become a CRT. If you attend the local Charles Sturt University campuses, or the Latrobe University Wodonga campus, and are studying to become a primary or secondary teacher you are eligable for this membership.
This is a "one month" membership of sorts which you may take advantage of every 2 years. You will be added to the Wodonga CRT Support Network email list and be given access to online member content for the period of one month. You will also recieve a guest pass to one monthly network meeting. The guest pass will not expire with your online membership and you are free to use the pass when convenient for you. University can make students very busy and we want you more focused on your study than on us!
If you are considering becoming a CRT we want to give you a look into what networks offer as they are now a source of ongoing support for every VIT registered CRT.
The only thing we cannot give you is access to Professional Development Seminars who's funding is sourced from a DEECD initiative intended to cover CRTs. We would love to have you along but because of the terms of the funding, we simply can't.
So, why should I join?
Believe it or not we do everything in our power to make sure you don't have to join in order to get at least some benefit out of our network. We keep most of our online activities open to everyone if at all possible regardless of whether they belong to our network, another network or no network at all.
Because of the source of most of our funding, our Professional Development seminars and workshops are open to any VIT registered CRT currently teaching in Victorian Schools, not currently in permanent employment. We have travellers from as far afield as Euroa and Cobram and have no intention of closing the door on anyone who meets the DEECD criteria. We want to stress that you don't have to join our Network, or any of the other Networks, to attend these PDs.
Monthly meetings?
When VIT started it's CRT Support Network program it was with the intention of encouraging regular meetings for CRTs. The intention is for them to swap/discuss resources and do other things aimed at CRTs being able to obtain the required amount of Professional Development required to maintain your VIT registration.
This is why we try to have so much open online content. Because the area we cover is so large, it can be quite a drive to attend monthly meetings. While we would like to stress that we think joining and attending at least one or two meetings a year is a good idea, we realise that driving for an hour each way every month just isn't possible for a lot of people. We don't want to leave you out, it is still our desire to help you in every way possible!
Monthly meetings are partly about network business but that is usually over in a couple of minutes. They also involve some organization to run so we need to be able to keep track of who plans on attending, how much milk, tea and coffee we have to bring and the other mundane things that go along with that.
What else do you do at monthly meetings?
In keeping with VIT's original intentions we make sure the meetings remain focused on the goals of each of our CRTs exceeding the required amount of PD required to maintain their registration. We just try to make sure that, rather than being a monthly encounter with boredom you only go to in order to keep your registration, they are interesting social meetings that accomplish the VIT goals as an more as an after-thought.
We hold professional readings and discuss them, swap resources and discuss other aspects of being a CRT. From time to time we also have guest speakers whether they be union reps, local school staff, or whoever seems appropriate that the members want to have come in. Our venue is large enough that if the selected reading, or what the speaker is talking about, isn't relevant to you then you can grab yourself another space and do a different reading over a hot or cold drink with others. You can swap resources, links to PD pages, and even ask for advice in dealing with any classroom problems you may be having.
Being in a room full of years of personal experience and a novel's worth of classroom strategies is all part of the meetings. Take advantage of it!
Please keep in mind that although we keep VIT registration the focus of the meetings, that doesn't mean there's no time for other things and we try to concentrate on a social, friendly atmosphere too. Swapping stories of what happened to you at which school in the last month, discussing your daily life with friends and other social interaction is heartily encouraged!
With 10-12 meetings a year it's quite easy to maintain your VIT registration requirements and still spend some time just being social and blowing off a little steam with people who understand what you go through every day!
Is that it?
Monthly Meetings and DEECD funded seminars provide the majority of our activities but sometimes we can "swing a few extras". Occasionally we will be able to obtain funding from other sources for PD for just our network members. Network members will get first access to the positions available and it will be opened to other CRTs, at a later date, only if there's any places remaining.
The Wodonga CRT Support Network has no membership fees of any kind. We operate on a "User Pays" model for the funds necessary to run the network. This empowers those who would not take advantage of our services very often to be, and remain, members without fear of having to balance the benefits against a dollar sign.
Monthly Meetings and evening PD Workshops are gold coin donation to enter (unless you have a pass).
Full-day Professional Development Workshops carry a booking fee of $10 for CRTs. Note; as these Workshops are funded through the DEECD's CRT Professional Learning Support Initiative this is all you will pay for any DEECD funded PD.
Costs Involved.
The Wodonga CRT Support Network has no membership fees of any kind. We operate on a "User Pays" model for the funds necessary to run the network. This empowers those who would not take advantage of our services very often to be, and remain, members without fear of having to balance the benefits against a dollar sign.
Monthly Meetings and evening PD Workshops are gold coin donation to enter (unless you have a pass).
Full-day Professional Development Workshops carry a booking fee of $10 for CRTs. Note; as these Workshops are funded through the DEECD's CRT Professional Learning Support Initiative this is all you will pay for any DEECD funded PD.
None of the money gained in this way is transfered to any Network official. This money is entirely folded back into the Network. It is used for aquiring items the Network needs to run (handouts for meetings, our own Whiteboard, etc), things to make the overall experience better for our members (a capsule coffee machine and milk frothers for example) and to supply additional PD for CRTs.
In the end?
There's benefit to belonging, we just try to make it so that you don't need to belong to access at least some of the benefits. Before deciding on whether or not to join, we ask you to also read our Network PD and VIT information page. This sets out exactly how our PD opportunities go into maintaining your VIT registration.
Even if you think you will rarely be able to take advantage of anything we offer, we still welcome you as a member. We are as much a support and self-education group as we are PD opportunity providers.
If you think it's just too impractical to be a member, please feel to visit both of our blogs and take advantage of them anyway. We especially recommend keeping an eye on our PD Workshop opportunities and consider attending any that you think will benefit your teaching. You can find out about our upcoming PD opportunities by clicking the "PD Workshops" tab at the top of this page.
If you think it's just too impractical to be a member, please feel to visit both of our blogs and take advantage of them anyway. We especially recommend keeping an eye on our PD Workshop opportunities and consider attending any that you think will benefit your teaching. You can find out about our upcoming PD opportunities by clicking the "PD Workshops" tab at the top of this page.
Regards,
Melinda Lichnovsky-Klock,
Wodonga CRT Support Network Coordinator.
