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The PDFs below are a printable archive of Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletters. The originals were designed to be read in webmail format.
- 2025 Newsletters
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AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - March 2025
- 2024 Newsletters
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AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - November 2024
AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - October 2024
AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - September 2024
AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - August 2024
AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - July 2024
AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - June 2024
AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - May 2024
AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogy Newsletter - April 2024
- Early Childhood
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Recent Early Childhood Professional Learning:
Education Assistant Day
AISWA recently hosted the first of three EA Professional Learning Days for 2025. The day was well attended with participants from 18 AISWA schools.
Attendees joined sessions covering a range of topics including:
- Supporting EALD students;
- Literacy games to support individuals and small groups;
- Strategies to enhance the development of executive functions and behaviours of
- students including those with developmental differences eg. ADHD, Autism and
- FASD;
- Rights, responsibilities and routines.
If you are interested in attending a future session you can register here: 22/05 and 13/08.
A Transformative Visit from Kirsty Liljegren
Citizenship is lived in everyday moments; it is how we are with each other and in the daily rhythms of life (Liljegren, 2025).
Recently, we had the privilege of hosting Kirsty Liljegren, a renowned early childhood education consultant, advocate, and vice-Chairperson for Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange. Her visit was transformative, inspiring our educators to reflect on the key principles underpinning the schools of Reggio Emilia approach which are deeply aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF.V2). Kirsty emphasised the need to curate environments that foster genuine curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking, viewing children as capable active citizens. She also explored the role of the educator in WA Independent schools, prompting us to question: How do children experience citizenship in our settings? What traces of children are evident in our society? How might we re-imagine engaging with the community as a key part of early years pedagogy? As we continue to evolve our thinking in early childhood, let us consider how we can support children’s agency, enhance learning environments, and engage with our community to create enriching learning experiences.
Upcoming Early Childhood Professional Learning:
Maker Space - Recycled Construction and Loose Parts with REMIDA
This year AISWA EC is hosting a series of free after-school maker space sessions to give you a taste of elements that may be incorporated into STEM education & projects or a Design Technologies Maker Space. Participants will get to explore and play with a range of materials, resources and tools.
The first session will focus on cardboard construction and utilising loose parts to support STEM learning and play. In this session you will be introduced to makedo: tools designed for children to support cardboard construction. You will also explore a range of loose parts provided by ReMida and hear from experts about how loose parts can enhance experiences and provocations.
Recycled Construction with Loose Parts and ReMida - 02/04
Literacy Bites - Aboriginal Storytelling and Traditional Languages with Jayden Boundary
Literacy Bites are a series of workshops focused on Literacy and hosted by experts in the field. Each session will focus on a different aspect of literacy targeted at K-6 education. Workshops are stand alone, you can attend all or one of the workshop series.
In this session Jayden will speak on the history and importance of Aboriginal storytelling and the use of traditional languages. The importance of Aboriginal stories and books being accessible for children and young people and how to select appropriate resources. Jayden will also speak on the sensitivities around the difference between sharing language vs teaching language as a non aboriginal person.
Aboriginal Storytelling and Traditional Languages with Jayden Boundary - 13/05
Matching Quality Books to Learning and Teaching Focus with Andrea Hillbrick - 05/08
Multimodal Texts with Ron Gorman - 28/10
School Based Support
Did you know that AISWA Early Childhood consultants regularly provide in-school professional learning workshops?
We can tailor support and professional learning to the needs of your school. Our Early Childhood team offers expertise in:
- Sustainability
- Cultural Responsiveness
- Prior-to-school programs
- Pedagogy
- Play-based Learning
- Oral Language
- Early Literacy
If your school would like to arrange an in-school workshop on any topic relating to Early Childhood philosophy or practice, please ask your Early Childhood co-ordinator to reach out to our team via Janelle Dickinson.
Wendy Gorman - Manager - Support with policy, regulations and early childhood, PRA funding.
Lynne McCarney - Consultant - Support for play groups, Early Literacy, Behaviour guidance.
Melissa Kennedy - Consultant - Support for remote schools, Early Childhood targeted projects.
Debbie Bolton - Consultant - Support for NQS, Pedagogy and Leadership.
Janelle Dickinson - EC Support Officer - On entry assessment, Early Childhood administration.
Photo credit: Northshore Christian Grammar School
Previous Newsletters
2024:
Early Childhood April Newsletter
Early Childhood May Newsletter
Early Childhood June Newsletter
Early Childhood July Newsletter
Early Childhood August Newsletter
Early Childhood September Newsletter
Early Childhood October Newsletter
Early Childhood November Newsletter
2025:
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- Curriculum & School Improvement
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Manager, Phil Collins pcollins@ais.wa.edu.au
Consultants
Simon Fittock (Curriculum) sfittock@ais.wa.edu.au
Abby Robinson (Curriculum) arobinson@ais.wa.edu.au
Chris Witt (Animal Ethics) cwitt@ais.wa.edu.au
Kerry Handley (Literacy) khandley@ais.wa.edu.au
David Dunstan (Numeracy) ddunstan@ais.wa.edu.au
Clare Slyth (School Improvement) cslyth@ais.wa.edu.au
Sarah Wells (School Improvement) swells@ais.wa.edu.au
Wade McLeod (VET) wmcleod@ais.wa.edu.auCurriculum
• P-10 curriculum, assessment and reporting advice and support.
• Senior secondary curriculum, assessment and reporting advice and support.
• Curriculum reviews/audits.
• Specific project support including Einsteinian Science, Creative Learning, Leadership and support for AI initiatives.
• Support for Animal Ethics processes.
Literacy & Numeracy
• EAL/D student needs and using the EAL/D Progress Maps.
• Whole school approaches for effective literacy instruction.
• Resources and support for Brightpath.
• Implementation of the WA English P-10 Curriculum, including using works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait authors.
• Support for the literacy needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
• Whole school approaches for effective numeracy instruction and Teaching Place Value.
• Implementation of the WA Mathematics P-10 Curriculum (planned for 2026).
• Promotion of the Problem Solving and Reasoning mathematics proficiencies.
School Improvement
• High impact teaching instructional support.
• Mentoring and instructional coaching.
• Interrogation of NAPLAN and other data.
• School improvement planning and initiatives.
Vocational Education & Training (VET) and Career Education
• Delivery of VET in secondary schools (including funding applications).
• Career development programs, Years 7-12. - Leadership & Teaching Excellence
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Manager, Meika Pfeiffer-Gough
Consultant, Karen LeRaye kleraye@ais.wa.gov.au
• Leadership programs.
• Early Career Teacher mentoring and support.
• National Certification (Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher).
• Leadership networks.
• Leadership development and team management.
• Workforce initiatives.