The first ever National New Educators' Conference was held at the Queensland Teachers' Union in Brisbane on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st October.

What an experience it was for the Delegates who travelled to Brisbane from all states and territories of Australia.

For some, it was the first Union Conference they had attended and the knowledge and experience they gained over the course of this weekend was invaluable.

The Conference was opened by AEU Federal President, Mr Angelo Gavrielatos. He spoke to the delegates regarding issues affecting every union member.

This included NAPLAN, My Schools' Website, the proposed 'bonus pay' for schools and the importance of the school funding review.

It is imperative that every school engages with their community to compile a submission to ensure equity for government schools across the country.

We also had the opportunity to hear from the Chief Executive Officer from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Mr Peter Hill.

Mr Hill provided some background information and the progress of the National Curriculum, which is due to be fully implemented across the country in 2013.

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The National Curriculum will be implemented in phases and is the result of Australian Governments committing to working in collaboration with all school sectors to support all young Australians to become successful learners and confident and creative individuals.

It is a 21st Century Curriculum which encapsulates cross curricular perspectives (Asia, Sustainability and Indigenous history and culture), general capabilities (Literacy, Numeracy, ICT, creative & critical thinking, personal & social competence, intercultural understanding, ethical behaviour) and is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of student abilities.

Mr David Wynne (NSWTF) addressed the Conference, sharing with us his role and what NSWTF is doing to support New Educators in his state.

In NSW, they have a New Educator Network, weekend conferences and one day courses designed specifically for New Educators, graduate seminars (speaking with student teachers at Universities) and an annual New Activists Conference run by New Activists.

Mr Andrew Cassidy (AEU VIC) spoke of similar programs available to their New Educators.

In addition, they have a number of Conferences throughout the year dedicated to Primary and Secondary sectors, Student Teachers, PD in the Pub, Meet the Principals, applying for jobs as well as providing newsletters once a semester.

Mr Cassidy is the Graduate Teacher/Universities Organiser. This position was created in 2004.

Ms Ged Kearney, ACTU President, also addressed the Conference.

She spoke of the importance of being a part of a union and that a union must be relevant to its members.

A number of issues were also addressed by Ms Kearney including work place rights, the Federal Election, Fair Work Act and the controversial funding policy.

We are agents for Social Change and big campaigns are about social justice. Over the course of the weekend, we had the opportunity to converse with New Educators from across the state and territories. It was interesting to discuss different types of professional support that is offered in each state/territory and to share experiences as New Educators.

Although it is relatively new in WA to provide opportunities that cater specifically for our New Educators, we came away from the weekend with a number of new ideas to share with Executive.

It is an exciting area of growth for our Union and one that we must embrace.