Term 2 is upon us and for many teachers Term 1 2022 was the longest of their teaching career! MAWA thanks everyone for understanding that keeping our staff healthy and safe has required some reduction in opening hours. We anticipate a return in normal office hours in the next few weeks. Due to government and school restrictions, MAWA made the decision to postpone our Have Sum Fun Face to Face competition and our Maths Expo until later in the year. As always our most important consideration is the safety of everyone who attends our events and we thank you for your understanding and continuing support. We have rescheduled these to Term 3, exact dates for Have Sum Fun are being finalised at present and the Maths Expo is on Sunday 18 September.We look forward to seeing you in person at these events. Fortunately Have Sum Fun Online will be back in full swing from this term. Please don’t hesitate to register at www.havesumfunonline.com. We also have Maths Talent Quest open for registration in Term 2, and we are delighted to have Scitech as a sponsor of Maths Talent Quest class entries this year. State class winners will receive a complimentary class entry to Scitech so that they can investigate the many displays and explore mathematics. Just over a month ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to introduce the keynote speaker for MAWA’s 2022 Virtual Maths Conference, Dr Tom Crawford from the UK. Due to the time difference, Tom was speaking to us live at 2 AM his time and yet he delivered a great presentation packed with ideas to get students thinking and engaged in mathematics. Tom was supported by an array of excellent presenters from across Australia including our own Dr Paul Swan, Jody Crothers, Donna Buckley, and Dion Alfonsi. Don’t worry if you think you missed out on this event; the speakers generously gave permission for MAWA to record their sessions and the package of recordings will be made available to schools on an annual subscription basis. We understand that teachers have never been busier than they are right now and feel that acccess to these recordings for the remainder of the year will allow all staff to benefit from the PL when they have the opportunity to access it. If you are interested in purchasing the recordings for your school, please email office@mawa.edu.au. Just last week MAWA held its Annual General Meeting for 2022 and it was my pleasure to be able to present the Annual Report to those who attended in person and online. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Paula McMahon, Shannon Taylor and Leighland Swan in particular for preparing an Annual Report to which Mr Barry Kissane recorded his appreciation on behalf of the membership, commenting that MAWA continues to be a vibrant organisation. The AGM also provided an opportunity for MAWA to acknowledge the contributions made by those Board members who had finished their term of service. Our sincere thanks to Donna Buckley, Wendy Pero, Dion Alfonsi and Lesley Stoffels for your many contributions over the years. We are thrilled that Donna will continue to work with the Student Activities Committee and that Wendy will continue as Convenor of our Annual Conference. We were also very pleased to welcome Alan Sadler, Sheila Griffin and Joli Mendez on to the Board and look forward to working with them. A MAWA Board Director recently shared a link to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Click here to view. Though the assessment structure is not suitable for WA ATAR courses there are some interesting contexts that may spark creativity for ATAR course teachers. MAWA has and will continue to operate slightly short staffed over the coming weeks as Paula has unfortunately come down with Covid and as Tom recovers from his back surgery. Thank you to all those students, parents and teachers who have sent their well wishes for a speedy recovery. To keep abreast of everything your association is offering to students, teachers and parents, please visit the MAWA website www.mawainc.org.au. Dr John West, President & Paula McMahon, Executive Officer
|
