THEAC Newsletter

The days are quickly becoming shorter and fresher, the nights longer and much cooler!  Autumn is providing us with a taste of the cooler, darker months ahead sprinkled with some of those beautiful warm, blue-sky backdrop days that Autumn brings.  The leaves are slowly starting to turn into shades of yellow before they paint the trees red in a few weeks’ time.  Autumn is truly a beautiful time of the year and gently (or sometimes not so gently!) re-introduces us to the cooler months ahead with Winter being just around the corner.

As another season rolls by it’s easy to forget all the learning that has taken place over summer.  Those trips to the beach on a hot summer’s day, splashing in the sea, fossicking in the rock pools, digging up crabs have all provided numerous natural learning opportunities.  The social catchups over a BBQ or a picnic, exploring the bush or forests while on nature walks, swimming at water holes or at the pool, having met up over some ice-cream are all opportunities for learning and development.  I hope you have all been able to dip your toes into the water over summer and have some time to relax and re-energise ready for the year ahead.

THEAC hopes you had a chance to attend the online seminars for educating children with diverse learning needs.  These were held online in February.  The first was conducted by Alison Hopwood (OT) and the second by Catherine Silcock (SP).  The feedback received so far has been positive and we would appreciate any further feedback from these seminars which can be emailed to admin@theac.tas.gov.au.

In Tasmania, there are currently 1433 registered home educated students across 835 families.  There were also 46 5-year-old students beginning their home education journey in 2023 and we would like to say a special ‘welcome’ to them.  To those entering their final year of home education before they leave to move onto college, university, apprenticeships or the workforce, we encourage you to reflect on your learning journey, set some goals for your final year and enjoy the pathway to reaching those goals. 

The next couple of months sees a peak in renewal home education applications which therefore puts the OER under extra pressure so please be patient when contacting the office. 

On behalf of THEAC, I would like to congratulate Katharine O’Donnell on her recent appointment to Director Education Regulation.  We would like to say a special ‘thank you’ to Katharine for all her support over the years and we wish her all the best in her new role.  THEAC welcomes Jo Spencer into the role of Acting Registrar.  Jo has been working closely with THEAC for some time now and we look forward to continuing our relationship with her within her new role. 

Enjoy the last of the warmer days before they disappear, take the time to marvel at the beauty Autumn brings and cherish in all the wonderful learning opportunities a change in season brings. 

Denise Cox
THEAC Chair