Office of the Education Registrar - March 2024 Newsletter

This will be the 2nd Annual Tasmania ADHD Conference, and is set to be an insightful and incredible event. The Conference will be held on Saturday, 20th July at the beautiful C3 Convention Centre, and will run from 10am until 4pm (Doors will open at 8:30am).

The Conference will be a highly valuable and informative day for parents, educators, professionals, family members and friends of an individual with ADHD or suspected ADHD.

There will be 6 widely renowned expert speakers, each providing a wealth of information and strategies that you can use at home or at school, to help your child or child you work with. We will also have a variety of exhibitors as well.

This Conference will be suitable for anyone with an interest in ADHD. The fantastic line up of speakers will help with many different strategies, information and topics surrounding ADHD.

More information can be found at:

https://www.myspiritedchild.com/tasmania-adhd-conference-2024/

The below article is by Denise Cox who is currently the Chair of the Tasmanian Home Education Advisory Council (THEAC) and is mum to four amazing children, 2 of whom are currently in home education.  She has a passion for helping those with children with diverse learning needs and in forming connections towards supporting these families. 

I am not an expert, I am not a professional working within this field and I do not claim to be.  I am a mother to children on the spectrum who have a PDA profile.  I have many years lived experience of autism and PDA and home educating.  My children are a mix of mainstream and home education and are an example that one type of education doesn’t fit all.  There are positive and negative elements of both home education and mainstream schooling.  I am not saying one is better than the other.  I am promoting the idea to view each child as an individual and look at the ways they learn and engage best and offer support in whichever way fits their needs the best.

Home Education is not something that I had ever considered many years ago when my children first started school.  I had zero knowledge on what it was, how it worked or if it still even existed.  When I was at school, many moons ago, we had friends in the neighbourhood who were ‘home schooled’ and that’s about the only contact I had ever had with home education.  The idea of home education, what it involves, how it works etc. was never in my vision until one of my children started showing signs of school refusal.  Then my world as I knew it turned upside down.  I very quickly learnt a lot about home education and, all these years later, I have no regrets about making the dive and pulling him (and another since) out of mainstream school. 

When you are thrown into home education, not by free choice but by necessity, to begin with it can feel like you have been thrown into a pit of chaos, stress and overwhelm.  It can be tough enough to try and grapple with a diagnosis (or be on the never ending waiting list for one!), to try and work out the ins and outs of the NDIS, deal with the Allied Health network let alone be responsible for the education of your child on top of everything else. 

Where does one start?  What curriculum to use? How will I find time to research while I am trying to calm my child from what feels like the 10th meltdown of the day and it’s only 11am?  How will I ever see anyone again?  How will I get my child to engage in ANY work?  What constitutes enough work?  What evidence do I need to show?  What is a HESP and how on earth will I find time to write one of those?!!!  Sound familiar?  And, while all this is going on you are battling with people who dearly love you but question the decision you have made to home educate.  ‘What about trying a different school?’  ‘What about e school?’  ‘What if someone else tried to take him/her to school?’  ‘But how will they socialise?’….are some of the questions fired at you faster than you have time to process.

I always find it interesting that the first thing anyone ever says when you tell them you home educate is ‘what about socialisation?  How will they ever make friends?’  For some reason society seems to think that home education means locking your child up within 4 walls of a house and never letting them see daylight or other people again!  ‘Why is that?’  I often wonder, but I honestly believe it is because, unless someone has had some connection to someone who home educates, they simply have no knowledge of what home education is and how it works. 

And how it works is different for every family, that’s one of the beautiful things about home education.  It is what YOU make of it.  You tailor your program to meet the needs of your child/ren and your family’s own needs.  Not the needs of 20 other children.  Your child.  The way they learn.  The way they engage.  The way they operate. 

Educating children with diverse learning needs can be difficult.  It can be exhausting.  It can be frustrating but it can also be very rewarding.

You can make changes to make life easier.  The first thing I say to people when they bring their child out of the school system and into home education, particularly when their child has a diverse learning need, is to forget the ‘9-3’ mentality.  Learning happens all the time, not just between 9-3.  Forget how it operates in mainstream school.  You took your child out for a reason so don’t try and replicate what society has been moulded into accepting.  Forget the mainstream way of doing things.  Chances are you are here because that didn’t work.  It does work well for some children but not for yours as you are here. 

I’m going to share some experiences about educating a child/ren with a PDA profile.   Pathological Demand Avoidance syndrome (PDA) is a form of Autism not yet formally recognised in Australia however, we are seeing more and more children fitting the PDA profile.  Children with a PDA profile find the school environment difficult.  PDA profiles perceive a task as a demand and avoid it due to extreme anxiety.  PDA is different to Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD).  PDA is anxiety based.  ODD is behaviour based.  Parenting a child with PDA requires a different mentality to parenting non PDA profiles.  You are going to need some specific strategies on board for parenting and educating a child with PDA as well as bucket loads of patience topped with the ability to see humour in some very trying circumstances! 

The biggest thing you need to do when parenting a child with PDA is to completely flip conventional parenting on its head.  That is the first step, and it’s a pretty important step, it is possibly one of the hardest in this process of moving forward.  We are moulded to parent in a particular way.  It can be very difficult to accept that the best way forward for children with a PDA profile goes against everything we have been conditioned to believe about being a ‘good parent’.  You need to accept that in order to move forward, you need to parent differently, and that goes against the grain and against every voice in your head that’s telling you to just be firm and consistent and they’ll learn not to behave in that way.  This does not work.  The more you try, the further backwards you will go.  It’s like taking a teeny tiny step forwards and being shot back 100 giant steps.  Sounds familiar?  Then read on!

If you want progress, if you value your sanity, if you want to instil a sense of calm and order and, above all, create an environment where your child can re-engage with learning, then you must flip conventional parenting on its head.  For children with a PDA profile, it’s all about choices.  Choices give back control.  Control reduces anxiety.  Less anxiety equals engagement.  Engagement equals learning.  Learning equals progress.  Progress equals growth.  Growth equals a happy family (and a calm parent).

You need to be clever at how you approach this.  Accept you will make mistakes along the way.  You will get good at giving the right choices.  Never give more than 2 choices.  Lower your expectations.  Then lower them again.  And lower one more time.  Start small, grow big.  Offer 2 choices, for example, ‘would you like to start with a game of hangman or a maths work sheet today?’  or ‘Would you like to start with maths or spelling this morning?’ or ‘would you like to do one or two maths sheets today?’ or ‘I can see you don’t seem regulated today, would you like to go for a walk and come back and see how you are feeling?’. 

Do not outline a long list of expectations in the morning and present a tick sheet for when they are all done.  For a child with a PDA profile this represents a ‘demand’ and demands trigger anxiety and this then triggers avoidance.  How your child reacts to the demand might be slightly different but most will just refuse.  A meltdown might trigger.  Your day, and your expectations for the day, suddenly get turned upside down and your home becomes a highly hostile environment and you spend the next few hours second guessing yourself for home educating in the first place while trying to battle a war within your own home.  It can quickly become a show down between parent and child.  Those wonderful visions of a beautiful blissful morning of learning with a pile of completed worksheets to show for it quickly disappear out the window faster than the vision entered your mind!  Instead you are left dealing with a child that has stronger refusal power than the worst stain on your best top.  It’s not enjoyable.  It’s stressful.  It is isolating and it is not in any way shape or form creating a positive or productive learning environment for your child.

First step.  Flip conventional parenting on it’s head.  Forget about what others say.  It’s your child, your home, their education.  This doesn’t mean that your child can do as she/he wants either.  You still have ground rules but you don’t use ‘do’ and ‘don’t’ instead, you use choices.  And you get very clever about those choices. 

Second step.  Lower expectations.  Lower again.  Lower another time.  Don’t create check lists.  Don’t leave a pile of worksheets for your child.  Don’t present them with work books.  If you can, photo copy a page at a time.  Presenting a child with a PDA profile with an entire workbook (even if you only expect 1-2 pages to be completed), creates pressure and this creates demand.  Demand equals avoidance.  Don’t do it.  Over time you will be able to build up your expectations but also, time will give you a better indication of how they best learn and engage and you will no doubt find that your program changes as time goes on.

Third step.  Give choices.  No more than 2 choices at a time.  Be clever about your choices.  You will get good at this with time.  Stick to your choices.  PDA profiles can be masters of manipulation. 

Fourth step.  Accept that you are going to need time.  You will find that, as you begin this learning journey together, over time, you will be able to increase the complexity of your choices, increase the expectation and have them further engage in learning.  Don’t rush this.  It may take quite some time (months even) before you start to see them shine.  Once you see it, run with it.  Don’t get too enthusiastic though-PDA profiles don’t like to be in the spot light and they may interpret your enthusiasm as a demand and you will very quickly dismantle all the progress you have made.  It’s kind of like having to sit on your hands at a concert/show and not be able to clap.  It’s difficult to contain your inner happiness and joy and you just want to jump up and down and shout to the neighbours and yell out ‘we are doing this!  It’s working!’  Don’t do it.  You will un-do all your hard work and the neighbours might think home education has sent you a little bonkers…

PDA profiles generally don’t like to be in the spot light.  This means they don’t like you talking about them in front of them to other people -which can make Allied Health Appointments very difficult.  Think ahead.  Email the Allied Health provider a background before you go.  They also don’t like their work shared.  They don’t like photos of themselves or their work taken.  They don’t like direct praise, especially in front of others.  This does not mean they shouldn’t receive praise for a job well done.  They need to be recognised for their efforts but not directly.  Again, you need to get clever about this.  Over time, you will be able to photograph their work as evidence, you will be able share some of their work with the Registration Officer or family but you must talk openly about this with the child for weeks or sometimes months before it happens.  Plant the seed, let it grow.  Water it frequently with gentle discussion.  Do not dictate that it will happen ‘or else’.  Remember, any perceived ‘demand’ will be met with avoidance/refusal. 

PDA profiles are typically perfectionists and won’t attempt anything that they think they will get wrong.  New concepts presented to them can result in a sudden war breaking out in your house.  Don’t force it.  Leave it and come back to it.  Be gentle in your approach.  Make mistakes yourself and pull yourself up over it.  Do this time and time again.  Do the maths, get it wrong.  Talk out loud.  Own your mistakes.  Show them that we all make mistakes and, after all, this is how we learn best. 

Do not present written tests to a child with a PDA profile.  Do not even mention the word ‘test’.  Tests are an automatic trigger for refusal.  If you need to test, try and do it verbally.  You can be clever and do it in a way that is not seen as a test.  I spent a long time educating my child on the concept of tests and making a point to say tests are not to test how good or not so good they are at something but on what I am missing as an educator.  Tests sound out what I have missed in my job as educator to them.  This took a long time, years in fact. 

PDA profiles can find it very difficult to actually say when something is too hard or too easy.  There is a very fine line between work presented to them being ‘too easy’ and ‘too difficult’.  Refusal will result from both of these.  It can be difficult to work out what they are thinking.  A great way to help here is to get a paper plate, some coloured paper (green, blue and red), paste a third of the green paper, a third of the blue and a third of the red paper onto the plate to make up the circle.  Put a hole in the middle of the plate.  Label the blue ‘too boring’, the red ‘too difficult’ and the green ‘just right’.  Cut out an arrow out of cardboard and stick it in the hole in the middle of the plate.  When dong work, ask the child to move the dial to whichever colour represents how they are feeling with the work.  I used this method for years and it worked brilliantly until they felt comfortable to be able to tell me instead.

If you child has a special interest, as most children on the spectrum do, use it, use it, use it!  It is absolutely amazing just what learning you can pull out of one area of special interest.  You can cover most of the standards by doing this.  I can guarantee there is no better way to engage them in learning than to allow them to take the lead in an area which is of great interest to them.  Interests will fade but new ones always replace them.  Connect with your child, connect with their interest/s, do not direct those interests.  Let them direct you-yes that goes against the grain but this is where you must get your head around ‘flipping conventional parenting’.  Connect rather than direct.  Follow their lead, see where their learning takes you.  It can lead to incredible learning pathways for both your child and you!

The best piece of advice I can give you here is to document everything.  Note the conversations, the websites, the excursions, the books, the podcasts etc.  Don’t think, it’s OK that’s a massive topic and a real area of interest, I’ll remember that for sure when it comes time to writing my next HESP or my Registration visit.  The chances are there may have been another 6 areas of interest by then and life is busy and we forget all the incidental learning that takes place.  Document, document, document!  Buy an A4 size thick note book and use tabs for each standard.  Customise it to how it best suits you but by having tabs for the 10 standards, each time you do a learning activity or have a conversation, note it down in the relevant section of your notebook/journal.  This will start to form a record of your program, demonstrate progress and help you evaluate your program for your next HESP.  This then helps to formulate a plan.  You might find for the first part of your home education journey that you don’t have much to physically show but if you keep up to date records you will soon discover that you actually have quite a bit to show for your days and, over time, the way you deliver your program will evolve as your child relaxes into their own pattern of learning.  It won’t always be difficult.  I promise.  Give it time, a bucket load of patience and stick with it and you will start to turn the corner. 

This is your time, and your child’s time, to shine.  It is up to us to re-educate society on how flexible home education can be.  Don’t think you have to be set on one way of educating, one way of proving progress, there are many different ways to run a home education program.  You don’t need piles of completed worksheets to demonstrate progress.  Chances are that if you ‘force’ your child to complete work sheet after worksheet that they aren’t learning anyway, they are merely just doing it because they have to.  Observe how your child best engages and adapt your role to that way of learning and engagement.  Be flexible in your thinking.  What works for one child won’t always work for the next, even if they have a similar profile, and I can testify to that!  Be proud of yourself as an educator.  Be proud of your child’s way of learning.  Be proud of home education.  You should be as it is bloody hard work!

The Tasmanian Government Personal Information Card is a form of identification that can be used by people of all ages to provide evidence of their identity and age. The card is valid for five years and costs $29​.

Here is a link to the web page with more information Apply for, renew or replace a personal information card | Service Tasmania  or you can visit your closest Service Tasmania office.

Libraries Tasmania have published their March Highlights Newsletter. 

For more information please visit March highlights: Explore Exciting Events Now! | News - Libraries Tasmania

Parliament House saw lots of home educations groups in 2023 and are hoping for more of the same this year.

With that in mind, please find attached a letter from the House of Assembly Education Office, inviting home education groups to take part in parliamentary education. Attached are three flyers that contain more detailed information about each of the onsite programs. 

If you have any queries about any of the programs, please feel free to respond via email at haeo@parliament.tas.gov.au or call  directly on 6212 2275.

The BiG Day In is a national STEM careers conference - designed by students for students. BiG Day In events are for Year 9-12 school students to explore careers in technology. Held on Australian University campuses, students gain insight into ‘university life’ and are able to make better informed decisions about their future.

Students interact with to 7-8 sessions covering career paths, career opportunities, the latest developments, and the future of technology.  In the breaks, students visit the exhibitor stands to speak with company and university representatives.

Students learn about courses, degrees, work experience, internships, apprenticeships and engage with hands-on demonstrations of awesome technology.

The University of Tasmania is excited to host the 2024 BiG Day In Tasmania - IT Careers Conference. Details below:

• Date: Wednesday, 5 June 2024
• Time: 9:00am to 2:30pm
• Venue: Stanley Burbury Theatre, University Centre, Sandy Bay Campus of the University of Tasmania.
• Price: $5 per student and free for teachers.

Don't miss out on presentations by organisations like Tasmanian Government, Woolworths, TCS, Wisetech Global and more.

Book your tickets early and stay tuned for details on confirmed speakers and exhibitors.

For more information, please visit the  BiG Day in website.

Click link below to register -  BiG Day In Tasmania - Wednesday 5 June 2024 @ UTAS, Sandy Bay | Book Your Tickets Below (eventsmart.com) 

Calling for student registrations for this year's program! 

The Tasmanian Youth Climate Leaders Program supports young people (aged 10-18 years) to build capacity to take action on climate change. The program runs between March and September each year, and involves students working with their peers to gain a greater understanding of climate change and deliver a climate action project.

The program aims to build a network of young people who are passionate about climate science, climate justice, STEM, and sustainability, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to support on- ground actions in their local communities and beyond. Central to the program are two annual conferences held in the North, North West and South of the state, but online options will be available for students to participate remotely!

Travel and project funding is also available to support students participating in the program.

To find out more information about this year's program and to register visit - https://slt.org.au/yclp/ 

Still have questions? Contact the Program Coordinator, Lisa Cawthen, at lisa@slt.org.au

An information sheet with further details is also attached and available via our website. 

The Tasmanian Youth Climate Leaders Program is a collaboration within the Education for Sustainability Tasmania network by the University of Tasmania and Sustainable Living Tasmania, and is supported by the Tasmanian Government through Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania.

Entrants are invited to explore, reflect and create on the following theme: “Ocean”

This theme encourages children and young people to explore the beauty of the ocean and it’s   ecosystem, to create artworks that showcases the ocean’s flora and fauna, the impact of climate change on the ocean, or the importance of preserving the ocean’s natural resources.

• Entry is free for students and young people Kindergarten - Grade 12 (4- 18 years) 
• Further information is on the attached entry form and here- https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaeMwoKGCt5hxSi1Haavhm9Zrh1pkn1Tu&si=VJ91U6EmbRgUgixh

This Harmony Week, meet the characters in Eddie’s Lil’ Homies and learn how they navigate the fun and challenges of friendship. Each character brings unique skills and perspectives to the playground: embracing and respecting these differences makes the gang stronger!

Students in Foundation to Year 2 are invited to join the ACTF, ACMI and AFL legend Eddie Betts in this engaging virtual workshop. Eddie will discuss the characters in the new children’s series Eddie’s Lil’ Homies, and what we can learn from their interactions.

Students will apply their learning by designing a fictional character based on their qualities and skills. Follow-up activities for the classroom will also be provided to teachers.

More information can be found at: Friendship and fun with Eddie's Lil' Homies Virtual Workshop | ACTF

Audience: Young people aged 15-19

Researchers from the University of Tasmania are conducting a research project about how young people and the important adults in their lives think and feel about their futures, in the context of key challenges such as climate change. We are looking for young people to partner with us as co-researchers for a two-day research workshop.

As a part of this research project, we are seeking to partner with approximately 20 young people as co-researchers on the project. They are seeking the involvement of diverse young people living in Tasmania, between the ages of 15 and 19 years.

Young co-researchers will be asked to attend a two-day workshop. Day one will just include the young co-researchers. They will be asked to invite an important adult in their life from an older generation to attend with them on day two of the workshop.

This opportunity will lead to skill enhancement for young people, such as communication skills, interviewing skills, problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity. They will also be reimbursed with a $200 gift voucher as recognition for their time and expertise.

Young people can indicate their willingness to be involved in the project by completing this expression of interest form. Due to limitations in resourcing and project scope, not all young people who fill in the expression of interest form may be selected to be a co-researcher. This decision will be made based on recruiting a diverse sample of young people from a variety of socio demographic contexts.

The project is being led by Charlotte Jones as part of her PhD at the University of Tasmania. This project has been approved by the University of Tasmania Human Research Ethics Committee, with Project ID: H0030056

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Charlotte: CA.Jones@utas.edu.au 

Reth!nk Waste Tasmania are delighted to open the Rethink Waste Ag Artwear Competition for Agfest 2024!

Reth!nk Waste Tasmania would like to invite students (including home educated students)  to become involved in this year’s competition.

It has become a popular attraction at Agfest Field Days with many patrons flocking to Central Arena to view the garments created and listening to their inspiration stories.

Reth!nk Waste Tasmania offer prizes in all three categories, as well as a prize for People’s Choice. The competition will be held onsite during Agfest 2024, the main parade and judging will be on Saturday, 4 May 2024

More information can be found at Ag Artwear Competition (agfest.com.au)

Please see below Save the Date poster for the upcoming Careers Expo on 3 September 2024 at the Tailrace Centre, Riverside.

The focus of this expo will be youth and will be inclusive of youth of all cohorts.

The Northern Employment and Business Hub would like to invite students that would feel that they would benefit from this experience and are planning on having exhibitors from a wide range of industries along with a breakout room for guest speakers to communicate with smaller audiences via practical workshops.

Students numbers will be capped and ideally they would like students from a wide range of locations to be able to attend.

Please RSVP to Tania May by Thursday, 28 March 2024 via email at tania.may@bbamz.com.au.

Online safety for our children is a big issue for parents and guardians. The  eSafety Commissioner has many resources and free webinars that help parents and guardians to navigate this to understand the risks and how to support your child if there are any concerns.

eSafety is Australia's independent regulator for online safety and educate Australians about online safety risks and help to remove harmful content such as cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse and intimate images or videos shared without consent.

Parents are able to access the eSafety Commissioner’s Classroom resources to support educating your child on how to recognise an unsafe situation when using digital technologies.  

In the Parents section of the eSafety website, you will find videos and downloadable advice sheets such as Online safety for every family, these short videos, and easy-to-read resources are also available in languages other than English.

eSafety also have family tech agreements, which help set rules for devices in the home, information sheets, and express learning for busy families videos all about supporting young people to deal with online safety issues. eSafety has also made available some free books and brochures, you can download or order for your community.

Plesae see the  2024 Parent and carer webinar schedule  for free webinars that are on offer per Term.

To keep up to date with eSafety advice, resources and webinar registration details, you can sign up their newsletter at Subscribe to eSafety news | eSafety Commissioner or  visit their  Twitter and Facebook pages.