Australian Capital Territory

Dear Colleagues, Members, patrons and friends of ACEL gathered on 23 May at the National Portrait Gallery for the 12th Annual Ministers Breakfast. This is one of our premier events in the ACT and each of our sectors were represented this year by their leaders who included Jo Wood, Pam Betts, Andrew Wrigley, Martin Watson, Dr Tony Bracken and Angela Spence. The University of Canberra was represented by Dr Michael Brown and ACU was represented by Dr Judith Norris. Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry has continued to be a generous supporter of the Minister’s Breakfast over a number of years and delivered a powerful address. She was very ...

Dear Colleagues and friends, I hope this Newsletter finds you well at the beginning of Term 2. We had a very successful Awards ceremony in March at which colleagues from each of our sectors were honoured for their contributions to educational leadership and research in the ACT in 2024. Following a call for nominations for our 2025 ACT Awards we have had a wonderful response across the Territory. The Awards committee will meet in Term 3 to discern these and are looking forward to holding our Awards ceremony early in Term 4. Plans are well underway for the ACEL ACT Ministers Breakfast on 23 May at the National Portrait Gallery. This is a very popular ...

Dear colleagues, I hope that the term is progressing well in each of your sectors in the ACT. Momentum is building as a number of a number of key professional opportunities continue to be generated by ACEL for educators across our nation and preparations are made for our annual conference in October. I am delighted to advise that at our recent Awards Ceremony our 2024 leaders representing each of our sectors in the ACT were esteemed for their individual educational leadership exemplars which showcased significant careers, emerging ideas in research, teaching and leadership practice locally and nationally. Congratulations to each of these colleagues ...

Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the 2025 academic year. I hope that for those of you who have been on leave have had a restful break. The Branch Executive are one again very excited about the opportunity to contribute to the work of progressing ACEL as a national and local peak body in the life of our profession. Our 2025 Branch Executive include Dr Tony Bracken, Tracey Taylor, Nicole Jaggers, Melissa Planton, Maria O’Donnell and Dr Kirk Zwangobani. Each of these educators brings vast experience and a range of interests and leadership skills to the work of ACEL and our Branch. While we are a small jurisdiction compared to the other states we have ...

Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the November edition of our Newsletter. Thank you to Melissa Planten, Principal UC Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra who has written a reflection on our recent National Conference in Adelaide. Reimagining Education: A future beyond boundaries ACEL National Conference 2024 Adelaide Convention Centre As the day began at the Reimaging Education ACEL Conference 2024 we acknowledged the Kaurna people as the custodians of the lands and waters of the   Adelaide   region, on which we were meeting. A beautiful venue on the banks of the River Torrens, there is something exhilarating when among a group ...

Dear Colleagues, I am very pleased to announce the inaugural ACT Branch Spring event on 30 October 2024 from 4.30 – 6.00 pm at which we will have Danial Pinchas General Manager AITSL lead a networking and workshop event for educational leaders in the ACT. I look forward to seeing you at our Conference in Adelaide and at our ACT Branch event in October. Strengthening middle leadership: Discover the new AITSL Professional Standards for Middle Leaders Middle leaders play a crucial role in educational leadership. Join us for a networking workshop event to unpack the new AITSL Professional Standards for Middle Leaders and how they assist you to lead ...

Dear Colleagues, I hope this Newsletter finds you well especially those who returned to school last week following the mid Semester break. I am very pleased to say that momentum is building around the National Conference Reimagining Education: A future beyond boundaries in Adelaide with many delegates attending from the ACT. This is a great tribute to our membership and to the confidence that members have in the quality of our ACEL conferences as professional learning and networking opportunities. Please continue to promote the National Conference with both colleagues who are members and non members. The ACEL Executive are meeting on ...

Dear colleagues, Our annual ‘ Breakfast with the Minister’ held at the National Portrait Gallery on 17 May was an outstanding success again this year with over 70 members and their guests from each of our sectors in the ACT in attendance. This is a great tribute to our profession, your interest in ACEL and collaborating with each other, and especially the opportunity to hear from our Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Education Yvette Berry who is a great supporter of our work and of ACEL. Thank you to Dr Tony Bracken , Deputy Director of Catholic Education who will lead this edition of our Newsletter with some editorial remarks. ACEL ACT colleagues ...

Dear Members, I hope this Newsletter finds you well at the beginning of Term 2. We had a very successful Awards ceremony in March at which colleagues from each of our sectors were honoured for their contributions to educational leadership and research in the ACT. We are currently planning the Ministers Breakfast on 17 May at the National Portrait Gallery. Please don’t forget to register as this is a very popular event. I have taken the liberty of inviting members of our Executive to write the editorial comments for each edition of our Newsletter this year. Tracey Taylor who is a highly respected educator and previous Principal of Samford Valley ...

Dear colleagues, I hope that the term has begun well. I am looking forward to the Branch events and initiatives in 2024 that will promote the vision of ACEL as a peak organization committed to growing and nurturing the collective wisdom of educational leaders, of leveraging our individual and collective cross sectoral strengths and of providing opportunities for learning to engender a leadership worldview. To that end on 14 March 2024, at our ACT Awards ceremony which will be held at the Loft, we will esteem the leadership of colleagues from each of our sectors in a number of categories. On behalf of the ACT Branch Executive and members, I wish to express ...

Dear Colleagues, I am delighted to be following Dr Kirk Zwangobani as President of the ACEL ACT Branch in 2024 and wish to acknowledge and commend Kirk’s exceptional leadership and work to our ACT membership. The Branch Executive has gained some new members this year from each of our 3 sectors and all are very excited about the opportunity to contribute to the work of progressing ACEL as a national and local peak body in the life of our profession. Our 2024 Branch Executive include Dr Tony Bracken, Tracey Taylor, Nicole Jaggers, Melissa Planton, Maria O’Donnell and Dr Kirk Zwangobani. Each of these educators brings vast experience and a range ...

Welcome to the November edition of Branch News. I am delighted to be following Dr Kirk Zwangobani as President of the ACT Branch of ACEL. Kirk has been an exceptional leader of our Branch over the past 3 years and has represented us at ACEL forums and as a member of its Editorial Committee. Most importantly he has brought energy and confidence to the work of ACEL in our local community and this has been deeply appreciated by all of our members in the ACT. Thank you Kirk. Thank you also to the wonderful Executive committee that have supported Kirk and our Branch members over the past 3 years. I would like to take the opportunity to welcome our newly elected committee ...

Dear Members, As always, I hope this newsletter finds you well. This is my last newsletter for ACEL ACT, and as they say, it has been an honour and privilege to be the President. In keeping my farewell short and on point, what follows are several thanks yous and a snapshot of 2020-2023. Thank you to the team at the ACEL Head Office and the national board. The last few years has been a difficult time for educational leadership, and being part of a team responsible for the stewardship of a member based not-for-profit organisation has not been without its challenges. Working with you at both a national and local level will be sorely missed. As far as challenges ...

Dear ACEL colleagues, I hope this newsletter finds you well. This will be my penultimate newsletter, as I will be departing the ACEL ACT executive following the national conference this year. It has been one of the most rewarding endeavours to be the president of ACEL ACT and national director over the past few years, and I thank you all for your support! I hope in my last newsletter in the coming month to share some of the highlights. Incoming ACEL ACT Executive I would like to introduce the incoming ACT Executive who will take up their roles in October. Congratulations and welcome to two new executives to the ACT Branch Tracey Taylor and ...