No. 17-21, 18 May 2021 | DOWNLOAD PDF 

TO: QTU MEMBERS
 

Have your say in QCT board election

State school teachers and school leaders have an opportunity to elect two practicing teachers to represent them on the board of the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) in an online ballot opening Friday 21 May 9:00am and closing on Friday 11 June 11:59pm.

The Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) is endorsing two QTU members: Natalie Montague-Clarke and Brent Woollett. Both are active QTU members who have a range of QTU experience. Natalie has been a member of the board for the past five years.

To ensure that the interests of the 48,000 members of the QTU are represented, it is important that QTU members vote in the ballot. The QCT has informed us that, due to crown law advice, teachers can vote once for only one person, even though there are two positions.

Therefore, members are encouraged to vote for one of the two candidates endorsed by the QTU. You can find their bios here on our website.

The vote will be conducted through the independent voting company GoVote. Eligible members will receive an email with voting instructions and more information and then a second email with login details. If you are having any issues casting your vote, please email the GoVote support team.

Role of the QCT

The QCT has also played an important role as the certifying authority for the certification of highly accomplished teachers and lead teachers.

While the QCT is set up under Queensland Government legislation, it is not funded by the government. The college is funded by teacher registration fees, and it is vital that Queensland teachers and school leaders have an effective say in its decisions.

One of the hallmarks of professions is that they regulate themselves, and particularly the standards for entry and continuing registration in the profession. The college board consists of 15 people, of who only nine are required to be practicing teachers.

It is important that the teachers on the board work collaboratively to ensure that the decisions of the college are made in the best interests of registered teachers and the teaching profession.

Make sure you vote for one of the two QTU endorsed candidates: Natalie Montague-Clarke or Brent Woollett.

School Strike 4 Climate

The Queensland school climate strike will be held at 1pm at King George Square on Friday, 21 May.

If the Morrison Government cared about us and about workers, they would not continue to take us backwards on climate as the world moves forward, investing in secure jobs for workers, clean renewable energy, and First Nations solutions, that care for our country.

Delegates at QTU’s 2019 Biennial Conference – 250 rank and file members from around the state – have previously endorsed a policy of:

• supporting and commending students organising and conducting protests against the inaction of the federal government on climate change
• supporting the rights of Union members to participate in climate strike activities.

Delegates at State Council, held on Saturday 15 May, reaffirmed the decision to support self-selected schools (or representatives from schools) in participating in the School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C) #fundourfuturenotgas campaign to help put climate justice, secure jobs and a just transition and Care for Country, back on the Government’s agenda and to help mobilise Australia again in support of these aims.

Support for the student-organised climate strike is a practical demonstration of active and informed schooling – one of the goals of education. QTU members should also be able to participate by striking under the auspices of the QTU.

QTU representatives from self-selected schools should consider holding a workplace meeting in support of the climate strike to discuss the resolutions and actions and then discuss with the principal the school’s capacity to re-organise and release representatives of the staff.

Members wishing to participate in the strike or show their support, are encouraged to have the outcomes of their workplace meetings (seeking a directive or resolutions of support for the strike) forwarded to the QTU no later than 4pm on Thursday 20 May.

Expect Respect survey

QTU’s Expect Respect survey, mentioned in Newsflash 13-21, has been extended by 2 weeks to Monday 31 May. We do encourage members to complete the survey which can be accessed via this link and the QR code below.

Further information and resources on the Expect Respect campaign can be found on our website.

 Authorised by Kate Ruttiman, General Secretary, Queensland Teachers' Union
21 Graham Street, Milton, QLD, Australia, 4064