Welcome back to all our members for Term Two. I trust that you all had a restful break and have returned to school feeling enthusiastic. Term One was long and I know I am looking forward to a short nine-week term; although we all know Term Two is generally a hectic one.
Term One saw a change to our committee and I would like to introduce the 2018 committee to everyone. Everyone is already working hard for the membership.
Alessandra Hardwick oversaw the final phase of the required rewriting of our constitution and we plan to have this sent out to members very soon for comment. We are hoping to adopt this new constitution at the convention in June.
Stefano Rotelli, our former Assistenti Coordinator, organised the placement of three assistants for term one. After the February AGM Stefano began his handover to Laura Bava who has taken on this challenging role and we have five assistants here in Term Two. They will be at Mercedes College, Trinity College, St Brigid's, Penhros and CBC. We appreciate all of the work Stefano did in building this program and thank him for mentoring Laura in the handover of this program. It is a massive job and we thank Laura for taking on the challenge! If you would like more information on this fantastic program please send an email to Laura assistenti.waati@gmail.com and she will be happy to give you any information you require.
Term One saw us start to plan the biennial WAATI convention. The conference subcommittee are hard at work under the helm of Conference Convenor Fulvia Valvasori. The conference will be held at the Joondalup Resort on June 22 and 23. The Friday evening will be a dinner with keynote speaker followed by some awesome PL opportunities on Saturday. The Resort will be offering discounted packages for accommodation so hopefully we will see a number of people staying on to enjoy some post dinner drinks. If you would like more information on this event, please send an email to Fulvia mrfink@iinet.net.au and she will be happy to respond to any queries.
The Exchange Program continues to grow and our hosting matching afternoon was held at Trinity College in week 11 of Term One. There are 52 Italian students arriving on June 25 for a two month stay at 21 different schools with students as far away as Canberra and Esperance. So far 35 students have paid their deposits to go to Italy on November 25. If you have not ever been involved in the Exchange Program and would like to know more please don't hesitate to contact either Fulvia (mrfink@iinet.net.au). We are more than happy to come out to your school and present to your students the benefits of this wonderful program.
The WAATI exam panel is also busy putting together the WAATI exams for 2018. These exams are for years 10 – 12 and are an excellent opportunity to see where your students are at. They also provide a great future resource for students. These exams are written and marked by experienced WACE examiners and markers. Don't miss the June 15 deadline to register with the exams to be completed between August 6-15. These exams can also be purchased as a resource for schools.
Looking ahead to Term Three we will also be planning another WACE oral practice day. Paula O'Donnell organised this event last year and it was a very successful day with very positive feedback from both students and teachers.
Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any suggestions or feedback.