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Speak Out August 2013 13
What is the Safe Schools Hub?
The Safe Schools Hub provides a collection of resources
for school teachers, specialist professionals, pre-service
teachers, parents and students to develop safe and supportive
schools. The Safe Schools Hub is underpinned by the National
Safe Schools Framework, which aims to ensure that all
Australian schools are safe, supportive and respectful teaching
and learning communities that promote student wellbeing.
The Hub provides the tools and knowledge that will enable all
members of the school community to:
• nurture student responsibility and resilience
• build a positive school culture
• foster respectful relationships
• support students who are impacted by anti-social
behaviour, including bullying and cyber-bullying.
The project is funded by the government, working in
partnership with state and territory governments, the non-
government school sectors and Education Services Australia.
Resources will be made available online in phased releases
throughout 2013. The first release was launched by the Hon
Peter Garrett AM MP, former Minister for School Education,
Early Childhood and Youth, on the National Day of Action
Against Bullying and Violence on 15 March 2013. It delivers
the Safe Schools Toolkit, which provides support for teachers
and school leaders. The Safe Schools Toolkit includes video
case studies, a School Audit Tool, resources and activities
that further unpack in detail each of the nine elements of the
National Safe Schools Framework.
What’s next?
Throughout 2013, additional resources will be made available
on the website. These include:
• professional learning modules aimed at speech
pathologists, guidance officers/counsellors/educational
psychologists and chaplains
• information and resources for parents and students.
SPA contributed to the development of the hub by providing
input to the professional learning modules for speech
pathologists and providing information for others e.g. principals
about how speech pathologists can be a member of a school
team providing a safe and supportive school environment.
A safe school is a smart school. By working together,
governments, schools, parents and communities can play a
key role in developing safe, supportive and respectful school
environments. Visit to explore
a range of practical examples, resources and activities to
assist in making school environments safe and supportive.
You can also register on the website or email sshub@esa.
to receive regular updates on news.
Gaenor Dixon
Vice President Communications
Safe Schools Hub: new
website for student wellbeing
More than 46% of youth offenders have a
language impairment – what is your Association
doing about it?
The Speech Pathology in Youth (Justice) Custodial
Education (SPyce) Project was set up to explore how
speech pathology services as part of the school
curriculum would impact on the lives of young people on
remand or serving custodial sentences.
Collaborating with a group of experts and working closely
with Parkville College, SPA funded Project Officer Laura
Caire to gather the information and resources needed to
best support the speech and language capabilities of the
students through the curriculum at the Parkville College.
The working group comprised:
• Associate Professor Pamela Snow – Monash University
• Brendan Murray – Assistant Principal, Parkville College
• Laura Caire – Forensic/Mental Health Speech Pathologist
• Christina Wilson – Senior Advisor Professional Issues,
SPA
• Christine Lyons – Senior Advisor Professional Practice,
SPA
• Robyn Stephen – Councillor, SPA
• Gail Mulcair – CEO, SPA
To mark the groundbreaking work of this project,
SPA would like to inform you of the launch of the
SPyce Project Report at 10.00am on 13 August 2013
at the Ella Latham Lecture Theatre, Royal Children’s
Hospital, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC 3052.
The SPyce Report has the potential
to revolutionise the way speech,
language and communication
difficulties are viewed and treated
in youth justice systems around
Australia and the world, as well as
the way speech pathologists are
involved with this group of vulnerable
clients.
For more information, contact:
Christina Wilson, Senior Advisor Professional Issues:
and
(03) 9642 4899 or Rebecca Bluschke: conf2013@
or (03) 8622 0405.
Christina Wilson
Senior Advisor Professional Issues
Speech Pathology in Youth
(Justice) Custodial Education
(SPyce) Project Report launch
Project updates