The VALBEC committee invites members and friends to the annual general meeting, to be held on May 14, 2025. We are excited to let you know that VALBEC Life Member, Sally Thompson will be the guest speaker and will give a presentation about Literacy Mediators, based on the research she undertook as part of her PhD.
AGM details
Members and friends of VALBEC are invited to the Annual General Meeting of the Council and a presentation by Sally Thompson.
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Wednesday, May 14,
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Tea and coffee from 5:00
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AGM formal meeting 5:30
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Guest speaker Sally Thompson
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Dinner afterwards at own expense
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Mail Exchange Hotel
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688 Bourke St Melbourne.
More information on the VALBEC homepage
The month of April has been busy with planning the joint ACAL and VALBEC Conference to be held in the first week of September. Recruiting guest presenters, prioritising workshops and presenters, and planning specialist focus sessions is a large part of planning the conference. Conference details are now almost finalised and we are encouraging all our members to book in for the conference and also tell other colleagues about it.
During April we have had some wonderful Professional Learning sessions to help expand the skills and knowledge of our members. We have just had a session this week on assisting students with ADHD and how to best help them learn and progress.
As we progress towards our AGM in May, we are encouraging all current and future members to consider coming onto the committee and bringing a broader skill set to our team. Remember the saying: Together Everyone Achieves More?’ (TEAM) Well, our VALBEC team is just that; if we all contribute and share our talents, we end up with a great project team. Please consider if you have some time to bring to the VALBEC Table and expand our team. There are entry and nomination forms for all the roles on our committee.
If you're new and not sure, then consider becoming a general committee member and benefit from the professional camaraderie that we share. Meetings are a mixture of face-to-face and Zoom calls to reduce travel for a meetings. We try to be time-efficient as well.Consider what you can share with our committee. Feel free to contact anyone on the committee to get further information.
Deborah Mullen, VALBEC President
VALBEC Membership
You can join or renew online.
https://valbec.org.au/membership/
If you join in August, September or October, deduct 50%. Renewal falls due the following February.
Members receive:
- Fine Print two times a year – a high quality journal for discussion and debate about good practice, theory and policy issues. Feedback and contributions are actively sought from members about content and issues.
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eVALBEC – our e-mail communication keeping members informed of professional development activities, general committee activities and more up to date policy changes.
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Discounts for the Annual Conference and other VALBEC statewide professional development.
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Issues-based forums.
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Focus on significant policy issues impacting on the field.
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Free numeracy resources.
VALBEC is happy to be supporting the ACAL conference this year. Please visit the link to find out more:
https://acal.edu.au/wp/25conf-program/
Lingo Best Academy
Conversation questions to practice English.
The Fine Print Journal Journey
To create the wonderful Fine Print journal, the commissioning editor and editorial committee meet 2-4 times per issue and brainstorm current issues, discuss and share about resources, workshops, presentations, fellowships, conferences, books, podcasts, classes, policies, and all manner of things to do with adult literacy, numeracy, digital skills and English language learning.
We then decide which lines we’d like to pursue, and go about asking people if they’d like to write about their work. Most people love the opportunity to write for us; as we know we are a passionate bunch! Next step is the writing and the dreaded deadlines, then the skillful commissioning editor, Nathan, guides our writers through the process.
Thank you to all the contributors - past, present and future, who make Fine Print such a well regarded and widely read journal. The final edits are being made for the current issue; issue 1/25. The proofing, layout, printing and mailouts are next.
If this sounds like a process you’d like to be part of, please consider joining the committee, we are friendly and welcoming of new members.
National Sorry Day/National Reconciliation Week (26 May – 3 June)
What’s National Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week all about?
On May 26 1997 the “Bringing them Home” report – detailing the findings of a national inquiry into the forced removal of Indigenous children – was tabled in Federal Parliament. May 26 has been commemorated as National Sorry Day since that year.
https://www.reconciliation.org.au/our-work/national-reconciliation-week/
Swinburne University of Technology is recruiting for a SEE Program Senior Educator at Swinburne University.
Please contact Rowena with any questions.
Rowena Schmidli
Manager, Skills for Education and Employment Program
Department of Health, Science and Community
P: +61 9726 1441
eVALBEC
eVALBEC is the monthly electronic newsletter of (VALBEC) the Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council and is sent to about 1000 practitioners on the first of each month (other than January). It is also available in the ‘News’ section of our web site
Disclaimer:
The activities, goods and services mentioned in eVALBEC are not endorsed by Valbec in any way. People should make their own judgment about the suitability of each item.
How to submit items: https://www.valbec.org.au/evalbec