Masterclass - An Introduction to Regulatory Frameworks & Compliance in Independent Schools

Therese has worked at AISWA for a number of years, previously in the Aboriginal Schools Support Unit and in the administration of a Commonwealth funding program for the CGA. 

Since 2014 Therese has worked in the area of school registration and compliance, which involves supporting schools with their renewal of registration process and assisting all member schools with queries related to school registration and compliance with the Registration Standards and Requirements. Therese works in this role alongside her colleague, Gary Robinson.  When not visiting schools she and Gary are a contact point for school compliance queries and are involved in presentation delivery, school constitution review, the development, review and maintenance of policy and procedure guidelines, governance guidelines, production of the Registration and Compliance Focus newsletter and other documentation associated with registration and compliance.

After graduating with a Bachelor in Science (Chemistry) and a Diploma in Education Gary started teaching in 1979 as a science teacher at Norseman District High School. After teaching for 9 years in Department of Education schools in a range of subjects including Chemistry and Physics he moved to Albany, with his family, where for the next 20 years he taught at Bethel Christian School. He was Principal of the school for his last 8 years in Albany. From Albany Gary and his wife moved to Esperance to teach at Wongutha CAPS, a boarding school for Aboriginal students. Gary was offered and accepted a position at AISWA in 2007.

Gary’s first role at AISWA was to support the Aboriginal Independent Community Schools (AICS) as they took on older students as a consequence of the raising of the student leaving age. Gary then worked in the newly created Policy and Registration space for a few years before taking on the management of the AICS support team. Since 2013 Gary has been back as a consultant in the Registration and Compliance area where he works alongside Therese Bamford.

Lynne joined the Inclusive Education team at AISWA in April 2017 where her roles have included Inclusive Education Consultant, Inclusive Education Coordinator, and Senior Consultant - Child Protection. She has worked in the fields of both education and small business. Lynne completed her Diploma of Teaching (Primary) including studies in Special Education in NSW and taught there for a number of years. After time running a small family business and moving to Perth, Lynne returned to teaching in the role of Special Needs EA. She has since had a variety of roles within AISWA schools including learning support teacher and coordinator, supporting teachers in working with students with disabilities, curriculum coordinator including differentiation and support to particularly cater to children with learning needs. During her time as a Principal, Lynne has been passionate about creating an inclusive school culture and community, and quality teaching and learning. She has also been involved in supporting and mentoring school leaders and school registration, particularly in the area of Child Protection and Disabilities. Currently, Lynne works with other agencies and represents AISWA in a number of committees related to child protection and safety.

Deb Martin is an Early Childhood Consultant with AISWA who has been working in Early Childhood classrooms since 2006. Her area of expertise and school support is in the area of high quality play based pedagogies, guiding young children's behaviours, Early Childhood literacy and the On-entry assessment. Her work also includes supporting leaders and in particular, their educators, in pedagogical change and embedding evidence based appropriate pedagogies including play-based and inquiry pedagogies and Reggio Emilia inspired practice. Other areas Deb presents in include; helping educators gain a deep understanding about the ever changing neuroscience and recent research related to young children and how this can be translated into high quality classroom practice, looking at the high quality interactions between children and their educators including sustained shared thinking. Due to Deb’s recent experience in the classroom, her practical experiences and rich stories help educators see the possibilities of high quality practice, including a guidance approach to managing behaviour and supporting self-regulation.