Western Australian Curriculum: Primary Leaders Forum

Technologies Curriculum Consultant

Christopher Witt joined AISWA in 2009. Prior to that he was a Consultant at STEPS Professional Development.  At STEPS, Chris developed a literacy resource for secondary teachers: Tactical Teaching Reading. It included materials and professional learning courses and had great success nationally and internationally, helping many secondary teachers to successfully support literacy across their curriculum area.

After teaching for 25 years, Chris worked in various advisory and consultancy roles in curriculum improvement. He has been at AISWA for 12 years as a Literacy Consultant providing support for teachers and schools in professional learning and literacy improvement initiatives. This includes Sharp Reading, First Steps and Primary Connections. Key PL programs developed by Chris at AISWA include Scaffolding Adolescent Literacy and Programming and Assessment in English (P-10). 

Kate Reitzenstein has worked as Consultant for Languages of the Association of Independent Schools of WA since 2014. She organises professional development activities and provides advice to schools and teachers on policy, curriculum and resources. Prior to this role, Kate worked as an Indonesian language teacher for fifteen years at three secondary schools, with experience using the Curriculum Framework and the Middle Years Program and Diploma Program of the International Baccalaureate curriculum. She has worked as an EFL/ESL teacher in Australia and abroad, and has had experience as an International Student Coordinator and at establishing overseas school partnerships and in-country study tours. Kate places importance on effective language teaching methodology and the need to link theory to practice in the Languages classroom.

Karen LeRaye started her role at AISWA in 2016. She has taught Drama, Dance, and English at secondary schools in both Western Australia and South Australia, as well as Dance in an early childhood context in Canada. She has extensive experience in the performing arts, choreographing and directing for a number of school productions and performing arts festivals. Karen is passionate about Arts education and helping teachers develop quality Arts programs.

Maree Whiteley works with teachers and curriculum leaders to bring innovative and practical pedagogies into the classroom, through special projects and whole-school planning. Currently working as an AISWA Consultant in the Primary Teaching and Learning area, with specific expertise within the Humanities and Social Sciences Learning Area, this gives Maree the perfect platform to go beyond the curriculum, exploring areas of global imperatives for our young people, such as ethical and humanitarian issues, critical thinking and cultural competence. Maree continues to enjoy sharing her experience, knowledge and expertise with others in workshops, conferences and in online forums.

Mark Newhouse has worked at AISWA for ten years and is currently the Manager of Curriculum. Prior to this Mark was a secondary teacher for 26 years in a variety of Government and Independent schools in WA and also for three years in a boarding school in Zambia. He has enjoyed the challenge of assisting teachers and school leaders through educational change periods associated with Curriculum Framework, two WACE reforms and now the Australian Curriculum. Mark can provide advice and updates on the implementation of the Western Australian P-10 Curriculum as well as the WACE in senior secondary. This includes workshops and presentations on all aspects of curriculum, assessment and reporting. Mark manages a team of curriculum consultants covering most learning areas.

Rebecca Duncan has been working in education since 1998. Along with teaching experience in each year level across Kindergarten to Year 4, her roles have included Coordinator of the Learning Development Centre at Christ Church Grammar Preparatory School as well as leadership in the integration of learning technologies. In 2004, Rebecca was the recipient of a National Excellence in Teaching Award (NEiTA) for Western Australia, in recognition of her work in the promotion of early literacy practice at All Saints’ College.

Rebecca has been with AISWA since late 2010, when she was contracted to write a resource to support educators in their implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). This project culminated in the publication of the acclaimed book, 'Early Years Learning Framework: In Action'. Ongoing employment as a consultant for AISWA followed, initially in the Curriculum, then Literacy teams, interspersed by the births of her three children. Rebecca now works for AISWA in a part-time capacity and thoroughly enjoys her role as a consultant within the early childhood team. She has lead numerous projects at AISWA, including initiatives to connect the Australian Curriculum and EYLF, one of which lead to AISWA’s publication of 'Playing with the Australian Curriculum' (2013). Her teacher resource, 'Journeys of Inquiry', was published in 2018, highlighting case studies of inquiry in early childhood. This has now been accompanied by a second volume of inspiring stories of inquiry pedagogies in 'Further Journeys of Inquiry', which was published by AISWA in 2020. Rebecca's latest publication for AISWA, 'Playful STEM: Using Blocks in Kindergarten to Year 2' is due for distribution in 2021. Inquiry pedagogies, early literacy and numeracy, learning through play, integrative approaches, responsiveness to children, learning technologies, and the Early Years Learning Framework represent a few of Rebecca’s areas of specialty.