Shane: This podcast is produced on the traditional land of the Kaurna people, and we would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and pay respects to all Elders, past and present. Hello and welcome to the Orbis Podcast. My name's Shane Heatlie from the South Australian Department for Education. And in this episode, we're talking with Jacqui van Ruiten, director of Workforce Capability, Nina Marni.

Jacqui: Marni ai, hello Shane. And hello everyone.

Shane: Yes. Thank you. It's great to have you along today. Here we are, 2025, but so much has been happening already, and so much happened last year at Orbis as well.

Jacqui: Oh, that's for sure. I think we are really excited about 2025. But firstly, I think it's really important to celebrate the amazing things that happened in 2024.

Shane: Absolutely. I think 6 new programs in 2024 at Orbis, and we engaged with over 5000 people.

Jacqui: Quite phenomenal isn’t it!

Shane: Teachers and leaders from across the state. It's awesome.

Jacqui: Yes, 5000 people that are including nearly 1000 leaders as well. We're really proud that we were able to support, in addition to that, 1450 early career teachers and their mentors and even 78 teachers were certified. They received their certification to be, in becoming highly accomplished or lead teachers, which is really amazing.

Shane: I believe that, we're punching above our weight in South Australia.

Jacqui: That's for sure. I think if you were to consider what happened in 2023, which was an incredible year for our HALT teachers as well. It's a 178% increase. So, it's pretty phenomenal. So, anyone out there who is interested in becoming a lead or highly accomplished teacher, please reach out to our Orbis team. They are very supportive. And and I think also for our leaders, our site leaders, it is an opportunity for them to create more opportunities within their sites, to have coaches or lead teachers supporting other teachers and to be able to keep these, highly accomplished teachers in their ,and lead teachers, in the classroom.

Shane: And there's a new streamlined process with the National Teacher certification, which just makes it so much more accessible and more aligned to what teachers are already doing in their classroom.

Jacqui: And I think that's contributed to, obviously, the success of the numbers last year, but also the experiences that people had. And we're really hearing the feedback has been very positive about the process, and also the support. So, we're looking forward to bigger and better things for this year.

Shane: And what about ECTs?

Jacqui: ECTs the same thing. So, in terms of you know, obviously that that varies each year depending on how many early career teachers there are across the system. But the team is, going from strength to strength, taking on feedback and supporting not only the early career teachers in the first two years, but also developing programs to support mentors. We know that the success of early career teachers is really based on, the experiences they have back in school, and certainly that's supported by having strong mentors who are able to support them with their applied learning.

Shane: And, last year I was looking at, public education awards. It was fantastic to see some Orbis alumni feature in that. Great to see that the learning that they are taking away from our programs is also feeding back into their schools as well.

Jacqui: Oh for sure, they were 4 Orbis alumni who were finalists, and we're incredibly proud of them. But, it was an amazing night. And did you know that 23,000 people joined online (Is that right?) to watch the event. So I know that these alumni had some great supporters as well online.

Shane: Absolutely fantastic. Feedback's important to know how our programs are supporting schools, teachers. But, you know, our end users, the students, helping them to thrive. I read that 99% of our participants plan to use the knowledge and strategies they gained in our program back into, their own programs in schools. That's amazing.

Jacqui: I think it's a testament to the programs that we do offer, but also, most importantly, the people see the relevance and the how they can actually apply it and the willingness to be able to do so too. When I say willingness, it also means that there's support back at school to, support leaders and, and as well as educators to be able to, implement the new strategies or the new learnings. I just wanted to also just add that people would know through their experiences with Orbis, that Orbis really take the feedback experiences, very serious. And so in terms of being responsive, we actually look at that data very closely and make sure that we do. It informs or changes any of our programs so that we can continue to improve what we do deliver. But we also know through that experience that 98% of the participants are, not only planning, as you talked about, delivering, and implementing different strategies, but they want to share their ideas with colleagues. They feel that it's so important and it's valuable for others as well to learn from their experiences.

Shane: I mean, it has a multiplying effect, doesn't it?

Jacquie: Oh for sure.

Shane: We've got those 5000 people coming to our program. But then going back and sharing that within their sites. You're actually yeah, you're increasing that reach.

Jacqui: The power of network and sharing of practice is so strong and it exemplifies what we actually do at Orbis and we want that to continue to happen. In fact, we're actually going to start to look at how we can leverage networks and how we can support. So this is, I'm now moving into something for the 2025. But this is an opportunity for us to explore. And, how can we continue to build communities of practice from the Orbis learning programs? To continue that learning, as I said, and to share practice and to keep the dialogue going.

Shane: So equity is really important for us at Orbis. What are we doing to attend to that?

Jacqui: We've actually considered what our educators and leaders require and so we're running some of their programs in regional areas. We're also running programs through a blended mode of delivery, where it might be face-to-face for some options or online. Some of the programs are even delivered fully online. So there are a range of combinations. So we really are considering inclusion and accessibility, even to the point that we now have an Orbis online program as well. And that was actually launched in 2024. And this has got a range of different things. We've got 7 online courses. We've got Let's Talk series. And this is actually a series of different experts and thought leaders who've come out and joined us over the years and we've been able to put that up onto this, onto this particular site. We've got, one of those is, spotlight on Pasi. So that's actually Pasi Sahlberg talking about equity and excellence. I can remember being in that audience, and it was so exciting. And to see that now that it's available in the Orbis online and, and it's, got far reaching and wide appeal as well.

Shane: And it's accessible all the time.

Jacqui: Absolutely. And it's not you know, there are a range of different opportunities for people to look at. Depending on what your interest is, Guy Claxton is actually there as well. You know,  a lot of people know about him and he's a really inspiring presenter. We have also got some videos that are available from our AI Working Smarter, Not Harder series that started at the end of last year, and we're looking to, forward to, expanding on that. But, already from those videos, we've got close to 1000 hits. But overall, it is with, you know, clearly people know about it. So, if you don't know about it out there, have a look at our Orbis online. There will be something for you. And that's going to continue to grow because we've got some exciting plans for 2025.

Shane: We sure have. I mean, I, had a look at some of those, I've had the pleasure of editing those. Jacqui. And I'll tell you what, they're very short they're only, you know, 4 to 5 minute videos, but you come away with so much.

Jacqui: So last year we actually began the series AI Working Smarter, Not Harder, and you're quite right. We had, 3 people actually spoke about and presented how they use AI every day, to really reduce their workload. So I do encourage people to check out those videos and, and see what difference that actually makes in your, your work life. Actually it might be beyond work life. I think it could be just your life! And of course, we're looking forward to, extending that and there are going to be a range of opportunities this year as well. So the series will continue, and there'll be opportunities for people who are novices all the way through to experts in the area as well.

Shane: So if you're looking for those programs, you can find them on plink. So go there, type in and look through Orbis. Scroll to the bottom of our page and you'll find those right down the bottom.

Jacqui: And after those sessions, if you can't join us online or in person for those particular sessions, of course they'll be videos that'll follow up.

Shane: That's right. So what other exciting new initiatives are happening in at Orbis in 2025?

Jacqui: Shane, there are so many. To start off with, we've got the Safeguarding Democracy through Public Education program. You may have heard our Minister or Premier talk about this, and this is really an opportunity to elevate the important role that civics and citizenship education plays in society. So, what we're going to be doing is we’re, we have partnered with Curriculum and Learning, and they will be delivering year 7 and 8, HASS teacher specialist programs as well as some programs for year 9 and 10 non-HASS teachers. So this professional learning for the non-HASS teachers is really to equip them to embed civics concepts across curriculum. So these across curriculum priorities for all learning areas. When you really think about democracy, it's not just in HASS. And of course, there's an opportunity and I'm sure all the teachers out there and I'm a maths teacher and I think about, you know, how this could actually, impact and be, developed in my own learning area. And there are many opportunities. But of course, through Safeguarding Democracy, public education will be able to reform and activate our purpose and strategy for public education in South Australia.  Another program is the Space for STEM 7 to 8. And this program aligns STEM learning with the South Australian curriculum and explores research, informed STEM practices as well as the space industry and a future focussed pathways in the STEM area. Orbis is also delighted to present Guy Claxton in May. So people will have an opportunity to come along and listen to him in person and obviously meet him. He's quite inspiring. But there will of course be further, presentations available on Orbis Online.

Shane: Who knows what else is going to come our way in terms of professional learning opportunities in that online space, but also on those special events, spotlights we hold, it's going to be fantastic.

Jacqui: That's right Shane. In fact, Orbis is currently running some focus groups, with principals and educators. And we're really looking at what are the opportunities and also gaps in professional learning so that we can then obviously create new opportunities. So look out. There will be more coming in particular for leadership and culture.

Shane: So, while people out there listening to us, we are listening to you!

Jacqui: Absolutely. And I think that's the message that we really want to leave with our listeners today, is that Orbis is always looking to introduce new, exciting programs, but of course, we're also looking to adapt the existing programs. We want to be responsive, we want to be future focussed, but we also want to ensure that our work is aligned to our strategy for public education.

Shane: So it sounds like we have an incredibly exciting year ahead in Orbis and the department as a whole. Jacqui, thank you very much for joining me today and the listeners out there, really appreciate your time.