HomeProfessional LearningFor Middle & Secondary Years
Professional Learning
For Middle & Secondary Years
SASTA Professional Learning For Middle & Secondary Years
Download the 2024 Professional Learning Calendar (PDF) to see what's on offer. Keep an eye on this page for event registrations when available.
Please note: If you require an invoice for school payment, please simply select Bank Transfer at the payment option during your booking. This will email you an invoice - please wait approximately 15 minutes for this to come through.
Cancellation policy:
Notice of cancellation received more than 48 hours before the event will incur a standard $50 administration processing fee, any registration fees received in addition to this amount will be refunded. For cancellation notice received less than 48 hours before the event, registration fees unfortunately cannot be refunded.
Should SASTA need to cancel or reschedule a professional learning event, then all registered delegates can opt either to receive a full refund or have their registration transferred to the rescheduled event.
Are you a SASTA Member? You can receive discounted / free professional learning!
Find out all the member services you could receive as part of the SASTA science community and join here.
Inspire & Engage: Crafting Innovative Science Lessons to Engage Young Minds
Presenter: Ross Riach, STEM Innovator & Laboratory Coordinator, Gleeson College
With the drive for embedded capabilities, STEM engagement and uptake and the rapidly evolving world around us, engaging students in science can be a challenge. We as teachers are often challenged by time to update or innovate our practice and the array of misconceptions or attitudes circling pedagogical best practices and outcomes.
This course is designed for all teachers to provide the tools and strategies to promote and harness the benefits of engagement, embed immersive, gamified and storytelling strategies to your lessons and create a love of science through innovative practices.
Details
Date:
Time: 9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue: Education Development Centre
Bookings close: 08/05/2024
Event Pricing
| Type | Regular price |
|---|---|
| Personal Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Joint Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Corporate Member - SA School (1 day) | $185.00 |
| Non-Member (1 day) | $225.00 |
| SASTA Student Member (1 day) | $50.00 |
| 1st Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
| 2nd Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
Description
Presenter: Ross Riach, STEM Innovator & Laboratory Coordinator, Gleeson College
With the drive for embedded capabilities, STEM engagement and uptake and the rapidly evolving world around us, engaging students in science can be a challenge. We as teachers are often challenged by time to update or innovate our practice and the array of misconceptions or attitudes circling pedagogical best practices and outcomes.
This course is designed for all teachers to provide the tools and strategies to promote and harness the benefits of engagement, embed immersive, gamified and storytelling strategies to your lessons and create a love of science through innovative practices.
The gaming industry and the marketing industry are valued at $294 billion and $1.7 trillion respectively and are the most effective distractions and manipulators of our students today, yet modern teaching has not yet embraced the “if you can't beat them, use their tactics” mentality and continues to use traditional methods of teaching that have not evolved drastically since before the first mobile app was invented.
This professional development journey will equip you with both the 'why' and the 'how,' providing a wealth of resources and collaborative opportunities to enhance your teaching skills alongside fellow forward-thinking educators. You’ll discover the science behind engagement in learning and how it will make your students retain information longer, be more present and unleash a renewed love for science. From tips to avoid the dreaded Death by PowerPoint to embedding gamification, effective check-ins, lesson design and integrating storytelling into your practices, you’ll walk away with a plethora of ideas, inspiration and resources to transform the science classroom.
Together, let’s ignite a passion for science in our students and inspire the next generation of STEM innovators.
Content:
- The value of engagement: the Psychology and benefits of engagement on learning.
- Avoiding death by PowerPoint
- Creating simple gamified quizzes in your lessons
- Storytelling in education
- Effective check-in strategies in the lesson.
- Principles of a good lesson (discussion and collaboration)
- Supporting your student’s cognitive capacity and using it to your advantage
- Gamification
Hands-on opportunities to experiment and develop your own skills.
Year level: This course and its concepts are suitable for all year levels, but resources shared will focus on years 7-10
Presenter Bio: Ross Riach is an experienced Science / Physics teacher, STEM leader, winner of the 2023 SA Oustanding Science Teacher Award, twice-shortlisted SA STEMM Educator of the Year, AITSL certified Highly Accomplished Teacher and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) certified panellist. With a passion for innovation and STEM, Ross aims to inspire the same love of learning and science that he possesses. Ross brings a wealth of life experience from different industries and a passion for gamification, thematic learning approaches, STEM and Escape Rooms in education.
MEMBERS FREE Webinar Series: Embedding gamification, innovation, immersion and storytelling into science lessons to engage and inspire
Presenter: Ross Riach, STEM Innovator & Laboratory Coordinator, Gleeson College
This course is designed for all teachers to provide the tools and strategies to promote and harness the benefits of engagement, embed immersive, gamified and storytelling strategies to your lessons and create a love of science through innovative practices. This course is a modified version of the full day PD offered, focusing more on the benefits, approaches and examples of engaging science lessons without the hands-on, directed coaching on the skills to build / collaboration with peers to develop your own work.
This professional development journey will equip you with both the 'why' and the 'how,' providing a wealth of resources and collaborative opportunities to enhance your teaching skills alongside fellow forward-thinking educators. You’ll discover the science behind engagement in learning and how it will make your students retain information longer, be more present and unleash a renewed love for science. From tips to avoid the dreaded Death by PowerPoint to embedding gamification, effective check-ins, lesson design and integrating storytelling into your practices, you’ll walk away with a plethora of ideas, inspiration and resources to transform the science classroom.
Check out some of the comments from previous webinar attendees:
- I found all the resources presented were great. I took a lot away from this webinar. I will be excited to join in any future webinars. Thank you so much!
- The resources shared by the presenter and other teachers were helpful!
Details
Date:
Time: 1.00pm - 4.00pm
Venue: Online
Bookings close: 14/05/2024
Event Pricing
| Type | Regular price |
|---|---|
| Personal Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Corporate Member - SA School (1 day) | $0.00 |
| 1st Year of Teaching Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| 2nd Year of Teaching Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Student Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Joint Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Life Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Retired Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
Description
Presenter: Ross Riach, STEM Innovator & Laboratory Coordinator, Gleeson College
This course is designed for all teachers to provide the tools and strategies to promote and harness the benefits of engagement, embed immersive, gamified and storytelling strategies to your lessons and create a love of science through innovative practices. This course is a modified version of the full day PD offered, focusing more on the benefits, approaches and examples of engaging science lessons without the hands-on, directed coaching on the skills to build / collaboration with peers to develop your own work.
This professional development journey will equip you with both the 'why' and the 'how,' providing a wealth of resources and collaborative opportunities to enhance your teaching skills alongside fellow forward-thinking educators. You’ll discover the science behind engagement in learning and how it will make your students retain information longer, be more present and unleash a renewed love for science. From tips to avoid the dreaded Death by PowerPoint to embedding gamification, effective check-ins, lesson design and integrating storytelling into your practices, you’ll walk away with a plethora of ideas, inspiration and resources to transform the science classroom.
Check out some of the comments from previous webinar attendees:
- I found all the resources presented were great. I took a lot away from this webinar. I will be excited to join in any future webinars. Thank you so much!
- The resources shared by the presenter and other teachers were helpful!
2024 Design and Deconstruct Workshop
Presenter: Jason Greenslade, Curriculum Leader Science, Westminster School
This workshop is aimed at people who want to further their skills in setting, assessment and providing feedback on the D&D + practical report task. It also will cover the writing and marking of practical questions for tests and exams as well. There will be time to examine your own student work and participate in some cross-moderation and marking of work/drafts.
Details
Date:
Time: 9.00 am - 3.00 pm
Venue: Education Development Centre
Bookings close: 23/05/2024
Event Pricing
| Type | Regular price |
|---|---|
| Personal Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Joint Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Corporate Member - SA School (1 day) | $185.00 |
| Non-Member (1 day) | $225.00 |
| SASTA Student Member (1 day) | $50.00 |
| 1st Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
| 2nd Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
Description
Presenter: Jason Greenslade, Curriculum Leader Science, Westminster School
This workshop is aimed at people who want to further their skills in setting, assessment and providing feedback on the D&D + practical report task. It also will cover the writing and marking of practical questions for tests and exams as well. There will be time to examine your own student work and participate in some cross-moderation and marking of work/drafts.
Program:
Morning Sessions: The D&D Reporting Task
- Performance Standards
- Introducing + structuring the task (inc. ideas for D&Ds + tasks sheets + resources to help)
- Providing guidance to students (drafting)
- Marking and moderation
Afternoon Session: The task continued + experimental questions in tests/exams
- Marking and moderation (cont.)
- Types of experimental questions
- Guiding students to answer these questions
- Writing experimental questions –how to structure them
MEMBERS FREE Webinar Series: Unlock AI's transformative power in your school
Presenter: Chris Bush, Leading Teacher at University High School
In this webinar, AI expert and Leading Teacher Chris Bush will teach you how to harness ChatGPT and AI for revolutionary results. You’ll learn how to use AI for planning, assessment, marking, and more. Join us to discover the power of AI to transform your classroom and school so you can work smarter, not harder. Click here to download the flyer.
Check out some of the comments from previous webinar attendees:
- I found all the resources presented were great. I took a lot away from this webinar. I will be excited to join in any future webinars. Thank you so much!
- The resources shared by the presenter and other teachers were helpful!
Details
Date:
Time: 4.00pm - 5.30pm
Venue: Online
Bookings close: 28/05/2024
Event Pricing
| Type | Regular price |
|---|---|
| Personal Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Corporate Member - SA School (1 day) | $0.00 |
| 1st Year of Teaching Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| 2nd Year of Teaching Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Student Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Joint Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Life Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Retired Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
Description
Presenter: Chris Bush, Leading Teacher at University High School
In this webinar, AI expert and Leading Teacher Chris Bush will teach you how to harness ChatGPT and AI for revolutionary results. You’ll learn how to use AI for planning, assessment, marking, and more. Join us to discover the power of AI to transform your classroom and school so you can work smarter, not harder. Click here to download the flyer.
Check out some of the comments from previous webinar attendees:
- I found all the resources presented were great. I took a lot away from this webinar. I will be excited to join in any future webinars. Thank you so much!
- The resources shared by the presenter and other teachers were helpful!
What you'll learn:
- Transform planning: Craft compelling, AI-generated term outlines, lesson plans and assessments in seconds, complete with activities, solutions and rubrics.
- Personalise every path: Quickly design differentiated, tailored learning journeys that are adapted to individual student needs and strengths.
- Maximise your time: Streamline feedback and grading using AI, freeing teachers for deeper student interactions.
- Introduce and embed AI: Develop guidelines around the safe and appropriate use of AI in your context, bringing along all community members.
What you’ll leave with:
- Expert mentoring: Receive personalised support and strategies from a Leading Teacher and AI specialist.
- Ready-to-use prompts: Explore a curated library of classroom-tested prompts to spark immediate AI integration.
- Prompt mastery: Learn the techniques to craft your own powerful AI prompts with an easy-to-follow guide.
- Discover the best AI tools and policies: Access handpicked resources and policies that will lead to the most impactful AI integration for your classroom and school setting.
2024 The SHE Task Workshop (REPEAT)
Please note that this is a REPEAT session of the previous workshop held in March, NOT a follow up session.
Presenter: Jason Greenslade, Curriculum Leader Science, Westminster School
This workshop is aimed at people who want to further their skills in setting, assessment and providing feedback on the SHE task. It also will cover the writing and marking of SHE questions for tests and examinations. There will be time to examine your own student work and participate in some cross-moderation and marking of work/drafts.
Details
Date:
Time: 9.00 am - 3.00 pm
Venue: Education Development Centre
Bookings close: 12/06/2024
Event Pricing
| Type | Regular price |
|---|---|
| Personal Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Joint Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Corporate Member - SA School (1 day) | $185.00 |
| Non-Member (1 day) | $225.00 |
| SASTA Student Member (1 day) | $50.00 |
| 1st Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
| 2nd Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
Description
Please note that this is a REPEAT session of the previous workshop held in March, NOT a follow up session.
Presenter: Jason Greenslade, Curriculum Leader Science, Westminster School
This workshop is aimed at people who want to further their skills in setting, assessment and providing feedback on the SHE task. It also will cover the writing and marking of SHE questions for tests and examinations. There will be time to examine your own student work and participate in some cross-moderation and marking of work/drafts.
Morning Sessions: The SHE Task
- Performance Standards
- Introducing + structuring the task
- Providing guidance to students (drafting)
- Marking and moderation
Afternoon Session: SHE Questions in SATs/Exams
- Types of questions
- Guiding students to answer these questions
- Writing SHE questions – how to effectively use articles + how to structure them
2024 Implementing the Australian Curriculum: Science V9.0
Presenter: Jason Greenslade, Westminster School
AC 9.0 has been released and with that the need to make changes to our sequences/rubrics and curriculum documentation to fit with the new descriptors. This session will take a practical approach and show implementation (which we have done this year) and also cover (more briefly): task design, assessment types and rubrics.
Details
Date:
Time: 9.00am - 3.00pm
Venue: Education Development Centre
Bookings close: 27/06/2024
Event Pricing
| Type | Regular price |
|---|---|
| Personal Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Joint Member (1 day) | $145.00 |
| Corporate Membership - SA School (1 day) | $185.00 |
| Non-Member (1 day) | $225.00 |
| SASTA Student Member (1 day) | $50.00 |
| 1st Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
| 2nd Year of Teaching (1 day) | $145.00 |
Description
Presenter: Jason Greenslade, Westminster School
AC 9.0 has been released and with that the need to make changes to our sequences/rubrics and curriculum documentation to fit with the new descriptors. This session will take a practical approach and show implementation (which we have done this year) and also cover (more briefly): task design, assessment types and rubrics.
Implementing changes due to AC 9.0
- What are the changes
- How can they work with what you currently have
- Moving topics between year levels
- Curriculum documentation
- Leading teams in a time of change – driving buy in
- Auditing
Assessing accurately and meaningfully
- Example assessments
- What needs to be added to what you might already have
- Meaningful assessment of soft skills in the age of AI (a discussion of what this means for your existing assessment tasks that are not tests)
- Integration of cross curricular priorities and the general capabilities
Rubrics
- Changes in AC 9.0
- Reports and investigations
- Tests
- Assessing against rubrics
- Moderation/benchmarking activities
FREE Excursion - SA Water Desalination Plant
The Adelaide Desalination Plant at Lonsdale is the state’s largest desalination plant able to produce 100 gigalitres a year. As metropolitan Adelaide’s only climate-independent source of drinking water, it has been delivering drinking water since 2011.
Join a guided tour to see how we turn seawater into fresh clean drinking water, and how important desalination is to South Australia’s water security.
Please note, this tour takes place from a vehicle.
Also, morning tea will be provided.
Participants will need to make their own way to the venue.
Please note that this is a SASTA members only event.
Details
Date:
Time: 10.00am - 12.00pm
Venue: Adelaide Desalination Plant
Bookings close: 03/07/2024
Event Pricing
| Type | Regular price |
|---|---|
| Personal Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Joint Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| Corporate Member - SA School (1 day) | $0.00 |
| SASTA Student Member (1 day) | $0.00 |
| 1st Year of Teaching (1 day) | $0.00 |
| 2nd Year of Teaching (1 day) | $0.00 |
Description
The Adelaide Desalination Plant at Lonsdale is the state’s largest desalination plant able to produce 100 gigalitres a year. As metropolitan Adelaide’s only climate-independent source of drinking water, it has been delivering drinking water since 2011.
Join a guided tour to see how we turn seawater into fresh clean drinking water, and how important desalination is to South Australia’s water security.
Please note, this tour takes place from a vehicle.
Also, morning tea will be provided.
Participants will need to make their own way to the venue.
Please note that this is a SASTA members only event.
Date: Monday 8 July
Time: 10.00am - 12.00pm
Venue: Adelaide Desalination Plant
15 Chrysler Rd, Lonsdale SA 5160