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Aussie Educator comes from a period when we could not find a wide range of education information quickly and easily. Certainly, there were few if any sites at that time, which combined the range of information we were seeking. It became very frustrating.
Between us, we have a combined period of almost 70 years teaching as classroom practitioners, executives, principal, librarian, casual and Relief from Face to Face teacher. In all these situations, we were often in the difficult position of not knowing what was happening in other states, or even how to find out.
Additionally, we were in schools with extensive English as a Second Language requirements, worked with classes for children with disabilities and classes for students who were gifted. Each became a learning experience that, in many cases, required us to ‘start from scratch’ in terms of where to find both general and specific information to make us as effective as possible.
This was particularly telling when we were in schools with a high student turnover, with travel interstate and often internationally, in both directions, requiring us to provide information about enrolment, levels, programs and requirements.
With the advent of computers [we began using computers in schools in the early 1980s] and the internet, the option was available to find systemic information as well as information from other sources that would help us to achieve our goals.
This site attempts to remedy the situation we faced. We only wish something similar had existed when we were in schools and seeking information.
At the same time, it is essential to understand that this is a personal, self-funded process. It receives no sponsorship or any other kind of financial support [affiliate fees, donations, paid advertisements or inclusions, …] and this was a conscious decision on our part. We review and decide whether sites appear to be useful and reject sites we feel are not suited. We are responsible to no other body. We simply rely on our experiences[s] and continued interest in the area in an attempt, as we have detailed above, to provide a single-point access to a wide range of information and resources which, when we began the site, we did not find to be available. This will continue until such time as we feel it is no longer of value, or has been replaced by other sites that do the job much better. In the meantime, we are willing to commit the time, etc., to maintain it to the best level we are able