NAFT President's ReportMarch 2007At the Annual General Meeting yesterday, it was my pleasure to publicly thank all members of the outgoing executive committee and sub-committees for their hard work during 2006 and previous years in some cases.
In the last 3 years, I have experienced great satisfaction in my role as president for NAFT . The rebuilding and then expansion of the association has been a success beyond expectations. in 2004, I found NAFT in a sad state : its activities were drastically reduced, the membership dwindling and its financial situation was precarious. We, the executive and sub-committees, worked hard in our own particular ways to re-energise all aspects of NAFT and for this I am grateful to all those involved. The excellent 2004 NAFT Conference at Pymble ladies College, an event sponsored by the French Embassy and with guest-speakers from the Alliance Francaise and inter-states gave NAFT more recognition and profile within New South Wales. 2005 saw the realisation of my dream of an annual weekend d'Immersion with the help of Roberte Salerno and Dominique Barbeau. It was held in the Hunter Valley, in 2006 in the Blue Mountains (Catherine Dignam) and this year hopefully in the Southern Highlands. NAFT sponsored : Competitions for students " Tour de France ", " Concours cuisine ", " Rugby World Cup 2007 " (French Embassy site), trip to New Caledonia for students, country teachers to attend NAFT activities and professional development workshops and NAFT members to attend Australian and international conferences. Awakening the Primary Sector took its time but with the input of Roberte Salerno and Susie Neumann, the first NAFT Primary Conference was held at Meriden in 2005. Since then, Susie and Primary teachers have attended many NAFT events. The 2006 NAFT Conference at Pymble Ladies College offered a huge variety of speakers and workshops on topics of interest to both Secondary and Primary teachers. Networking with other States associations and attending some of their conferences gave me first-hand access to expert guest speakers and writers from ACT, SA and VIC. The Year10 French Day at Macquarie University continues to be hugely popular and, due to rising demand, Nathalie Richard is considering holding 2 such days. If not possible, staggering times and duplicating activities within one day may be an alternative. The 2004 Year12 Speaking Skills Day held at Pymble Ladies College proved popular. It is now held in the North Shore (Judith Vrachnas), near the Sydney CBD at IGS (Françoise Reeves-Smith) and West of Sydney (Gérard Garcia). The biggest money earner since the start of the association, the Bac Blanc has become a " must have " for more than one hundred teachers each year. This has been an initiative of Jacquie Hilmer : she has done a sterling job over the years and we all thank her most warmly for her dedication and energy. A delegation of NAFT teachers and Jacquie Hilmer(vice-president 04-05) and myself, worked on matching descriptors and samples for the Board of Studies' ARC website. A workshop was held at PLC Pymble on the new K-10 syllabus and recently BOS invited NAFT to give feedback on the Proposed French Extension Text. Viewing of the text took place in March at St. Aloysius College (Karen Downes) the result of the discussion was sent to BOS in the form of generic feedback. The purchase of a NAFT laptop and the position of admin officer (Dominique McGlynn ) were instigated to cope with copious administrative work. She will also look after the dispatching of the Bac Blanc papers including taking orders from members ; Judith Vrachnas has offered to coordinate this year. My big project in 2006, of which I am proud, is the creation of the NAFT website with the help of an IT technician. Creating. The job became rather consuming but what a reward at the end! Country teachers should no longer feel so isolated. I recommend that Mr. Nguyen be kept on for the maintenance of the site at $50 per hour it is less than 1 hour private tuition in French. www.naft.org.au gives international recognition to NAFT and I can only hope that many more teachers will think of sharing their resources by uploading their work. This is a great way to share your educational trips or your pedagogical insights! There are different sections so send your document to D.Mc Glynn to be placed in a section of the website. Through payment of capitation fees, NAFT is part of FIPF, the Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Français (logo and link on home page). I have represented NAFT on the FATFA committee (the federation collecting capitation fees for FIPF). In 2004, all presidents from Australian State associations of French teachers attended a meeting in Adelaide to finalise the Constitution of FATFA (logo on NAFT home page). I have represented NAFT at the FIPF Conferences in Paris in 2000, Atlanta in 2004 and the Commission Asie-Pacifique Conference in Taiwan in 2006. Following my presentation of a report on " the roles and functions of associations " in Taipei, I was asked by the CAP Vice-President to look into the idea of NAFT hosting the next CAP Conference in Sydney in 2010. This was voted on and accepted by FATFA in July 2006. It is now my aim to form and lead an Organising Committee for the 2010 Conference. I will publicise this side of activities in due time. NAFT is to be the local " host " whilst FATFA is the official organising body. I have also represented the interests of NAFT members at the Alliance Française through my involvement as Board Director and intervened, at the request of members, where needed. The Alliance Française is keen to assist New South Wales teachers of French and I intend to continue my involvement at this level in the future. My latest project was with Commercial members in the field of education. Southern Cross Cultural Exchange are the first on our list. Such members will be able to place advertisements on the home page of the website via the use of their logo (for $250) and/or have use of one page on the site for the fee of $500. They will also be able to further promote their company at NAFT events. AGM and ELECTIONS : The number of attendants at the AGM was poor at around 20, (around 40 last year). considering that there are some 250 members. FATFA does its voting electronically and perhaps NAFT should consider it in the future. It was disappointing that 2 executive members were unable to be present to assist me at the AGM : preparing and presenting the agenda, my report, the financial report, handing out documents, awarding thank you gifts and to conduct proceedings at the actual elections. The data-projector but was not installed either as I had requested. What is of concern to me is that the executive committee is composed of brand-new persons, undoubtedly brimming with enthusiasm. In stepping down from the presidency, I hoped to be replaced by someone with sound knowledge of NAFT operations, extensive past experience in its activities and at least experience on its executive. I did nominate for vice-president so there is continuity but also to pass on my accumulated knowledge at crucial times. The AGM dinner was indeed the perfect platform to start talking and networking.... The role of NAFT president should not be underestimated as it requires time, commitment and visibility. I deplore the reasoning behind not keeping me on the executive. I am currently representing NAFT on the FATFA committee and I have to insist on doing so for years to come because of the CAP Conference in 2010 to be held in Sydney. I recommend that adjustments be made to the Constitution to better regulate the nominations and election process at the AGM and the question of vacating positions particularly the president and vice-president as these are key-roles in the life of NAFT. I am glad to have a rest from the presidency so I can start a committee for the CAP 2010 Conference and I sincerely wish the new NAFT committee well. In conclusion, together with the help of wonderful colleagues I am proud to say that I have :
My message to NAFT members is to become more pro-active within the association. Members need to make more effort to support at least one activity each year including the AGM. The more members will become active, the greater the interest will become and the more chances NAFT will have to survive in this competitive world. It is a sad fact of today that teachers seem to have less and less time for their professional inservicing and for their association. Jacqueline Meunier 8 March
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