Presidents welcome

Thank you!

Thank you CSPWA for the opportunity to serve our parent community over the past 13 years; it has been a truly wonderful and enriching experience. It is with some sadness that I write this as I stand down from the role of President and Council; all of my children have now left school so I must now pass the baton on to the next group of wonderful, generous volunteer Councillors. Thank you to Vice President Catherine, Secretary Rebecca, Treasurer Richard and Councillors Alan, Anna, Kate, Marina and Simone for sharing their gifts and talents to benefit the work of CSPWA.

We held our AGM on Thursday 18 June via Zoom. It’s much easier to run a meeting when everyone is in front of you -you can see everyone's face and contemplate whether they are listening or if they are bored? However, we did manage to get through everything and the meeting ran as efficiently as it could I felt. Thank you to all who joined in, we appreciate you taking the time to be part of the AGM. All the current Councillors have renominated and we are excited to welcome two new Councilors, Michelle Francis from Holy Cross College, Ellenbrook and Belinda Stewart, St Elizabeth's CPS, Hocking. 

Volunteering has so many benefits and at times I have felt I have got more out of being part of CSPWA and my school P&F than I have put into it. Everyone has something to offer,  so don’t be afraid to put yourself forward for something new, what is the worst thing that can happen? Whilst I still do not like public speaking (even after all this time) I do it when I need to, yes I have made mistakes (including, but not limited to introducing the Director of Catholic Education and politicians) but nothing bad has happened, to be honest, everyone is probably thinking they are glad it is not them up there or are amazed at how anyone can speak in public.  Our schools need willing volunteers to create and be a community and now, in particular, the sense of community is so important. Navigating the COVID-19 world we need the people around us to support each other. I encourage you to be part of your school parent group and be involved with us-even a small thing can make a difference and currently any positive steps forward to help our schools, our children, our teachers, our parents will go a long way in making a great community. As we have heard so often "We are all in this together".

A big thank you to the office staff, Siobhan, Theresa, Anne-Marie and Donna for the work they do on our behalf.  Their knowledge, professionalism, enthusiasm and guidance have made my role easy and I really appreciate that they share their gifts and talents so generously. Thanks also for being able to adapt so quickly to working from home for part of the term and change the way we connect with parents. We are truly blessed to have such a great group.

As always there is some great reading in the newsletter including some interesting and helpful articles on ways to communicate with your teenage children, a great article on subject selection for our Year 10 students and parents, as well some news on the Plenary Council.

To keep up to date, check our Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram and CSPWA's website and please feel free to contact the office staff if you need help, guidance or even just an encouraging word.

For me, it’s not the end, just a new beginning and I look forward to still being involved in some way with the awesome organization that is CSPWA.

I wish CSPWA all the best for the bright future that lies ahead.

Thank you once again.

Be safe, take care and God bless

Helen Anderson