Executive Director's welcome

What a term!

Rarely have I anticipated and looked forward to the joy of the Easter season more. I suspect that I am not the only one and that all members of our statewide Catholic school community will welcome the break from routine that the school holidays afford us.

Whilst although on one hand we are all very aware that here in WA we have been blessed regarding the severity of our COVID-19 experience, we extend our sincere condolences to those who have lost family members in recent months. We also keep in our prayers those who are in hospital and in intensive care and wish them all a speedy recovery.

According to the many parents we have been in touch with this term, the work that is going on in our schools to keep students and staff safe is just phenomenal. Although it is an anxious and uncertain time for all, our Catholic school communities are pulling together for the good of everyone. While there is no doubt that there are those who are frustrated with the frequent but necessary changes in instructions from the Chief Medical Officer, our schools have managed to keep parents informed as quickly and effectively as they can. We know that the extra load placed on our school leaders as they take on the responsibility of contact tracing along with managing the added financial burden placed on them as they seek to provide the additional resources required to ensure the health and safety of our children and their teachers, could only have been made possible with their total and utter commitment to their school communities.

We also know that many P&Fs are continuing to have meetings, albeit online. (We will all be experts at Teams and Zoom by the time we are through all this?) CSPWA applaud those of you who continue to persevere with these meetings as the importance of continuing to reach out your school communities cannot be understated. There seem to be never-ending stories across the media about the impact that COVID-19 is having on the health and wellbeing of many members of our society, particularly our young people. Every little thing we can do to stay connected with one another is important even if it is just to check in on how others are going. P&Fs are generally in a good position to reach out to members of their communities, and we strongly encourage you to continue doing so. I know that many are planning events and good things later in the year and we are looking forward to hearing about these in due course.

However even as we continue to navigate our way through COVID-19 school life moves on. We know through the social media pages of schools that teaching and learning continues, celebrations of special days, such as Harmony Day, Bullying No Way Day and St Patricks Day to name but a few, are as creative as always.

You will all be aware, by the appearance of key Federal politicians in our state in recent weeks, that a Federal election looms large. This provides a great opportunity for you as school parents to build on the relationships you may already have with your local Federal representatives or indeed to build new ones.  We encourage you to reach out to politicians from all sides of the political divide and question them about how they propose to continue their support of Catholic education. A key concern for us as parents within the Catholic education system here in WA is that of COVID-19 financial support. To date we have received very little financial support, while diligently complying with all the measures put in place by our state government to keep our communities as safe as we can. Here at CSPWA we have always maintained that COVID-9 is not an educational issue but in fact a health issue and therefore it seems most unfair that our children cannot access their fair share of public funding to help with the vital additional measures that have had to be put in place to ensure their safety. This is a topic which should be raised with your local representatives. If you would like any help or assistance with setting up meetings or agendas for these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact our office and we will be very happy to assist you.

I don’t feel that I can sign off without mentioning the dreadful situation that is unfolding in Ukraine. It is heart wrenching to watch the news and to see the plight of Ukrainian families being torn apart through death, destruction or having to escape to other countries. We urge you all as we approach the holy season of Easter to pray hard for these families and to that end, we share a prayer provided by Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB in this newsletter. You may choose to read it at the commencement of your next P&F meeting or indeed just privately with your own family.

It is often distressing for children or young people to witness war or conflict on TV or elsewhere and so I share with you here an article which you may find useful in having a conversation about this very confronting and distressing situation.  https://theconversation.com/how-to-talk-to-children-about-the-invasion-of-ukraine-and-why-those-conversations-are-important-177983

Finally on a more positive note, on behalf of the council and staff of Catholic School Parents WA I wish you all the joys of the Easter season and the wonderful message it brings to all, that out of darkness comes light.

God Bless

Siobhan