Presidents Report

Dear Parents/Carers

Spring is here, a season of new life and with it the conclusion of Term Three. For many families their school days are nearly over and a new beginning awaits all our year 12’s. Best wishes to all those sitting exams, you may like to read the exam stress tips we have included. Thank you for choosing a Catholic education and may God bless you and your family always.  The words from Pope Francis (World Youth Day, Poland 2016) are quite fitting where he called all young people into action, to be protagonists of history and to leave their mark in the world. He said that this requires courage and “a readiness to trade the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths.” This is not just for the young but good advice for all of us.

And the winner is….. Thank you to all who sent in a nomination for our annual Awards of Excellence in Building Positive Catholic School Communities. The winners have been announced and are included in the newsletter-congratulations to all!

The Annual General Meeting season is fast approaching, the AGM often brings fear to some but be assured the office can assist with any help or resources you may need. Now is an ideal opportunity to consider setting out on a “new and uncharted path” and think of joining the parent group. A new way to look at AGM is:  

A

Good

Move

It’s “a good move” to be the difference you want to see and keep our parent groups thriving for the benefit of our children’s education.  

CSPWA are currently working on several projects with which we would welcome some parent input. The first is the creation of a 'Parent Charter/Guiding principles'. We would like to facilitate some focus groups in the office to discuss this. We will be holding a focus group on Wednesday 25th at 12pm in our office-see the flyer further down in the newsletter for more information. If you are interested in taking part please do not hesiatte to call the office on 9338 9985 to register your interest for this focus group. Additionally if you are parent in a school outside the metro area and would like the opportunity to have input please call and we can faciliate this. 

Secondly CSPWA are collaborating with Catholic Education WA on an Attendance Strategy. An explanatory letter and a link to the survey are included in this newsletter. We urge you to take 10 minutes to completethe survey and this will help to inform the strategy.

We have also included a link to some videos from Dr Debbie Pushor highlighting the importance of Parent Engagement. We were lucky enough to have Debbie present some workshops here in Perth in 2017 and we certainly know that she is a very passionate advocate and supportor of parent engagement. Other newsletter highlights include an article highlighting the importance of the STEM subjects for your children.

We love to hear about the great work that is being carried out in our school communities by parents and sharing your stories enriches the opportunities for others.   

CSPWA is just a phone call away for parents and schools for information and advice.

Have a safe and restful holiday.

God Bless

Helen Anderson