CSPWA President's Welcome
Term 3 is well underway with the conclusion of Week 5 upon us.
For many families this term is an exceptionally busy one with the six weeks of the Catholic Performing Arts Festival, many cross-country carnivals, athletics carnivals, exam preparations and the conclusion of winter sport seasons. All of a sudden, we reach this time of the year, and we switch from settling into the year and consolidating learnings to preparing for end of year happenings and looking towards next year!
For the families with children in Year 12, preparations are well and truly underway for Mock exams heading for ATAR exams in October/November. This time of the year can be somewhat daunting both for the students in the family as well as the parents. Having had three children already experience this myself, and living through it one last time this year, I completely relate to the ‘emotional roller-coaster’ of Year 12. It really is an exciting time, I acknowledge not without stresses, but the knowledge we adults have that our children’s lives are about to get really exciting with untold experiences awaiting them, makes it worth the work now. The schools offer so much support to our children, please take the time to explore what your school has in place - preferably ahead of when your child may require it. Keep talking with your child, I find the inescapable trips in the car where you have a captured audience, is a really good opportunity!
Many of our children in years 3 and 4 will be receiving their Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist around this time of the year, and many of the year 6s will be Confirmed. The schools work as part of the parish community to facilitate the preparation for these beautiful celebrations. Please keep all of the children, families, teachers and their parish priests in your prayers as their faith journeys continue.
Further in this newsletter there are photos and an article about the CSPWA Awards of Excellence evening held last week. I won’t steal the show or give you any spoilers, I would like to extend my vote of thanks to the administration staff of CSPWA who work tirelessly throughout the year for all parents of children in Catholic Schools, but they absolutely went the extra mile to put on this event last week. All those present certainly appeared to be having a fabulous time and there were some wonderful nominations for each of the categories. We love to see so much passion and fun amongst our parent communities in the schools.
Lastly, I would like to leave you with a point to contemplate. Our Catholic School Parents WA council consists of parents who have children in Catholic schools – just like you. Many of us volunteer in multiple places including our children’s schools and sporting clubs etc, participating in a variety of roles. There is plenty of literature around which espouses the benefits of volunteering both to the volunteer and recipients, as well as the added benefits it has for our children by witnessing their parents giving back to the community. I would like you to consider nominating to have a seat at our table here at CSPWA, working in the space of the ‘bigger picture’ can be exciting and rewarding. We would like to hear from you should you be considering this opportunity.
Until next time, Marina.