Welcome from Siobhan Allen, CSPWA Executive Director
As you are probably all now aware, Catholic School Parents WA this year celebrate 70 years as an independently incorporated organisation.
We were delighted to be able to celebrate this significant milestone together with 150 parents and friends from around the state at the conference opening dinner on Friday 7th June at the Aloft Hotel in Perth. We were also joined on the evening by The Most Reverend Michael Morrissey, Bishop of Geraldton, Very Reverend Fr Vincent Glynn, Vicar General and Episcopal Vicar for Education, Mr Wayne Bull, Executive Director of CEWA, Ms Annette Morey, Deputy Executive Director of CEWA, members of the Catholic Education Commission of WA, CSPWA Life Members - Mrs Shelley Hill, Mrs Agnes Weymouth, Mrs Helen Anderson and Mr Joe Monterosso along with the current council and staff of CSPWA.
In celebration of our 70th Anniversary we were delighted to have written specially for the occasion; a beautiful prayer penned by Mrs Agnes Weymouth. Agnes has been volunteering with CSPWA since 1988 and was in fact the first female president taking on that role in 2001. Agnes continues to stay in touch and although no longer a member of council is always keen to keep abreast of what is happening. Our sincere thanks go to Agnes for the gift of the lovely prayer and you will find a copy of it further down in this newsletter. We were blessed to have Agnes present at the dinner to lead us in the prayer she so thoughtfully wrote.
Following prayer, the conference was officially opened by The Most Reverend Michael Morrissey, Bishop of Geraldton who spoke warmly about the very important role that we parents and families play in the educational journey of our children. He spoke particularly of the role his own mother played in his education whilst growing up in the Diocese of Geraldton, and reminded us all to be aware of the enormous responsibility we have as parents.
One of the more important aspects of gathering together for dinner, is the opportunity it provides to network with other parents from around the state and to share stories and ideas. Indeed, the feedback from the weekend suggests that this is one of the more positive outcomes for parents in attending the event and we hear the same thing every year. For those who were attending the conference the following day there was a lovely sense of camaraderie given that many of us had met the evening before at dinner.
Our dinner guest Dr Laura Allison took to the stage to talk about the conference theme ‘Communication for Connection’, and as always injected plenty of humour into what can often be a confronting topic, that of mental health and wellbeing. As parents whose children attend Catholic schools in this state, we are very fortunate to have Laura as the Chief Psychologist at CEWA leading the Psychology, Safety and Wellbeing team. We extend our sincere thanks to Laura for being such a constant source of support to our organisation.
The evening ended with the ever-popular Awards of Excellence in Building Positive School Communities. Celebration is an important part of community, so much so that CSPWA have it identified within our strategic plan as a desired outcome. It was on this basis around the importance of celebration that the Awards of Excellence were initiated 12 years ago. They have gone from strength to strength so m uch so,that even in a non-conference year we continue to host an Awards evening.
You will find a more detailed review of the the Awards later in this wrap up.
The council and staff of CSPWA would like to sincerely thank all those who attended the 70th Anniversary dinner. We know from experience how tricky it can be sometimes to organise babysitters and get into the city on a Friday evening, so we are very grateful that so many were able to join us on the evening and to provide us with such positive feedback.
Here’s to the next 70 years!!