Ministerial Roundtable

Purpose of the Roundtable

The Minister for Education, the Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education and Youth of Australia recently invited parent representative organisations to come together to discuss priority areas for national attention.  Catholic school parents across Australia were represented by Siobhan Allen, Deputy Chair of Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) and Sara Rose, Executive Member of CSPA. The meeting took place in Sydney on 22 November and provided an opportunity for all present to discuss the Australian Government’s focus on improving education outcomes and equity in education across Australia by ensuring all students, regardless of their background or which school they attend, have access to high quality education.

The roundtable recognised that parents have an important role in improving student wellbeing and learning outcomes. Parents have a unique insight into the problems and complex challenges, both at school and away from school, that confront our children and young people every day.

Participants in the roundtable discussion included parents from the peak parent bodies from each education sector as well as several state parent bodies. Siobhan was delighted to catch up with Pania Turner, President of WACSSO whilst at the meeting!

Topics up for discussion included :           

• Student wellbeing for learning and engagement
• School system level prioritisation of parent engagement in learning
• Addressing emerging challenges – social media & mobile phones, school attendance and school refusal                                                                       

Attendees were also asked to consider the following key questions:

• How can the Government and parents work more effectively in partnership to support aystem?
• How can the Government and parents work more effectively in partnership to support a better and fairer education system?
• What could be done to support student engagement and lift learning outcomes?
• What is working well in schools to improve student wellbeing?
• How can the Australian Government better engage with parents and students from priority equity cohorts?

Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) along with Catholic School Parents Western Australia (CSPWA) are grateful to the Australian Government for including the important parent perspective in the conversations that matter, and look forward to continuing this dialogue in order to enhance the learning and wellbeing outcomes for all our children and young people.