CSPA Quarterly Jan-Mar2021-draft2

QUARTERLY
ENGAGING
PARENTS
A QUARTERLY REPORT FROM CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS AUSTRALIA
JANUARY – MARCH 2021
www.cspa.catholic.edu.au

CONTENTS
CSPA PROFILE .................................................................. 2
SOME CSPA UNDERTAKINGS.......................................... 2
SNAPSHOT OF SHARING FROM CSPA MEMBERS ......... 6
PARENT ENGAGEMENT WORK ....................................... 8
CSPA PARTNERS .............................................................. 8
CSPA SPONSORSHIP PARTNERS .................................... 9
INTERESTING STATISTIC ................................................. 9
2019–2020 CSPA REPORTS .......................................... 9
WEBSITES FOR MORE INFORMATION ............................ 9
CSPA IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY ............................. 10
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CSPA PROFILE
2021 CSPA Profile (view here).
SOME CSPA
UNDERTAKINGS
CSPA Media Release congratulating
Catholic education on 200 years
(view here).
CSPA welcomes new member from
South Australia
At the February meeting of council, Catholic
School Parents South Australia (CSPSA) was
welcomed as the new member representing the
families with children in Catholic schools in South
Australia. This was the first admission of a new
member since CSPA’s inception in late 2013.
CSPA will welcome CSPSA parent representatives
at the May meeting of council and Bruno Vieceli,
who attended the February as an observer, was
particularly thanked for his substantive work in
setting up CSPSA.
CSPA Chair, Karl Rodrigues also thanked The
Federation of Catholic School Parent Communities
SA (TFCSPC-SA) for their support and commitment
in providing a Catholic school parent voice as a
member of CSPA up until 2020 and
acknowledged and commended the work that the
Federation had engaged in across that time.
Revisions to CSPA Constitution
As CSPA continues to grow and evolve various
aspects of the CSPA Constitution require
updating. These changes were embarked upon
following the February meeting and all CSPA
council members have been invited to comment
on the proposed changes which will be considered
at the 2021 AGM on 15 May. Key changes
include to the co-opting of persons onto the CSPA
Council and CSPA Executive and the composition
of the CSPA Executive.
February meeting of Council
The 20 February 2021 meeting of council was a
virtual meeting with one and half days once again
compressed into three hours. The last time that
CSPA Council met face-to-face was in February
2020, however it is planned to have the May
meeting of council, including the 2021 AGM, in
Brisbane. Many councilors have acknowledged
their keenness to catch up in person once again.
Some of the agenda items scheduled for the
February meeting included: the admission of
CSPSA; the admission of new councilors; the
tabling of member reports; proposed changes to
the CSPA Constitution; financial matters;
handbook documents and some strategic
undertakings for 2021.
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Reconciliation Action plan
During 2021, CSPA will draw on the wisdom of
CSPA Councillors and their various parent bodies,
and representatives from Reconciliation Australia
to generate their inaugural Reconciliation Action
Plan.
Input to the NSRB review on school
location and size loadings
On Monday 8 February, Narelle Burke (CSPA
Executive Member and Chair of Council of Catholic
School Parents NSW) and John O’Brien (CSPA
Executive Officer) took part in a roundtable
consultation as part of the review to consider
funding provided to regional and remote schools
which was conducted by the National School
Resourcing Board. The review was restricted to
only the location and size loadings for regional
and remote schools. Some points raised and/or
spoken to by CSPA representatives can be found
here.
2020 Review of the Disability
Standards for Education 2005
Thank you for making a CSPA submission to the
2020 Review of the Disability Standards for
Education 2005 (the Review).
The Review’s final report is now available on the
Department of Education, Skills and Employment
website. It is accompanied by a short summary
document that outlines how the Review was
undertaken, what the Review found and what it
recommends. This summary document is
available in Auslan, Easy Read, and 11 community
languages.
The Australian Government will work closely with
state and territory governments and education
authorities to implement recommendations.
Changes will be made with help and advice from
people with disability and educators, including
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with
disability.
The Government has committed to publicly
reporting each year on progress against
implementing the Review’s recommendations.
This will make it clear to the community what
actions have been taken and where further work
is required.
Thank you again for your contribution to the
Review.
Kind regards
2020 Review of the Disability Standards for
Education Team
Meeting with Kellie Luxford
(Director, Policy, AITSL)
In late February, Carmel Nash and John O’Brien
met with Kellie Luxford (AITSL, Director - Policy) to
share the work that CSPA has completed and new
work about to start regarding Parent Engagement.
The AITSL Australian Professional Standard for
Principals and the Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers make many references to
parents as part of these standards and Kellie is
keen to have further discussion with CSPA in
relation to raising the profile of Parent
Engagement with teachers and principals. There
was some key discussion in relation to Parent
Engagement and pre-service teacher programs.
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Phase Three of the Parent
Engagement Re-energizing Project
Phase Three of the project involves the
development of Parent Engagement resources in
the form of presentations which can be localised
to individual school contexts. This was noted as
an emergent theme in the first report where it was
described as the need to identify more effective
ways to offer parent engagement professional
learning opportunities for school staff and parents
in combined forums both within and between
schools. The presentations developed through this
project will further promote families partnering
with schools around the education of their
children.
School Funding
Debate about school funding is never far from
media headlines and CSPA is keen to have
accurate information in the hands of parents such
that any misinformation can be challenged.
Information is available on the CSPA website.
CSPA Statement to ACARA regarding
COVID
Through the challenges to schooling brought on by
COVID, many parents have developed a greater
appreciation of what their school age children
learn, how they learn and how they interact with
their teachers and peers. For some parents the
experience has been empowering and partnership
building, while for others it has been frustrating
and they feel the shared care for the wellbeing of
their children and young people has been
compromised during this time. It has created
however, a lengthy snapshot in time that prompts
reflection on how better to provide education
opportunities that are equitable for all children
and families.
(Karl Rodrigues, Chair, Catholic School Parents
Australia).
CONSENT – what does it mean?
Recently, the topic of sexual consent has been
widely discussed in the media. This short video
explains consent in the context of sexual
relationships, by using the analogy of drinking a
cup of tea. (Extract from Parent Talk – Council of
Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT).
CSPA Media Release following address
by the Hon Alan Tudge MP, Minister for
Education and Youth (view here).
CSPA Chair Karl Rodrigues has also written to
Minister Tudge earlier this year to wish him well in
his role, to outline CSPA’s profile and to request a
meeting.
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… COVID, many parents have developed a greater appreciation
of what their school age children learn, how they learn and how
they interact with their teachers and peers.
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SNAPSHOT OF SHARING
FROM CSPA MEMBERS
Each CSPA Member gives a report at
each meeting of Council. Following are
extracts from reports tabled at the 20
February 2021 Council Meeting.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS
QUEENSLAND
Some recent activities:
• Planning for 60 years celebration.
• Planning for Mini conferences in each of the
five Qld dioceses.
• Planning for Parent Engagement grants – each
regional diocese 4 X 2500 and Archdiocese 8 X
2500.
A future initiative:
• Guest speakers to tour the state – 3 speakers.
COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC SCHOOL
PARENTS NSW/ACT
Some recent activities:
• Launch of new-look website
www.ccsp.catholic.edu.au
• Production of Supporting Diverse Learning in
Catholic Schools NSW/ACT: A Guide by Parents
for Parents (distributed to all Catholic Schools
in NSW/ACT
• Election of new Chair, Wayne Davie
• Production and distribution of the 2019 CCSP
Annual Report
A future initiative:
• Online safety webinars for parents and carers
in partnership with the Office of the eSafety
Commissioner.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS VICTORIA
Some recent activities:
• Advocacy: Change or Suppression (Conversion)
Practices Prohibition Bill – concerns for
parental rights when it comes to guiding
children in relation to sexual preferences and
gender identity.
• Advocacy: Child Safety in Boarding Schools –
invited parent feedback on Education and
Training Reform (Regulation of Student
Accommodation) Amendment Regulations
2020.
A future initiative:
• Parent Leadership Project
• Change of governance for CSPV
• Supporting Graduate Teachers in rural Victoria
CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
Some recent activities:
• Development of the CSPSA Constitution.
• Submission to CSPA to become a Member.
A future initiative:
• Determining parent nominees for CSPA
Council.
• Developing a CSPSA budget.
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TASMANIAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
PARENTS COUNCIL
Some recent activities:
• Confirmed existing Council members (parents)
for 2021; written to Principals to get their
support in attracting parents from schools that
didn’t have a member in 2020.
• Planned Parent Engagement activities for
2021 (an example is below)
• Planned School Grants programme for 2021.
A future initiative that has just commenced:
• Have engaged with 26TEN with a view to
running 3 parent sessions across the State.
(26TEN is for people, businesses, community
groups, governments who want to live in a
state where all adults have the reading, writing,
numeracy and communication skills they
need).
CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
Some recent activities:
• Working in partnership with CEWA on the State
Election campaign.
• Update of CSPWA HR Resources/contract for
staff members.
• Development of one page resource showing
parents what they get for their affiliation fee.
A future initiative:
• Convening parent reference groups both
primary and secondary to collect the authentic
parent voice in regard to various initiatives –
e.g. the changing role of P&Fs in schools.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL PARENTS
ARCHDIOCESE OF CANBERRA &
GOULBURN
Some recent activities:
• CSPACG was invited by Catholic Education
Canberra Goulburn to consult and provide
feedback on the proposed significant changes
to CECG enrolment processes. This included
engagement by key leaders within CECG
workshopping with CSPACG members to
examine and seek comment on:
­ enrolment trends
­ key enrolment process improvements
­ process of enrolment and exit surveys
­ sharing data on key reasons for choosing
Catholic schools and sources of information
to inform choice
­ changes in existing processes
• Developed a media strategy for promoting the
work of CSPACG with the CECG Marcom team.
This has led to a redevelopment of our forwardfacing
media presence including a revamp of
social media platforms and the CSPACG
website. We used this media presence to
engage with our school Boards and Community
Councils to recruit and promote.
• Developed a comprehensive working plan for
the strategic direction of CSPACG into the
future.
A future initiative:
• The engagement of a person whose sole
responsibility is the CECG Parent Engagement
platform.
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PARENT ENGAGEMENT
WORK
Phase Three of government funded
work on Parent Engagement
(see earlier in this report).
Taking part in Dr Debbie Pushor’s
latest research.
A number of CSPA Members are considering
undertaking the Chapters of Our Lives digital
course that Dr Debbie Pushor developed in
collaboration with renowned Canadian author,
Sigmund Brouwer. It is a family memoir project,
throughout which children interview extended
family members, collecting stories and artifacts to
compile into a family memoir book, with the
option to publish in a physical book at the end of
the process.
What new parent evidence can be
gleaned from work with Educator Impact?
Some CSPA representatives attended a webinar
presented by Educator Impact personnel and
Carmel Nash and John O’Brien had a follow-up
meeting with Dr Joe Thurbon to explore possible
research with parents.
CSPA PARTNERS
CATHOLIC EDUCATION STAKEHOLDER
FORUM
CSPA is part of the Catholic Education
Stakeholder Forum which consists of the National
Catholic Education Commission, the Australian
Catholic Primary Principals Association and
Catholic Secondary Principals Australia.
At the February 2021 meeting key topics included:
a welcome and update from Jacinta Collins (NCEC
CEO) which included the introduction of Sally Egan
(Deputy Director of National Catholic Education);
staffing remote regional schools; teacher trainees
in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island
Communities; post COVID equity in Australian
schools; NCEC Conference update (2 – 4
September 2022); meeting with Minister Tudge;
the Coalition of Australian Principals and member
updates.
ACARA
CSPA joins with other national parent and
principal bodies to meet with ACARA six times per
year. The latest news from ACARA can be
accessed here.
ARACY
CSPA is pleased to welcome Barbara Barker
(ARACY) onto the project team for the third phase
of our Re-energising Parent Engagement Project.
Last year, Barbara and Dianna Harris co-authored
Parent and Family Engagement – An
Implementation Guide for School Communities
(2020). This significant piece of work is a key
reference to our work on Parent Engagement.
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CSPA SPONSORSHIP
PARTNERS
National Catholic Education Commission
Australian Catholic Superannuation and
Retirement Fund
Catholic Church Insurance
INTERESTING STATISTIC
A November 2020 nationwide poll carried out by
the Australian National University, in part, asked
parents and carers to select the top five
responsibilities of schools. Parents and carers
could choose from a list of 15 statements.
2019–2020 CSPA
REPORTS
Read the report of CSPA Chair, Karl Rodrigues
here.
Read the report of CSPA Executive Officer, John
O’Brien here.
WEBSITES FOR MORE
INFORMATION
Catholic School Parents Australia
Parent Engagement Toolkit now with Case Study
videos
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CSPA IS PROUDLY
SUPPORTED BY
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