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- Welcome from CSPA Chair
- CSPA Council Meetings
- Snapshot of sharing from CSPA Members
- Catholic Education Priorities for the Federal Election
- New research into Catholic school parent perspectives
- Catholic Education Statistics
- CSPA Sponsorship Partners
- A prayer for world peace
- 2022 CSPA Profile
- Websites for more information
- CSPA is proudly supported by
On behalf of CSPA I would like to welcome you to the first edition for 2022 of our newly formatted CSPA Quarterly. 2022 is shaping up to be one of CSPA’s busiest and most exciting years since inception in late 2013.
In 2021, the Australian government acknowledged CSPA as the peak, national body representing and advocating for parents and carers with children and young people in Australia’s Catholic schools. For many in CSPA, particularly foundation members Carmel Nash and Siobhan Allen, this was a satisfying outcome following many years of hard work.
As part of their acknowledgement, the Australian government has asked CSPA to inform them of existing and emerging issues that are of concern to Catholic school families, especially those issues that impact their children’s health, wellbeing and/or learning. Currently, with the assistance of government funding, CSPA is finalising feedback opportunities to invite parents/carers to tell the government what they are thinking.
School changes resulting from the pandemic have placed formidable challenge on some school communities. On behalf of families, CSPA would like to thank Catholic schools for their overall response to COVID during this ongoing period of teaching/learning and wellbeing challenge for staff, students and families. Many stories have been shared of how schools have responded so well during this time.
CSPA continues work on parent engagement with the development of videos that will offer parent engagement professional learning opportunities for school staff and parents/carers. I thank the CSPA project team of Sarah Rose (Canberra), Siobhan Allen (Perth), Carmel Nash (Brisbane) and John O’Brien (Cairns) for their continued dedication to this work. The videos are planned for release in 2023 and will be added to the Gearing Up for Engagement website.
As we move into 2022, we will continue to work with our member bodies to provide Leadership in responding to national reviews and committees, again supporting our parents’ voice in these fora. Soon there will be a federal election and the recently released CSPA – NCEC, co-badged election materials provide useful comment on Catholic education through the lenses of the major parties.
For over 200 years, many millions of families have sought a Catholic education for their children, and in doing so, have played a key role in assisting Catholic schools to flourish - I wish our CSPA members well as they advocate for our current Catholic school families across Australia.
Best wishes for the Easter season. May the Easter message of joy and hope go out to all families as we pray for peace in our world.
Karl Rodrigues
Chair
The first meeting for 2022 of CSPA Council was held via videoconference in February. Matthew Williams (CSPV) and Wayne Davie (CCSP NSW) were especially welcomed as new CSPA councilors. Christine Morrison (CCSP NSW) attended as an observer and will be welcomed as a new councilor at the May meeting. Karl Rodrigues (CSPA Chair) welcomed NCEC Deputy Director Sally Egan who shared updates on the NCEC Strategic Priorities.
Some other meeting topics included: CSPA Member Reports; the nomination process for a new CSPA Chair; strategizing for the federal election; the September 2022 NCEC Conference; the CSPA Rights and Respectful Relationships Position Statement; updates of DESE funded work; CSPA finances; and remaining meetings for 2022. A Catch Up meeting of council is planned for the evening of 6 April to discuss federal election strategies in light of the recently released NCEC – CSPA co-badged election materials (see later). All member representatives look forward to the next meeting of council in Sydney on 14 and 15 May as this will be the first full face-to-face meeting of CSPA Council in over two years.
At each council meeting, each CSPA Member shares a brief report that includes responses to several questions. Following are member responses to two of the questions submitted for the February 2022 CSPA Council Meeting.
Catholic School Parents South Australia
Major activities undertaken since November 2021 CSPA Council Meeting:
- New Branding – design and approval by the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools.
- Website Launch in February 2022.
- Parent Engagement for the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools Strategy and State election in March 2022.
Key ways in which CSPSA will expand opportunities to contribute parent/carer feedback to CSPA for reporting to the federal government.
- Website has a link for parent representative.
- Circular to all principals has been sent requesting a parent representative.
- Stakeholder council being formed.
Tasmanian Catholic Schools Parents Council
Major activities undertaken since November 2021 CSPA Council Meeting:
- Met with Senator Wendy Askew (Lib Tas) and Nic Street Member for Franklin (Lib Tas). Contact has been made with the Tasmanian Education Minister, Sarah Courtney, on our behalf and we are waiting for a meeting date with her to be confirmed.
- Have had a meeting with Exec Director of Catholic Education Tasmania who has agreed to contact Principals and request each Principal nominates a TCSPC Parent Rep.
- Dr Pep Turner has resigned her position on the Catholic Education Commission Tasmania (CECT); Don has been appointed to the Commission as the Archbishop of Tasmania’s representative.
Key ways in which TCSPC will expand opportunities to contribute parent/carer feedback to CSPA for reporting to the federal government.
- TCSPC to have a school facebook contact who we can ask to post information on to each schools facebook page.
- We will hold a TCSPC representative on line meeting to explain their role, and broadly mention that the CSPA will be seeking parent feedback for government.
Catholic School Parents Victoria
Major activities undertaken since November 2021 CSPA Council Meeting:
- Elected new Chairperson – Matthew Williams
- Establishing partnership with SchoolTV to share parent resources with parents of children in Catholic schools and promote as an essential resource to engage parents in wellbeing
- Engaged a marketing strategy team to work with CSPV on increasing parent awareness, engagement, membership and interaction with CSPV.
Key ways in which CSPV will expand opportunities to contribute parent/carer feedback to CSPA for reporting to the federal government.
- Increase parent representatives through principal nominations
- Provide opportunities for feedback across each diocese
- Through social media and email campaigns
Catholic School Parents Western Australia
Major activities undertaken since November 2021 CSPA Council Meeting:
- Participation on Working Party to develop new Draft Terms of Reference to replace P&F
- Completion of CSPWA Strategic Plan to be tabled at council meeting on Feb 24.
- Realignment of office staff roles, to ensure a positive and competent workplace.
Key ways in which CSPWA will expand opportunities to contribute parent/carer feedback to CSPA for reporting to the federal government.
- Establishment of cluster groups.
- Once travel permits, visits to each of the four Dioceses in WA.
- Working with CEWA to generate generic email addresses for all P&Fs in WA.
- Establishment of reference groups, using FB groups, eg Parents of students with disabilities, rural and remote parents group and a targeted effort to establish an Aboriginal Parent group.
Council of Catholic School Parents NSW
Major activities undertaken since November 2021 CSPA Council Meeting:
- Arranging meeting with Shadow and Minister for Education for our T1 council meeting.
- e safety partnership presentation with e safety commissioner.
- Recruitment of new Executive Director.
Key ways in which CCSP will expand opportunities to contribute parent/carer feedback to CSPA for reporting to the federal government.
- Share via social media networks.
- Key messages in Parent talk newsletters.
- Share with CCSP Councilors to share with their parent networks.
Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn
Major activities undertaken since November 2021 CSPA Council Meeting:
- Hosted two Youth Mental Health First Aid training opportunities for families- one in ACT and one in regional NSW.
- School Board & Community Council Review is underway.
- Online Family Forum planning underway and to be delivered in May.
Key ways in which CSPACG will expand opportunities to contribute parent/carer feedback to CSPA for reporting to the federal government.
- The Council has a strong focus on promotion and are hoping to develop a contact database from the upcoming Family forum.
- The Council has contact details for each of the School Board/Community Council Chairs it utilises.
CSPA has worked with NCEC in identifying the following key issues and national priorities for Catholic Education for the 2022 Federal Election.
New research by Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) aims to capture parent perspectives on issues of concern to help inform future federal government policy. Click here to read what CSPA Chair Karl Rodrigues has to say about this work.
“We will be gathering evidence nationally on existing and emerging issues of concern for Catholic school families, especially issues that impact on their children’s health, wellbeing and learning,” CSPA chair, Karl Rodrigues said.
“We are keen to hear parent perspectives from a cross-section of families including those with children experiencing challenges around learning and from families with children in remote school settings.”
The research will incorporate surveys, parent/carer interviews and strategic reference group discussions.
“We will be working with our CSPA state and territory members and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth to undertake this research across Terms 2 and 3 this year,” Karl said.
“It’s an exciting opportunity that will shed critical insights into how to enhance parent engagement in student learning, and will no doubt capture the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on school communities.”
CSPA is the national representative body for parents/carers with children and young people in Catholic schools. Working with Catholic school principals and parents, CSPA seeks to better understand how parents and carers can work in partnership with school staff to benefit the health, wellbeing and learning of students.
Learn more about work already undertaken on the Parent Engagement website and watch out for new video resources which will be available by early 2023. CSPA acknowledges the funding received from the Australian Government for this work.
Read Less
Did you know that over 38% of Australia’s 1,755 Catholic Schools are in regional and remote areas. Read more on NCEC’s 2022 snapshot of Australian Catholic education.
CSPA is thankful to our partners.
The National Catholic Education Commission
The National Catholic Education Commission at the national level complements and supports the work of the State and Territory Catholic Education Commissions. Since inception, CSPA has been most grateful for the generous support provided annually from NCEC.
The Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund
ACSRF started in 1981 as a profit-to-member fund that assisted members from the Catholic education, healthcare, aged care and welfare sectors with their retirement savings. Since inception, CSPA has been most grateful for the generous support provided annually from ACSRF.
Following is the first article from ACSRF as part of a Financial Literacy Program provided to CSPA. The title of the article is Finding the right one… financial planner, that is.
Catholic Church Insurance
Catholic Church Insurance has a long, proud history of serving the Catholic community, having done so since 1911. In fact, CCI is one of the oldest insurance companies in Australia. CSPA is thankful for the generous support of CCI and 2022 is the fifth year that CSPA and CCI have been in a sponsoring partnership.
For more information on CCI Personal Insurance, be it:
- Car Insurance;
- Caravan & Trailer Insurance;
- Home & Contents Insurance;
- Landlord Insurance; or
- Travel Insurance.
Visit - www.catholicinsurance.org.au
Loving God,
We pray for all people experiencing war,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.
We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.
We pray for the world
that in these moments of crises,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.
May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for people experiencing turmoil
and for all the world.
Amen.
[Adapted by CSPA from the Prayer for Ukraine]
