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