Community News – 8 August 2019

Parent Focus Groups

As you may be aware, a dedicated group pf parents meet once per term in order to build greater parent engagement at St Francis Xavier College. These parents share their valuable ideas in order to support student learning and improve communication. Together we have explored:

• College facilities and how they enable student centred learning
• Positive Learning Partnerships (a parent perspective)
• Marketing and Communication eg. electronic excursion permissions, SIMON App
• Parent Voice at St Francis Xavier College and Catholic School Parents Victoria

Our Term 3 meeting is scheduled for 27 August at 6.30pm at the Beaconsfield Campus Hospitality Centre. Please join us as we explore the parent role regarding Child Protection. Topics for discussion include:

• What can I do at home?
• What are the signs of grooming?
• How do I discuss any concerns with my child?

If you would like to join the PFG please contact Ms Jennie Laukart (jlaukart@sfx.vic.edu.au)

RCIA at St Patricks Parish, Pakenham

RCIA is the process by which adults formally join the Catholic Church.

RCIA can help you if you are:

• interested in learning more about the Catholic Church;
• recognize a need for spirituality in your life;
• baptized into another Christian denomination, but wish to join the Catholic Church;
• married to a Catholic and attend Mass but want to take the next step to become a Catholic;
• baptized Catholic, but never received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The RCIA Team – the candidates and their sponsors meet over several months starting often around August. The gatherings are marked by sharing, listening, learning, teaching, answering questions etc. If you or someone you know of would like to join this journey, contact the parish office/ visit our website. Information night will be on the 21 August 2019 at 7.30pm in the welcome room.

Catholic School Parents Victoria

We are pleased to share an excerpt from the Term 3 Catholic School Parents Victoria newsletter below. You are encouraged to visit http://cspv.catholic.edu.au/ to subscribe to future newsletters.

Welcome to our Term 3 Catholic School Parents Victoria newsletter. CSPV have been very busy organising a Catholic Secondary Schools Showcase Day coming up on Sunday 11th August at the Catholic Leadership Centre in Melbourne. We have partnered with the Primary and Secondary Principals Associations and Catholic Schools Guide to develop the Innovating for the Future Showcase.

One of the purposes of CSPV is to promote Catholic education as a first choice for Catholic families. This showcase day provides parents with the opportunity to learn more about Catholic secondary schools and what they can offer your children, a quality, faith based education, within a welcoming and nurturing learning community with a focus on the development of the whole child.

Articles in this newsletter focus on our various key advocacy areas, Parent Engagement in Child Safety, Wellbeing, Curriculum and Catholic Community.

CSPV has several projects underway exploring the improvement of parent engagement in literacy and numeracy as well as a focus on child safety. We are specifically exploring how parents can be more engaged in conversations within their school communities and in their local sporting and local groups to ensure they are sharing the responsibility of safety for all children. 

We have also included an article about the importance of engaging families in career conversations to support students as they make their way into senior years at school, to guide and support decision making when it comes to career pathways.

Our Executive Officer, Rachel Saliba and Deputy Chair, Jodie McLeod continued to build important relationships with our key stakeholders at a recent meeting with Archbishop Comensoli to discuss the work of CSPV. Further meetings and events attended were the VicSRC Student Congress where students pitched their ideas for advocacy in education. This was a great opportunity for CSPV to learn what the key issues are for students and how they align with the advocacy work of CSPV.

Our Executive Officer also attended the Parents and School Community Organisations (PaSCO) meeting with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). This partnership is extremely important for CSPV in understanding the challenges and improvements required for teacher registration, particularly related to child safety. CSPV will now explore several reviews at the request of VIT to assist in the improvement of standards of initial teacher education, professional learning, teaching and conduct related to child safety.

The CSPV parent council believe in and are committed to the gospel values of respect, honesty, justice, compassion, mercy, hospitality and community. These underpin our operations, relationships and communication strategies.

We are currently seeking an administration/marketing officer to join CSPV and support the work of the Executive Officer in managing the operational aspects of the council. Visit the CSPV website for further information about the application process and position description – http://cspv.catholic.edu.au/join-us/.

CSPV is also seeking volunteer delegate members from the Northern Region of Melbourne, along with one delegate from Ballarat and Sandhurst and two delegates from Sale. If you feel you could contribute to the council advocacy areas and represent parent perspective in Catholic Education, please click here or call 03 9267 0458 for further information. Parent/carer contribution to the improvement of education is valuable to the continued development of the organisation and in representing the perspective of parents in Catholic education across Victoria.

Until next time,

Rod Lewis
Chairperson, CSPV.