A message from the Executive Director

Dear Parents and Carers

Since my last message in mid-September, CCSP has continued to be of service to our Catholic school parents and families, working hard to accomplish our vision to ‘inspire and enable parents and carers to build communities of faith and hope’, and our mission to ‘provide leadership, advocacy and support for parents of children in NSW Catholic schools’.

A big congratulations to the winners of the two free Save Our Children books by Madonna King: Mary Guralnyk of Birrong, NSW and Veronica Raic of Castle Hill, NSW.

Strategic planning for the next three years has continued, and we will have a final 2024–2026 plan to be approved by Council at our Term 4 meetings in November. We will provide a copy of this in our last edition of Parent Talk in December.

At our AGM on 24 November, we will confirm all delegates for the Council and Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Committee authorised by diocesan directors and the congregational school group/Federation of RIM PJP schools, as well as CCSP office bearers for 2024. Your new representatives will be announced in the last edition of Parent Talk for the year in December.

In my capacity as Executive Director, I attended the John Berne School Annual Luncheon Celebrating 25 Years of Marist Education, an annual fundraiser for the school, on 22 September at the invitation of CSNSW. I listened to some amazing and inspiring speeches about their success stories by ex-students of the school. The John Berne School offers at-risk students a second chance, providing a secure, safe, enriching, and challenging educational environment by engaging with their families and wider social networks. These students credited this specialised setting with their post-school success.

The Final Report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability was released in October. One of the recommendations regarding education in the report stated that specialised schools should be abolished and all students should attend mainstream schools. One of the objectives of CCSP is to be inclusive and ensure that diverse voices are represented at the state level, and we recognise a parent’s right to choose the most appropriate education for their child. We maintain that parents and families need choice when it comes to selecting an appropriate education setting for their children with disability. We include an article on the report in this edition of Parent Talk.

On 31 October, the CCSP Chair and the Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee met with the Hon. Prue Car, Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning in her offices. Prior to this meeting we surveyed our members, diocesan directors and bishops, and in our advocacy, we took this opportunity to pass on to Minister Car concerns and feedback parents and families have in regards to the education of their children in Catholic school, and issues that impact their learning.

On a less serious note, on 25 September I filmed some cooking segments in Today show’s Jane de Graaf’s Coffs Harbour kitchen designed to help families shop for and cook budget meals that are cost-effective but delicious. These are currently in production for editing into three videos for our socials and website; keep a look-out for these in 2024.

I hope you enjoy this edition of Parent Talk and wish you well as we speed towards the end of the year and Christmas!

God bless

Cath