National Volunteers Week is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering. It was held from 16 to 22 May, on behalf of CCSP I take this opportunity to thank all everyone who generously volunteers their time and talents to support children and families in their Catholic School communities in NSW and the ACT.

It was fitting that CCSP membership, from across NSW and ACT, met on 19 and 20 of May during National Volunteers Week. We came together in a combined meeting of both the Council and Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Parent Committee in Coffs Harbour. Over the two days, we deepened our knowledge of Parent Engagement practices and acknowledged and celebrated 17 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parent representation to CCSP Council. I’d like to thank the Diocese of Lismore CCSP members, Doreen Flanders, Christine Morrison and Janita Thomson who presented a range of parent engagement programs from their diocese. See more about this later in Parent Talk.

The Hon Sarah Mitchell, Minister for Education and Early Learning, has invited CCSP as the representative of Catholic parents to the newly formed Antibullying Taskforce to participate in a series of roundtables. Representatives and experts; across NSW school sectors, youth mental health organisations, social media organisations, government, community leaders, parent organisations, student representatives and the eSafety Commissioner were in attendance. The purpose of the meeting was to come up with a range of initiatives to combat bullying of children and young people in NSW. This is a whole societal approach to the issue, as bullying can happen, not just on the school grounds or in the home. There are further meetings planned and we will be working closely with Catholic Schools NSW as we put together a plan for the Catholic School Sector response. CCSP will continue to share with you the progress of this task force.

The Catholic Schools NSW Annual Stakeholder Day was held on May 11. The Stakeholder Day brings together the Catholic leadership from both the Diocesan and Catholic Independent schools across NSW. This year’s focus was the teacher shortage, CCSP presented to attendees about the parent perspective on this issue. The CCSP contribution to the day was well received and served to simulate conversation that is being used to shape the Catholic Schools NSW strategic work program in the near, medium, and long term to address the issues of the teacher shortages across the Catholic sector.

It was my pleasure to present to the Executive Director of Schools, Catholic Education, Diocese of Bathurst, Christina Trimble, a plaque acknowledging First Place in the 2021 Roger O'Sullivan Memorial Award for Family, School and Community Partnerships for Learning. St Mary's Catholic School Wellington was awarded First Place in the 2021 Roger O'Sullivan Memorial Award. This Stakeholder Day gives CCSP the opportunity to showcase the Roger O’Sullivan Award recipient to the attendees and to highlight the great work that is happening in family, school and community partnerships across Catholic schools in NSW and the ACT.

The 2022 Roger O'Sullivan Memorial Award is now open, submissions can be made via CCSP website. For more detail see later in this issue of Parent Talk.

Finally, to all those individuals who were recently elected as members of the House of Representatives and Senate, I wish to offer congratulations to you all on behalf of CCSP. We look forward to working with you to support the families of children attending Catholic schools in NSW and the ACT.

Please keep those suffering from natural or man-made disasters in your thoughts and prayers.

God Bless

Wayne Davie

Chair CCSP

The creation of a body to recognise, listen to, and advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents was, and still is, deemed important.....

Catherine Ible, former Chair CCSP and current Parent Engagement Officer, Catholic Schools Office, Diocese of Armidale, spoke to the attendees of the CCSP conference in Coffs Harbour about the formation and positive impact of the CCSP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Parent Committee.

Catherine acknowledged and thanked Sharon Cooke, Senior Manager, Aboriginal Education, Catholic Schools NSW, who, in 2003, was the Aboriginal Education Advisor, Diocese of Armidale, for sharing and teaching her and members of CCSP about Aboriginal Australian culture. 

Unfortunatley Sharon was unable to attend the gathering in Coffs Harbour, Mary Atkinson, Aboriginal Education Worker, Diocese of Wagga Wagga, delivered Sharon's  reflection and shared her experiences as a member of the committee.  

Aunty Mary acknowleged and thanked previous and current members of the committee who have worked to give a voice to Aboriginal Australian families in NSW/ACT schools.  She commented that

The creation of a body to recognise, listen to, and advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents was, and still is, deemed important by CCSP, Catholic Education Commission NSW(now CSNSW) and the 11 NSW/ACT dioceses who fully supported the formation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Parent Committee.

Working with the Diocesan Aboriginal education specialists the committee have promoted Catholic education to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Knowing that their voice is understood, respected, and listened has resulted in more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families choosing Catholic education for their children.  The committee have developed many resources that are shared amongst communities across NSW and ACT.

This group has been recognised for its uniqueness at the World Indigenous People’s Conference (WIPCE) in Toronto Canada in 2017 as the only indigenous educational parent group in the world.

As we look to the future our vision is that CCSP and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Diocesan representatives will work closely together on parent and student related issues in and across their dioceses.

Key future goals will be bringing non-indigenous and indigenous parents together on the pathway to reconciliation and increasing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Catholic schools.

CCSP delegates were welcomed to Gumbaynggirr Country by Jenny Skinner in a moving ceremony performed by the Wajaar Ngaarlu Group. 

CCSP is committed to the Uluru Statement of the Heart: to work “for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.” In doing so CCSP will work alongside our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to bring truth, healing and restore trust by building positive two-way relationships in our Catholic communities.

We are committed to walking the pathway to reconciliation, and, advocating for closing the gap, so Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families can participate equally and equitably in all areas of Catholic life including Catholic education. 

Doreen Flanders, Aboriginal Education Officer, Diocese of Lismore, generously shared with us some of her story and the wonderful work that is happening in the Diocese of Lismore to support Aboriginal students on their education journey.

"The Welcome to Country was a highlight and Aunty Doreen's experiences were very moving."

commented Anne Fehon, Parent Representative, Archdiocese of Sydney. 

Research has shown that students of all backgrounds achieve more if parents and carers are involved in their child’s education.

CCSP is committed to promoting and supporting the development of family school partnerships. Each diocese has a different strategy for developing family engagement. Attendees at the May CCSP meeting learnt about strategies used in the Diocese of Lismore. 

Janita Thomson, Lead, Family Partnership, Catholic Schools Office, Diocese of Lismore, ran an engaging, interactive and informative session about building and developing family school partnerships. 

Janita acknowledged that it takes time, effort and commitment to build the partnerships, however it is worthwhile for students, parents and schools.

Janita shared some of the strategies used within the Diocese of Lismore to develop and nurture these important partnerships to increase Parent Engagement. 

Karan Taylor, Professional Officer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong, commented,

"This is re-enforcing the importance of parents as first educators and valuing each other’s voices and diversity."

If you would like more information you can visit the CCSP website.

Has your school community implemented an initiative that focuses on family, school and community collaboration? You can apply to receive a grant to assist the project.  

The 2022 Roger O’Sullivan Memorial Award for Family, School and Community Partnerships for Learning is awarded to a school community, including parents and carers, that can demonstrate exemplary practice in building partnerships between home and school to enhance the learning outcomes of students. These projects may focus on faith formation, the school curriculum, student wellbeing, or any combination of the three.

At the heart of this award are family, school and community partnerships in which the family and community are authentically engaged.

More than 50 years of research tells us that family, school and community engagement improves student learning outcomes. 

Parent bodies and leaders from eligible Catholic school communities are invited to apply for the Roger O'Sullivan Memorial Award by demonstrating how a partnership-focused initiative has enhanced student learning outcomes. The initiative must be an authentic parent engagement project. Ideally, it will have been parent-initiated, but this is not essential so long as parents have been collaborative partners and authentically engaged throughout the life of the project.

The recipient of the 2022 Roger O'Sullivan Memorial Award will receive a tailored publicity campaign and $4,000 to further the initiative.  More information and an application form are available here.

You can visit the CCSP website to learn about award winning initiatives from previous years. 

The Outback Immersion Program from St Mary's Catholic School, Wellington, Diocese of Bathurst, was awarded First Place in 2021. 

St Joseph’s Primary School, Uralla, Diocese of Armidale, was the recipient of the 2020 Roger O’Sullivan Memorial Award for their St Joseph’s School Sheep Manure Business and School Garden Project.

To continue to support parents and carers CCSP will be co-hosting a free webinar to provide parents and carers with strategies to establish a safe online environment for their children.

The one hour webinar is presented in partnership with the eSafety Commissioner and delivered by Greg Gebhart, one of Australia's leading online safety presenters.

Wednesday 8 June 7.30pm. 

Register here

The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is Australia’s independent regulator for online safety.

eSafety the world’s first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online. The team of educators, investigators, lawyers, policy wonks, technology experts, digital specialists and other professionals share one goal – a safer and more positive online experience for all Australians.

CCSP has an ongoing partnership with the eSafety Commissioner, so we can continue to provide parents and carers with accurate and up-to-date information to support raising children.  

Standing with Ukraine is a 5-minute video resource, developed to support children and young people to:

• contextualise the war in Ukraine as they try and make meaning from what they have seen and heard on the news, in conversation and in social media
• empower them to consider acts of empathy and kindness.

The video developed by the MacKillop Institute is designed for use at home or in the classroom and is recommended for children and young people in middle and upper primary schools and in secondary school.

Responding to children and young adults questions and concerns thoughtfully is key to addressing big emotions, building their sense of empathy and hope, and empowering them to understand that through small acts they can make a positive impact, both now and in the future.

For more resources from the Mackillop Institute click here.