A Message from the Executive Director, Cath Garrett-Jones

Dear Parents and Carers

We hope you had a beautiful Christmas and holy season and a wonderful summer holiday with your family and are feeling refreshed and ready to face the new year. 

Can you believe it's 2024? We're off to a great start to the new school year, with lots of events planned for our families, a new strategic plan, and a wonderful group of volunteer parents who are on our Council and Committee.

In this issue, we look back at some events that happened at the end of last year and we give you the heads-up about what we're doing this year for our parents and families. Some dates are still to be firmed up and stay tuned for additional events. An easy way to keep updated is to follow us on Facebook! You can download the 2024 CCSP Calendar of Events and Meetings here.

This term our first eSafety Commissioner online webinar for parents and carers is for primary school parents and is all about understanding parental controls to safeguard your child. These informative sessions are invaluable when it comes to cybersafety for our children. We've listened to you and this year we're offering two 'lunch and learn' options as well as evening events. Here are the four webinars we've booked in for parents and carers this year so you can save the date:

Also in this issue, we give you some profiles on some of our parent volunteers and a list of this year's team of parent reps. You can download the CCSP flyer to find out about us, and find out more about our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee here.

Have a look at our wonderful Food for Families video on quick and easy nutritious school lunchboxes with food presenter Jane de Graaff, and enter the draw for 20 beautiful kitchen linen set giveaway packs.

On a more serious note, we have included our governance flyer about parent groups and section 83c of the Education Act, which gives some guidelines on fundraising and donations. It has some great information about compliance and requirements for parent groups; for example, did you know that funds raised by parent groups cannot be used for any other purpose than to further the education of students? 

We also include some advice about posting photos of children on social media and allergy management at school.

We wish all our new families a warm welcome and hope that everyone has a wonderful year of being authentically engaged in your children's learning at school.

God bless

Cath 

Find out what we're up to at CCSP in Term 1.

Term 1: 30 January – 12 April

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee Significant Dates

• 13 February: Anniversary of the National Apology
• 21 February: International Mother Language Day
• 21 March: National Close the Gap Day
• 21 March: Harmony Day

Liturgical Dates

• 13 February: Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Tuesday)
• 14 February: Ash Wednesday
• 18 February: 1st Sunday of Lent
• 25 February: 2nd Sunday of Lent
• 3 March: 3rd Sunday of Lent
• 10 March: 4th Sunday of Lent
• 17 March: St Patrick’s Day
• 19 March: Feast of St Joseph
• 24 March: Palm Sunday
• 28 March: Holy Thursday
• 29 March: Good Friday
• 30 March: Holiday Saturday – Easter Vigil
• 31 March: Easter Sunday

School Holidays

15 April – 26 April

CCSP's Executive Director Cath Garrett-Jones teamed up with food presenter Jane de Graaff to make some videos for parents and carers on budget-friendly shopping, recipes and cooking tips to make your food dollar go further. 

We hope that this video, 'Lunchboxes don’t need to be a battlefield!', will help you prep a lunchbox that's quick and easy as well as delicious and nutritious.

As Jane says, 'Like any parent, I know the very real struggle of filling a lunchbox. The best advice I ever had came from a nutritionist who said that parents put too much pressure on themselves. There’s a lot for a lunchbox to compete with when kids have exciting things going on. So, just do your best and don’t stress about it.'

Watch out for some more great videos a bit later in the term on creating tasty budget-friendly meals for the whole family.

Food for Families Giveaway Kitchen Packs

As part of our Food for Families project for 2024, we're giving away 5 sets of adult/child CCSP aprons - as worn by Jane and Cath in the video! - as well as 10 beautiful Jane de Graaff kitchen linen sets that include an apron, tote bag, oven mitt, tea towels and fridge magnet.

How do I get a giveaway pack?

Good question!

Simply click the link to complete the form and the first 15 entries received will be posted out a fabulous kitchen linen giveaway pack! (Please note that this offer is not available to CCSP Council and Committee members.)

ENTRY FORM: Kitchen Linen Pack Giveaway

Make sure you include your name, email address, postal address and phone number, and let us know what you thought of the video! (We may use your feedback anonymous in future promotions.)

You can download the recipe for Jane's Lunchbox Bacon and Egg Slice Recipe

JANE'S LUNCHBOX BACON AND EGG SLICE

Ingredients

• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 carrot, grated
• handful of diced bacon pieces
• 4 small zucchini, grated
• 1 cup grated tasty cheese
• ⅔ cup self-raising flour
• ½ cup rice bran oil
• 4 large eggs, whisked

Method

1. Line a slice tin with overhanging baking paper and preheat your oven to 180°
2. Sauté the onion, carrot and bacon until the onion is translucent, the carrot is juicy and sweet and the bacon is browning. Allow the cooked veggies to cool a little so they don’t scramble the egg in the bowl.
3. In a large bowl mix together the grated zucchini, cheese, self-raising flour, rice bran oil and the whisked eggs. Then add the cooled bacon mix and stir through to combine.
4. Spread batter in the prepared tin and bake at 180°C for 30–35 minutes or until set and golden on top. Allow to cool, remove from tin and slice.

Note: Keeps for four days in the fridge.

Meet Kowsiha Thayananthan

Recipient of the 2023 CCSP Pre-Service Teacher Award

For several years CCSP has been proud to provide a scholarship to a pre-service teacher at Australian Catholic University (ACU). 

The scholarship acts as an incentive to further the recipient's understanding and subsequent application of parent engagement in their teaching role.

Kowsiha Thayananthan was our 2023 scholarship recipient, and she said this about her teaching goals:

My goal has always been to help people and make a difference in society in the best way possible. My search through life's journey and challenges brought a newfound desire to assist children through education. My passion for teaching is also attributed to years of volunteering at a community language school. Following homeschooling my own children through the COVID-19 pandemic, and a desire for career and development growth, I decided to re-enter studying and undertake a Master of Teaching (Primary).

In contributing as a teacher, my goal is to give students the foundation to thrive and achieve their potential. As a family worker (part-time) and working with refugees and migrants, this experience has broadened my knowledge of the challenges and needs that families and children face in accessing a better education and better life. Hearing of their challenges and limited access to support has provided me with strategies to tailor services that help address their individual needs.

I believe that education is a partnership between schools, teachers, and parents and this partnership is vital to the success of a student. Establishing open and authentic communication with parents will help give teachers broader knowledge of a student's learning ability, motivation, behavior, and attitude toward education. This in turn creates a strong relationship, between teachers and parents, of trust and a united approach that will benefit their child's educational success.

I encourage parent feedback and implement evaluations as they are useful for greater teaching/learning pedagogy and environment. I want to support parents by helping them understand the education system, its benefits, and how to access information. I want to provide parents with the tools to support their children through information sessions, workshops, and community-building relationship programs that will provide educational opportunities for individual students and their needs. If the support required is beyond a teacher or education facility's capacity, then we need to be able to provide community connections for additional support.

In this article we introduce you to our new Chair and a couple of our parent representatives!

Meet our new Chair

Anne Fehon, CCSP Council 

Federation Schools

And meet some of our volunteer parent reps:

James Haynes, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee

Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle

Parent Body

P&F Association

 

Why I chose to volunteer for CCSP

To assist in positive educational outcomes for our children.

 

How I feel about parent engagement in children's learning

Parent engagement should play an integral part in children's learning.

 

My favourite thing about being a Catholic school parent

Seeing your child's growth in many areas of life.

 

What I hope to achieve by being a member of CCSP

Be a part of some positive ideas and changes.

 

A little bit more about me ...

I am a father of five children who have all attended Catholic schools, all with differing but overall great experiences.

Emma Hunter, CCSP Council

Your Parent Representatives for 2024

This brochure is all about how P&F associations and other parent bodies in our Catholic schools need to comply with requirements of section 83C of the Education Act NSW when it comes to fundraising and finances.

For example, P&F associations must ensure that

a) donations are used solely for the school and not for other purposes;

b) payments to related parties are recorded and at reasonable market value;

c) payments cannot be made to members of school governing bodies (such as directors of the school board or members of the school council).

A school that does not comply with section 83C may be declared to be ‘operating for profit’ by the Minister under section 83D of the Act (a for-profit declaration), with consequences such as government financial assistance being cancelled and the Minister taking action to recover past funding (during any period the school was determined to be operating for profit).

It is also important to note that Catholic schools are governed by the requirements of Canon Law.

In particular, when receiving donations, schools and P&F associations must observe Canon 1300, which requires the intentions of those who give donations to be carefully observed.

In other words, if you promote a fundraising activity for the purpose of supporting the school, then the donation can only be used for that purpose.

Find out more by downloading the 'Catholic School P&F Associations and Section 83C' brochure here.

St Mary’s Parish School, Warren, Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes and The Lion King Musical

Last year we announced our first placegetters in our annual $5000 grant for family, school and community partnerships for learning, the Roger O'Sullivan Awards. You can read the story here, featuring Mount Carmel Catholic College, Varroville and their Home–School Literacy Partnership project: https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/newsletter/article/387

Coming in second place, with a $2500 grant awarded to the school, was St Mary’s Parish School, Warren, Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes and The Lion King Musical.

What a great project! The judges loved this uplifting story about a small rural community and how everyone became involved in putting on this musical extravaganza!

Find out about our seven finalists' projects here.

Archdiocese of Sydney

Men’s Business Nights in November - Sydney Catholic Schools

Throughout the month of November 2023 Sydney Catholic Schools’ Family Educators hosted several innovative events to promote men’s spiritual wellbeing, health, and mental health. Common to each event were the messages of God’s love and His ongoing presence in life, the importance of seeking professional help when feeling anxious or depressed and the value in visiting a General Practitioner when health concerns arise. The Men’s Business Night events were held to coincide with the wider Movember campaign in promoting positive messages to men about health.

The Sutherland Shire, St George, and Auburn/Lakemba network events were a success due to the high level of engagement by the fathers, grandfathers, and parishioners not to forget the impeccable organisation and attention to detail by the Family Educators. The titled themes of the evenings featured ‘Faith, Friendship and Food’, ‘Footy, Faith and Friends’ and ‘Mo Night’.

The Men’s Business Nights heard empowering speeches from guest presenters Dr Adrian Lo, Mr John Burland, Father Josh Whicker, Mr Guy Zangari, Mr Anthony Salame, Father Dan McCaughan, Mr James Graham, Psychologist Joel Curits, Father Ben Saliba.

Myfuture Education's first webinar for parents/carers in 2024 is centred around supporting kids with their career development.

Supporting First Nations kids toward career success: A yarn with parents and carers

Wednesday 13 March, 1:00pm – 2:00pm (AEDT)

We all want a good job with a good wage, right? And as parents and carers, that’s what we want for our kids too. But our definitions of ‘good’ aren’t always the same. And who is the ‘we’ referred to by each of us? Unfortunately, First Nations kids often struggle to express their cultural values in their schooling and employment, struggling to balance the values and motivations of themselves and their mob with those expected in their schools, the world of work, and Australian society at large. 

Tracy Ryan, Educational Designer (First Nations) invites you to join her in a yarn about how First Nations success is defined and shaped. Tracy will offer some ideas about First Nations cultural values around education and employment, to start a conversation about how parents and carers can support First Nations kids to envision, plan for, and achieve the kind of career that works for them and their community. 

Register via this link.

Young people at the centre of powerful new vaping campaign

Go to the Raising Children website here: https://raisingchildren.net.au/

You can also find NSW Health's Vaping Toolkit here: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/vaping

Updated best practice guidelines for anaphylaxis prevention and management in schools and children’s education and care

Parents and carers will be pleased to learn that the National Allergy Council has updated the Best practice guidelines for anaphylaxis prevention and management in schools and children’s education and care services. Additional supporting resources to help schools and children’s education and care services adopt an ‘Allergy Aware’ approach to anaphylaxis management have also been updated where required.

The best practice guidelines are comprehensive and practical and include key principles for reducing the risk of anaphylaxis along with recommendations for the following:

• Allergy aware approach
• Anaphylaxis management policy and plans
• Allergy documentation
• Emergency response
• Staff training
• Community and peer education
• Post incident management and incident reporting

The Allergy Aware website is a resource hub that aims to provide people working in schools, children’s education and care services and camps, as well as parents, health professionals and students, with information and practical resources to manage severe allergies in the school and children’s education and care settings.

This website has been developed by the National Allergy Council to support the allergy aware approach recommended in the Best practice guidelines for the prevention and management of anaphylaxis, developed in partnership with the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia and in consultation with key stakeholders.

Find the Allergy Aware Resource hub at www.allergyaware.org.au

Promoting kind and inclusive education

The YOU CAN SIT WITH ME program was founded in 2015 by global educator Sophie Sparks. Through her teaching work she became aware and deeply concerned about children suffering from non-inclusive behaviour, bullying, anxiety, depression and loneliness as a result of feeling isolated.

YOU CAN SIT WITH ME is an inclusive community and education program implemented by schools, sporting clubs and community groups. YOU CAN SIT WITH ME is a highly visible yellow wristband with a life changing message worn by students with a life changing message.

YOU CAN SIT WITH ME welcomes children to sit or learn together, regardless of  their age, race, religion, gender or disability.

YOU CAN SIT WITH ME amplifies it’s wellbeing message through the development of literacy programs for First Nation, marginalised, migrant and struggling children to close the literacy gap.

if you would like to know more about the program and how to implement it in your school or community group, please check out the website: https://youcansitwithme.org/faq-parents/

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