CSPSA Edition #1

It’s my pleasure to have been appointed as Executive Officer of Catholic Schools Parents South Australia (CSPSA) and I welcome you to the first newsletter for Term One – “I hear you”

The South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools (SACCS) announced the formation of Catholic School Parents SA as the new representative body of Catholic school parents in November 2020.

In 2020, the Commission engaged an independent reviewer to consult with parents in all Catholic schools to seek their feedback as to whether they felt they had an adequate voice in the education of their children and what kind of support they would like to see in the future.

“While acknowledging that the current structures have served parents and our school communities well in the past, the review recognised that parents and carers have busy lives and are looking for new ways to engage in and support the education of their children,” Professor Ralph said.

Catholic School Parents SA is closely aligned with Catholic School Parents Australia, the national body that represents and advocates for parents and carers of children and young people in Catholic schools across Australia and will seek to have broad representation of parents of students in our schools.

This newsletter will aim to introduce who we are as an organisation and give an insight into how you can join as a Parent representative.

I look forward engaging with you in the future and building a strong representative voice for each child.

Go well,
Trish Jarvis

As parents, we are the primary and continuing educators of children. It is recognised that there is a shared responsibility between parents and schools for the spiritual and social development of all students in our Catholic education system.

The objective for the newly formed CSPSA is to be an advocate for the families, parents, and carers of children in Catholic schools, Catholic early learning centres and pre-schools.

We believe that school and family collaboration is essential to successful spiritual, academic, and developmental growth.

Our objective is for all children to have the opportunity to access a quality education that allows each child to reach his or her potential.

CSPSA aims to build an environment where parents can be empowered to take an active role as the primary educators of their children.

The organisation will support this empowerment by providing resources, education, and support to assist all families and parents in this role.

Trish Jarvis, Executive Officer of CSPSA, has an established an advocacy background for over 20 years. Admitted as a Legal Practitioner in 2002, Trish developed a passion for advocacy skills through years of litigation and migration agency work. Specialising in migration, she became a voice for refugees in Australian Detention Centres. Her passion developed into establishing a Migration Practice which assisted thousands of people emigrate and begin a new life in Australia.

Listening to people and hearing their perspective has been her strength, passion, and goal. Giving people a voice that did not have one, or when others were louder, is a passion she has now chosen to turn into a vocation through Catholic Education.

With 2 young children at a Catholic school, Trish has been an active member on the School Board. As Chair of the board for the last 2 years, she understands the importance of parents as first educators and need to establish positive relationship within the school community.

On weekends you’ll find her training for her next marathon, trail running through the hills and caravanning adventures with her husband and 2 kids. Sleep can wait!

As an organisation we will offer a range of resources to assist you in feeling confident to lead your children through their years and establishing their catholic identity. These resources will range from interactive workshops, forums, and other events for parents to attend and become involved.

School Visits

We can come to your school and discuss CSPSA has to offer, listen to opinions of parents on various topics and provide solution to governance issues.

Skills Presentation

We can facilitate workshops and presentations to assist parents develop skills they need to guide their children towards.

Regular workshops will be posted on the CSPSA website and promoted through our Social Media Channels.

Grievance

When an issue arrives, it can be helpful for an independent person to assist with issues to enable a positive schooling environment and relationship. We can offer a listening ear in these circumstances and lead you towards the right direction to arrive at a positive outcome.

I’m interested in being a CSPSA parent representative for my children’s school:

Your school principal or leadership team will need to nominate a parent representative via our website.

If your school does not yet have a representative, please discuss this with your school principal and to complete a nomination form for this volunteer role.

The role of the CSPSA Parent Representative nominated to be on the CSPSA Parent Representative Register will be to:

• Act as contact person to represent parents in your specific school and act as a liaison with CSPSA on matters of relevance to parents in Catholic education.
• Collate information provided by CSPSA and share, when appropriate and with your guidance as Principal, with the parents of children in your school.
• Respond to any surveys or requests for feedback on topics or issues in education where CSPSA are seeking parent perspective as part of collecting evidence-based feedback for contribution to submissions and/or advisory committees or to CSPSA advocacy campaigns.
• Share information provided by CSPSA via our newsletter, encourage parents to subscribe to the CSPSA newsletter and social media forums and to distribute any invitations to parent engagement events or other events of interest to parents related to education, parent engagement and parent leadership.
• Attend one meeting during each school term and contribute to the development of CSPSA.

The time commitment required for the Parent Representative will vary on term-by-term basis, however, is not intended to be an onerous role and it is anticipated to be no more than a collective 4 hours per term.
 

I’m interested in being informed and contributing my perspective, but I don’t have time to be a parent representative:

CSPSA provides opportunities for parents who are not able to join a parent representative. You may provide your perspective through the following:

• Respond to requests for parent feedback through our surveys or requests sent to your school principal or via your school parent representative.
• Follow the CSPSA Facebook page to receive updates and invitations to events and contribute to requests for feedback.
• Provide an expression of interest to be informed about opportunities to contribute your perspective by clicking here.

We cannot begin to imagine what it’s like for families like our own to live through the destruction and heartbreak of the war in Ukraine.

400. It’s a big number with a lot of different meanings.
400 is the number kilometres I run in the last six weeks.
$400 is the amount of money I spent on groceries last fortnight.

In March 2022, we heard that 400 was a number of Ukrainian schools and preschools that had been bombed by Russia in the last 25 days.

400 schools and preschools gone.
At a time when children need stability in their life!

We ask that you use this period of lent, to practice the following prayer is used as a prayer for peace.

New research by Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) aims to capture parent perspectives on issues of concern to help inform future federal government policy.

In March 2022, a new Labour Government was elected in South Australia.

Prior to the election, Catholic education South Australia sought seven-party promises.

1. Recurrent funding
2. Capital funding
3. Preschool education
4. Fair access to rural and regional buses
5. Year 7 transition funding
6. COVID-19 responsibilities
7. Vocational education and technical colleges.

As the key parent body for families within Catholic Schools, CSPSA supports the position CESA outlined of the commitments sought from the elected political party who has now formed government.