St Augustine’s Primary School Gordon Street Coffs Harbour Tuesday May 8 6.00pm PERSONNEL INVOLVED: DIANE MCGUIGAN MT ST JOHN’S DORRIGO Christine McLennan St Francis Xavier Michelle Flanders St Mary’s Bowraville Rachelle Kenny St Patrick’s Macksville Monique Waterworth St Mary Bellingen Kim Ramsey St Mary’s Bellingen Calissa Keough St Patrick’s Macksville Renee Hall Mary Help of Christians Sawtell Cath Hartin Mt St John’s Dorrigo Susie Nielsen Robson JPC Shelley Plummer St Augustine’s Coffs Harbour Elizabeth Crane JPC Cathy Cresswell JPC Paul Edgar CEO Norma Andrews JPC Mohammed Hanif JPC APOLOGIES: Renee AGENDA 1. Welcome, dinner and introductions - 6.00pm – 6.40pm - Susie welcomed us to the meeting. Susie offered a vote of Chrissy for the work she has done on behalf of the parents of St Francis Xavier Woolgoolga. Jake Madden – Principal of St Augustine’s Primary School - welcomed us to St Augustine’s and show us where the Parent Library books are located in their school library 2. Opening Prayer – 6.40pm – 6.50pm – Shelley led us in prayer 3. Review Action Decisions and evaluations from previous meeting – 6.50pm – 7.00pm - Susie 1 4. Diocesan Report - 7.00pm – 7.20pm Paul Family Retreats – March 10/11 Stuarts Point, March 24/25 East Ballina. o Family Retreats have been held for families in the North and South of the Diocese. Theme of the Family Retreat this year has been: “Suffering with Jesus” This the third week of the Spiritual Exercises. The Retreat Leaders have been Mrs Dale Keenan and Mrs Kate Nestor. The South Retreat had 32 adults and 46 students in attendance. The Northern retreat had 43 adults and 45 students in attendance. Annual Diocesan Conference Term 2 Week 4 May 19/20 o Paul distributed conference flyers and registration forms and encouraged representatives to attend the conference. If can’ t attend the conference you are encouraged to ask another parent if they can attend in your place. o See below for details o Three stars and one wish – Paul explained that on the second day of the conference that there would a time to share three things that your school is doing very well for you parents and one wish that you might have for parent opportunities at your school. E - Conference Term 3 Week 5 August 12 Paul explained that we will be using SCU facilities at Tweed Heads, Lismore and Coffs Harbour and the Health Department at Port Macquarie. We have Melinda Tankard – Reist, Cathy Quinn and Ian Lillico booked so far. The presenters this year will be live at Tweed Heads and Coffs Harbour. A fourth presenter is yet to be secured. 2 5. School Reports – 7.20pm – 7.50pm – All representatives CATHOLIC SCHOOLS PARENT ASSEMBLY – St Patricks Macksville Report Term 2 CSPA MEETING – 8th May 2012 St Augustine’s Coffs Harbour It’s been a busy Term 1 for Calissa and I. We met with our Principal and Paul to discuss Parent Assembly initiatives for 2012. Our Principal is very keen to assist the Parent Assembly and has been very supportive of our events and advertising them extensively via word of mouth, the school website and newsletter. Calissa and I have met and discussed our plan for 2012 with the following outcomes. Building mutual support among parents: Class parents were discussed at the meeting and unfortunately there is very little support from Staff and the Principal to initiate this program in our school again. We would appreciate assistance to investigate any further ideas that others have in this arena. Our school has the usual morning teas, playgroup and many events. Parents/carers are always invited to attend school to participate in a multitude of areas, however specifically parent to parent support is lacking. Faith nurturing: Family Faith Retreat 10th/11th March Grassy Head – I attended this with my family and loved it. Fantastic feedback from everyone I talked to. Numbers attending from St Patrick’s were disappointing – as we advertised each week leading up to the event. We would like to follow-up on a request from our Principal to include “So You Are Sending Your Child To A Catholic School’ booklet in each Kinder welcome pack. It is available from the CEO Sydney website for purchase at $16.94 (inc GST). Is the DEO able to purchase it at a better price? Parents at a P&F meeting raised the issue and indicated what a great book it is, helping Non-Catholic Parents/Carers understand what their children are learning at school. Parenting education: HTDPYK – Starts 8th May for six weeks. We are fortunate to have a local presenter trained in this course -Susan Vernon whose children also attended St Patrick’s. We have thirteen registrations for this course. Resilience Donut – Parent Sessions booked 18th June (Term 2) with facilitator Stacey MacDonald – Stacey will be doing two sessions for us titled ‘Parents Promoting Resilience’: afternoon session 1-3pm and evening session 6-8pm. Thea O’Connor – booked for 20th August (Term 3). Thea will be facilitating an evening session 7-9pm, Thea will be talking on ‘Promoting a Positive Body Culture for Boys and Girls’. 3 As soon as I formulate the advertising for the Resilience Donut and Thea O’Connor, I will email it to our other reps to allow interested parents from other schools to attend if they wish. Everyone welcome. Kind Regards, Rachelle Kenny and Calissa Keough St Patrick’s Macksville Catholic Schools Parent Assembly Regional School Report School name: ST MARY’S BELLINGEN What Parent Education programs/opportunities have been in your school since the previous regional meeting? Parent Information sessions – presented by class teachers regarding routines and programs for the year. Connecting Home and School Literacy and Numeracy Evening – prepared and presented by Fiona Lythall and Carmel Dagger aimed at giving parents an insight on how these areas are approached in the classroom and resources available to support students and parents. Has your school participated in school based parent education programs? Parent Information Sessions K/1 Parent afternoon Yr 2 parent Evening What Parent Assembly funded parent education programs have been in your school since the previous regional meeting? Connecting Home and School Literacy and Numeracy Evening Are there any shared parent education programs with other schools? Not at this stage, yet this may be a possibility down the track. What proposed Parent Education programs do you have for this year. We propose to continue to strengthen links between home and school with some informal morning tea sessions where parents have the opportunity to explore Parent Assembly Resources and discuss topics of interest that may arise. We are also considering a speaker for term three. We endeavour to gain some guidance at the annual conference in May for a suitable speaker. 4 5 Catholic Schools Parent Assembly Regional School Report St Augustine’s Primary School COFFS HARBOUR 2450 What Parent Education Programs/Opportunities have been in your school since the previous regional meeting? • School Swimming Carnival • School Cross Country • Winter Sports Trial • BER Opening Ceremony • National Year Reading Quest • Holy Week • KnowledgeNet Parent Workshop • Year K Enrolment Evening • Project Compassion • Dance Fever ‘Dance Off’ • Anzac Day March Although the above are not all academic Parent Education based Programs/ opportunities as such, they are, in fact, various activities that enable parents/ carers’ to learn about our school/ Parish. I believe that parents/carers’ being actively involved within various facets of our school curriculum, is so beneficial to our children’s learning environment and to the whole scope or our school. Has your school participated in school based Parent Education programs? Yes, We have held our: - Year K Reading Introduction evening 2013 Kindergarten Enrolment Information evening What Parent Assembly funded parent education programs have been in your school since the previous regional meeting? We held the ‘Cathy Quinn’ Presentation evening which was fantastic Cathy Quinn has dedicated her working life to education. In a teaching career that has spanned 28 years, she has been an innovator who pioneered new systems and inspired staff and students to discover their unique abilities and paths to success. ‘The’ Cathy Quinn presentation was fantastic and I would recommend her as a future presenter. Are there any shared Parent Education Programs with other schools? No. Not that I am aware of. (Shelley to talk to Jake/ Leanne) What proposed Parent Education Programs do you have for this year? 6 We have a KnowledgNET workshop whereby parents/carers’ are invited to a morning session each week in our LARC and are guided on ‘How to use KnowledgNET’ and the various applications within, by Jann. We have a School ‘Sustainability Garden ‘ being planned at present which involves staff, students , parents and the wider community Resilience Doughnut Session See draft report school report format. Catholic Schools Parent Assembly Regional School Report School name: John Paul College, Coffs Harbour What Parent Education programs/opportunities have been in your school since the previous regional meeting? None Has your school participated in school based parent education programs? Yes- many such as Andrew Fuller and Jonathon Doyle What Parent Assembly funded parent education programs have been in your school since the previous regional meeting? None Are there any shared parent education programs with other schools? No What proposed Parent Education programs do you have for this year. E Conference 6. Regional Matters – 7.50pm – 8.10 - Paul Regional Representatives for Diocesan Schools Parent Assembly – Elizabeth and Monique Feedback on resources that were supplied to each school – o Calendars of no use for high schools could be better designed difficult to read different colours, primary parents like the calendars, money could have been spent on other more useful projects. o Parent library books were they useful. Paul distributed a hard copy of book reviews that could be used as newsletter inserts, Paul will email all reps the newsletter inserts and you are encouraged to ask if Class Parents 7 7. Time allocated for reps to ask questions/raise issues - 8.10 – 8.30 - Susie 8. 10. JPC during Parent teacher interview and parent information nights will be distributed from Beyond Blue and from Parent Assembly. Parent library resources will be displayed. Parent tax refund Susie has made some enquiries about putting information in school newsletters to help parent’s tax claims. Confirm dates & venues for next meeting.8.30 – 8.40 - Susie 9. Restorative justice parent workshops Regional meeting with Principals in term 3 – August 30 @ JPC commencing 6.00pm. Chairperson for next terms meeting – Rachelle Prayer preparation for next terms meeting - Kim Term 3 – July 24 at Parish Centre Bellingen Term 4 – November 13 at John Paul College Coffs Harbour Review action decisions – 8.40pm – 8.50pm - Susie Closing Prayer eg Hail Mary/ Our Father/ Glory Be – 8.50 – 9.00pm - Shelley Action decision Who Contact Paul principals re meeting with reps at JPC When Before the end of term 2 Status 8 Meeting Evaluation My key learning from this meeting is: Not so much learning as getting re inspired and motivated. To be more assertive with parent education choices for the year Good feedback on the family retreat Parent Involvement necessary within the school Promoting parent education programs Organising a date and time for regional meeting with reps and principals How sharing and strong networking group makes great a great group to work with. What’s happening this year Finding out what happens at them. The opportunity to meet everyone from our region. To hear what is happening in the near future. We planned what we needed to plan for upcoming dates etc. As a result of this meeting I will: Re think what we can do Parent Assembly wise at J.P.C Definitely be pushing for a decision to be made on our parent education choice for this year Promote more parent education programs within the school Try and help to pass on all the information I can to new reps Lots of actions Be better informed. More knowledgeable More proactive 9 Please rate the effectiveness of this meeting Strongly Disagree 1 Was the meeting well prepared Agree 2 3 Was the meeting well run? Were the agenda items relevant to the needs of our region? Did the meeting have a faith dimension 4 5 10 Catholic Schools Parent Assembly Annual Conference From 7.00pm Friday May 18 to 1.00pm Sunday May 20 Registration Form St Mary’s College Canterbury Street Casino Name____________________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________________ Town _______________________State _________________ Postcode _____________ Contact Phone______________Mobile ________________________________________ Email Address_____________________________________________________________ Which Parish School are you representing _____________________________________ Do you require accommodation on the evening of Friday May 18? No__________ Yes________ Light refreshments will be served at St Mary’s High School Casino on Friday May 18 at 7.00pm. For catering purposes will you be joining us for light refreshments Yes________ No__________ Estimated time of arrival __________________________________________ Do you require accommodation on the evening of Saturday May 19? Yes________ No__________ All accommodation is on a share basis with bedding automatically allocated. Every effort will be made to accommodate share requests. Accommodation share request: ______________________________________________ Special Dietary needs: _____________________________________________________ Any other requirements: _____________________________________________________ PLEASE COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION FORM AND RETURN TO BY 10am Monday MAY 8 Email jokelly@lism.catholic.edu.au or Fax 6622 5794 11 12 Catholic Schools Parent Assembly Annual Conference Timetable May 18 Friday 7.00 – 7.30 7.30 – Light Meal Danielle Cronin 7.30am 8.00am – 9.00am Set up registrations Delegate registration and welcome tea/coffee Welcome to the school Aaron Beach Welcome Mary Lynch Morning prayer Gerard O’Shea Morning tea CSO Executive Lunch Danielle Cronin Afternoon teas Danny Hatchman - Parish School Forum/Class Parents Mass – at St. Mary’s Parish Church Casino Conference Dinner May 19 Saturday 9.00 – 9.10 9.10 – 9.30 9.30 – 11.00 11.00 – 11.30 11.30 – 12.45 12.45 – 1.30 1.30 – 3.00 3.00 – 3.20 3.20 – 4.15 5.00 6.30 for 7.00 May 20 Sunday 8.30 – 8.45 8.45 – 9.00 9.00 – 11.00 11.00 – 11.30 11.30 – 11.50 11.50 – 12.30 12.30 – 1.00 1.00 Tea/coffee Prayer Sue Bull -Styles of Parent Leadership concurrent workshop Christina Ott – Resilience Doughnut concurrent workshop Morning tea Year of Grace – Elizabeth Crane What’s working well in your school for parents? (Three Stars, One Wish) Conference wrap up/prayer Lunch and departure 13