What opportunities are available to connect with CSPV?

As parents of children in Catholic schools we understand that all parents are very busy and pressed for time.
Therefore, we have created various opportunities for you to contribute your voice and perspective to Catholic education and to benefit from the various opportunities provided by CSPV. We answer a few questions about how to connect with CSPV:

I’m interested in being informed and contributing my perspective but I don’t have time to be on a council or committee:

CSPV provides opportunities for parents who are not able to join as a volunteer member delegate. 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 CSPV Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages 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. 

I’m interested in contributing parent perspective but I don’t want to join as a volunteer member delegate:

CSPV provides opportunities for parents who are not able to join, to be co-opted onto specific forums or steering committees to contribute parent perspective.

If you are interested in the opportunity to contribute to future forums or steering committees, please click here.

I’m interested in being a CSPV parent representative for my children’s school:
Your school principal will need to nominate a parent representative by clicking here. If your school does not yet have a representative, please discuss this with your school principal and click here to complete a nomination form.

I’m interested in joining as a committed CSPV volunteer member delegate:

CSPV has a process for nominating parents who would like to join as a volunteer member delegate for a two year term. CSPV member delegates are expected to attend four meetings during each school term and contribute to the development of fulfilling the strategic direction of CSPV. 

Click here to express your interest in joining CSPV as a committed volunteer member delegate.

We will be in touch with you once you have completed this form or you may email executive@cspv.catholic.edu.au.

This is what we are about
We plant the seeds that one day will grow,
We water seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise
We lay foundations that will need further development

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realising that
This enables us to do something, and do it very well.

It may be incomplete, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are the workers, not master builders, ministers not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

Oscar Romero

This passage calls us to recognise that we are leaders who have been called to guide the work of God in responding to the Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. 

Knowing that we don’t have all the answers is part of also acknowledging that as parents and leaders in our homes and communities, we don’t have all the answers, we seek the answers through others’, through their stories, through a unique process of listening and responding to the cries. 

As we move through this process of discernment and sharing our thoughts and ideas, we think of our work as if we are planting the seeds of hope for the people we represent, the parents of children in our school communities. Without hope, life can become more challenging - it is the seeds of hope and an optimistic mindset that families, especially children, need to see the possibilities for a better world, now that they have seen how quickly that can change through the pandemic.

We are prophets of a future not our own - this passage tells us that we are stewards in this work - Pope Francis is calling us to be relationships-based - less on duty and more on love -  this passage and this calling is saying that when we plant seeds, they will grow and leave a legacy for others.

In a sense, planting seeds is giving back what has been taken from nature - replanting, nourishing, regeneration of the land are all things that give back.

Over the past weekend at our final meeting for the year, CSPV explored the opportunity to make a difference as parent leaders in Catholic education to explore the 7 goals for taking action to authentically respond as Christians to The Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor. 

The 7 Goals are:

1. Response to the cry of the earth;
2. Response to the cry of the poor;
3. Ecological economics;
4. Sustainable lifestyles;
5. Ecological spirituality;
6. Ecological education;
7. Community engagement and participatory action

We began by exploring the cry of the earth and cry of the poor and what each actually means in our Catholic learning communities and for families. We discovered that sustainability and learning about the environment is alive and well in our schools, with students very conscious of their responsibilities in caring for the Earth. There seems to be an optimism amongst students in how they can make a difference, but perhaps this learning isn't shared enough with families, therefore the learning may not be transferred into the way students live out this learning at home.

The cry of the poor included a discussion about who are the poor in our communities? Has the definition of poor changed over the past two years as more people are seeking support and are in need of help in various ways including financially, spiritually, mentally and physically.

We discussed the CSPV role in gathering stories and empowering families with knowledge and understanding of what their children are learning at school and how to make a difference in the home and create a culture of connection, to respond as a whole Catholic community to the cry of the earth and cry of the poor.

Following the discussion at the CSPV meeting, Executive Officer Rachel Saliba attended a webinar hosted by EarthCare Families which provided insight into one of the ways families can become more engaged by developing a vision and plan of action to respond to the call to care for each other and the earth.

The EarthCare Families program:

• Accompanies the Laudato Si action platform
• Allows families to engage in the process 
• Acknowledges the hard work that families do caring for our common home
• Encourages an intergenerational response to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor
• Helps families to take real action and make real change
• Is a spiritual program as much as it is about an action program

If you would like to learn more about how families can begin exploring how to respond to this calling, to plant the seeds of hope for the future, click on the link below to watch the webinar from EarthCare Families and visit their website at
https://catholicearthcare.org.au/laudato-si-families/

This is just one way families can engage and make a difference. We encourage you to take some time to have conversations with your children to share what they learn at school and create a plan for your family.

CSPV will continue to explore ways to engage Catholic school families in the 7 goals to enable this work to be integrated across Catholic school communities as part of our unique culture of promoting social justice, care for humanity and the earth, inspired by Catholic mission and  Pope Francis' Laudato Si Action Platform.

You may have recently seen or heard about the parenting program Parental Guidance that recently aired on Channel 9 with Dr Justin Coulson. Regardless of what you thought about the show, there was one specific topic that was raised that was extremely important. Parents talking with children about safety is a critical role that you have as you guide your children through to adulthood. It can be challenging to know how to tackle this topic in a way that doesn't cause anxiety for your child, but empowers them to take control of their own boundaries when it comes to their bodies and their wellbeing. 

By now you may be aware of the child safe standards that are now mandatory for all schools and organisations across our community who work with children and young people. This doesn't automatically mean that children will be safe. They still need to be protected and to be made aware of their rights and boundaries when it comes to their own safety.

In this article by Dr Justin Coulson, he breaks down some of the ways you can discuss personal safety with your children.

Your school will also be teaching children about child safety through various programs such as the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum, Allanah and Madeleine Foundation and other wellbeing and self management programs such as ReLATE and School Wide Positive Behaviours. CSPV encourage you to learn from your school what these programs teach your children.

This will help you to understand the approaches they are using and to further understand how you can support their learning about safety at home by reinforcing messages and having conversations about feeling safe and what to do if they don't feel safe.

There are various resources available for parents to access on how to talk with children about child safety. Story books are a great way to share messages with young children and have discussions in an empowering way, by giving children the tools to be able to say no if they are unsure of someone, to feel confident to raise any alarms with a trusted adult or protect themselves from harm.

Kid Central Resources

One activity you might like to try with your children is helping them to understand when they feel safe and what that feels like - they are then able to identify when they don't feel safe and discuss what to do when this happens.

The following resource was developed by ACU KidsCentral. The resources are primarily for teachers to use in the classroom, however they can also be used by you as parents or carers to explore different ways to have conversations about safety.

Daniel Morcombe - Keeping Kids Safe Resources

Many schools use this curriculum to teach children about child safety. On this website you will find videos and activities for children of all ages, including for teenagers. As we know teenagers face other challenges when it comes to their safety, grooming and knowing when it's ok to say no if they are asked to do something against their will.

Self respect and self awareness are critical skills we need to teach our children, to ensure they are able to feel they can speak up and protect themselves from harm.

Below is a sample of the types of resources you will find on this website for parents and carers.  Conversation starters are a great resource for starting the conversation with your children. Click on the link to view the resource for children aged 6-10. There are similar resources for all age groups that have been designed to be age appropriate.

The eSafety Commissioner provides quality resources for parents to support children to be safe online

Once again in 2022, the eSafety Commissioner will provide webinars to support parents in making sure their children are safe online. 

One of the areas of interest of parents when it comes to online safety is digital literacy for their children to be aware of the signs when something isn't quite right or feels unsafe.

There is no doubt the past two years have tested our leaders beyond their limits in their efforts to continue to support Victorian Catholic learning communities.

Principals as we know are the people we look to for leadership, guidance, for stability, for reassurance that our children are in safe hands and that we as parents have chosen the right education for our children.

With so much uncertainty surrounding remote learning, school closures, COVID cases that have forced more school closures beyond lockdown and the stresses that resulted, the strength of our communities, particularly our leaders was tested.

On behalf of parents of children in Catholic schools, we would like to acknowledge the endless dedication of Catholic school principals across primary and secondary schools. We encourage parents to thank your school princpal before the end of this year and share how much you appreciate all their efforts to keep our schools running effectively during this year. 

Most of what principals achieve in their multi faceted role is often behind the scenes and not always visible to families. Many principals go beyond the call to make sure teachers are performing well, student wellbeing is a major consideration for children, that families are supported and that everyone who returned to school is safe and transitioning back to learning on-site.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools has acknowledged the work of our school principals in several video messages that demonstrate appreciation for the work of Catholic school leaders.

CSPV strengthened relationships with the principals associations this year and our Principal member, Michael Bourne attended our meetings each quarter to provide insight into the perspective of Catholic school leaders.

In 2022 we will attend the VACPSP Conference and work alongside the principals associations to strengthen our partnership to support families as they return to engage in and recreate the life of our Catholic learning communities.

You may like to watch the videos below from Gerard Dalbosco, Chair of MACS Board, along with messages from new Catholic school principals sharing their experiences this year and how we have come together as strong and compassionate Catholic communities to make it through such challenging times.