Council will be running the following training sessions to help P&Cs. There are more details on our website.
 

Effective P&C workshop

Thursday March 20, 6:30pm, Headley Beare Centre for Teaching & Learning, 51 Fremantle Drv, Stirling.
Repeated: Saturday March 22, 2pm, Sports House, 100 Maitland St, Hackett.
This workshop is designed to help P&C members get to grips with their role and ways to improve the way their assoiation works. New school parents, new P&C members and existing P&C officers should find this program of great benefit.
 

Treasurers' Workshop

Thursday March 27, 7pm, Headley Beare Centre for Teaching & Learning, 51 Fremantle Drv, Stirling.
This is a great opportunity for new and current P&C Treasurers to ask questions about any aspect of their role and tasks. 
 

Insurance workshop

Thursday April 3, 7pm, Headley Beare Centre for Teaching & Learning, 51 Fremantle Drv, Stirling.
This workshop provides an overview of insurance packages available for P&Cs and how to complete the paperwork. We recommend all Treasurers and Presidents attend.

Please contact us if you wish to attend any of these sessions.
 

 

The start of the school year is a busy time for P&C committees and members. Most organisations will hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM) and elect new office bearers. Check our online To Do list to make sure you have everything covered. The list also provides links to information about the AGM and handing over to new office bearers.

At the end of last year, Council's great work as an advocate for parents of children with a disability was recognised when we won the Award for Excellence in the ACT Chief Minister's Inclusion Awards. Council also took out the Education and Training section of the awards, which recognise businesses, organisations and individuals which have excelled in encouraging, welcoming and supporting people with a disability in their community. Read more in our media release. This is wonderful recognition for all those volunteers who have given so much to this area over the years. Congratulations everyone!

Presented by psychologist and teacher, Alison Hatcher, this information session for primary school parents covers what dyslexia is, how it affects children, and where to seek help. The cost is $30 ($20 for SPELD members) and will be held at Radford College, Bruce on Februrary 18 from 7pm until 8:30.  Book at info@dyslexia-act.org.au.

From 1 January 2015 it will be illegal to use PA systems with wireless microphones which operate in the frequency range of 694-820 MHz. (The government has reallocated this range for new high speed communication services.) This affects most wireless microphones, so we recommended that P&Cs check the frequency range of their PA equipment. Your system's frequency range can be found on the front of the receiver (not the microphone), in the user manual, or by doing a web search for your system's model number. If your system can operate outside of the 694-820 MHz range, you can select an appropriate channel. If its operation is entirely within this range,however, it will need to be replaced.

Professional audio companies (see 'audiovisual equipment' in the yellow pages) can help, and there is more detail in this fact sheet and a slide show of the devices affected.
 

It is now even easier to comment on the public inquiry into childcare and early childhood learning (including out of school hours care), with an online form for submitting a “brief comment” rather than having to make a full submission. The Productivity Commision inquiry will focus on developing a system that supports workforce participation while addressing children’s learning and development needs.