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Parents Voice No. 9 2021                                                                   View this email in your browser

Conference report

Our theme this year was 'Recipes for Great Schools' and our wonderful presenters definitely delivered!
  • Education Minister James Merlino opened the Conference and gave us his recipe for a great school. Mr Merlino also announced the winners of the Joan Kirner Parent Participation Award. 
  • Dr Elspeth Stephenson from the University of Tasmania gave us a challenging - but also inspiring - presentation on the impact of trauma on children's ability to learn, and what can be done about it.
  • Our 'Collective Conversation on Consent' brought in several different perspectives on the issue of sexuality and consent education. The session was introduced and facilitated by Respectful Relationships expert Debbie Ollis, and also featured sexual assault activist Chanel Contos and lawyer Katrina Marson. 

Presentations now available

All the conference presentations are now available to view on our website. 
You can also view additional resources provided by the presenters, and download a copy of our Annual Report.
View conference presentations now

Conference survey

If you attended the Conference, we'd like to have your feedback. What were the highlights? What could have been done better? Let us know...
Fill in Conference survey now

New PV membership structure

At our AGM (part of the Annual Conference on 11 October), a new PV Constitution was approved. 
The new Constitution makes significant changes to our membership structure. From now on it will be much easier to become (and remain) a Parents Victoria member. Parent Clubs, schools and individual parents can join by simply registering as Parents Victoria members. 
We will email all our current (and potential) members soon with more details of how the changes affect you.

Financial help for families

Assistance programs

For families experiencing financial hardship, there is a range of programs to help you with school costs. There are State and Federal Government programs, and also programs run by community groups. 
The Education Department's Policy and Advisory Library (PAL) has a
directory of assistance programs for parents. 
One of the programs listed there is Saver Plus, an award winning program delivered by not for profits where parents can get up to $500 for education costs. There are many more!

Scholarships

Your child may also be eligible for a scholarship to help with school costs. 
Scholarships are generally offered based on:
  • Financial need or difficulties
  • Your child’s school results
  • School and community activities your child takes part in.
There's a list of available scholarships on the Education Department website, and applications are open for 2022.
Read more in PAL

Preparing today’s learners for uncertainty

A webinar for parents

‘Uncertainty tolerance’ (UT), or how we process and respond to unknown or complex situations, is increasingly recognised as an essential workplace skill. Uncertainties in the workplace are ever-present and we’ve seen shared, global experiences of this with the uncertainties surrounding work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday 9 November Associate Professor Michelle Lazarus will discuss the impacts of UT on students, and outline some strategies to help parents to support their children to improve their UT to prepare them for their futures in further education and work.

This webinar is brought to you by myfuture

Register now

School levies - communication with families

Around this time of year, schools will be making decisions on the levies (also known as parent payments) that they will request from families for 2022, and communicating those decisions to their communities. 
The Education Department's Policy and Advisory Library (PAL) provides guidelines for schools on how they should communicate with families, as follows:
  • All requests and communications for each year level must be published on the school website for transparency
  • School websites must include a link to the Department’s Parent Payments Policy on the same page as the school’s parent payments arrangements.
  • Communications regarding the following year’s contributions and payments should begin at least 6 weeks prior to the end of the previous school year to enable parents to plan and budget accordingly
  • All communications must use language that is easy to understand, is culturally appropriate and if required, translated into multiple languages. 
Read more in PAL

Watch out for our school levies survey

In our next issue, we'll be asking for your experience of school levies.
  • Does your school communicate clearly?
  • (For parents of secondary school children) How much does the cost of electives affect your decision-making?
  • What is your school requesting payment for?
Please help us by filling in the survey, coming up in the November Parents Voice.

World Teachers' Day

Australia will celebrate and thank the teaching profession on World Teachers’ Day on Friday 29 October.  
Teachers (with support from parents and carers) have ensured education continues across the country this year, despite major challenges. It’s reinforced the significant role teachers play in the lives of children and students, their families, and communities.
On Friday 29 October, you can say a big thank you to teachers by posting a photo in your sunglasses on Twitter or Facebook, either on your own or with family or friends. Use these tags: #BrightFuture @aitsl 
Here are some photos from 2020 for inspiration.
You can also help collect a million virtual apples to thank teachers across Australia at the World Teachers Day website
The website also has other ideas for how parents/carers and students can get involved.
(Scroll down for another article acknowledging the contribution of teachers - the Victorian Recognition of Service Awards.)
Read more on World Teachers Day website

VET Delivered: public consultation

The Department of Education and Training is seeking feedback from all stakeholders on a draft set of VET certificates and opportunities to improve access to VET Delivered to School Students.

There’s a Discussion Paper and an online questionnaire inviting your responses and comments.

The consultation period closes on Friday 5 November.

Read more on Engage Victoria website

A systematic approach to family engagement

Dr Debbie Pushor from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) is an expert on family engagement, and a passionate advocate for the value of parents' strong engagement in their children's education. Debbie is also a long-term friend of Parents Victoria and spoke at our Annual Conference in 2018. 
One of Debbie's key messages is that family engagement needs to be done in a systematic way - it's not an 'add-on', it's not an 'afterthought', it should be an integral part of a school's structure and processes. 
On our website, we have a short video of Debbie explaining why family engagement needs to be systematic, and a slideshow that gives an inspiring example of what can be achieved when it's done right!
Read more on our website
The last two years have brought all kinds of challenges and hardship, we’ve all struggled both together and alone – but we’ve also triumphed in lots of small ways. The Victorian Student Representative Council (VicSRC) wants to celebrate those triumphs and hear about how your school has made #StudentVoice work in difficult circumstances.
Nominations are now open for the VicSRC Student Voice Awards 2021. There are two categories open to all registered schools in Victoria – the Student Voice School of the Year Award for a whole-school approach to student voice and the Student-Led Project Awards for specific student-led initiatives.
Nominations close Friday 22 October.
Read more on VicSRC website

Student 'vaccine champions'

Two 'vaccine champions' from Victorian regional schools have been featured recently on the Education Department website. 
They are Arwen Bounds from Warrnambool College (pictured) and Molly Coleman from Ballarat’s Mount Clear College.
Arwen and Molly have both been vaccinated as part of the final year secondary school student vaccination blitz. 
Molly got her vaccine booking on the first day it was available. "Most of my friends have been vaccinated. We do it to keep ourselves safe but also to keep the community safe, so one day soon we can catch up together safely," she said.  "I’m young and want to go travelling. Getting vaccinated is a way to contribute to Australia’s effort to get out of lockdown and help get us back to normal."
Well said Molly!

Recognition of Service Awards

The Recognition of Service ceremony is an annual event that recognises and celebrates dedication, loyalty and longevity of service to the Department of Education. Service recognition is awarded at a state level each year for staff who have achieved 40 years, 45 years, 50 years, 55 years and, in some cases, 60 years of service. While a live ceremony was not held this year due to the pandemic, you can view a video message from Education Minister James Merlino and read the honour roll of long-serving staff. 
Congratulations to all those Education Department staff on your achievements!

Read more on Education Department website

New PV website

Have you noticed our new website? Our Communications Officer Alan Davies has been working on this project for a long time, and a couple of weeks ago it was finally launched. 
Our old website was showing its age, and Alan took the opportunity to re-organise all the information into logical groupings, so it's now easier to find what you're looking for. The new site also works well on a phone or tablet, another big advance from the old one. 
Check it out and if you have any feedback, please email Alan Davies at adavies@pvexec.com with your comments.
See our new website

Want to share our content?

Some of the articles in this newsletter may be of interest to your school community. Please feel free to copy and share articles in your school newsletter or other communication channels.

Parents Voice archive

Want to go back to a previous Parents Voice article?
Past issues of Parents Voice are archived on our website.
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