Australian Parents Council eNewsletter

Australian Parents Council October News

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Australian Parents Council October News

From the President's desk...
Have you checked our our new initiative...... MyKidsCareer
New toolkit to help parents with the Disability Standards for Education
NAPLAN News for 2023
Become a friend today
How parents can help at exam time
Join our school fundraising, P&F and board member Facebook groups
Webinar: Preparing to transition into work and lifelong learning

Welcome to term 4! The busiest of all of the terms!

Please let me start by wishing those commencing their final exams the best of luck! It's also an opportune time to share the wisdom of knowing that your ATAR does not define you! Exams teach us various important lessons beyond the content currently being crammed into young brains right now! While I know all of our young people are focused on the content right now, it is the time management, stress management and resilience lesson that are the ones that will sustain young people.

Elsewhere we are hearing some great things and some heartbreaking things from our annual parent sentiment survey! Some schools have embraced the opportunity to be innovative with their parent community and have embraced the opportunity to build relationships in new and inclusive ways.

"I am so appreciative of the school & the staff now. I liked the school before covid now I love it.'

Some schools are back to normal with only a few tweaks or changes. Parents reported that school events are back to normal and opportunities to be involved are being offered.

"I wear a mask on site or in a classroom. Simple. No bother."

But many are sharing the loss of community and relationships. The restrictions that were so necessary to keep us safe have had a huge impact on not only children but their families too. We need to keep having the conversations that matter about how we can rebuild the relationships that the pandemic has damaged.

Our survey is showing that while we are slowly getting back to normal the depth and breadth of activities that parents do in schools has become very shallow. Parents are missing the opportunities to be involved in literacy and numeracy activities. And they told us they are desperately missing opportunities to socialise with other parents, a very valuable community-building activity.

You still have the opportunity to share your experiences with us. The survey can be found here. When the survey closes we plan on advocating the government consider its responsibilities in facilitating school communities to rebuild themselves.

Thanks for reading!

Jenni

APC President

Have you checked our our new initiative...... MyKidsCareer

MyKidsCareer is a groundbreaking values-based approach that helps support parents and carers to guide their children to fulfilling careers. Our values underpin our hopes and aspirations for our children. So it makes sense that as parents we utilise them to help guide our children, especially knowing that the key to finding a fulfilling career means finding work that is meaningful.

On the launch of the website and associated tools, Dr Suzanne Cremen said "The focus in Australia regarding vocational and career pathways has been on skills and skillsets. Yet, whether we are conscious of them or not, it is our values that determine whether the work we do has meaning and purpose for us. The Values Activity provides an accessible tool for parents to become aware of the range of values that are driving them and influencing their kids' career choices. Parents trialling the activity report beneficial outcomes including greater self-insight, awareness of intergenerational patterns, new perspectives on inner and outer conflicts, renewed clarity of purpose, and increased respect for their child’s unique vocational journey."

The website is a treasure trove of activities and information to assist parents in the work they do to support their children on the pathway to a successful future.

The Australian Parents Council worked with a long list of experts to help deliver this project including Dr Suzanne Cremen, Leonie Stanfield, Lucy Sattler and Angela Colliver.

We excitedly invite you to explore the website and Values Activities at the MyKidsCareer website. www.mykidscareer.com.au

New toolkit to help parents with the Disability Standards for Education

The Australian Government Department of Education (Department) has worked with Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) to co-design a new range of resources to help young people with disability and their parents and caregivers to understand their rights under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Standards).

The resources provide easy-to-use information about the Standards and offer practical advice on how to navigate the education system.

There are four new resources:

Explaining the Disability Standards for Education – this resource outlines what the Standards are and what they are designed to do.
Milestones and Transitions – this resource is to help students and their parents and caregivers make their way through their education journey.
Advocating with and for your child: Primary School – this resource is for parents and caregivers of primary school students.
Disability Standards for Education in Practice: Action Plan – this resource is for students who are in high school or tertiary education.

Disability Standards Toolkit

NAPLAN News for 2023

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will take part in the 2023 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) from Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March 2023.

This is the first year NAPLAN will be held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

NAPLAN is a nationwide measure which helps parents, teachers, schools, education authorities, governments and the broader community see how well young Australians are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for other learning, and for their productive and rewarding participation in the community.

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

Students and parents wishing to familiarise themselves with NAPLAN can visit the public demonstration site on the NAP website. Some past NAPLAN papers are also available.

Become a friend today

The Australian Parents Council is a representative body that bridges the gap between parents and government policymakers. We are on a mission to help all children thrive in non-government schools but we can't do it alone. We need both sound government policy and empowered parents to ensure academic, social and emotional success in all students.

To help us bridge the gap between parents and the government sign up to become a member. It's free and you will be contributing to making our education system the best it can be for all children.

Join us today!

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How parents can help at exam time

Here is a little resource you can share with your parent community.

When your child is stressed it can be hard to know how to best support them! Here are a few things you can do to help your stressed student. We can't guarantee they will thank you for doing these things but we do guarantee they will help.

Join our school fundraising, P&F and board member Facebook groups

Come and join our Facebook groups - designed to connect and inform parents and carers, who give their time and energy at their children's school either to be involved in their children's lives or to help build their school community.

Being a parent in a school community can feel lonely at times, even when you are surrounded by people. It can be hard to find your tribe. That is why you should join an online community of like minded people!

We know that community and connection matters and we are building something big! There has been a whole lot of innovation going on in schools when it comes to parent events, fundraising, community building and we never forget the issues that parents face while raising their kids. Our Facebook groups are social spaces where members from different schools can chat, share ideas and problem solve.

You can find out more and request to join by following these links:

P&F Fundraisers Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1538299706378015

P&F parents https://www.facebook.com/groups/360615218332244

School board members https://www.facebook.com/groups/187769516139320

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Webinar: Preparing to transition into work and lifelong learning

FREE webinar: Preparing to transition into work and lifelong learning | Tuesday 22 November at 4:00pm (AEDT)

Today’s world of work is characterised by career uncertainties and increased competition, which requires responsive strategies in preparing young people for study-to-work transition. This myfuture insights webinar highlights the importance of promoting and developing your childs’ information seeking capacity, to better prepare them for study-to-work transition and lifelong learning.

Join the authors of this Insights paper Thai Vu and Subra Ananthram from Curtin University, and Dawn Bennett from Bond University, as they provide strategies to support effective information seeking in workplace learning and adaptation.