Welcome to 2021
Welcome back to school. 2021 is well upon us and has been greeted with much optimism and a snap lockdown in WA. We wish everyone in the middle of it this time all the best.
We may not be out of the COVID woods yet, but we are now much better prepared to cope with restrictions, home-based learning and online communication.
There are some good things to come out of it. More direct communication with teachers and virtual participation are big pluses for many parents. Personally I love online parent teacher conferences and being able to watch my sons' weekly assembly from my desk. The school has taken to live-streaming assemblies so that parents who can't be there, for whatever reason, can still be part of events, presentations and awards.
COVID has forced us to adapt many school traditions. In this newsletter we showcase how Canberra's Radford College P&F rose to the challenge of staging school community events while maintaining social distancing. They employed some inventive tactics to keep their community connected, and there are some great ideas that lots of P&Fs might use as inspiration.
Here at the Australian Parents Council we also have some big plans for 2021.
We will be closely monitoring the impact of new safe schools policies being rolled out across the country. Parents should be able to be an active part of all school communities and any new measures need to ensure they can always be so. Restrictions on parents need to be carefully thought through as it is often parents who raise concerns when 'unsafe' things happen at school.
We're also planning regular free virtual events on wide-ranging issues of interest to parents and school P&Fs throughout 2021. Follow us on Facebook to make sure you keep up to date with all our events.
We're in the process of planning a live webinar for parents on NAPLAN, so if you have any questions please send them to media@austparents.edu.au, and we promise to try and get answers for you.
We'd also like to welcome a new Minister to Education. The Hon. Alan Tudge MP took the helm at one of the most important portfolios in government at the end of 2020 and we look forward to forging a strong working relationship with him.
We're also looking forward to working together with all our parents, friends, schools, teachers and the wider education community this year and wish everyone a happy, healthy and successful 2021.
All the best,
Jenni Rickard, APC President
