Help for bushfire-affected schools and families
The Education Department has comprehensive information on its website for families affected by the recent bushfires.
For parents and carers
The parents and carers page has information on:
- Parent hotline
- School and kinder closures
- School buses
- Help with school costs
- Supporting your child
- Donations to affected schools
- And more...
Go to the parents and carers page
For schools
The schools page has extensive information for bushfire-affected schools.
Of particular interest to parents will be the section about "Funding to Help Schools and Families".
It includes information on support that's available to help get kids back to school after the bushfires. The section lists the 15 Local Government Areas where support is available through State Schools' Relief.
Commbank bushfire recovery grants available to schools and Parent Clubs
Commbank has launched a program of Bushfire Recovery Grants to help support local communities and replace facilities lost in the fires.
Any school or Parent Club in a bushfire-affected area is eligible to apply.
Commbank is especially keen for schools to apply, as they know that a lot of the damage caused by fires has been to items which the community has spent significant time fundraising and building.
Read more: Commbank bushfire recovery grants available to schools and Parent Clubs
New coronavirus advice for parents 1 Feb
The Department of Education and Training has updated its coronavirus advice on 1 February
The DET website now advises that:
The Commonwealth's Chief Medical Officer and Victoria's Chief Health Officer have recommended a stronger precautionary approach to managing coronavirus for travellers returned from mainland China (not including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) from Saturday 1 February 2020.
Cost of digital devices - PV comment
PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy is quoted in this article from yesterday's Age. The article, titled "Parents count the cost as classrooms dump textbooks for MacBooks", covers the issue of costs to parents as schools increasingly require them purchase digital devices for their children's education. From the article:
Gail McHardy, Parents Victoria's executive officer, said the cost varied significantly between schools and that school councils had to remain mindful of what families could afford.Many families, particularly in regional and rural Victoria, struggled to cover the cost of a device or multiple devices for their children.
“Most secondary schools now expect all students to purchase a laptop,” Ms McHardy said.
“These laptops generally only last a couple of years before they start to slow or not even work and therefore there’s a requirement to purchase another in a couple of years.”
Ms McHardy criticised schools that lock parents into buying from one supplier, potentially denying them an opportunity to get a cheaper device elsewhere.
School shoes - PV comment
PV Exec Officer Gail McHardy is quoted in this article from yesteray's Age.
According to the article, "... school shoes are far and away the most Googled topic for families with children going back to school."
Gail's comment: "School shoes can range in price from $15 to $140. For families with more than one child to kit out for the school year this can be expensive."
The article has lots of useful information for parents about choosing school shoes.
What the article doesn't mention is that you can buy school shoes from State Schools Relief. You can purchase online or at 17 retail outlets across Victoria.
School starting time: PV comment
The issue of sleep deprivation among young people is in the news again. One solution that has been advanced is for secondary schools to start later, to better match the 'body clocks' of teenagers. This issue is covered in today's article in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. PV's Executive Office Gail McHardy is quoted in the article. Gail said any change to school starting times would be a big ask. "Any change in school hours would have a huge domino effect on teachers' hours, traffic and employment, and would need to worked out among schools, families and government," she said.
The article also quotes adolescent-health researchers and Australian Principals Federation president Julie Podbury.
Mobile phone ban: Parents Victoria comment
The Herald-Sun reports today that schools are gearing up for the statewide ban on mobile phones, due to be implemented next year. PV has voiced concerns about the ban, and our Executive Officer Gail McHardy is quoted in this article.
The government has allocated a $12.4 million budget for the implementation of the ban, and many schools have accessed a share of that funding to upgrade or buy lockers to store students’ phones. Some schools have already implemented the ban and others are developing their own policies for 2020.
'Helicopter parents' - Parents Victoria comment
The Herald-Sun published an article today headed "Helicopter parents told to stop interfering in class allocations for 2020".
The article by Claire Heaney begins,"Helicopter parents throwing tantrums over their kids not being put in the same class as their friends or demanding they be taught by a certain teacher are being told to buzz off by fed-up schools."
Conference report 2020
Speaker presentations
- Sue Karzis, State Schools Relief
- Monique Toohey, Nasihah Consulting
- Jac Van Velsen, WISA
-
Andrew Fuller, Clinical Psychologist
(Presentation not available, this document covers many of the same topics) -
John Hendry
(John did not use a presentation but this booklet covers the topics he discussed)
Conference notes
We took detailed notes of all the Conference proceedings.
Download the Conference notes.
Photos
Panel discussions
These panel discussions, representing the views of educators, parents and students, were held at our Annual Conference in 2019. They attempt to answer the question: How do we kindly and constructively deal with difference and conflict in schools?
The discussions focus on two conflict scenarios and how to deal with them.
The Way Forward: Scenario 1.
The Way Forward: Scenario 2
Dealing with difference and conflict in schools
These panel discussions, representing the views of educators, parents and students, were held at our Annual Conference in 2019. They attempt to answer the question: How do we kindly and constructively deal with difference and conflict in schools?
The discussions focus on two conflict scenarios and how to deal with them.
The Way Forward: Scenario 1.
The Way Forward: Scenario 2
