Online Conference 19 October: program and registration
Our theme for this year's Conference is:
Brave New World: Changes, challenges and opportunities for families and schools.
Program
10:00am - Opening
We are delighted to announce that Education Minister James Merlino will open the conference.
Mr Merlino will also answer questions . Questions must be submitted in advance to the Parents Victoria office via email. The deadline for questions is Sunday 11 October.
Mr Merlino has also agreed to present the Joan Kirner Award. This is an annual award given to a Member Parent Club, Parent, or Individual Member who has demonstrated, encouraged, or facilitated parent or family engagement in their school. (Nominations are open until 25 September - more infornation in separate article)
10:50am - Annual General Meeting
Including Life Membership presentations.
11:15am - Re-setting the foundations for good mental health
for families post COVID
Presenter: Dr Stephen Carbone, Executive Director, Prevention United.
A focus on mental health has never been more important as we continue to negotiate the social and economic impacts caused by COVID-19. This session will focus on self-care, parenting and help-seeking in the age of Covid-19. It will explore the impacts of COVID in the lives of students and parents, discuss ways that parents can look after their own mental health and wellbeing and also support their children’s mental wellbeing, and provide advice on what parents can do if they are concerned that their child may be experiencing mental health difficulties.
As a result of this presentation parents will:
- Understand the mental health continuum and the difference between mental health and ill-health
- Recognise the importance of self-care and the practical strategies to look after their mental health
- Hear about evidence-based parenting strategies that help to promote positive child and adolescent mental wellbeing
- Learn the signs that their child may be experiencing a mental health condition, and where and how they can access support
12:00pm - Family Engagement Officers in schools
Presenter: Dori Ellington, Community Engagement Officer at Whittington Primary School.
There are a lot of pieces that make up our school system. Family Engagement is a collective of ideas and initiatives designed to bring schools, parents and communities closer together. To make it happen takes special people in unique roles.
(For a parent perspective on Dori's role at the school, see this recent article by parent Jade Millman.)
12:10pm - Connected Schools Communities:
The Next School Improvement Frontier
Presenter: Adam Voigt, Director, Real Schools.
- How schools can be cognisant of what parents really want from their school.
- How parents and schools can not only get on the same page, but write that page together.
- An understanding of what goes wrong when the home-school partnership erodes.
- What’s really required for parents and schools to rebuild high trust relationships geared for success.
- A look at what 21st century home-school communications should look like.
1:10pm - Closing
A wrap of the day's proceedings, including potential future PV forums.
1:15pm - Conference ends
Registration
The Conference will take place on Zoom. Participants will be emailed a Zoom link on 18 October.
The Conference is free but registration is essential.
Mental health and education in the post-COVID era
The next webinar in Prevention United's "Coming out of COVID" webinar series is titled Mental health and education in the post-COVID era.
PV's Executive Officer Gail McHardy will be one of the speakers.
This panel discussion will explore how Australia’s education system will need to evolve to promote and protect the mental health and wellbeing of students, parents and teachers in the wake of the challenges created by COVID-19. We’ll hear from student, parent, and mental health representatives who will also respond to audience questions.
Details
Monday 28 September, 7pm
Via Zoom.
Should students repeat a year because of COVID?
PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy was interviewed on 3AW recently on the question of whether students should repeat a year because of the COVID-19 disruptions in 20202.
Gail said that children are often more resilient than we might think, and that any decision to repeat should be carefully considered, in consultation with the student, parents and teachers.
Gail and host Tony Jones also discussed the importance of good relationships and communication between families and schools in managing the difficulties of remote and flexible learning.
Mindfulness resources for VCE / VCAL students
The Department of Education and Training has partnered with mindfulness program Smiling Mind to produce resources to support VCE/VCAL students to remain positive and engaged in their education during the coronavirus pandemic.
The first of six episodes launched today, and includes:
- A short video
- Online tip sheet
- Mindfulness meditations on taking care of yourself.
Parent payments: PV media comment
According to today's Age, "Government schools have been told not to pursue families who do not pay for essential learning materials such as textbooks, stationery and art equipment, but instead to find ways to pay from their own budgets."
PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy is quoted in the article.
Gail said many parents who previously had the income to contribute to schools’ fundraising efforts were in a worse financial position this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We support principals being able to deliver a quality service but they need to be very mindful that you don’t transfer the responsibility onto the community when the community is already hurting," she said.
COVID resources for Parent Clubs
Now more than ever, your Parent Club is a vital social hub for parents to support each other and share ideas.
Our new website page has tips on how to keep your Parent Club going during home learning.
There's also a chance to share the good things your club is doing. We know that Parent Clubs are coming up with creative ways to keep their vital activities going during the COVID-19 pandemic. Share those ideas around!
Joan Kirner Award: Nominations now open
The Joan Kirner Award is an annual award given to a Member Parent Club, Parent, or Individual Member* who has demonstrated, encouraged, or facilitated parent or family engagement in their school.
New award - "Parent Champions During Covid"
This year, our school landscapes have changed dramatically thanks to Covid-19. Every parent has likely been engaged more than ever in their children’s education. The opportunity for parent clubs to meet has been greatly diminished, or forced into a new format. So in addition to our Joan Kirner Award, we will also be recognising clubs and parents who have made a positive contribution to their school community during the 'learning From home' periods this year. This new award is called 'Parent Champions During Covid".
Nominate someone!
The reasons for nominating are limitless, so please think of those clubs or parents who have thought outside the box during the pandemic. No effort is too small for consideration.
The awards will be presented virtually as part of our "PV2020 Virtual Conference" on Monday 19th October.
PV Life Membership - nominations now open
Nominations for Parents Victoria Life Membership are now open.
Life Membership of Parents Victoria may be awarded to:
- Members who have served on the Executive Committee for a minimum of 10 years
- Members who are considered to have made an exceptional contribution to
Parents Victoria.
Nominations
Please email nominations to the Parents Victoria office, including a brief statement to support your nomination.
Nominations close on Friday 25 September.
Photo: our most recent Life Member, Alan Davies with PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy.
PV submission to Vic. Parliament
Parents Victoria has made a submission to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee of the Victorian Parliament, about the Government's response to the COVID-19 crisis. PV's Gail McHardy also made a verbal submission to the Committee (transcript available below).
The submission focuses on clear communication and strong relationships between schools and families as critical elements in dealing with the impacts of COVID-19 in schools. The submission includes responses from our ongoing parent survey.
We're listening... tell your story
The COVID-19 situation is changing day by day, so we're keeping our parent survey form open... if you have something to say about the way COVID-19 is impacting your children's education, and how that impact flows on to you and your family... we're still listening!
We often have opportunities to advise government departments and other agencies on how the management of COVID-19 is affecting children and parents in the school system, so give us your views and we'll pass them on.
Recent submissions
- In June 2020 we made a submission to Engage Victoria on "Lessons learnt from Remote and Flexible Learning" , in part informed by our online survey.
- In August 2020 we made a submission to the Victorian Parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee on the State Government's response to COVID-19, in part informed by our online survey.
Have your say
What is going well? What are the big problems for you? What could be done better?
We're keeping the format wide open - no questions, just tell your story.
