May 2008

Well first term has certainly flown by and Easter has been and gone, a little earlier than normal.

Here is a small snippet of what’s on the QCPCA Agenda:-

There is no doubt that we are all under significant changes in the Education field with our Premier announcing the push for a National Agenda by 2010.Another interesting twist in this area is the National Testing for year 9 commences this year for the first time and of course with that we see the commencement of the report card that will follow this test.

You will most likely have heard a lot of media and issues flagged in recent times about the 7 schools being proposed under the PPP (Public Private Partnership). I recently travelled to NSW with the Education Minister, the Director General, Principals, Unions, Members of Parliament to inspect some of the schools that NSW have built under this scheme. I found these schools to be of an exceptional standard. The maintenance was great and the Principals at those schools spoke very highly of the PPP concept. I would not hesitate to send my children to one of these schools.

We held our last bi-monthly State Executive meeting and Parent Community Forum in Atherton and took full advantage of our time away by visiting local schools and meeting with local P&Cs and Education Qld personnel. Our next State Executive Meeting and Parent Community Forum will be held in Charters Towers at the end of May. Hope to see the local P&Cs there.

QCPCA has been invited to send a number of delegates to a Values Conference being held in Brisbane. At this conference there will be discussions around what values education in State Schools will include.

You will have received a letter advising of the requirements in relation to Student Protection Risk Management Strategy for P&Cs. This is very important and your P&C must implement this by 30th June 2008. This also appears in detail in this edition of Parent Talk.

At the time of writing this report we are still not able to give you a definite date as to the availability of the new P&C Constitution but will continue to keep our affiliates updated as to its progress.

We continue to advocate for first aid training for teachers. This is always an area of concern for our members.

As the term unfolds QCPCA hopes to have its new web page up and running. The new look web page will be full of up to date information on what’s happening within Education and QCPCA.

This edition of Parent Talk is full of information for members of your P&C. I encourage you to read it and feel free to contact QCPCA at any time for more information.

In closing I hope you all have a successful second term. Please, if there are issues that we can support your P&C with, contact us in the most convenient method available to you. We are here to help and advise.

Regards
Margaret Black
State President