Met West Regional Council
The Executive elected to represent the Region in 2009/10 is:
President - Charles Alder
Vice President - Ian Maller
Vice President - Cathie MacMillan
Secretary - Jenny Goldsworthy
Treasurer - Garry Cislowski
Media - Garry Cislowski
State Representative - Ian Maller
Regional Council Meetings - 2009/10
1st Monday of every month
Ipswich Special School
Cnr 2a Milford St & Brisbane St Ipswich
ENTER from Brisbane Rd
The meeting starts at 7.30pm
Regional Date Claimers - 2009/10
Coming Soon
Metropolitan West Profile
The Metropolitan West Region encompasses a diverse mixture of large Brisbane High Schools of up to 2000 students down to small rural schools with fewer than 20 students. In fact 25% of the 160 schools within the Region are small schools.
The Region extends from Boonah in the south to Toogoolawah in the north and reaches as far east as Rochedale but not quite as far west as Gatton. For those who know South-East Queensland the Region covers the Brisbane, Lockyer and Fassifern Valleys.
The schools in the Region are as diverse as the region itself, including the only school in Queensland that offers both Marine and Agricultural Science subjects. It is also the only school offering Marine Studies that is not located on the coast. Another school has a successful boat-building program that reached the State finals of the Showcase Awards but is land-locked.
Language diversity is a feature of the region. Apart from pockets of indigenous language, although much less prevalent than other regions, in it not unusual for schools to have more than 20 different languages spoken by students and their parents. This diversity of linguistic and cultural backgrounds provide a significant challenge for P&C Associations to include such diversity in meetings and the school decision-making processes. This is by no means unique to Met West but is certainly a very important aspect that affects education.
Catering of students with special needs has always been an important feature of the region particularly in Greater Ipswich area that seems to have a greater concentration than many other areas within the State. These schools pride themselves on providing the best possible learning experience for their students. While Special Needs Education is receiving greater attention, but not necessarily greater funding Met West will continue to advocate for a better deal for these students.
The Region is one of the earliest settled, which means that it also has some oldest schools in the State and as those who are in old schools will know this brings with it its own challenge in keeping the school well maintained.
The Queensland population is fastest growing in Australia and South-East Queensland is the fastest growing area within the State. While in some cases this means that new schools are required it also means additional pressure on existing schools to accommodate the additional students.
Despite the challenges the schools in educational delivery, facilities, cultural and linguistic diversity and geographic diversity Metropolitan West Region is a great place to be. The Regional Council meets monthly giving the members the opportunity to forge strong friendships as well as strong working relationships.
What have we achieved?
Regular meetings with each of the four Executive Directors Schools has ensured that the parent body has some effective influence on, and are partners in, the delivery of education to our children. There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with regards the appointment of permanent CPOs in two of our districts. Having a full complement of four CPOs will be a great assistance in easing the work load on the volunteers of QCPCA.
Met West Region conducts a regular monthly Regional Council meeting. The geography of the region has meant that we have been able to find a reasonably central meeting place at which most affiliates are able to attend. This has given the Regional Council meeting some identity and this year we have been able to attract some new attendees. The extensive use of electronic communication has also assisted in the building of some community within the region. Planning and the successful execution of some relevant programs has also assisted in attracting P&Cs to become involved with QCPCA.
Perhaps the highlight of the year was the success submission writing skilling program that the region conducted. This program developed as an extension of a session at the P&C Essentials skilling day. To see a group of parents from about a dozen schools commit themselves to a couple of hours for three consecutive Monday nights to gain the skills to source and write submissions to fund projects in their local schools was inspiring. The program targeted the Gaming Fund as funding source and the participants wrote a submission for their school. The final figures of money gained for facilities are not to hand but is well into six figures. One of the reasons for the success of this program was the fact that it was designed around the needs of the affiliates.
Skilling of P&C members to be able to efficiently manage their association and business ventures is a priority to ensure that the volunteer pool does not evaporate but rather is expanded and their experience becomes part of their learning for life experience. To this end Met West Region conducted a ?P&C Essentials? skilling day. This was well supported and received by affiliates.
Session presenters were from;
- QCPCA
- Education Queensland
- Australian Tax Office
- Commission for Children & Young People
The use of interactive presentations ensured that all participants were able to gain valuable knowledge to take back and implement in their respective P & C Associations. The positive feedback from this day would indicate that the program for the day dovetailed with the needs of the attendees.
The introduction of the Met West Region Newsletter has been a positive for the region and thanks must go to Gai Guy for producing this each month, a great effort.
Where to from here?
The twin problems of building community and finding volunteers to ensure the success and continuing future of the P & C movement still need solving. The changing climate in which we now operate means that time constraints, a mobile society and financial pressures has changed the availability and profile of the volunteer. The responsibilities inherent in the increased accountabilities associated with P&C Associations have added to the problem. So, how can we address this?
Discussion with others seems to indicate a need for P&Cs to build stronger links with their community and also that volunteers would like to receive verifiable recognition for skills gained while working as a volunteer. The positive reaction to skilling sessions would indicate a need for more effort to be put into skilling of P&C volunteers. Sometime in the near future this one needs to come out of the too hard basket and be addressed so that parents can be more effective as active partners in the education of our children.
While it may be the president of the region who receives the approval for the achievements of the region, I am only too aware that I am only a part of a great team. As I said earlier, I came to this position at the base of a fairly steep learning curve so I would like to thank Jenny Goldsworthy (secretary), Susan Cislowski (Treasurer and latterly State Executive member), Lyn Beer (Vice President), Roy Moulds (Vice President and advisor) and Stan Carter (for a time State Executive member) for their advice and assistance in making our team one that has been able to assist our affiliates
