PV Conference - 18 & 19 November
Conference registrations are now closed.
Download the conference brochure
This year’s conference is not to be missed, as we tackle the ever-growing mental health issues surrounding our children, our students, and ourselves. Specialists in the field of mental health will share their learnings and insights, and help you better understand how you can help others.
Register 2 free delegates for member clubs
As always, we have kept prices as low as possible, to help facilitate your school sending a delegation of parents, teachers and leaders. In fact, this year every Parents Victoria member school can send their first two delegates free to both conference and dinner! And subsequent delegates are at a greatly reduced rate, so organise your group now! Register using the form included in the
conference brochure
.
Just a few of the Conference presenters:
Andrew Fuller (Keynote Speaker)
Andrew is well known in the world of child and adolescent psychology. He will present and lead discussion sessions on Identifying and Building Learning Strengths, and From Surviving to Thriving: Promoting
Mental Health in Young People. Andrew will also be part of a panel discussion, examining real-life problem scenarios from school settings.
Sue Karzis
Sue Karzis is the first female CEO of State Schools Relief, the Victorian charity which supports the needs of underprivileged students by providing them with new school uniforms, footwear and educational resources during times of vulnerability. Sue will speak on Removing Barriers to Improve Wellbeing. One of the most significant barriers faced by children and young people at school is the emphasis on “fitting in” at all costs. More than we may notice, kids are faced with constant messages from peer groups, families, the media and organizations that they must “fit in” in order to belong.
John Hendry OAM
John Hendry has been an educator for more than 50 years. He is one of the originators of Positive Education, a Life member of the Careers Development Association of Australia, a consultant to Primary and Secondary Schools across all systems in Australia, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and a consultant to UNESCO on bullying and school violence. John consults and works with the Positive Institute, The Flow Centre, Resilient Youth, Invictus Well-Being and many local councils and professional associations. He has created a Relationship Quotient and established Relationship based Education (RbE), has co-created (with Andrew Fuller) the Resilient Mindset concept, and has created the Affect Performance Model which explains among many things, peak performance.
Monique Toohey
Monique Toohey is the Managing Director and Principal Psychologist of Nasihah Consulting Group – Northern Psychology Clinic. She has a 23-year professional background in child and family psychology and has worked as a school psychologist and managed countless types of psycho-education programs and community projects for adolescents, parents and adults from culturally diverse backgrounds. She has been a Lecturer in the Master of Clinical Counselling course at the Australian Catholic University in Multicultural Counselling for the past 6 years and has been a speaker at high profile events such as the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, the Tasmanian Annual Peace Trust and TEDx Docklands. Monique will speak about Doing Diversity in Schools: Using Culturally Inclusive Practices to Enhance Belonging.
Why come to Conference?
The benefits of having all groups at your school represented is that you’re hearing the same information, and can all appreciate how that could work best to improve educational and wellbeing outcomes at your school – for everyone. Feedback from recent years is that parents and principals have returned to their schools inspired by conference, and set about putting into action what they learnt, and that has greatly benefited their schools overall.
More details
Download the conference brochure
Education Excellence Awards finalists
The Department of Education and Training is excited to announce that the 2019 finalists for the Victorian Education Excellence Awards (VEEA) have been released by the Acting Minister for Education Gayle Tierney.
The finalists include a primary school teacher passionate about raising literacy standards, a school supporting and promoting Koorie culture and a principal who has advocated for strong student voice and leadership
- See the Minister's media release
- Read more on the Victorian Education Excellence Awards website
Teachers Code of Conduct
The Victorian Teaching Profession’s Code of Conduct is currently being reviewed. The Code was developed and implemented by the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) 10 years ago. As part of its review, VIT is inviting public comment.
The Code plays an important role in establishing a set of principles which describe the professional conduct, personal conduct and professional competence expected of all Victorian teachers by their colleagues and the community.
Gender neutral toilets: PV comment
The Herald-Sun recently reported on the installation of gender-neutral toilets at Brunswick East Primary School. (The article is behind a paywall, you can read it if you're a Herald-Sun subscriber.)
The article reports,
"Brunswick East Primary School says smelly urinals and safety and privacy fears have pushed it to choose gender neutral toilets. They are just one of the Melbourne schools embracing all gender restrooms. In a just completed maintenance upgrade, Brunswick East Primary School decided to embrace unisex toilets for a range of reasons including safety, privacy and hygiene. The Brunswick East school is among a number of schools choosing gender neutral toilets, often as part of an upgrade of existing facilities. Princes Hill Secondary College has committed to install the toilets. Carey Grammar has gender neutral toilets and uniforms... the lobby group Parents Victoria welcomed the toilets. “Some schools are realistic and sensible. We all have gender neutral bathrooms in our homes why not schools?” president Gail McHardy said."
(Note: Gail is actually PV's Executive Officer; our President is Sharron Healy).
PV Conference - save the date
18 & 19 November, 2019
Pullman Melbourne on the Park
Keynote speaker: Andrew Fuller
Brochure and program available soon - keep an eye on the website
Expert: we must fix inequity in education
Interesting article on the ABC website from Pasi Sahlberg, a Finnish education expert who now lives in Australia. He explains why equity is so important in an education system, why competition between schools delivers bad outcomes, and why his kids go to their local public school.
Australia must fix school inequity to create a top education system
About a year ago my life turned upside down, literally.
My wife and I, with our two school-aged children, moved to Sydney from Helsinki.
We soon realised that Australians do not walk upside down. But there were some things that we were not prepared for.
Ever since we arrived in our new hometown, people were curious to know how we chose a school for our sons.
For us it was no-brainer — the neighbourhood public school.
'Diverge' career workshops for Year 9/10 students
Provided by the Reach Foundation, Diverge comprises 2 workshops with an Interview Project in between them. During the two full-day workshops, the awesome Reach crew will help your Year 9/10 uncover their passions and start planning for life after school. The workshops are fun, interactive and full of activities designed to get them thinking about themselves and the things they care about. These leaders will shed some light on how they got to where they are and give advice about how you can turn your passions into an awesome career! Even better, these workshops are free of charge.
Victorian workshops are on 27 Aug and 10 Sep in Collingwood.
Download a PDF flyer with more information.
Herald-Sun quotes PV in article about online tests
This article, published in the Herald-Sun on 17 July, quotes PV Executive Officer
Gail McHardy.
New online tests for all Prep to Year 10 pupils
New online tests could help spot knowledge gaps in Victorian students, as well as decreasing stress around NAPLAN.
Ashley Argoon, Herald Sun
July 17, 2019 6:52pm
The online testing platform for Prep to Year 10 students will start with maths and expand to other subjects. Picture: iStockThe online testing platform for Prep to Year 10 students will start with maths and expand to other subjects.
Victorian students from Prep to Year 10 will soon take regular maths tests online, with other subjects set to follow.
Read more: Herald-Sun quotes PV in article about online tests
New Model Constitution for your Parent Club
As of Term 2, 2019, the Secretary of the Department of Education and Training has published a new Model Parent Club Constitution. Developed in consultation with Parents Victoria, this replaces the Model Constitution that was published in 2017. All Parent Clubs will be required to adopt the new Constitution.
What has changed?
There are a number of changes to the Constitution which aim to support the improved operations of Parent Clubs. These include:
- A change in the method of membership of the Parent Club. The previous Constitution required parents to become Financial Members of the Club. Financial Membership has now been changed to ‘Registered Membership’. The Registration Form is at Schedule 1 of the Constitution
- An additional section addressing Parent Club values. These are in line with the Department’s values
- The requirement for a quorum is now prescribed as ‘a minimum of 3 members’
- Clubs are encouraged to devise their own standing orders, dispute resolution process or code of conduct
- A requirement for Clubs to comply with Victorian privacy law and the Schools’ Privacy Policy
- The stipulation that Parent Clubs are not permitted to incorporate.
Next steps
See our Constitutions page for everything you need to know about adopting the new Constitution.
Saturday detention: our view
“What is the purpose, what is the benefit to everyone involved and how does that shift the behaviour?”
-PV Executive Officer Gail McHardy
In the media
A recent article in the Herald-Sun raised the issue of Saturday detention at Victorian Schools.
We can’t link to the article because it’s behind a pay-wall, but it covers a number of Melbourne government schools that list Saturday detention in their student handbooks. The article contained comments from a number of school Principals, including Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Sue Bell, who said, “It’s a last-ditch effort, really.” Ms Bell said when she was principal at Wantirna College, students who tagged school buildings in graffiti were required to come to the campus on a weekend and repair the damage. She said the exercise offered an opportunity to talk to the student about what was going on. “And it was a nice way for them to give back,” she said.
