Traditionally  we have called for class parent reps from each class to help liaise with the class families, welcome new school community members and  be a first point of contact with parents for the class teacher.  The  reps have also met twice per term with Brian as a Parent Network committee.    Our  Parent Network is proactive in developing parent education initiatives; positive and improvement focused mindsets for parents; as well as influencing  ideas and opportunities that impact on school programs.

It’s a great opportunity to get to know other parents and to gain new perspectives on how to engage in your child’s learning. Below is an invitation to be part of the action this year, from Karen Gunton, our  Governing Council Chairperson. Please give this your consideration.

 

Dear Parents

One of the ways in which we hope to build a sense of community and belonging at the school, as well as foster parent engagement in learning, is by inviting parents to join the Parent Network.

The Parent Network is a committee made up of parents who act as liaisons in our school. It is open to any and all parents! You can represent: your child’s class(es), school committees that you are involved in, sports teams you help coach or co-ordinate, and/or special events or projects you are helping to organise. We would love to have at least 2 parent representatives from each classroom, though more are welcome of course!

We meet as a school committee with the principal two times per term, to share ideas and organise committee initiatives, with the attitude that we can create positive experiences for parents & families at our school. Meetings this year will be held in each term in week 3 on Monday afternoon & week 8 on Friday morning, in an effort to accommodate different schedules (we hope that parents can attend at least one meeting per term!)

We realise that things will come up and committee members may not be able to attend every meeting, but we would like members to have the intention of attending meetings and maintaining communication with the Network via our Facebook group… where we hope to plan and implement a lot of our initiatives! In other words, we would like active, engaged participation!

We will be holding an information session and welcome meeting for all members of the 2016 Parent Network in week 3 on Monday 15 February at 2pm in the staff room. Coffee and refreshments will be provided.

During this meeting we will be collecting contact information from committee members, as well as going over essential information such as roles & responsibilities, as well procedures & policies. We will present current Parent Network initiatives and brainstorm new ideas for how we as parents can help build our community and foster engagement at our school. We will also vote for a chairperson and select an organising committee — please let me know if you would like to nominate anyone (or yourself) for chairperson or to be part of the organising committee.

We would love to have you on the 2016 Parent Network, and look forward to meeting you at the information session!

Kind Regards

Karen Gunton

Parent Network Rep & Governing Council Chairperson

PLEASE RSVP! Let us know that you are joining the 2016 Parent Network via email to wpsgoverningcouncil@gmail.com or via text to 0404 240 050. Also, please let us know if you cannot attend but would still like to join the Parent Network so that we can get the welcome and induction information to you. Thank you.