School Council Update

School Council held its election last night. They elected me to continue as School Council President and I’d like to sincerely thank the members of School Council for their kind words and continuing support. Helen Metzger has been elected as Secretary and brings both rigour and empathy to the role, I am deeply thankful to Helen for taking on the role and for the work she does in so many ways behind the scenes promoting good communication across the school community.

Approving the both the Annual Report and the Financial reports at last night’s School Council meeting two things were very clear; 

• The last two years has had an undeniable impact on the community raised funds so important to building the cash reserves of the school, and 
• As a school we are supremely lucky to have a Business Manager with Ange Hopkin’s skills and experience. The level of transparency and explanation she has brought is second to none and ensures School Council can undertake it governance duties. We are seeking to co-opt a member of the school community to the role of Treasurer of School Council, it is an important overseeing role.

At last night’s meeting we welcomed Pip Joliffe who attended on behalf of Buildings and Ground committee. In 2021 I issued a standing invitation for the Sub-Committee chairs to attend all School Council meetings. They play a vital role in the workings of the school and open communication between the Council and Sub-committees has been a key goal of mine as School Council President.

Members of the community join School Council for a range of reasons and with both individual and collective goals in mind. Over the next two newsletters I’d like to share the thoughts of School Councilors as we face 2022 with cautious optimism.  As ever I am in awe of the team of highly skilled professionals who volunteer their time to be part of School Council.

Carmen Brown (Obstetrician and author of Ex Pat MD): Is looking forward to normalcy and the opportunities to rebuild community relationships, specially coming back to sprout. Carmen is intending to be more present on school grounds and help to rebuild what we have missed out on in the last two years. She joined council with the intention of being more present and this year will ensure that her work schedule will facilitate the flexibility to do this. 

Kelly Davis (Professional, Communications guru and all round powerhouse): Kelly is looking forward to reconnecting with the community. She wants to introduce all the newbies into how awesome our morning and afternoon events can be for our school community. Kelly is currently a member of the Comms sub-committee, and is wanting to work on providing clear documents and processes for everyone in an effective, timely and consistent way. Kelly can’t wait to get stuck into the work needed in this committee, so that our school community can feel confident again. 

Sandra Simpson (Child and Adolescent wellbeing expert, Chair Communications Sub-Committee): Sandra has a great deal of love for the school and a deep respect for Hannah and Keir and wants to support them in a positive way. Sandra says; “The last two years have prevented us from extending ourselves in the ways the we normally do”, and she wants to get back to making new connections and reconnect with our existing community. Sandra joined comms committee because she believes good and consistent communication is important. Sandra says; “Now that we have both a  clear plan and our school values available, we can recruit from our school community and find those parents that want to be a part of the dialogue and the paradigm of our school.” 

Tanya Pittard (Policy and Advocacy Professional, project leader, compulsive volunteer): This eleventh year is my last year at the School. I’d like feel as though I’ve left school council stronger and more ready to hit 2023 running, with an embedded culture of good governance, collaboration and connection. From a governance perspective it is important to have transparency and trust in one another. It ensures School Council meetings are a lovely environment where we can have open conversations, and make the changes required. We trust each other to maintain confidentiality and know member’s views are coming from a good place. School Council should be an open and supportive environment which welcomes and supports new people coming on to the council. I’d like to give other parents an understanding that you get a lot out of being a part of school council, it is really rewarding for yourself and your kids really benefit from having you connected to school. I’d like to find new parents that want to have that connection and want to have the same commitment. Parents coming together and having fun, I’d like new parents to understand volunteering on Sub-committees and for School Council is not about ‘giving-up your time’ it is about ‘investing in your kids and yourself’.

If you are interested in discussing ways you can be involved please contact me Tanya.Pittard@education.vic.gov.au