President's Message

Greetings Colleagues,

I trust you have all had a relaxing break now that all States and Territories have had their Term 1 School Holidays. Hopefully there has been the opportunity for some down time amidst all the work that continues during the breaks.

With new staff inductions and Leadership Team Meetings happening it is a time of excitement and anticipation as we welcome back our students. The employment environment remains extremely competitive with many advertisements for positions posted online. With these challenges that we all face it is even more important to keep our networks strong and support each other. One way of doing this is attending quality professional learning. We hope to see you all at our Biennial Conference in Perth, Western Australia from July 14-16 at the Crown. It is shaping to be a real opportunity to celebrate our distinguished and long serving leaders as well as learn from a group of esteemed educators. For all communications, please refer to our CaSPA Website or communicate with your State/Territory Director or local Association.

We continue to be approached by key players in the education and political sectors as a voice for Catholic schools. There have been numerous media opportunities related to the ACU Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey Report and the National School Reform Agreement. The Federal Minister for Education, the Honourable Jason Clare, has invited CaSPA to attend a roundtable with the national peak Principal organisations in May. Here he will provide an update on the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, lead a discussion on Principal and school leader wellbeing and listen to ideas related to ongoing school and system reform.

The CaSPA Board have met with Notre Dame University regarding possible faith formation partnerships and since the April meeting, both Presidents from CaSPA and ACPPA have had a follow up meeting. At the Board Meeting in April, I reported on the Catholic Education Stakeholder Meeting and we have had ongoing communication with AITSL regarding a National Framework for Teacher Registration in Australia as well as a National Teacher Workforce Action Plan - use of Teacher Assistants. We also had our regular meeting with ACARA with business focussed on the early release of NAPLAN in 2024.

Recently we met with representatives from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) regarding vaping in schools with a view to launching a joint cross-sectoral approach with all the peak Principal and parent educational bodies.

Our focus on advocacy will continue to be a priority as we continue to make an impact on positive educational change.

Have a wonderful Term 2.

Dr Stephen Kennaugh
CaSPA President