More than 60 years now, VPC has worked tirelessly with Victorian school parents. That we are still here today is a testament to the hard work and support of parents, schools and parent associations across Victoria.

We are a not-for-profit, ACNC registered Charity Organisation and are driven by the commitment of a small group of volunteers.

You can be involved as a parent, guardian, school, teacher or business; we love to collaborate with all those who are passionate about supporting children through education, from babies through to adulthood and beyond.

If you like to join, don’t hesitate to contact us at vicpc@vicparentscouncil.vic.edu.au
Whether it's once a week or once in a while, we welcome your involvement.

WELCOME TO THE FIRST VPC E-NEWS IN 2021

Dear VPC Community, 


It’s March 2021 already!

VPC has received many messages of support and thanks for the work we did over 2020 delivering the VPC Live programs supporting parents and their children through a very challenging year. We have a terrific program of events planned for 2021. VPC Live welcomes back some of our favourite speakers from 2020, Michelle Mitchell and Dr Marie Yap as well as some new faces. A reminder that our VPC Live events are available to all parents and families at no charge.

In 2021, VPC continues to advocate for parents with children in the non-government school sector and we will be holding focus groups and surveys on issues that are important to our families across the State. Please register your interest, Parent Voice is critical and participating in our consultations is one way you can be heard.

Earlier this term on 9 February, we supported the Safer Internet Day (SID) -"Together for a better internet, raising awareness about online safety. 

The E-Safety Commissioner organised a live Virtual Classroom webinar to test your students' ability to detect fake news and misinformation online. This event “Be an eSafe kid: Fake news, real harms”, will be repeated on Tuesday 4 May 2021 at 9.30 to 10.15 am for all schools, State, Catholic and Independent schools in Australia.

How do I know if something is fake? Useful for parents having a conversation with their kids.

Please read our main-E-News Article Teaching critical thinking to sort the fake news from the consumable content – by Martine Oglethorpe 

A few upcoming events:
VPC Live Event: How to Talk to Kids About Puberty - Michelle Mitchell  -Thursday 18 March at 7.30-8.15pm

VPC Focus Group Consultation for Parents – School Buses in Rural & Regional Victoria Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 7pm Melbourne time

We are an enthusiastic Committee and hope some of you like to join and share your talent(s) with us. We are looking forward to delivering what you need and endeavour to support you all as best as we can. As always, we look forward to continuing to work with all of the vibrant VPC Community on- and offline. We welcome your interaction and feedback.

Sincerely

Eveline Jona, VPC President
vicparentscouncil.vic.edu.au
Victorian Parents Council – The Vibrant Parent Community Est. 1959

VPC LIVE EVENTS:  

• How to Talk to Kids About Puberty - Michelle Mitchell  - Thursday 18 March at 7.30-8.15pm.AEDT
  In this webinar Michelle Mitchell, author of A Girls Guide to Puberty and A Guy's Guide to Puberty,  Will offer parents real language and insights into how to talk to pre-teens about puberty in preparation for adolescence
• VPC Focus Group Consultation for Parents – School Buses in Rural & Regional Victoria Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 7pm AEDT
  The Legislative Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee is conducting an inquiry into the Use of School Buses in Rural and Regional Victoria. VPC will be conducting a focus group via Zoom to gather parent's views and concerns.
  
  Both Event are free to attend - registration is required, please send your questions to vicpc@vicparentscouncil.vic.edu.au 

UPDATES:

VCAA: 
NAPLAN on paper - information for parents and carers - 2021
NAPLAN Online     - information for parents and carers - 2021

●      NAPLAN will resume in 2021 and will be administered as in previous years for both online and paper NAPLAN.
●      NAPLAN paper tests will take place on Tuesday 11 May, Wednesday 12 May and Thursday 13 May 2021.
●      Schools participating in NAPLAN Online will have from Tuesday 11 May to Friday 21 May 2021 to conduct the online assessments.
●      Times specified in the timetable.
●      All schools are expected to transition to NAPLAN Online in 2022
●      For more information regarding NAPLAN Online visit the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) National Assessment Program (NAP) website.

VIT:               .
●      Video Excellence in Teaching - Ardoch Children Education Charity, Ardoch, won an award for improving access and participation in early learning at the 2020 Victorian Early Years Awards with their Curious Young Minds Early STEM Literacy Program
●      VIT regulatory decision A summary example of a recent regulatory decision made by VIT concerning a registered teacher.
●      Teacher tribute  VIT Chairperson Lesley Lamb joins teachers, students and a distinguished author give thanks to the great work of teachers

SOME SPECIAL DAYS

National Harmony Week (15-21 March) celebrates the cohesive and inclusive nature of our diverse nation. Schools, community groups and organisations across Australia host Harmony Week events. https://www.harmony.gov.au/

National Close the Gap Day Thursday 18th March 
National Close the Gap Day (NCTGD) is an annual awareness event that aims to close the health and life expectancy gap between the indigenous and the non-indigenous communities in Australia.
It is a national day of action to pledge support for achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030. Each year the support for NCTDG continues to grow and last year people all over the country took part in events to create awareness of the Close the Gap Campaign. 

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence Friday 19th March 
Resources Understanding bullying - bullyingnoway.gov.au
For schools   - Classroom - Resources
For Families  - Factsheets 
For Students - Factsheets

   VPC SURVEY -
   Would you like NAPLAN to continue?
   VPC would love to hear from you

VPC COVID-19 COLLABORATION GLOBAL RESEARCH - iCARE  SURVEY 8

This is the seventh Survey invitation. Most of you received VPC emails inviting you to participate in this important international research project iCARE - Study. If you had not yet a chance to participate, it is not too late!
The VPC, is collaborating with ‘researchers at the Monash University - Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, MCHRI, and leading international agencies, to learn more about the COVID- 19 pandemic and strategies to prevent infection. The following link will bring you to an information page, where you can complete a short 20-minute survey*, www.mbmc-cmcm.ca/covid19
The goal for this study is to understand more about how people are dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak in order to learn how we can individually work to slow the spread in our own community. As always, we are looking toward the future, where we overcome this difficult time for us and for our children. Our hope is that we can come out of this stronger than ever. We are all in this together.
You can now find the first Survey results, iCARE - Cumulative Results from Survey 1 to 7
*Please note; all responses are de-identified so no one will be able to align survey responses to individuals