A recent adition to your school's Parent Library has been the book:

Growing Great Families-Ian & Mary Grant –

Over many years of youth work and teaching parenting throughout NZ and Australia Ian and Mary have studied the keys to healthy functioning and fun filled families. They believe that at a time when there is a strong focus on specific topics such as what to do with unruly kids, we need to look deeper. They make a case for re-establishing the idea of growing great families through a strong sense of community. They believe that 'family is everything'. In a world lacking in intimacy but swimming in sexuality we need to offer our children real intimacy and emotional safety. They need to know the security of a family operating as a team and receive the joy in their everyday experience of being contributors not just takers. Whatever we parents honour or treat as sacred or special, our children will also honour, whether that is the television, regular family times or sport. Consequently this book is a call to refocus on what it is to create a family, to look again proactively at what we are honouring in the little community we call our family and to think about our ultimate goals for the individuals and their relationships. Growing great families covers the following topics: being a parent in the world we now inhabit; building the foundations; what makes a family into a community; moulding big personalities into a family; life-defining values; two pillars of great families – fun and communication; and moving from dependence to interdependence

The gospel for this Sunday is written by Saint Mark 16:15-20

The gifts that he gave were for building up the body of Christ.

After the certainty of home life, a small child can meet the unfamiliarity of school for the first time feeling apprehensive and overwhelmed. Perhaps this is how the disciples felt when Jesus was no longer physically present. Someone they loved dearly had left them to cope on their own, with a new set of challenges. Yet as parents seek to reassure their child, so too do the disciples hear words of encouragement: the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit, present with them.

The disciples, commissioned by Christ and encouraged by the Spirit, are given the confidence to go out and speak of their joy and salvation. Like the child encouraged by loving parents to try something new, the disciples find inspiration and motivation to walk the dusty and difficult road ahead.

This is a great opportunity for you to network with parents from schools throughout the diocese. To renew old friendships and to make new friendships.

Please see below links for our:

Flyer Casino Conference General

Conference Registration Form

Please click on the link below for the paper

http://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/pubs/papers/01/index.html

This paper reviews the research on building safe and supportive families and communities for children in Australia. Based on assessments of 22 research and evaluation reports, it examines the evidence base in the areas of:

    community attitudes and awareness of child safety;
    parenting and family support; and
    child-friendly communities.

The paper synthesises the findings and discusses the implications for future research. The reports were identified in the research audit, Protecting Australia's Children Research Audit, 1995-2010.

The resource has a wealth of great sites to engage parents in their child’s learning and we hope you may distribute the newsletter to your principals and all parent teams.

  Connecting U term 1 2012

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/events/vacations.html

• Model positive attitudes towards school and learning at home with your child;
  
• Develop a partnership with your school by attending parent information sessions, parent teacher interviews and parent education workshops and seminars, and various social functions;
  
• Practice positive parenting: encourage children to become independent thinkers and help them problem solve rather that automatically jumping into solving problems for them;
  
• Encourage efforts and joy of learning rather than only achievement
  
• Connect with the school and wider diocesan parent community by reading newsletters and websites, supporting parent community events.