Above: Br Bill Firman [former principal St Bede's Mentone, DLS Malvern and other CaSPA schools] with students in South Sudan

As you may be aware, the CaSPA Board has elected to support the Catholic Teachers' College in Yambio, South Sudan as part of its global social justice focus. At its recent Board Meeting, the Directors elected to allocate over $11,000 to support the tuition costs for female teacher trainess at this College. The rationale for this is makes a compellng case for the Board decision on which global project to support:

• South Sudan is one of the top 5 oppressed countries ravaged by civil war, drought and corruption
• In this culture women are further oppressed as a result of history and culture
• Education - and raising the dignity and place of women - are regarded as one of the few ways that society's such as this can build a future and hope for the children and future generations
• Staff at this College are largely ex pat Australians - a number have worked in CaSPA schools earlier in their careers 

Br Bill Firman provides a regular update on the work to help the Sudanese people.  This is an extract from his latest email:

Last week there were peace celebrations in South Sudan. It does seem more stable. The soaring devaluation of the currency has ceased for the past few months. The general mood, however, is one of continuing doubt.  The agreement is more about power sharing, than rehabilitation and what will restore a reasonable standard of living.   My real hope is the next generation who will be better educated and who may use resources more wisely for the good of all.
Sr Alice has been talking to people at our gate. They tell her they are 'hungry'. One girl says she has had no food for two days but it is hard to know who is telling the truth. There is no dole here, no social welfare system. So there are no so-called 'dole bludgers'.  But there are still plenty of people prepared to invent fake needs in order to solicit aid. They make it harder for others.

There are also people who follow traditional tribal practices that seem positively dangerous to me, such as cutting oneself with razor blades, while others are 'sucked in' by supposed modern technology such as waving a wand around a person that diagnoses what illnesses are developing and want medicines always very expensive one needs. It is very hard to

On the other hand, the gratitude of many people, if they are helped, is most obvious. Many are grateful if they can eat once a day. Hopefully, continuing stability will make it easier for people to survive. I am so blessed to come from a land of plenty.

- Br Bill

Above: Sr Therese Power [fmr Director Ballarat CEO]; Stephen Elder [Director CECV]; Tony O'Byrne; Peter Casey [fmr CaSPA Principal - Traralgon,Wodonga and St Pats Ballarat]; Frank FitzGerald [fmr CaSPA Principal - Melton and St Bernards Essendon; current Exec Officer]

At a recent ceremony at the CEO Regional Office in Werribee, Mr Tony O'Byrne was recognised for his very significant contribution to Catholic Education - both locally in Victoria and also in National forums. This service has been over 51 years - and Tony is still working in his role as Principal advisor in the Western Region of the Melbourne CEO.

Listed are just some of  the many significant achievements Tony has managed over this time:

• Principal/Director of 3 CaSPA Schools
  • St Leo's Box Hill
  • St Augustine's, Geelong
  • Aquinas College, Ringwood [for 25 years]
• CaSPA representative on the NCEC for over 10 year 
• President on Catholic School Parents Australia over recent years
• Member of the Executive of the PAVCSS over many years

Director of CEM, Stephen Elder congratulated Tony on these distinguished achievement and thanked him for his service to Catholic Education.

We are indebted to the Manager of the Western Region - Mr Bob Aron - for organising and hosting this significant event.

Below is the submission made on behalf of CaSPA:

Catholic Schools have been an integral part of Australian society since its earliest years

o We celebrate 200 years of Catholic Schools in Australia in just over a years time
While very grateful for government assistance in the building and running of schools in the recent 50 years - our heritage goes back to times when communities worked extremely hard to fund and build their local Catholic Schools in order to promote the values and beliefs of Catholic Communities around the country
There are now over 500 Catholic Schools with secondary enrolments of just on 360,000
The ongoing success and popularity of Catholic Schools continues to show their relevance and importance to the community
o Families across Australia want their children educated at schools that reflect their standards, values and beliefs
o This is not a spur of moment or impulse decision as families have to find the funds and capacity to support their children's education at Catholic Secondary Schools
In my time as principal I would hold annual meetings with all those seeking enrolment at the school and invite parents to complete a survey on why they were going to the trouble and expenses of seeking a Catholic Secondary education for their child
o Every year without fail the survey item that scored the highest rating was that the school supported and reflected the values of the families who attended the College
As a country of growing diversity we appreciate that not everyone may subscribe to the standards, values and beliefs of Catholic Schools
o We celebrate this diversity and are very comfortable in encouraging others to follow their own beliefs and values so long as they do not threaten the well being of others in society
o In turn we believe it is only fair that othes show similar tolerance to our community and its Catholic Schools
Our submission today is based on the premise that Catholic Schools have a long established and publicised set of standards and beliefs
o No one is compelled to either seek employment or enrolment at our schools
o We believe that it is entirely reasonable to expect that those who freely chose to become a part of our school community as employee, student or family, come on the understanding that they are accepting theese standards and beliefs
In saying this our school leaders are realistic in their understanding that not all who join our communities may privately agree with all aspects of the entire range of standards and beliefs
o Our Principals respect the individuals' privacy in these matters
o In return we simply ask those with views who may be at variance to be equally respectful of the stated policies, practices and values of the school
As a result of this approach, our Schools have in place the process whereby staff are employed under the condition that they will actively uphold the policies, values and ethos of the school.
o We believe that this is an important principle of employment that we would seek to see is upheld in any future legislation
Similarly students accept enrolment in our schools under a similar agreement whereby they accept the policies, values and ethos of the school and will not act in any way that is opposed to these principles.
o We believe it is important for our schools to be able to continue to enrol students with this undertaking by students and their families.
These areas that we seek the support of staff and students involves many aspects of school life such as uniform code, grooming, unsafe or unprofessional behaviours and the like, and hence go beyond the specific aims of the Exemption from Discrimination in the legislation under review.
We believe our Principals are in agreement with Archbishop Coleridge's recent statement:  "Catholic schools welcome staff and students from all backgrounds who are willing to accept the declared mission and values of the school community"

Welcome to part 3 of our series on the VET Knowledge Bank, our key source of reference information about Australia's VET system.

#4: Landmark documents
What documents and events have influenced the development of Australia's VET system over the years?

From the Commonwealth-State Apprenticeship Inquiry (the Wright report) in 1954 to the Skills Australia discussion paper Creating a future direction for Australian vocational education and training in 2010, the timeline of Landmark documents chronicles their history.

#5: History of VET
If you're interested in a more comprehensive overview of Australia's VET story, the History of VET may be just what you're looking for.

With an extensive reading list and a number of timelines covering topics such as historical milestones, Australian VET ministers, and VET legislation, the History of VET page draws all of the key puzzle pieces together.

What are the policies and processes that govern grant choices? What does best practice mean for Australian philanthropists? How well do they really understand the needs of the organisations they fund? These questions were at the core of research carried out by the Asia Pacific Social Impact Centre at Melbourne Business School, as part of these TWO report:

• Philanthropy: Towards a better practice model. 
• Perpetual Impact, 19/06/18