Catherine's Discussions
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With all the usual angst over fundraising that seems to crop up annually whatever happened to simply advising parents to use their own common sense.
Just say no!
Absolutely nothing catastrophic will happen. Your child is still guaranteed an educat...
Those who become engaged in their schools and do so by fundraising are recognized for their contributions indeed.
However they can not be the same parents who scream at the government for lack of funding because in actuality parents are filling th...
When one figures out that school councils are essentially a captive audience of parents why wouldn't an organization like People for Education wish to take advantage and infuse the P4E issues and agenda through the school boards and system which i...
I don't have a problem with a textbook deposit. It might help kids take care of those very expensive glossy textbooks.
P.S. - People for Education through Annie is often heard talking about the fear of a two tiered education system, yet fundraising does that like nothing else creating those have and have not schools.
Would a school be considered a "have" school i...
Thanks Leslie . you asked "How many parent really know what parent councils are about?"
That can be answered by an effective council. After, what is it, 11 years of school councils if there are parents who still don't know then it's up to the sch...
Right Annie - they're all over the map, some schools without councils...and no one's followed up provincially in a long, LONG time.
I just don't believe that councils should be about the money.....period. Quality education can't always be bought....
Leslie - How do you know then that your school council is effective? As advisory bodies what advice has your council offered and how was is taken...or not?
In short, at some point councils are accountable to the parents of the community they repr...
Archana - you're not alone in your feelings. It's more common than you know. The good news is that there are parents like me around who actually see how the system uses me and then spits me out or ignores me when I ask to many intelligent question...
Our schoolbook policy involved a $50 deposit. Books for a new semester were not to be issued by any teacher to students with outstanding books on record (the school employed a sophisticated inventory tracking system integrated with the book deposi...
Hi Bob,
I am very sorry that I sounded that I did not care about peanut allergies. I meant that it was not a problem at our school. We parents were actually very surprised to see peanut butter in the food cupboard. We asked staff about peanut butt...
Hello Joanne,
I can tell by your story that you have kindness in your heart and am warmed by your Samaritan response to a child’s hunger. I mean no chastisement by my comments.
I am shaken by your parenthetical comment, "yep amazingly not allerg...
Hi Christine,
Here is our Catholic School Parents Association Website address (Ottawa Catholic School Parents Association CSPA) http://www.ottawacspa.ca/ or go to Ottawa Catholic School Board and the PRO Grant info is on the front page.
We at CSP...
Me too
My son's high school fees top $190 so far including $10 for a French workbook, $10, English workbook, $15 geography workbook - no mention of alternative accomodation for those who can't afford.
My daughter's middle school fees now at $58 ...
At our elementary school, the school council stocked a food cupboard with food for students who did not bring lunch. We found out about a very sad situation in the school. Two girls, one in grade 6 and one in grade 3 shared a lunch. The older girl...
In our school the pricipal buys pizza lunches for students who either forget their lunch or were not able to bring one. It is paid for by school fundraisers, and no one really knows how much is spent on pizza each year. Obviously we don't want kid...
Comment Wall (1 comment)
- At 3:15pm on May 21, 2009,
Kristine Garcia said… - Hello Catherine and welcome to the P4E online community!
My name is Kristine and I'm a student at Ryerson University working towards an IT Management Bachelor’s Degree and volunteering at P4E this summer. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions about the online community. What areas of education are you most interested in? How did you find P4E?
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Catherine's Blog
Minister axes Provincial Parent Voice
Hello - I read today in Moira MacDonald's column that Minister Wynne has axed the provincial parents group. To be honest when I found out that the Minister was expunging the group out of the education act, the writing was on the wall long ago.
I don't think replacing the group with regional PICs will change things unfortunately. All that's going to do is move the frustration felt by parents at the provincial level down to regional level.
What's really rich, and something that I agree totally w… Continue
I don't think replacing the group with regional PICs will change things unfortunately. All that's going to do is move the frustration felt by parents at the provincial level down to regional level.
What's really rich, and something that I agree totally w… Continue
Posted on June 10, 2009 at 8:21am — 13 Comments
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Consultations, curriculum, confusion and conferences
There are many things happening on the education front - some better publicized than others.
The province wants to hear from parents and community members about the elementary curriculum (they just forgot to publicize the consultation); Bill 177 is going to undergo two days of public hearings in Toronto; and the Ministry hired a market research company to survey parents about the School Information Finder on the Ministry of Education website.
There have also been some fairly cranky meetings with the Provincial Education Partnership Table about the Information Finder, and all four provincial parent groups wrote a letter to the Minister of Education clarifying their concern about the Finder being described as a tool for "parent engagement."
Next week - more consultations on the Information Finder, maybe there will be news about the province's plans for all day early learning and child care and we'll be putting the finishing touches on the agenda for our November 7th provincial conference.
The province wants to hear from parents and community members about the elementary curriculum (they just forgot to publicize the consultation); Bill 177 is going to undergo two days of public hearings in Toronto; and the Ministry hired a market research company to survey parents about the School Information Finder on the Ministry of Education website.
There have also been some fairly cranky meetings with the Provincial Education Partnership Table about the Information Finder, and all four provincial parent groups wrote a letter to the Minister of Education clarifying their concern about the Finder being described as a tool for "parent engagement."
Next week - more consultations on the Information Finder, maybe there will be news about the province's plans for all day early learning and child care and we'll be putting the finishing touches on the agenda for our November 7th provincial conference.
THINGS WE LEARNED
By reading the news. Send Gay news from your part of the world to post here too!
Hugh Mackenzie, economist and People for Education board member, has written a wonderful column: Can we have an adult conversation about taxes.
Debate flourishes in Toronto over idea of new all boys school. Read the news:
Research shows single-sex schools are not the answer.
Single-sex classes score big, Toronto Star.
All-boys schools foster ‘achievement culture' , Globe and Mail.
School plan calls for boys-only classes, Toronto Star.
Oct 1st:
Happy World Teachers' Day!
To read about some wonderful teachers, click here.
Hugh Mackenzie, economist and People for Education board member, has written a wonderful column: Can we have an adult conversation about taxes.
Debate flourishes in Toronto over idea of new all boys school. Read the news:
Research shows single-sex schools are not the answer.
Single-sex classes score big, Toronto Star.
All-boys schools foster ‘achievement culture' , Globe and Mail.
School plan calls for boys-only classes, Toronto Star.
New research shows the value of work-experience programs in Canadian high schools.
Oct 1st:
Happy World Teachers' Day!
To read about some wonderful teachers, click here.
Latest Activity
Thanks for posting, Deborah! Yes, it relates well to some of the topics/questions we heard at the conference!
I think it is critical to frame discussions of success around some of the themes that Annie suggested in an earlier post - students, parents, teachers, etc. I also think that it is important to find places where this can be wedded to existing oppo...
A bunch of us from the online community are planning to "meet-up" at the conference at York University on Saturday Nov. 7th.
We can chat at lunch!
So let us know if you are coming... we'd like to meet you!
Help us to design a broader vision for education in the 21st century!
Hello everyone,
It's Sunday morning after the conference. I had a great sleep last night and woke up so excited about our group. I loved meeting you all, and I look forward to staying in touch as you explore some of these communication tools! And ...
This morning I was working on a blog entry for the Toronto Development Community Institute. I got on Youtube to search for a piece on Paolo Freire on literacy and oppression. I ended up watching this piece. I think it continues on beautifully with...
Good points Mike. I have also noticed that many of the parent groups and organizations around the province are made of of mostly parents who are over 40 years old.
Where are the younger parents who will take over for the more "seasoned" parents(n...
Everyone is welcome: this group begins at our conference on Saturday. It's a support group for people who want to learn more about using technology to communicate. How to do stuff here, or to start an e-news listserv, or group & more!
I concur.
What a good idea to engage the media.
In our area, Special Education planning committees (SEAC) are supposed to "engage" and consult via "invitation to respond" to "all parents receiving special ed services" but none of the special ed pa...
After living over 11 years in this province with school councils and governments of all stripes propping up their speeches with the usual parent platitudes, it's a real shame that parents need to chase down and impress upon a minister the importan...
Call me cynical, but is it possible that the email coming out from the Ministry and the extension of the deadline could have something to do with the opinions expressed in this discussion?
Thanks to People for Education for supporting this dialogue.
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