Parents’ Network

De La Salle Parents’ Network

Our year started with our annual Easter Raffle which the boys look forward to. We had 12 prizes and it was delightful to watch the excitement on their faces as they collected their basket of goodies (even the ‘big’ boys, though they tried hard to play it cool). My thanks to Nola Chaplin and Katy Kaupert who gave up their time to help prepare and wrap the baskets. As usual we held our popular Mothers’ Weekend at Jan Juc. We enjoyed a weekend with much shopping, eating and conversation. Barbara Rix was instrumental in organizing the weekend and keeping us all in line, and continues to put her hand up for this task even though she no longer has a son at the school. We then turned our attention to preparing for our big event for the year, “Almost Anything Goes”. Much time and effort went into preparing for this evening and the end result was very worthwhile. The numbers were down on last year and at one stage we looked like holding the night in a much smaller venue, but in true De La style the school community rallied and we had a fantastic evening. The silent auction was a big talking point with over 150 items. This was mainly due to John Morgan, who rang me a month before the event and offered to approach his contacts for donations. I would meet him at least once a week at the school so he could off-load his goodies. Every time his 4WD was packed to the roof. Thank you John. We raised just under $15,000. Once again we provided the over jacket for sale and much time and effort went into providing this service. My thanks to Marita Torrisi and Mercedes Marino for looking after this particular venture. We saw the end of an era early in the year when the school newsletter went to electronic print. For many years an ever-changing group of parents met every third Friday for the mail-out of the newsletter. This involved compiling, labelling and manually inserting the newsletter into the envelopes for every family within the school. A mammoth task at the best of times, if volunteer numbers were down, climbing Mt Everest looked an easier option. To the many, many parents who have helped over the years, your help was greatly appreciated. At the beginning of the year I spoke at the Year 7 Parents’ morning tea and also at an information evening for parents interested in sending their sons to De La. On both occasions I listened to our staff speak with passion and dedication to the ongoing, never- ending and at times unrecognised role they play in shaping and defining the lives of our sons. The School Improvement Framework took place mid- year and I met with the facilitators and a number of other representatives of the school to take part in an extremely productive meeting on the future direction of the school and how best to arrive at these outcomes. Early in the year Br Paul came to one of our monthly meetings, introduced himself and gave his views on the school in the present and where it would be headed in the future. Br Paul actively sought our opinions and made it quite clear that he viewed the Parent Network as another resource of advice and knowledge. This was further enhanced by a very productive evening where Br Paul addressed an audience of interested and caring parents who had the chance to ask questions of him on any and all topics. More than 100 parents attended the evening and the feedback was extremely positive. My thanks to Br Paul for his support and guidance.To Marie Birkensleigh, our extremely capable Vice President, I say thank you for the number of times she stepped in and represented me at various functions and for the witty articles she wrote for the Newsprint. The Parent Network would not function without Trish Woodman who quietly works in the background and acts as my sounding board, walking encyclopaedia, secretary and good friend. Thank you Trish. Lastly, thank you to the small, dedicated, hardworking committee who make the Parent Network an enjoyable entity.

The Parents’ Network Committee Standing: Jane Dunstone, Mercedes Marino, Clare Boek, Peter Hammond Seated: Allana Robertson, Naresh Subramaniam, Virginia Fairchild, Jen O’Grady, Maria Grossi