Family, School, Community Partnerships

Effective family, school and community partnerships contribute to improved outcomes, well-being and life chances of young people.

Families are the first and most important educators of their children and the most dominant influence in a child’s life throughout schooling and beyond. When a family becomes part of a Catholic school community within the Diocese of Lismore, they become partners with the school in the educational journey of their child. The purpose of this partnership is to support the faith formation, learning and pastoral care of the student who is at the centre of all our endeavours.

When effective family school partnerships are developed, they help to support both families and school communities amidst the pressures of school and family life. Effective family school partnerships are developed when relationships between home and school are based upon trust and ongoing, open dialogue and result in all members of the partnership feeling respected, valued and cared for.

Investing our time, energy and commitment to develop positive family school partnerships is critically important for your children. Substantial research has clearly proven that schools, families and communities working together have a profound and positive effect on children’s achievement, well being and life chances including:

• improved academic performance
• higher levels of wellbeing and self-efficacy
• completion of further study

Simply put, family, school and community partnerships matter.

School Parent Representative Bodies

Parent representative bodies exist to support Catholic schools to achieve their mission of enabling all students to experience the fullness of life. Catholic school parent representative bodies provide a unique opportunity for collaboration and help contribute to a thriving school community. Parent representative bodies provide a forum where parents/carers can:

• Interact with one another and school staff
• Be informed about the school's educational mission and goals
• Contribute to the community
• Provide feedback and input

A number of different models of parent representative bodies operate within Catholic schools in the Lismore diocese, yet all models seek to provide an opportunity to strengthen relationships between families and schools. Some of the different types of parent representative bodies operating within our Catholic schools include:

• Parish School Forum
• Parents and Friends Association
• Parent Groups

All parents are encouraged to support the parent representative body operating within their school by:

• Considering becoming a member of the body
• Keeping updated about the work of the parent body through reports published in newsletters and school websites
• Supporting the work of the parent representative body by attending community events, supporting fundraising initiatives and committing time and energy to community projects where possible.

Find out more about your school’s parent representative body.

Parent Assembly

The Lismore Catholic Schools Parent Assembly is a unique organisation that seeks to support and serve parents of children in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Lismore. Parent Assembly believes that “it takes a village to raise a child” and works to support and connect families by:

• Accompanying families on their spiritual journeys.
• Promoting family and school partnerships. Children simply do better when the important people in their lives - their families, school teachers and leaders - work together for the best outcomes for the child.
• Providing high quality presentations and workshops to parents/carers on a wide range of topics to support and equip them with strategies and information for a healthy and happy family life.
• Providing opportunities for families to connect with one another. Families do better when they feel they belong and are connected to their parish school community.
• Engaging in advocacy for Catholic school parents and share important information about issues such as government funding and education policy to parents through Parent Assembly’s membership on the NSW Council of Catholic School Parents.

The Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) NSW/ACT is the peak representative body for parents and carers of children in NSW Catholic schools.

CCSP is the voice and advocate for parents and carers of children in NSW Catholic schools. CCSP develops tools to assist parents and carers better engage with their child’s education.