Make sure this letter is part of your school's enrolment pack as enrolments for next year begin. It introduces the P&C to new parents and collects email addresses to add to a P&C mailing list, if your P&C has one. It has been approved by the Education Directorate and is designed as a template to be tailored for your school. You can find the letter under 'Promoting your P&C' on our website.

The ACT Government wants your feedback on school reports. They are proposing a uniform approach to student report cards across all ACT public schools and want to know what information you value and how you would like to see it presented. View the report templates, updated policy and fill in the survey here (closes May 15).

Council will also be compiling a written response. We value your thoughts and comments to include - please send them to us by May 6.

All parents are invited to attend Council's next meeting where we will hear from Kristen Laurent from the NDIS on how ACT students are finding the new system. There will be time for parents to ask questions and present problems. At the meeting we will also begin collecting input from parents on special education practices to feed into the review of special education recently announced by the ACT Government. Join us on Tuesday May 26 at the Centre for Teaching and Learning, 51 Fremantle Drive, Stirling from 7pm.
 
We ask that P&C secretaries and/or presidents copy this item to school newsletters so that parents with an interest in this topic are invited to this event. You can use the Council template for school newsletters if you wish.

From Monday May 18, ACTION will be introducing a range of timetable adjustments and service changes. ACTION encourage students and parents to check timetables as many normal weekday services and dedicated school buses will be affected. This includes six new school services, directional and stop changes for 21 school services, changed start times for 68 school services and the abolition of one school service. All school bus changes are listed by school online.

For more information visit action.act.gov.au or call 13 17 10.

Nutrition Australia ACT invites all ACT school canteen managers, volunteers, principals, teachers and P&C representatives to attend their annual Canteen Fresh Expo  'Healthy Directions'. The free Expo is an opportunity to network, sample some new recipes and be updated on the latest news for ACT canteens.
When: Wednesday 13 May, 3:00 - 5:45pm, with registration, networking and tastings from 3pm. Official proceedings begin at 4pm.              
Where: Community Meeting Room, Chifley Health & Wellbeing Hub, 5/70 Maclaurin Crescent, Chifley
RSVP: By Friday 8 May 2014 on 6162 2583 or email

Council's national counterpart, ACSSO, is conducting research to identify how parents are involved in education, what time they spend and how much value they add to our schools. They'd love to know about your involvement via a online survey.  It should take less than 10 minutes of your time.

This year, all students doing Vocational Education Training (VET) in schools must first have a Unique Student Identifier (USI) - a reference number allocated to students and linked to a secure online record of all their training. All students planning to do a VET course in school, or currently enrolled, must register for an USI as soon as possible. Registering takes just a few minutes. Go to usi.gov.au, select ‘Create a USI’ and follow the steps.

This year Walk Safely To School Day will be held on Friday 22nd May.  We urge you and your school community to be a part of it. Find out more.