Join us in this ACT-wide celebration of the importance of parents and communities to our schools. It is a great excuse for a fun community-building event at your school. Make sure this is on the agenda for your next P&C meeting so that your school can be part of it! This article explains what the week is about, why it is important and some ideas to get you started. Once you have decided what your school is doing, please let us know so we can all celebrate together.

Did you know that you can use the Education Directorate's internal mail when sending items to the Council office? Simply address the item to us at Sports House, Hackett and ask at your school's office for them to place it in the Directorate's internal mail bag. No postage stamp is required (and since postage is 70c from April 1, that's even better news!).

The Cancer Council has a Shade for Secondary Schools Grant Program, providing up to $25000 for building shade structures in High Schools and Colleges. Applications close in June.  At our last Council meeting there was a discussion about the difficulty of getting secondary students to wear hats and the importance of providing shaded areas to reduce their sun exposure.

If your school and P&C have environmental or health projects planned, you might want to check out this list of grants available to help.

The Education and Training Directorate has a dedicated website for preschool parents and carers with information on preschool education and support services in the ACT and the importance of parents being involved in preschool education. There are also grants of up to $500 available for projects which promote parental engagement. 

Professor Tim Hannan will present a seminar for parents on how to help your child with a learning difficulty on May 6 at 7pm. Cost is $50. You can book online or email DSA Dyslexia SPELD ACT for more information.

Schools and community groups are invited to nominate for the 2014 Environment Day Awards which recognise innovation and dedication to protecting, managing or restoring the environment. The awards are held annually in support of UN World Environment Day (5 June). Nominations close on Thursday 17 April.