Last Thursday I took part in an Education Roundtable at St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School, Cornubia, which was attended by Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan.  The Minister has been holding similar discussions at a variety of locations and was in Cairns earlier last week for talks with principals, staff and families.

The discussions hosted at St Matthew’s focused largely on how schools manage the complex social issues facing the local community.  It was interesting to hear Minister Tehan’s views on schools as community hubs.  He also discussed the strong nexus between health and education and sought views on strategies that might allow disadvantaged students access to health services at or through schools.

As the federal election draws closer there will be numerous opportunities for our schools to take part in these types of discussions and I urge you take all possible opportunities to engage with Ministers, MPs, and candidates to ensure Catholic schools have an ongoing voice in discussions on education.