Following a very successful 2015 Annual Conference and AGM the first meeting of the TASSO Management Committee welcomed back to the table some familiar faces, we also welcomed Jared Dickason and Trinette Newell from the south and Peter Kearney from the north to our committee.

Information on motions passed is available on our website http://www.tasso.org.au/

TASSO President
At conference Jenny Eddington finished her three year term of office as President. We thank Jenny for her commitment to TASSO, public education, parents and students and for her extraordinary contribution as TASSO President. We are pleased to announce that Ant Dry will step into the role. We have great confidence in Ant’s skills to lead TASSO into the next phase as we continue to lobby for the best educational outcomes for our students and to provide a united voice for parents and our school communities.

ACSSO President
The committee congratulated North-West Delegate Phillip Spratt on his election to ACSSO (Australian Council of State School Organisations) President. It is fantastic to have a Tasmanian as the head of the peak national organisation representing the interests of parents, families and school communities.

Reform of the Federation
The committee discussed the 4 options posed as part of the White Paper on the Reform of the Federation. We will discuss these in further detail and share with you our position once formulated http://federation.dpmc.gov.au/

Learning in Families Together (LIFT)
TASSO are pleased to see recognition of the value of parental engagement and we look forward to seeing examples of how this program will work delivered in the areas of greatest need.

Community Empowered Schools (CES)
Working with TASSO, the Tasmanian Department of Education with the Commonwealth Government has developed the Independent Public Schools Initiative: Community Empowered Schools. This is a model for increasing effective parental and community involvement in school governance and decision making to support the school improvement process and ultimately children’s learning.

These workshops delivered in partnership between TASSO and the Professional Learning Institute continue to be delivered state-wide. This is an exciting initiative of which TASSO are proud to be a partner.

‘Parents form one of the three sides of the education triangle of student/teacher/parent. We look forward to continuing our efforts to promoting the importance of parents and carers in the education of our children. The Community Empowered Schools initiative is one of the weapons in our arsenal.’ said TASSO President, Ant Dry.
Cassandra Wells Executive Officer Tasmanian Association of State School Organisations Inc. (TASSO)