02 Jun 2023
For more than 50 years, our P&Cs have provided an important platform for parents and carers to have a voice and help build community in our ACT public schools.
As we celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the unique ACT school system, we wanted to tell the story of one of our amazing P&Cs and the important contributions they have made.
We recently met with Ms Lois Perry (pictured), a former Campbell P&C executive, about her memories of this time.
It began humbly in 1966 when Lois joined a small sub-committee led by Cath Blakers and John Olroyd. This sub-committee began a program of letter writing, media influencing and lobbying for the creation of an independent ACT education system. They co-opted influential and high-profile educators, academics and administrators to their cause. They set up a working party chaired by Sir George Currie who went on to deliver a report that detailed a blueprint for providing public education in the ACT. The ‘Currie Report’ as it became known was used as a platform to lobby federal ministers, and departments to establish a new public schooling system for the ACT.
Thanks Lois and the Campbell P&C for your pivotal work so we can now celebrate our amazing education system today.
Further reading: Elizabeth St.Clair McKenzie’s Phd thesis on A history of the Australian Capital Territory Schools' Authority, 1966-1980 : a process of change frustrated, that details the pivotal work of the Campbell P&C and celebrates the role many of its members played in the formation of our current education system.
#ACTCouncilofParentsandCitizensAssociations #50yearsACTPublicSchool
