THE BATTLE FOR RESPECT - FIGHTING THE DECLINE OF OUR “VOLUNTEERING CULTURE”

DISSECTING THE REAL MEANING OF THE PRELIMINARY SURVEY RESULTS

RESOLVING THE APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN LETTERS PATENT AND THAT PESKY LITTLE THING CALLED THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD?

HEY. Remember the United Nations? They’re still useful for a lot of things, but some of you might not realise that as parents, you actually have rights enshrined in a little thing called a United Nations Convention.

Article 5 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child should be of interest to us all, and to the PMSA, because it’s spirit doesn’t seem to have found its way, in ANY form, into their new “CONTEMPORARY” constitution - or in the archaic charters still “gifted” by the PMSA to our representative bodies. The PMSA’s Governance documents are mechanical, and unremarkably so, lest Article 5 be seen to conflict with the rights afforded to the PMSA under its Letters Patent? For your interest, Article 5 of the UN Convention requires a respect for:

“the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community as provided for by local custom, legal guardians or other persons legally responsible for the child, to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of the rights recognised in the present Convention.”. (Article 5, UN Convention of the Rights of the Child)

Are we all missing something here? Anyone?? Even Catholic Schools in Queensland have these concepts enshrined in their model constitutions and in the constituent documents which their P&Fs operate under. – Yes, they have their own Charter of Rights of the Family which goes even further. Article 5(e) of their Charter recognises “The primary right of parents to educate their children must be upheld in all forms of collaboration between parents, teachers and school authorities, and particularly in forms of participation designed to give citizens a voice in the functioning of schools and in the formulation and implementation of educational policies”.

The Catholic Charter contains lots of interesting, contemporary and new fangled concepts like “COLLABORATION”, “PARTICIPATION” and ensuring that you have a “VOICE” in the functioning of schools. - and who saw that one coming when they adopted it in such a forward thinking manner so MANY decades ago….? NONE of those words rate a mention in the new “CONTEMPORARY” constitution of our governing body.

And so, with that remedial session in basic human rights for the PMSA’s “CUSTOMERS” out of the way, let’s get back to the knitting!

WILL THE “REAL” PMSA PLEASE STAND UP?

In our last blog, we outlined the preliminary results of our Pub Test Survey on the health of the Volunteering Culture in our schools. And they were eye opening.

But what do all of these results really tell us? Well, the consensus seems to be that the poor experiences of volunteers is being propagated by the values of the REAL PMSA – those ones that don’t find their way into the marketing literature coming out of Toowong Towers, but which filter down via the hierarchy through pressure, expectation and example. (Remember the dulcet but caring “death grip” of Darth Patent in “PMSA Governance Wars”? Darth Patent was a metaphor for the instrument of Letters Patent and the choking and controlling effect it has on our schools. The comparison was tongue in cheek, but the effect is real).

It’s that 100 year old stench of culture that is still rooted in Letters Patent. It manifests in the degree to which volunteers at all levels within PMSA Schools (from independent School Council members down to members of the P&F and Support Groups) genuinely feel that their contributions are RESPECTED by the PMSA and the hierarchy below it that must unquestioningly do the PMSA’s bidding. Direct or indirect (- sometimes the dirty work and rejection of requests is left to School Councils or others to do), it is acutely felt. Yes, it’s great that the PMSA feel that it’s ok to pass down THAT type of “operational control” to avoid direct accountability. Is that what the PMSA’s idea of devolving operational control is really all about?

For goodness sake, will the REAL PMSA finally stand up and take ownership of this stuff? We doubt it.

ARE Y’ALL STILL FEELIN’ IT ?

Yes, our volunteer and representative groups are all still feelin’ that Letters Patent culture being forcibly transfused through their veins. It’s NOT a good thing. It’s NOT a productive thing. Its certainly NOT a collaborative thing. The farce is that the “perception” of alignment with the PMSA’s message must be maintained – like a caucus decision – but one that the members of these groups don’t get to vote on. It’s their THEORY OF UNILATERAL COLLABORATION. It doesn’t work !

We get it – addictions and poor behavioural traits are hard things to break. But the PMSA needs to stop pretending that their written statements of intent about the value and respect placed on stakeholder contribution matches up with the ON-GROUND experience. Clearly, it does NOT. The PMSA’s claimed culture and values are not being LIVED by it because that is NOT what the majority are FEELING. And lets not beat around the bush - three new principals across three separate schools in less than 2 years is pretty confronting.

This is one of the primary pillars for our argument for the need to evolve beyond Letters Patent. The PMSA can NOT change without being helped along by appropriate structural reform – at its foundation. The preliminary survey results prove that we have been right about this all along. You may recall that we recently published a blog entitled “Should the Owner of an Education Business Have a Learning Culture?”. One of our better ones if we do say so ourselves – clearly you liked it too, because the click through rates were off the charts! It talked about how “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. (You can access it by using the following link: https://www.beyondpmsa.com/single-post/2019/04/10/Should-the-Owner-of-an-Education-Business-Have-a-Learning-Culture).

Culture is important. But unlike the PMSA’s poor Letters Patent driven culture (which still won’t die), our GOOD “volunteering culture” is at risk if we don’t get proper structural change and appropriate signals flowing through to volunteer groups from the top.

Ironically, getting it wrong also puts the PMSA’s “strategic” plans on a trajectory to failure. Why? Well because you can’t successfully implement strategy without a positive leadership culture to enable and sustain it. Open Days and communiques just don’t cut it as a “change strategy”. People want to FEEL IT. Yes, really - because human nature is funny like that.

TO “THRIVE” OR “JUST SURVIVE”?

Schools either “thrive” or “just survive” depending upon the level of commitment offered up by volunteers who offer their valuable time, effort and hearts to furthering the quality of education, services and facilities for students and staff. It’s called a “volunteering culture” and all evidence presented to us suggests that the volunteering culture in PMSA schools is not nearly as healthy as it should be.

When we volunteer, we do it for the kids and to support the deserving staff of our schools - and rightly so. And when you offer up your valuable time, effort and resources for the good of the whole joint you don’t expect reward (unless you’re on the PMSA Board and you were “OK” with accepting a 33% discount on your child’s tuition fees).

No, the rest of us don’t expect a reward, but we want to walk away feeling like we have made a genuine difference and that our efforts are supported and AUTHENTICALLY appreciated. It appears that this is becoming harder and harder for many in our volunteer groups who (like children that must “know their place”) have become increasingly accustomed to the ethereal and controlling “invisible hand” from above smacking them across the chops (or gently choking them). The PMSA like keeping all of these groups under vice-like control.

How often have you seen the PMSA front a broad audience outside of the calm and CONTROLLED environments of elected members of representative groups? Not often. And for good reason. It’s not “comfortable”. It’s the old “divide and conquer” strategy which seems still to be offering the delusion of safety and that “fake” feeling of broad community support for the PMSA and its flawed agenda.

A COUPLE OF THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW THAT DEMONSTRATE OUR POINT!

Apart from several key Principal and senior staff resignations over the last two years (the most recent one only a few weeks ago), many of you might not know that over the course of the last several months, since late 2018, the majority of non-PMSA serving board members on the BBC Foundation have resigned over irreconcilable differences with the PMSA on matters that those members see as inherent conflicts of interest. Yes, it’s true. It echoes the mass departures from the Somerville House School Council in protest over gross governance failures and PMSA actions in 2017. Not much seems to have changed 2 years on – unless you’re drinking the coolade coming out of Toowong HQ.

Well regarded and capable executives and volunteers with considerable experience and passion for our schools have been lost. To their credit, the BBC Foundation Directors did not make a public song and dance about it, and they dealt with the timing of their transitions responsibly and with respect for the school and the continuing function of the Foundation. Who can blame them for standing up and calling it like it is ? Our hats off to all of you for making that stand on such an important matter of principle and good governance!

But what does this say about the health of Volunteering Culture if a mass exodus of that scale is still occurring whilst the PMSA’s Governance Reforms are being rolled out? The delusion that we are all on the SAME PAGE with what the PMSA is offering the community has been called out. The PMSA’s governance reform farce has received an “F” from its intelligent and well-educated stakeholder community, most of whom are used to operating in circles with a much more professional standard of governance and inclusive leadership.

But the invisible hand of of belligerence hasn’t learned anything from that experience. It has been busy raising its over-used middle finger as recently as last month too. Yes, the BBC P&F recently made a valiant request to the “powers that be” to enable it to apply for separate incorporation. Why? Well its been a decades-old issue as (most battle-weary members of the BBC school community would know), but fundamentally it is based on concerns around risk exposures for volunteers. The response from above is, we understand, that the P&F is “covered by insurance” – so “everything is fine”. Wrong. Volunteers are adrift and exposed under this model. It is NOT best practice and the PMSA should know that.

HOW MUST P&F GROUPS BE STRUCTURED TO OPERATE SAFELY AND RESPONSIBLY FOR VOLUNTEERS AND WHAT DOES BEST PRACTICE TELL US?

So how should P&F Groups operate in order to help the volunteers who contribute to them safely and responsibly deliver on their objectives?

Well, for a start, P&Cs at State schools are treated differently from P&F’s at independent schools like ours. They are not incorporated entities under the Associations Incorporations Act 1981, but they ARE established under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 and Education (General Provisions) Regulation 2017. Queensland State School P&Cs are therefore statutory bodies under the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982 and volunteers are afforded appropriate protections within that framework.

Our P&Fs are unincorporated associations, but how are other independent school P&F’s set up, and what do national P&F bodies recommend? Well, by way of example, the P&C Federation in NSW recommends separate incorporation for independent school P&Fs. It advises: “Becoming incorporated gives a P&C Association a ‘legal personality’. Incorporated entities can enter into legal agreements such as grants, own assets and borrow money from financial institutions. If an Association is incorporated, any debt or liability will be held against the Association itself, rather than individual members. Also, action typically cannot be taken against individual members of an incorporated entity unless they have been personally negligent.

So, does the P&C Federation in NSW recommend incorporation for school parent bodies? Yes. In fact, the P&C Federation say that:

“Incorporation is essential for P&C Associations that wish to apply for funding grants, operate an OOSH, Before and After School activities, Vacation Care, employ staff or enter into legal agreements.”

Now not all of these activities may necessarily be undertaken by every P&F (including our own), but our P&Fs and volunteers undertake a broad range of activities and they deserve the ability to function properly and without risk. How many volunteers in our P&F hierarchies fully understand and trust that the PMSA has got them all covered? And why is the PMSA stonewalling the incorporation of our P&F’s? Their request is entirely reasonable and aligns with best practice?

The issue goes way beyond insurances. This is an issue of CONTROL for the PMSA. Our good-hearted and willing volunteers must be kept well and truly in their box – and their “revenues” within an easy arm’s reach ??

WATCH THIS SPACE – CAREFULLY…

We think that it’s very very curious that the roller door has been firmly shut on this important issue – especially when the PMSA discussed it as part of the review agenda at the forums last year.

Shutting the door on separate incorporation of P&Fs under the Associations Incorporation Act (which the school communities have been seeking for decades) keeps the PMSA feeling like they are more in control. But perhaps, more importantly for the PMSA, it leaves open the opportunity for it to claw back responsibility for (and revenues derived from) traditional P&F business and revenue raising activities? WATCH THIS SPACE. We certainly will be – with eagle eyes!

And if you you want to read more on the benefits of P&F incorporation, see: https://www.pandc.org.au/incorporation/.

CREATING A VALUED VOLUNTEERING CULTURE

So how do you create (or in our case, repair) a VALUED and RESPECTFUL volunteering culture? The simple answer and short message to the PMSA should be “get your foot off the collective throats of our volunteering groups and representative bodies”. Step back, show AUTHENTIC RESPECT and stop trying to control the whole universe. It is killing collaboration, enthusiasm and acting as a handbrake for donations and fundraising. The PMSA Schools community is filled with highly educated professionals and experts who, we would argue, have an unparalleled professional capacity to deal with the issues confronting those groups – more so, we would argue, than many within the growing PMSA bureaucracy.

Oh how much easier that message would be to get through if the ridiculous personal liability structure embedded in the PMSA Board under Letters Patent didn’t exist. Unfortunately, no one in the PMSA or the Churches seems to “get” that (or care). And so our schools are consigned to “limping” instead of “leaping”.

Finally, what practical advice can we offer to get the joint motoring along again? Well, to allay misplaced PMSA fears, we’re not suggesting that P&F’s and support groups should be allowed to run riot and wreak havoc in some uncontrolled and chaotic manner. (That seems to be the boogey-man under the PMSA’s pillow). But for goodness sake, there are a few fundamentals to get right. It starts with delivering the same trust to your community that you seem to be demanding from them. We suggest that it also starts with actually reading and understanding the alternative governance model that Beyond PMSA presented in great detail as part of its supplementary submission to the Attorney General earlier this year. There’s a couple of good pointers in there, and it’s an entirely reasonable and modern governance design that has genuine collaborative endeavour at its heart!!! It’s also a model that many many other successful independent schools operate under.

We are not going away.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Beyond PMSA