Student Wellbeing

Uniform Updates

As we now enter the final month of winter, which has been reasonably mild, we would like to inform all of our families that the supply of school ties that we have been waiting on has arrived and are now available for purchase.

The school tie is a compulsory item of uniform during Terms 2 and 3.

Some students have had a concern about the plastic ring on which the tie is located and how it becomes extremely tight and uncomfortable around their neck. We have spoken to our uniform supplier, Noone, about this and they will provide the traditional ties without the plastic ring. We will inform our community when they arrive.

In terms of the ongoing concerns related to uniform, we still have some students that are wearing their tracksuit pants as their winter pants. We remind families that the only pants students should be wearing are the school pants. Tracksuit pants should only be worn when students have practical Health and PE classes.

Community Police Meeting

On Thursday 20 July, the Brimbank Community Police Unit held their Term 3 school meeting at Marian.

The Police conduct this meeting for leaders of all primary and secondary schools that are located in the district.

The meeting was attended by around 20 schools and the main topic of conversation was the ongoing concerns of gang and weapon crime in the area particularly around locations where large numbers of students from different schools may gather after school such as shopping centres and bus terminals.

The Community Police will continue to work with schools to make them aware of the concerns associated with this behaviour and the dangers that it presents for all members of the community.

The Community Police are often part of our wellbeing program with their presentations covering cyberbulling, sexting as well as weapons etc. Given the importance of these presentations, it is not surprising that the unit are booked out for the remainder of 2023.

We will continue to keep our community informed of the work the Community Police are doing in the Brimbank area to keep all of us safe.

Student Leadership Update

The Student Representative Council has a number of key areas of work that they have been focusing on this year.

These include:

Work in relation to a Bullying and Harassment Survey that they would like the school community to do on the Friday 18 August – National Day against Bullying. The results of the survey will be shared with our community – students, staff and parents.
The ongoing work of the Child Safety sub-committee. The plan is to conduct an audit of the school buildings as well as highlighting the Child Safety Policy using the school televisions as the vehicle for sharing this information.
A review of the Canteen. They are collecting information as to what is being purchased, what students are asking for and what are the most popular items.

We will continue to keep the community informed on the progress of this work.

Subject Selection Process

With the subject selection process in full swing for Years 8 to 11, it is important to remind all families that this can sometimes be a stressful time for our young people as they navigate their pathways ahead of them.

For some students the decisions about subjects for the next year and beyond are easy as they are confident in their pathway and what they need to be doing to get there.

For others it can be a challenging time of uncertainty and it can seem overwhelming with choices, options, and the path ahead looking very unclear. When this is the case, we need to just help then unpack their thoughts and work out the best way forward for them. We remind them that things can change along the way especially when they become a little more certain of what their path may look like.

If you are unsure of what this may mean for your child and for your family please do not hesitate to reach out to the homeroom/mentor teacher, Year Level Leader or Ms Goddard – Assistant to the Principal – Learning and Teaching.

Review of our Counselling – Student Support Services

We have started the process of reviewing the Counselling services that we provide to our students and the community.

This will include looking at the following areas:

How many students are accessing the service?
Are these students short or long term clients of the service?
Are these students receiving any level of outside support?
How the referral process is working?
What are the best ways that the counselling department can support our Wellbeing programs with presentations, information and programs?
How can the department become more visible within the community?
How can the Counselling Team work more effectively with the Year level Leaders to support the young people at each year level?
How can the department work more effectively? It would not surprise our community that, as we have transitioned out of COVID, the number of students seeking extra levels of support have increased dramatically. This also applies to young people seeking support from external services as well.

Kerrie Williams

Assistant to the Principal – Student Wellbeing