From the Principal Team
What a wonderful term we have had. Our students have been involved in a wide range of programs already this term including the Swimming Carnival, interschool sports, Cultural Diversity Week and Harmony Day, a range of excursions, lunchtime activities and more. You will read about many of these throughout the newsletter.
The Year 12 formal was a wonderful event – our students looked so beautiful and happy as they danced the night away – as did our staff!
It has been wonderful to have so many of our Alumni return to GEC this term. You can see all the news on the Glen Eira College Alumni Facebook page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/GlenEiraCollegeAlumni
School Council 2023
I am pleased to introduce our School Council for the period March 2023 – February 2024. I am very grateful to all members of our community who have volunteered their time and expertise to support or wonderful students, staff and families.
Parent representatives:
Stephen Loyer (President)
Fiona Murrie (Vice President)
Issy Arieli (Treasurer)
Jennifer Hayes
Paul McNeill
Lance Voges
Staff representatives: Colin Shnier, Aaron Petersen, Gabrielle Darvell, Loveena Narayanen
Student representatives:
Mael Gaudey
Zahra Hnatko
A Message from the Police
The Australian Federal Police through the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is seeing a concerning global trend of teenage males being targeted to send explicit images of themselves and then blackmailed. This is called sexual extortion, or sextortion.
The AFP is urging families to have important safety conversations ahead of the school holidays to prevent young people from becoming victim. This crime can have serious wellbeing and psychological impacts.
How does sextortion start?
- Unsolicited friend and follow requests on social media
- Direct messages on one app and then being asked to keep chatting on a secondary app
- Conversations suddenly and quickly becoming sexualised
- Requests for sexualised images or content.
What can families do?
- Have open and regular conversations about your child’s online activities and interactions
- Know what platforms, apps and games they are using and who they are interacting with
- Remain open and approachable, victims will be reluctant to come forward if they feel they will be punished or blamed
- Ensure your child knows that it is okay to leave conversations if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe
- Support your child and know how to respond. The Online blackmail and sexual extortion response kit has been created to recognise sextortion and get help.
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is here to keep young people safe from online sexual exploitation and abuse.
You can make a report via accce.gov.au/report
For further information, resources and advice visit thinkuknow.org.au
Finally
Victoria Police are seeking diverse community feedback as part of their commitment to Neighbourhood Policing. They are seeking information about the community’s safety concerns, engagement preferences, and ideas to improve the work that they do.
The annual Victoria Police Community Sentiment Survey commenced on Friday 31st of March and will run for a period of 4 weeks. The findings of this survey will identify the issues your community cares about most and help to develop ways to tackle them.
Please find their flyer at the end of the newsletter to see how you can be involved.
If you have any wonderings, concerns or feedback, please do not hesitate to call me at the school to talk or arrange a time to meet.
Please talk to your child about their progress reports and assessment tasks and help them set goals for themselves to achieve next term.
I trust that the upcoming holiday period will allow you all the opportunity to relax and enjoy the company of family and friends.
Sheereen Kindler
Principal