Clyde North Campus News
Spring is finally here and whilst we have experienced some ‘wild’ weather we know that sun and shine are not far away. The first week of Spring also marks Child Safety Week, raising awareness, conversation and action ensuring that all people and all communities continue to work together to protect and care for every child.
The focus this year is to support parents and carers to start a conversation with their young person about anything. The art of conversation has become something of the past as social media and text messages become the main forums of communication. All young people including ourselves when we were teenagers, develop their own language and none more so today with texting what seems like random letters, and or emojis. Whilst this is part of growing up, even a rite of passage, the speed at which people can communicate with each other and the sheer volume of people they can at any one moment communicate with is a very different landscape for parents and carers to navigate. How do we know if our child is engaging in unsafe conversations that may lead to unsafe behaviours?
Child Safety Week 2024 presents one simply strategy – start a conversation with your young person, about anything. Simple topics and light conversations builds confidence and trust providing a great platform for more deep or serious conversations. Many young people fear that if they tell their parent/carer that they are being bullied online or through text, their parent will take their device or phone as the solution. This reaction just means your child will simply not tell you. The solution to staying safe online is working together to investigate how to put in place protective filters and programs on mobiles and devices and where to get help such as the E Safety commissioner.
Let us use the very devices our children love to become the tools of protection and safety. The eSafety commissioner is a great resource for young people, parents and carers, and I encourage you to visit the site with your child, let them share their knowledge and their solutions, they might just surprise you. There are a range of topics explored on the eSafety commissioner website as shown below, which might be a great way to start a conversation.
Following on from child safety week, is the launch of R U O K. The official R U O K day is Thursday 12th September. This launch is a perfect platform to further educate, support and have conversations around safety and mental health. Each year our VM students run a whole of week of activities to raise awareness and most importantly get all of us to ask the question R U O K? We now know the value of asking this question not just on the 12th of September but any day where we notice something is different or not quite right with a friend, a parent, a sibling or other family members. We have also embraced the critical aspect to the awareness campaign, that it is ok if the answer is no, I am not OK, because it allows us to access the support we need.
VCE VM Entrepreneurs
There were some fine examples of student initiatives and innovative ideas on display at the VCE VM Market this week. Each year the 12 VCE VM students run a market stall during the Student Led Conferences. Each year the quality and ingenuity of products improves and this year it was a huge success and sell out in record time. This is the $30 Boss project whereby students work with a tight budget and plan, construct and market a product. This year the range included, candles, cheese boards, heat bags, aprons, tote bags and handcrafted hanging and standing pot plant holders. And it was a sellout. Congratualations to our amazing entrepreneurs.
