ST MARK'S NEWSLETTER

School Advisory Council

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL:

Our School Advisory Council met on Tuesday 24th June 2025  and discussed the following topics:

  • MACS Vision for Engagement  was launched last week It outlines processes and goals for MACS schools to ensure all children are engaged learners developing academically, physically, and spiritually in a safe environment where they can flourish.
  • We reviewed the School Advisory Council’s Terms of reference and made some minor adjustments to meeting protocols to incorporate reviewing minutes from previous meetings.
  • We spoke about the introduction of a tiered fee system that will be introduced in 2027. This system incorporates a tiered system of fees based on the number of children in a family. There will be communication about the system over the next 18 months.
  • The school leadership team met for a day on Friday 20th June and reviewed the current learning and direction from the school’s Annual Action Plan and created some non-negotiables for all teachers in regards to learning processes and organisational structures that we have been experimenting with and are now ready to consolidate. 
  • Child Safe Standards 1, 3 and 4 were discussed and the programs/actions being taken under each of these standards were presented:
    • Standard 1: Culturally safe environments – Establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued. We discussed the recent activities that have been orchestrated by the FIRE Carrier Leaders and Teacher Leader and the positive impact on the school community in regards to awareness raising.
    • Standard 3: Child and student empowerment – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously. We discussed the role and the recent focus of the Student Representative Council on safe playground spaces and the continuation of the Stand Up Project and the work of the Stand Up Student and Teacher Leaders.
    • Standard 4: Family engagement – Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing. We talked about the introduction of the National Schools Wellbeing Program to support the wellbeing of our students.
  • Finally we shared that we have not been given any indication as to when we will hear about the result of our funding application to commence work on our Master Plan - particularly our work on new outdoor toilets.