Assistant Principal's Report

Welcome Back

Welcome back to students and staff, hoping everyone had a wonderful break. This term is busy with excellent opportunities for key learning and extra curricula activities. I encourage all students to make the most of every opportunity at Mount Beauty Secondary College whilst balancing the core requirements of their classes. Please discuss how you are traveling and reflect on the term with your Homegroup Teacher to ensure that a balanced approach is maintained. 

Chronicles

As we continue to adopt and refine the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support frameworks we have enabled core Compass functions that will allow students and parents to actively monitor student behaviour. 

Parents and students will now be alerted to positive chronicle entries, this is an important update to ensure that school-adopted expectations are reinforced and celebrated. 

Parents can also now monitor both minor and major behaviour issues, however these entries will not replace the important phone calls for discussing behaviour. Unlike the positive chronicles parents will not receive a notification and we ask that you regular check each student's profile to see their progress. If you have questions about entries, please direct those questions to the teacher involved by contacting the school office or them directly via email. 

If you require additional support with the functions of Compass please feel free to contact your students Home Group Teacher, Student Engagement Leader or me directly so we can assist with supporting students with meeting school/classroom expectations whilst maintaining the important relationship we have with families/guardians. 

Transition

Please join us for a live information session next Wednesday the 24th of April at 6pm to discuss the transition to Mount Beauty Secondary College . The target audience is families with students in Year 5 & 6 but all are welcome to attend.

Supporting Young People

Mount Beauty Secondary College students may be understandably curious and distressed about recent events in the news. Particularly following the incident at Bondi Junction and the more recent Wakeley Church attack. These events may affect each of us in different ways. Please see information below to support conversations with your child about distressing news items. 

Speaking to young people about tragic news events: 

Young people are exposed to the events of the world through the news and social media. In order to help young people process and understand these events, you can try the following things:

Prepare for the conversation beforehand 

Make the time to have conversations 

Use curiosity to begin the conversation to find out how your child is feeling 

Listen actively and without judgement 

Answer honestly, providing age appropriate and factual information 

Reassure them they are safe 

Have dedicated time for ‘no news’ and ‘no social media’

Switch off from the events

During this time it might be helpful to engage in other activities together as a family 

Seek help from external services if needed: 

Headspace Online - or phone - 1800 650 890 

Kids Helpline - 1800 551 800

Parent Line Victoria -13 22 89 

Contact Home Group Teacher's if you’re worried this is impacting your child’s mental health and would like to arrange further support. 

Other Resources: 

Kids Health: How to talk to your child about the news 

Raising Children: Supporting teens with distressing news events 

Embark Behavioural Health: How to discuss difficult news